Timeline

Learn how to use the timeline display option

Timeline view is often the right choice if you have event-based data and want to track your records on a linear timeline.

Date Formats

Depending on the type of date field you're using, Noloco will display your timeline events differently. Date Time Fields

If your field has a date and time, then Noloco will (unless specified) display this in the user's local timezone. If you don't include an end date, the timeline event will default to one hour long.

A few examples of events with dates and times:

• Meetings that start and end at specific times

• Bookings that start and end at specific times

Date only Fields

If your field has only a date (and no time), then Noloco will display these as all-day events, using the date of the event, ignoring the user's timezone.

A few examples of events without dates:

• Birthdays

• Multi-day events such as conferences

• Single-day events that don't have a specific start or end date

Mixing date-time fields with all-day events:

If you need to display both variable-time events and all-day events on the same calendar, it can be quite confusing to get this right with time zones.

But thankfully, it is possible to do so in Noloco.

Because you need to specify event start and end times, you'll need to use a date-time field.

But to indicate to Noloco that an event is an all-day event, regardless of timezone, you can make the event start at midnight UTC (that's not your local timezone).

I.e., if you have an event that's meant to happen on February 1st, you would set the date to be 1st Feb 00:00 or as an ISO string 2023-02-01T00:00:00.000Z

Similarly, to indicate that it's an all-day event, you need to set the end date to have the same value. That is to say, the event is only on that day.

If an event needs to span multiple days, but be treated as an all-day event, regardless of timezone, you can adjust the end date to be on the last day of your event, but make sure its time is midnight UTC (00:00) Below is an example where we mix all-day and specific event time events

Sample data:

Name	Start	End
Multiple days - non all-day	03/02/2023 00:00	04/02/2023 11:30
Starts at midnight	03/02/2023 00:00	03/02/2023 05:00
Multiple Days	01/02/2023 00:00	04/02/2023 00:00
All Day 1	02/02/2023 00:00	02/02/2023 00:00
All Day 2	03/02/2023 00:00	03/02/2023 00:00
Two hours long	05/02/2023 14:00	05/02/2023 16:00

Grouping timeline events

You can group your events by any Single Option field, like a status or type. This produces distinct lanes for your events, to see how events overlap between lanes.

Key Settings / Fields to Configure

When setting up a Timeline view, make sure you configure these:

Start Date - The beginning point of each event. If using a date‐time field, it will show a specific start. If it’s a date‐only field, it treats it as an all-day event. Useful to mark when something begins.

End Date - Marks the end of the event. If omitted, default behavior depends on field type (see below). Helps show duration or span.

Default View - What portion of the timeline is shown by default (e.g., week, month, quarter). This influences what the user first sees when opening the view. Users can change between these as they need to.

Title / Event Name Field - The field whose value will be shown as the event’s label on the timeline (e.g., “Meeting with X”, “Project Phase”). Makes it easy to identify what each bar or block represents.

Grouping - Allows grouping by a Single Option field (e.g., status, type, category). Creates separate “lanes” for each group so you can see how events in different categories compare, overlap, etc.

How to Set it up

1. Create or open the view → select Display → Timeline.

2. Choose the Start Date field. If your events vary in length, pick a date or date-time field.

3. Set the End Date field (optional, but recommended if you want durations visible).

4. Choose which field supplies the Title / Label for events.

5. Define the Default view (how much time is shown first: week/month/custom range).

6. Optionally enable Grouping by a field (e.g., status, type). This creates lanes in the display.

Now that you are done, it's time to test with sample data: check if events align properly, if durations are visible, and if timezone behavior is correct. Adjust fields as needed.