This view provides a series of pages in which to display information related to the project�s scope. Seven categories of information can be displayed:
The content you create can be viewed either with a summary page displaying 2-3 categories of information and 4-5 pages covering one category each, or over 7 pages with each category having a page of its own.
The main bullet points in each category of information (except Scope In/Scope Out) can be seen in the page header section of other views if desired. (Note: indented sub-bullet points cannot be seen in the page header section of other views, as the page header is designed for the display of high level information only).
Below is an example summary page showing the following categories of information: Objectives, Deliverables and Success Metrics:
Example page showing a single category of information in this case Key Questions (i.e. to list the key questions or issues that the project needs to address).
Click here for more information about the Objectives and Scope view.
The timeline is an intuitive and highly configurable view that allows you to set out or review high level project plans and get a "big picture view" of what needs to get done quickly and simply.
The timeline is a "one page wide" window on your plan. The time span shown can be expanded / contracted to allow you to look at the time period you want (using the arrow icons in top right of the page body or using the date controls in the page body format dialogues). It can be one or many pages high depending on the size of / detail in your plan, though most simple plans can fit easily on one page.
The timeline can contain the page header (displaying high level information from the Objectives and Scope View), with the page body displaying key meetings, key milestones and information on the Activity Groups.
Laying out a timeline in this view is very quick and easy. The Dynamic Formatting Algorithm helps auto-fit the content to the page so that you can concentrate on what is in the plan without having to worry about formatting it. The different modes and configuration options give you great flexibility in selecting which content to display and in tailoring the view to suit your tastes or the needs of different audiences.
The timeline has two main modes of display "Standard" and "Interlaced". You can select the mode from the format dialogue, or the tool bar. See below for examples:
: displays Key Meetings, Key Milestones and Activity Groups. The header section can also display categories of information from the Objectives and Scope View
Click here for more information about the Timeline (Standard mode) view.
: displays additional content related to each Activity Group, specifically the Activity Groups� Meetings, Milestones, or textboxes with information on the Activity Groups� Objectives, Key Questions, Deliverables, Success Metrics, etc. You can select which of these pieces of additional information you want to display using the page body format dialogue or the toolbar.
Click here for more information about the Timeline (Interlaced mode) view.
Example of a timeline interlaced with Activity Group Meetings and Milestones
Example of a timeline interlaced with the Activity Group�s deliverables, which are shown as bullets in the light blue text boxes
: in standard mode, or in interlaced mode with meetings and / or milestones (but not with interlaced text boxes), you can also look at your current timeline relative to a "baseline timeline". (i.e. you can look at where you are vs where you said you would be). See the example for an illustration of this. You can set a baseline through the main reporting menu or when you first go into review mode.
Click here for more information about the Timeline (Review mode) view.
The timeline is an essential component of any good plan. It can be used across a whole variety of situations:
This view provides a summary table of information about the Activity Groups. Up to twelve* categories of information about each Activity Group can be selected for display in the table:
The Activity Group Summary can also contain the page header (displaying high level information from the Objectives and Scope View).
You can enter or edit information directly in this view, with any additions or edits automatically being carried through into the relevant Activity Group Detail view, or, in the case of the page header, into the Objectives and Scope view.
The view can be formatted in the following ways:
Overall, you have a high degree of flexibility in selecting what information to display and how to display it
Below is a fairly empty Activity Group Summary for a draft plan with only 3 Activity Groups in it. The columns shown are the default selections and the page header section is also visible.
Below is an example Activity Group Summary set up for a project review meeting. In this case the columns show by activity: who is responsible, deliverables, the activity end date, its status, performance (traffic light colours and icons) and then comments. The selected information helps facilitate the discussion about how the project is going, issues with progress and what needs to happen next.
Click here for more information about the Activity Group Summary view.
This view provides the detail on what is happening, or needs to happen, within a particular Activity Group.
The following information can be entered and displayed:
You can enter or edit information directly in this view with any changes automatically being carried through into the relevant other views (e.g. Action List, Action List over Time for Meetings, Milestones, and Actions).
The view can be formatted in many ways. e.g.
Overdue items are shown in red, and when they are complete they are crossed out.
There is a separate Activity Group Detail (AGD) for the each Activity Group in the timeline, and also one for the Key Meetings and Milestones shown at the top of the Timeline. There are thus many individual "pages" in this view. You can move to the one you want through using the "Go To" drop down menu, or the "next" and "previous" buttons which are in the blue row at the top of the AGD header.
Click here for more information about the Activity Group Detail view.
This view is the "to do list" for the whole project, listing all the Meetings, Milestones and Actions across all of the Activity Groups.
The Action List can also contain the page header (displaying high level information from the Objectives and Scope View).
In the example shown:
You can enter or edit information directly in this view, with any additions or edits automatically being carried through into the relevant other views (e.g. Activity Group Detail, Action List over Time for meetings, milestones and actions, or, in the case of the page header, the Objectives and Scope view).
The view can be formatted in many ways. e.g.
Overdue items are shown in red, and when they are complete they are crossed out.
The Action List may fit on one page or, more likely, over many pages depending on how much detail is in the project. You can move up and down the list using PageUp and PageDown or the scroll bars.
Click here for more information about the Action List view.
The Action List over Time provides a view of all the actions, meetings and milestones in the project laid out either by week (4 weeks to a page, see example below), or by day (5 or 7 days to a page).
This view can also contain the page header (displaying high level information from the Objectives and Scope View).
It is a great view for creating, reviewing or updating “what needs to get done in the next week or few weeks”, or for reviewing what should have happened, as it gives you a perspective across all the Activity Groups.
The actions, meetings and milestones can be displayed by Activity Group (as above), and also by person / contact so you can look at individual responsibilities over time.
The view defaults to show the next 8 weeks with 4 weeks to a page, so it starts off two pages wide and as many pages deep as is needed to show the all the actions, meetings and milestones in that time period. The example below illustrates conceptually how four pages (2 wide covering 8 weeks, and 2 deep) would appear in Swiftlight. When in the Action List over Time, you can PageUp and PageDown, or scroll up/down/across to look at the page you want.
You can enter or edit information directly in this view with any additions or edits automatically being carried through into the relevant other views (e.g. Activity Group Detail, Action List over Time for meetings, milestones and actions, or, in the case of the page header, the Objectives and Scope view).
The view shows some of the information on each item (generally, its Activity Group, description, due date, who is responsible). More detail can be accessed by double clicking on it, or through the right click dialogue and selecting "edit".
Overdue items are shown in red, and when they are complete they are crossed out.
The view can be formatted in many ways. e.g.
Click here for more information about the Action List over Time view.
The Contacts view displays contact information for people or groups/entities involved in the project. It gives you one place to collate useful contact information (e.g. phone numbers, emails), roles etc either for yourself or for others involved in the project, as illustrated below:
Contacts that are listed here can be assigned responsibility for items (i.e. meetings, milestones, actions, Activity Groups, issues) in other views.
You can enter or edit information directly in this view, and also import contacts from vCards or Windows Address Book through File > Import Contact…
Click here for more information about the Contact List view.
The Issue log provides a place for tracking and dealing with issues that may arise on your project. It allows you to describe the issue, its potential impact and the actions you plan to take to deal with them as shown below
Click here for more information about the Issue Log view.
Objectives and Scope