A timeline is a collection of important events displayed in the chronological order in which they happened. Timelines play a crucial role in instructing people on how to organize their projects effectively and in assisting viewers in comprehending all of the case study’s dynamics.

Additionally, timelines can be found in historical writings and autobiographies; they describe what occurred to a person or over a specific period, beginning with the first occurrence and moving ahead.

In the workplace or school, you can run into circumstances where you find it challenging to create a timeline for your presentations. In these situations, you can use various tools, such as Google Docs, to create timelines for your presentation.

A Google Docs timeline chart is an excellent tool for visualizing a project’s schedule in addition to Gantt charts. Making a timeline for your business or product might be a good idea. Timelines may help you tell a tale about your brand, which is highly advantageous for your company.

They make customers feel more connected to your brand by assisting them in comprehending its origins and development. Creating a timeline in Google Docs is simple and free, but the manual process can quickly become time-consuming.

Still, if you want to give it a shot, This post will examine how to make a timeline on Google Docs and will recommend a timeline-creating tool that is much more cozy and user-friendly.

How To Create A Timeline In Google Docs

1. By Using The “Drawing” Tool

• Enter drive.google.com in your browser’s address bar to start a new Google Docs document if you’re a beginner. If you haven’t done so, sign in with your Google account. After that, hit the New button and choose “Google Docs” from the menu option.
• Pick “Page setup” from the menu under “File” in the toolbar at the top of the screen.

• Turn the page layout to “Landscape.”
• Click Navigate -> Insert (found in the top toolbar), select Drawing -> + New (a new window will pop up over your doc.) You can always drag your line up or down after drawing it, so don’t panic if it isn’t exactly in the middle of the y-axis.”

• Hit “Arrow” from the drop-down menu that appears when you click the “Line” button in the pop-up toolbar.

• Beginning at either end, tap and drag the line horizontally across the pop-up. If the left-side axis only displays one line, the line is level. You may also check the line’s levelness by looking at the greyed-out grid backdrop.
•  Select any choice from the dropdown menu by clicking the red arrow labelled “Line start” in the top toolbar, pointing in the opposite direction from the one already on your drawing canvas. Both ends will now have arrows since it will automatically add the one you chose to the opposite end.

• Optional: You can enlarge the line by picking a heavier pixel weight from the “line weight” tool (which resembles three lines of varying widths).
• To begin adding timeline entries, select the “Text box” tool (“T” enclosed in a box), then select and drag a box above or below the line. The text box can then be shifted left or right as necessary after that.
• To ensure that all your entries are identical, use keyboard keys to replicate the original text field (a red guideline will help you reposition it so that everything is properly aligned).
• Return to the top of the toolbar, choose the downward carrot, and next, pick “Line” to draw a vertical line that terminates on the main timeline (again, check the ruler section’s recommendations to ensure it’s straight).
• Build a box with the text-box tool at the end of the line.
• Use the keyboard shortcuts on your desktop to copy and paste after selecting the line and text box. The format will be repeated for each additional entry; however, you can adjust the vertical line spacing to give the text for each point more room.
• After inputting your items, select “Save and Close” to add them to your Google Doc.

You may now include photos in your timeline by using the “Picture” option and uploading your image or piece of artwork.

By selecting “Actions” from the menu bar and selecting the “Guides” section from the list of options, you can enable additional guidelines if you are unsure whether everything is centered correctly.

You can change your timeline by simply clicking on the timeline you’ve drawn and by selecting “Edit” if you discover a problem after adding it to the document.

Related – How to Make a Graph in Google Docs: with 5 Simplified Steps

2. By Using the  Lucidchart

What Is A Lucidchart

The sophisticated diagramming program is called Lucidchart.

The intelligent diagramming tool Lucidchart enables teams to streamline complexity, coordinate ideas, and construct the future more quickly.

This user-friendly, cloud-based tool allows everyone to work graphically and interact in real-time while creating flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and much more.

In more than 180 countries, Lucidchart, the most popular online Visio alternative, is utilized by millions of users, including IT directors who visualize their network infrastructure and sales managers who map out target organizations.

You can use Lucidchart’s visual workspace to quickly add expert timelines to any document because G Suite and Lucidchart are integrated.

How to set up the Lucidchart add-on for Google Docs

You must first set up the Lucidchart add-on before you can start.

Follow these instructions to add and begin brand-new documents without leaving Google Docs.

1. Activate a Google Doc.
2. Choosing Add-ons > Get Add-ons.
3. Look for and choose Lucidchart.
4. Permit Google Docs access for Lucidchart.
5. Sign in to Lucidchart and provide Google Docs access to your files. After completing this procedure, it will become available in the Add-ons menu.

