ActivityTimeline helps you answer three key questions:
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How much work is planned?
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Do we have enough time to complete it?
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How much work has actually been done?
To do this, the app uses three connected concepts:
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Workload — planned work
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Capacity — available time
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Worklogs — actual work
Understanding how these work together is essential for planning and reporting in ActivityTimeline.
Workload (Planned Work)
Workload is the amount of estimated work assigned to a person for a selected period.
It is based on:
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Jira issue estimates (hours or story points),
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custom events such as bookings or placeholders.
When you assign and schedule a task, its estimate is distributed across the selected dates and added to the person’s workload.
The workload indicator shown under each resource is one of the fastest ways to review this.
For the workload indicator to display the workload, tasks assigned to the resource must be estimated. ActivityTimeline can read both hours and story points estimation (if conversion factor is determined).
You can learn more about the workload indicator in our documentation: Workload Indicator
Capacity (Available Time)
Capacity is the amount of time a person is available to work.
It is calculated based on:
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involvement (for example, 8 hours per day),
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time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays).
Involvement can be set for the organization as a whole or individually for each resource and each day.
You can manage individual involvement for each resource in his/her User Management page under Configuration → Users:
Worklogs (Actual Work)
Worklogs represent the time that was actually spent on work.
They come from:
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time logged in Jira,
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time logged directly in ActivityTimeline.
Worklogs are used to track real effort and compare it with what was originally planned.
Worklogs are viewed in Timesheet module but can also be displayed on the individual timeline in Planner when Worklogs & Workload mode is enabled.
Worklogs items are available in ActivityTimeline in read-only format on the Planner.
In the Workspace they can be drag’n’dropped or re-sized like Jira issues.
Why This Matters
These three concepts are always used together.
1. Workload vs Capacity → Planning
ActivityTimeline compares workload with capacity to show whether a person is:
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overloaded (too much work),
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underloaded (not enough work),
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or balanced.
This helps you distribute work more effectively.
2. Workload vs Worklogs → Accuracy
Comparing planned work with actual work helps you understand:
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whether estimates are accurate,
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where time is being underestimated or overestimated,
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how planning can be improved.