Lanes, markers, and panels

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Lanes, Markers, and Panels

    Lanes, markers, and panels are essential components of timeline visualizations in ServiceNow, specifically in 2D and 3D views. These elements help organize and display activities and project data effectively, allowing users to visualize timelines clearly.

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    Key Features

    • Lanes: Channels that group activities, with a maximum of eight lanes visible simultaneously. Users can manage visibility through the Settings pane.
    • Markers: Horizontal lines indicating transitions to the next month, applicable only in the 3D view.
    • Panels: Color-coded representations of records, with distinct behaviors in 2D and 3D views. In 2D, panels are stacked by month, while in 3D, they are organized in lanes by date.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing lanes, markers, and panels, ServiceNow customers can:

    • Effectively visualize project timelines and statuses.
    • Access detailed information about individual or multiple records through interactive panels.
    • Customize the display settings to meet specific visualization needs.

    To fully utilize these features, ensure the PPM plugin is activated for access to the CIO Roadmap. The timeline administrator can further tailor the information displayed in summary windows for enhanced user experience.

    Lanes, markers, and panels are the fundamental elements of a timeline visualization. appear in the 3D view only.

    Note:
    Lanes and markers are available in the 3D view only. A panel in the 2D view always represents a single record, while panels in 3D view may represent one or more records.

    Lanes

    A lane is a channel in which activities are grouped. A visualization can display up to eight lanes at a time. While viewing a visualization, you can use the Settings pane to show or hide individual lanes.
    Note:
    The number of items displayed in a lane depends on the Max items per lane and Max items per lane 2d settings on Timeline Visualization form.

    Markers

    Markers are horizontal lines that cross all lanes and identify a transition to the next month.

    Panels

    Panels in both 2D and 3D views are color coded according to values that the administrator selects during the initial setup.

    3D panel

    2D panel

    In 2D view, panels are grouped by month and stacked in chronological order, from the earliest date to the latest date. By default, the 2D view opens with the current month displayed on the left side of the visualization. You can print visualizations from the 2D view using the browser's print option. In 3D view, panels are grouped in lanes and ordered by date, from earliest to latest. The date that appears on the panel determines its placement in 2D and 3D view. The date displayed is based on a value the timeline administrator selects during initial setup.

    Panels appear in the CIO Roadmap according to the planned completion date for the project. In 3D view, projects with the same planned date of completion are consolidated into a single panel. In 2D view, projects with the same planned date of completion are displayed as individual panels.

    Panel headers in the CIO Roadmap are color coded based on project state. However, in 3D view, if a panel represents more than one project, the panel header is colored black. The Settings pane contains a key showing each available project state and the corresponding color.

    Note:
    Activating timeline visualizations doesn't activate predefined CIO roadmap. You require PPM (com.snc.financial_planning_pmo) plugin to use CIO roadmap.
    To view additional information about a panel:
    • Click a panel for a single record while in 2D or 3D view to open a summary window that contains additional information. Click the heading in the summary window to open the full record.
    • Press the Shift key and then click a panel to open the full record.
    • Click a panel that represents multiple records to open a list of those records. Click a record number to open the full record.

    The timeline administrator can configure the information that appears in summary windows.