How to use the Lucidchart add-on to add a timeline

Once the add-on has been installed, adding a timeline to your document will be simple. (Skip to the following section to begin a timeline if you haven’t already.)

1. Select where to add your timeline in a Google Doc after it opens.
2. Select “Insert Diagram” under Add-ons > Lucidchart Diagrams.
3. There will be a sidebar. Click “+” after selecting the timeline you want from your list of documents.
4. Hit “Insert” after seeing your paper.

Update Inserted Diagrams under Add-ons > Lucidchart Diagrams to make any necessary adjustments to your timeline. Your chronology will be current and correct as a result of this activity.

The Lucidchart add-on instructions for making a new timeline

The Lucidchart add-on can assist you in creating a timeline if you still need to. You’ll get access to the Lucidchart editor, where drag-and-drop shapes and templates may be used to construct your timeline swiftly.

1. To access the sidebar from your Google Doc, choose Add-ons > Lucidchart Diagrams > Insert Diagram.
2. In the lower right corner, click “+.”
3. To customize, choose a blank document or a timeline template. (A few such templates are provided after the conclusion of this article.)
4. To make an event timeline, edit the template or drag & drop shapes.
5. Go back to your Google Doc once you’ve finished writing your document. Click “+” to preview and put the newly constructed timeline into the document after choosing it from the sidebar.

Conclusion

One of the finest methods to present a range of facts and make it simple to understand is to create a timeline in Google Docs. It’s simple to add and format text, pictures, video, and other content types to build a compelling story that supports your argument.

There are various methods you can use to build a timeline in Google Docs, but there are also a lot of restrictions on what you can do with the drawing tools.

Hence, it might be advisable to use a different tool entirely if you wanna construct something more complicated or aesthetically beautiful than a simple chronological list of occurrences.

The good news is that many of these third-party programs can be used by anyone without charge, but some also provide costly upgrades with further functionality or access to expert support services.

Related – How to Add Header in Google Docs: 5 Simple Lucid Steps

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

1. What different kinds of timelines are there?

Appropriate timelines can frequently be found in various formats when events progress in a useful way. While providing information in various ways, a timeline maintains the same importance.

We can categorize different timeline types in a variety of ways

1. Using Objective

• Project timeline: It will assist you in visualizing a project’s tasks, activities, and stages.
• Timeline of history: The events in the story take place one after another.

2. By choice

• Vertical timeline: The flow emphasizes significant events and provides in-depth details.
• Horizontal timeline: A text that is presented horizontally and incorporates events, data items, and descriptions.
• Roadmap timeline: During completion, a function plots milestones from start to finish for every kind of project.
• Timeline infographic: Use a visually appealing layout to communicate your ideas.

2. Why should we utilize a Google Docs timeline?

People use Google Docs to create presentations far too frequently. People should know how to create a timeline in Google Docs since it might enable them to see how a business has developed since its inception.

Investors evaluate the performance of stocks using timelines.

Because you’re looking for a comparison, evaluation, or examination over time, timelines are not just limited to charts. This can be done for various reasons, including performance monitoring, valuing an item, and calculating the profits and losses of a given company.

Finally, you can use a timeline to illustrate the order of events in a piece of writing or to highlight different information in a research paper.

3. Is there a timeline template available in Google Docs?

There isn’t an official Google Docs template you can use to make your timeline, which is a bummer. An MS Word template might be modified, but any template you find online would likely be of poor quality and not worth the money.

You may easily make a timeline in a structured manner using Google Docs’ built-in drawing tool.

During document editing, you can insert template editors and timelines and create your document using free add-ons.

These free add-on creators have given document timelines and composing and editing tools.

4. What kind of structure does a project timeline consist of?

Your workflow is graphically itemized in a project timeline. It offers a useful overview of the planned work for organizing the workforce and setting delivery dates.

5. A chronological timeline: What is it?

An ideographic representation of historical events and their sequence is a timeline graph. It will help you remember information and is an excellent way to take notes.

6. Does PowerPoint provide a template for a timeline?

Yes, PowerPoint has a selection of easy visual layouts that users may change and customize to create a straightforward chronological timeline.

7. Does Google Docs have the ability to build a timeline?

Yes, A timeline can be made in Google Docs using the drawing tool or Lucidchart.

8. Is it possible to share a Lucidchart document from Google Docs?

Yes, you can select the share button next to your email address in the sidebar on the Lucidchart website.

9. Can I link my Lucidchart account to my other Google accounts?

Google accounts are not necessary for using Lucidchart.

10. On Google Docs, how will my diagram appear?

Diagrams should be precise and unambiguous. You can adjust the image by grabbing its edges and pulling them to the desired place. They will automatically scale to fit the width of the page.

Related – How to Add a Signature in Google Docs: Here are 3 Easy Ways

Last Updated on December 12, 2022 by Apeksha Soni