Shift Project and Task Group Timelines in the Gantt Chart

You are able to shift the timeline of projects and task groups on the Gantt chart using drag-and-drop. All tasks automatically adjust their dates while preserving duration, dependencies, and relationships, and RAG statuses are updated appropriately.

You are also able to move tasks in the Gantt chart. See Add and Edit on the Gantt for details.

To shift the timeline of a project or task group:

1. Click and hold the project or task group and move it forward or back in the timeline.
2. As you move the project or task group:
   • A light green overlay highlights what is moving and the timeline you are moving on.
   • At each end of the project or task group bar, start and end dates update.
   • If you move a task group outside the range of the project, the project bar moves to reflect the new start or end dates.
3. When the project or task group is at the correct dates, release it. A confirmation pop-up displays listing the new timeline and what is being affected.
4. Click Save. A notification displays letting you know the project or task group is updating. 
   • All operations are processing in the background, allowing you to continue working while changes are being made.
   • The entire project will be locked so changes cannot be made by another user while processes are running:
     • On the Gantt, a lock cursor and tooltip display on hover. 
     • On the project and task list pages, the projects and tasks are marked as temporarily unavailable with a lock icon. 
     • On project and task details pages, a full-page lock overlay with lock icon appears. 
     • Exports will not include locked items.
     • Imports are blocked.
     • If edits are attempted via API, a 423 Locked HTTP status is returned.
   • In our testing, projects with 1000 tasks complete in under 5 minutes and projects with 5000 tasks took between 6-15 minutes.
5. When the shift is complete, a confirmation notification displays. Click View in the notification to go to the project details page or refresh your screen to see the changes on the Gantt. Also:
   • Data updates are complete and the project is now unlocked. For details on date and RAG status updates, see below.
   • You will receive an email notification. If the shift was not successful (either a partial success or failure) the notification includes a detailed list of errors.
   • A history entry for each task with modified start or due dates is created. History entries appear in task detail pages alongside other task changes. Each entry includes reference to the parent project or task group timeline shift operation.

Data Update Details

Date Updates

The system automatically applies date logic to all affected tasks:

• Tasks with both start and due dates: Both dates shift by same offset, preserving task duration
• Tasks with no dates: Remain unchanged
• Project or Task Group dates: Update to reflect earliest start and latest end of contained tasks

RAG Status Updates

The system updates the RAG status of all items once the time shift is complete: 

1. RAG Status is reset on tasks:
   • Red or Amber tasks are automatically reset to Grey. Old warning states are no longer relevant since dates have changed.
   • Green, Blue, or Grey tasks remain unchanged.
2. Task RAG status is re-evaluated:
   • System evaluates all shifted Grey tasks against account-configured Amber or Red rules, based on the new task dates.
   • RAG status of tasks that are overdue or approaching deadlines updates immediately.
   • The account-configured Amber or Red rules run based on today's date. This process will update tasks which passed the rules threshold in the past as well. 
3. RAG status of task groups and projects is updated based on the new task statuses. See Automatic RAG Status Calculation for Projects, Task Groups, Tasks, and Departments for more information on how this is calculated.