Bulk Editor

Preceden's Bulk Editor lets you quickly add and edit events on your timeline:

The Bulk Editor's spreadsheet-style view, listing the events in a Diagnose layer and a Design layer with columns for name, start date, end date, color, icon and notes

You can find it by clicking the Bulk Editor button in the timeline editor (if you don't see it, you're likely using a device with a small screen size; try switching to a desktop, where the Bulk Editor is easier to use).

Adding Events and Layers

Click + Add Event at the bottom of a layer to start a new event in it, or + Add Layer at the bottom of the editor to start a new layer. Preceden saves a new event once you move out of its row, and a new layer once you give it a name. If your timeline doesn't have any events yet, the Bulk Editor opens with a blank row ready for your first one.

Key Details Only

The Bulk Editor lets you set the following key details about events:

Name (required)
Start Date (required)
End Date
Color
Icon
Notes

To indicate whether the start or end date is approximate, you can add a tilde (~) before the actual date: ~March 3, 2021.

The following event details cannot be set with the Bulk Editor:

Image
Connections
Percent Complete
Milestone
Dependencies

Similarly, the only thing you can set about a layer is its name.

If you need to set any of these other options, you can edit the event or layer outside the Bulk Editor (by clicking on it in the timeline).

An event that starts when another event ends (a dependent) shows (dependent) in place of its start date, and you can't change that date in the Bulk Editor.

Automatic Syncing

As you make changes to events and layers, Preceden will automatically save those changes. You can tell that it's saving by the presence of the green spinner after you change a field.

If all went well, the spinner will be followed by a green check when the update is complete:

An animation of edits being saved in the Bulk Editor, with a green sync spinner appearing to the left of the event name

If there's a problem (like you entered a date that Preceden doesn't recognize) it will show you a red error icon to the left of the name. You can hover over it to learn about the issue:

An animation of a red error icon beside an event name, whose tooltip reads that the start date Friday is not a supported date format

While a change is saving, the Bulk Editor's close button is disabled, so wait for the check before closing it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

A few keyboard shortcuts are worth knowing in the Bulk Editor:

Enter will normally move to the name of the next row in the editor. If you press it in the last event in a layer, it's the same as clicking + Add Event to start creating another event. If you press it in a blank new event row, it'll take you to the name of the next layer if there is one. This lets you move through your timeline's content quickly:

An animation of Enter moving down the name column of the Diagnose layer, adding a blank event row at the end and then continuing into the Design layer below

Pressing Enter in a layer's name moves you to its first event, or starts a new event if the layer is empty.

Tab lets you move forward to the next field:

An animation of Tab moving focus one field at a time along a row and on into the next event, highlighting each date value as it lands

Similarly, Shift + Tab will move you to the previous field.

You can use the Up arrow and Down arrow to move to the same field in the previous or next event.

The Keyboard Shortcuts link at the bottom of the Bulk Editor lists these whenever you need a reminder.

There's currently no way to change the color, icon, or notes using keyboard shortcuts, but if that would be helpful, let us know at [email protected].

Reordering Layers

You can reorder layers by clicking the grip icon beside a layer's name and dragging it into a new position:

An animation of the Design layer being dragged by the grip icon beside its name into a new position above the Diagnose layer

Preceden saves the new order automatically, and it is reflected on your timeline when you leave the Bulk Editor.

Reordering Events

You can reorder events in a similar way:

An animation of the Process Alignment event being dragged to the top of the Diagnose layer's event list

However, unlike layers, the event order here has no impact on anything outside the Bulk Editor. The order on your timeline is governed by other factors (like the event's dates and whether you've dragged and dropped it into a new position), and the order in the list below your timeline is based on the events' dates. Reordering events in the Bulk Editor exists only to make the events easier to organize while you are editing them.

That said, you can use the reorder events feature to move an event from one layer to another, which does change the event's layer on your timeline.

Deleting Content

When you hover over a layer or event, you'll see a red X on the right that you can click to delete that event or layer.

There is no confirmation for deleting an event (which makes it easier to delete multiple events quickly):

An animation of a Stakeholder Comms event being deleted from the Develop layer by clicking the red X at the end of its row, with no confirmation step

The X is greyed out on an event that has dependents, and hovering over it explains why. To delete that event, open it from your timeline and click Delete; Preceden then gives each of its dependents a fixed start date matching its end date.

But if you try to delete a layer with events in it, Preceden will ask you to confirm you want to delete it (since accidentally deleting a layer and all of its events can cost you a lot of time):

A confirmation dialog asking whether you really want to delete the layer Design and all of its events, with Yes and No buttons

Feedback Wanted

We'd love any feedback or feature requests you may have. Send any questions, comments or feedback to [email protected]. Thanks!