Lanes, markers, and panels

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Lanes, markers, and panels

    Lanes, markers, and panels are the core components of timeline visualizations in ServiceNow, primarily used to organize and display activities over time. These elements are integral to understanding project timelines and statuses, especially within the CIO Roadmap feature.

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    Key Features

    • Lanes: Channels that group activities, with up to eight lanes visible simultaneously in 3D view. Users can customize lane visibility via the Settings pane. The number of items shown per lane is controlled by settings on the Timeline Visualization form.
    • Markers: Horizontal lines crossing all lanes that denote month transitions, aiding chronological orientation within the timeline.
    • Panels: Represent records and differ between views:
      • 2D view: Panels represent single records, grouped and stacked by month in chronological order, defaulting to the current month on the left. Panels can be printed directly via the browser.
      • 3D view: Panels can represent one or multiple records, organized within lanes by date. Projects sharing the same planned completion date are consolidated into a single panel, which is colored black if representing multiple projects.

    Practical Usage and Configuration

    • The date determining panel placement is set by the timeline administrator during setup, commonly the planned completion date for projects.
    • Panel headers in the CIO Roadmap are color-coded by project state, with a key available in the Settings pane.
    • Interacting with panels provides access to detailed information:
      • Clicking a single-record panel opens a summary window with further details and links to the full record.
      • Shift-clicking a panel opens the full record directly.
      • Clicking a multi-record panel lists all records, with individual record access via record numbers.
    • Timeline administrators can customize the information displayed in summary windows.
    • Note that activating timeline visualizations does not automatically enable the CIO Roadmap; the PPM plugin (com.snc.financialplanningpmo) is required.

    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

    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.