This article covers the Lucen Timeline add-in for PowerPoint on Windows. Using the browser-based app instead? See Lucen Timeline Online help.
Overview
The Lucen Timeline Expert add-in allows users to create their own custom timeline templates and use them for any future work. The following guide provides step-by-step instructions to help you make the most out of the feature.Templates in Lucen Timeline act as starting points for creating new timelines manually, rather than serving as fixed layouts for imported data.
Read the full guide to learn how to get the most out of the new feature or use the table of contents to skip to the section you’re most interested in.
A) How to create a custom template
Open a timeline you'd like to turn into a template so you can quickly reuse its layout and customizations for other visuals.
Click the Templates button and select Save Current Timeline as Template.
The timeline will be saved in your template gallery for future use.
B) How to import into a custom template
Click New on the Timeline ribbon and then double-click the template of your choice to open its preview window. Double-click-to-use-custom-template
From the preview window, click on the Import button, select the project management tool you wish to load your data from, and then follow the usual import steps. import-into-custom-template
Note: The same steps are valid if you wish to import data into one of the add-in’s pre-formatted templates or themes.
Note: When importing data into Lucen Timeline, the selected template layout does not persist. This is because imported data overrides the example data in the template, and the system does not automatically map the imported data to the template’s design. To achieve your desired layout, you can manually adjust the timeline after importing or use a saved custom template as a visual reference.
C) Manually create a timeline from a custom template
To add data manually into a custom template, simply click Create Timeline in the template's preview window:
This will open the Edit Data window, where you'll see the template's data pre-populated. Simply update the existing data with your own and that's it!
D) Share your custom template
To share a custom template with your team, simply open it in PowerPoint (create a timeline slide out of it), and then save and send it as a .pptx file.
Then, instruct your team to open the timeline slide and click Templates -> Save Current Timeline as Template on the Timeline ribbon to save it as a template on their own machines.
E) How to rename or delete a custom template
To rename a custom template from your gallery, simply click New on the Timeline ribbon, right-click the template you wish to rename, and select Rename.
To delete a custom template from your gallery, click New on the Timeline ribbon, right-click the template you want to dispose of, and select Delete.
If you need any further assistance with custom templates, please don’t hesitate to raise a support ticket with us by clicking the button below. Our friendly customer support representatives will be happy to help you out.