This article covers the Lucen Timeline add-in for PowerPoint on Windows. Using the browser-based app instead? See Lucen Timeline Online help.
Which version should I use?
It depends on one thing: whether you share Timeline files with other people.
You share files, and everyone can update together. Get version 15.5. Pick a day, update everyone, and files keep working for the whole team.
You share files, but the team can't all move to 15.5 yet. If you're anywhere in the 13.05 to 14.22 band and not ready or able to move everyone to 15.5, update to 14.22. It has every performance and stability fix from the 14.x line, and it opens and edits files with anyone else from 13.05 to 14.22. Move to version 15 later, together.
You work on your own. Get version 15.5.
You manage Timeline for a company. Put everyone on the same version, on the same day. See "For IT admins" below.
Download either version from the Lucen Timeline update page.
Our commitment going forward
We know version mismatches have cost teams time, and that nobody wants to manage compatibility. We've changed how we work.
Going forward, Timeline will not break compatibility between versions without explicit, deliberate approval from our CTO.
If that ever happens, admins will hear from us ahead of time, with what it changes and how to move your team together.
If compatibility ever does change, it will come as a new major version, so the version number itself tells you.
Updates within the same major version, like 15.04 to 15.5, work with each other.
Which versions work together
Versions 13 and 14 (13.05 and later) work together. Version 15 is a new generation.
Versions | Work together? |
13.05 through 14.22 | Yes. Anyone on these versions can open and edit each other's files. The move from 13 to 14 didn't change the file format. |
15.00 and later | Yes, with each other. Every 15.x version opens and edits every other 15.x file. |
13.05 to 14.22 and 15.x | Partly. Older versions can open and view version 15 files but can't edit them. See the next section. |
13.01 and older | No. These versions can view but not edit files from 13.05 onward. Update to any current version. |
On any version from 13.05 to 14.22? 14.22 is the one to be on. It has every fix from the 14.x line and stays compatible with everyone else in that band.
What happens when versions don't match
You're on | You open a file from | What happens |
13.05 to 14.22 | 13.05 to 14.22 | Everything works. View and edit as normal. |
13.05 to 14.22 | 15.00 or later | The file opens and the timeline displays. When you click the timeline or use a Timeline command, you'll see the message below, and you can't edit that slide until you update. Your data is safe. |
15.00 or later | 13.05 to 14.22 | You can open and edit it. Timeline converts the slide to the version 15 format the first time you select it, even if you change nothing. With AutoSave on, that's saved to SharePoint or OneDrive within seconds. From then on, teammates still on 13.05 to 14.22 can view that slide but not edit it. Keep a copy of the file first if they still need to edit it. |
13.01 or older | 13.05 or later | You can view it but not edit it. Update to any current version. |
The message you'll see
When you select a timeline made in a newer version, or use a Timeline command such as Edit Data, Timeline shows:
This timeline was created with a newer version of Timeline and is not editable. Please install the latest version of Timeline to edit this timeline. Would you like to download the latest version of Timeline?
Click Yes to download the latest version, or get it from the update page. If you share this file with teammates, update together so everyone can keep editing.
One small catch
If you're on 13.05 to 14.22 and open Themes or switch Flat/Gel on a version 15 slide, the Today line disappears. Your dates, tasks, and milestones stay. The slide still can't be edited on your version, and a teammate on version 15 can turn the Today line back on from the Today marker settings.
Can I go back to an older version?
There's no way to save a version 15 file as version 14. Exporting to Excel from version 15 and importing it in version 14 keeps the data but not the styling. The simplest fix is to update together.
When you update
When you move to a newer version and open your own older timelines, Timeline updates each slide automatically the first time you select it. No backup copy is created, so keep a copy of the file if you may need to go back.
Why this happens
If you've opened a teammate's file and been told you can't edit it, that's frustrating. Here's what's going on.
Each version of Timeline reads and writes its files in a specific format. When we add a feature that places a new visual element on the slide, something the old format has no room for, the format has to grow. Version 15 is an example: the full-height Today line, a new visual element with its own style and thickness settings, needed a place in the file that older versions don't have.
Older versions can still open and show those files. But they won't edit them, because editing something they don't fully understand could damage your work. It's a safety lock, not a mistake.
We also know it's a blunt one. It locks the whole slide even when a change wouldn't touch the new feature. We're making it smarter so it only steps in when editing would actually lose something.
This is also why the versions group the way they do. The format didn't change between 13.05 and 14.22, so all of those work together. It changed at 15.00, so version 15 is a new generation.
For IT admins
The one rule: everyone who shares Timeline files should be on the same version. A single user updating ahead of the team, or a single user left behind, is what creates the "can't edit" problem.
Rolling out to a company: deploy one version to everyone on the same day. Our IT deployment guide covers silent installs, per-machine and per-user options, and how to disable the update prompt.
Which version: 15.5 if you can move everyone at once. 14.22 if you need to stay compatible with people you can't update yet.
Auto-updates: 15.03 and later check for updates automatically. For managed installs, turn this off so your fleet stays on the version you chose. The deployment guide shows how.
Planning a rollout: contact us and we'll help you plan it.
Need help?
Contact [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.