Project Timeline Generator

This tool generates interactive Gantt-chart style timelines from Excel data using Python and Bokeh. It is designed to visualize project schedules, tracking status, phases, and key dates with a clean, professional aesthetic.

Features

• Interactive HTML Output: Generates standalone HTML files with zoom, pan, and hover tooltips.
• Dual Views:
  • Full Timeline: Visualizes the entire project duration.
  • Rolling Window: Focuses on a specific window (default: 30 days past to 90 days future) to highlight immediate concerns.
• Status Visualization: Events are styled based on their status (e.g., Late, At Risk, On Track) with specific border colors and fill styles.
• Phase Grouping: Tasks are color-coded by "Task/Phase" to distinguish between different work streams.
• Visual Context:
  • Today Marker: A red line indicating the current date.
  • Past Shading: A transparent overlay dims past dates.
  • Banded Columns: Vertical stripes help track weeks visually.

Sample Output

Full Timeline

Rolling Window

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• pandas
• openpyxl
• bokeh

Installation

1. Clone this repository.
2. Install the required dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

(Note: Ensure your requirements file is named correctly. If the provided file is named requriements.txt, please rename it to requirements.txt or adjust the command above).

Usage

1. Prepare Data

Ensure your Excel file follows the required format (see Data Format below). The default location the script looks for is data/events.xlsx.

2. Run the Script

To run with the default file path:

python timeline.py

To run with a specific Excel file:

python timeline.py "path/to/your/project_data.xlsx"

3. View Results

The script will generate HTML files in the outputs/ folder and automatically attempt to open the folder. Open the HTML files in your web browser to view the timeline.

Data Format

The input Excel file requires the following columns:

Column	Description
Event Name	The label for the task or event.
Start	Start date (Date format).
End	End date (Date format).
Task/Phase	Used for base color coding (e.g., "Planning", "Execution").
Status	Determines the border/style (see Status Key below).
Include	Set to "Yes" to include the row in the plot.

Status Key

The visualization applies specific styles based on the Status column:

• Late: Red border, Red fill.
• Delayed: Orange border, Phase color fill.
• At Risk: Yellow border, Phase color fill.
• Complete: Green border, Phase color fill.
• On Track: White border, Phase color fill.