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      How to fit more tasks on the slide

      Overview 

      If you have a lot of tasks on your timeline or Gantt chart and they run off your slide, you can make a few simple adjustments in Office Timeline Online to optimize space. Read the guide below to see how to make more room and get your chart to fit on the slide.

      Steps

      1. Make your task bars thinner. From the Timeline View, select one (or more) of your task bars and use the Style Pane on the right to change its size to Small. You can choose an even smaller thickness, down to 4 points, by typing the desired number in the editable field under Size.

        make-task-bars-thinner

        To quickly apply this change to all other tasks, click the Apply to all dropdown and select Size. apply-size-to-all-tasks

      2. Make sure the spacing between task bars is set to the minimum. If it isn't already, select one (or more) of your task bars and change the spacing to Narrow from the Style Pane. Similar to step 1, use Apply to all -> Spacing to instantly make this adjustment for all tasks.

        set-spacing-to-small

      3. Reposition task dates or titles for a better fit. In our examples above, the dates are placed below the task bar, which means they take up more vertical space. To make more room, we can move them to the Left or in the Center of the task bar. Depending on how your timeline objects are arranged, you can do the same for task dates, titles, duration or % complete.

        move-task-dates-or-titles-to-fit-better

      4. Group multiple tasks onto a single row. You have the option to place multiple tasks on the same row to save extra space on your timeline. This can be easily done by selecting a task then dragging it vertically.  tasks-in-a-row
        Pro tip: Inside Swimlanes, you can even group milestones in a row or line them up with tasks to make more room on the slide:milestones-in-a-row-swimlanes

      Quick tips:

      • Long task titles that fall on two lines will increase the spacing between tasks and leave little room for others. To optimize space, you can shorten the texts, adjust the width of the title boxes, or reposition them so they fit on a single line.

      • Flag-shaped milestones also take up more space on the slide. Choosing other shapes for your milestones can also help you make room to fit more items on your timeline.

      • If you've added a timeline title on your slide, its default spot on the page may not leave enough room for larger timelines. You can drag it to move it anywhere else on the slide or simply hide it if it's not vital to your timeline.