When I import a previously exported timeline, the Gantt looks very different. How to fix?

Jason North

Every horizontal line in the Gantt is blue... there are not dependency arrows, no milestones, etc... 

 

How do I fix this?  I should be able to export and re-import my timelines without losing information/functionality.  It's almost as if this limitation has been imposed to force people to upgrade, since I only get 10 timelines for the BASIC account.  Really??

Shaine Greenwood

Hello Jason, since Smartsheet exports to standard Excel and MS Project formats, certain features can't be preserved due to the differences between Smartsheet and the Microsoft apps.

 

Let me assure you that we don't provide a method to export/import that preserves all features on our higher tiered plans—this is strictly a programmatic limitation.

 

With that being said, you might need to enable dependencies in your sheet after importing it again to see those arrows. You can do this by right-clicking any column header and selecting Edit Project Settings. Check the box next to Enable Dependencies and ensure that the appropriate Start date, End date, Predecessors, and Duration columns are set—then click OK.

 

You may also need to either manually adjust the colors of the bars back to your liking after importing, or create any conditional formatting rules you may have been using for the colors to automatically adjust.