Baseline Tracking
TL;DR
Baselines in Wrike capture the original project timeline, so you can compare it with current dates, track delays, and report on schedule changes across Gantt Chart, Table view, Dashboards, Filters, and Analyze. Use baselines as your main benchmark, and use snapshots as checkpoints. To set a baseline, users need the Set baseline permission in both User Types and Access Roles.
| Availability: Business, Pinnacle, Apex. ; Unavailability: Free, Team; |
All users, except for Collaborators, Contributors, and Viewers, can set baselines unless this is restricted by their access role or user type.
A baseline is the original timeline for a project. It gives you a fixed point of comparison, so you can see if work is on track, ahead of schedule, or delayed.In Wrike, you can set one baseline for a folder, project, or task and its subitems. Once it’s recorded, baseline data becomes available across Wrike in Gantt Chart, Table view, Dashboards, Analyze, filters.
When you record a baseline, Wrike stores these values:
Baseline start date: The original planned start date of the item at the time the baseline was recorded.
Baseline due date: The original planned finish date of the item at the time the baseline was recorded.
Baseline duration: The original planned length of the item based on the recorded baseline dates.
Baseline due variance: A formula field that shows the difference between the current due date and the baseline due date.
Wrike creates Baseline due variance automatically, so you can quickly compare the current schedule with the original plan.
You can set a baseline from Table view or Gantt Chart.
- Navigate to a specific folder, project or a space.
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Switch to Table view or Gantt chart view.
From Table view:
Click the three-dot menu 1 in the toolbar and select Set baseline 2 from the drop-down menu.
From Gantt view:
Click the three-dot menu 1 in the toolbar and select Set baseline 2 from the drop-down menu.
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In the pop-up:
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Choose the source for the baseline 3:
- From current state: uses the current dates of tasks and projects.
- From history: specifies the past dates for tasks and projects.
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Choose how the baseline should apply 4:
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Current item and all its subitems: use this to set a new baseline or reset an existing one.
Note
This action overwrites any existing baseline values for the selected items, including nested subitems that aren’t visible in this view. You can’t undo it.
- Only items without a baseline: use this when new work was added and you want to baseline only the new items.
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Click Set baseline 5 to confirm your changes.
Note
Recording baselines may take longer for large projects.
In Gantt Chart view, you can show or hide the baseline layer. Click the three-dot menu 1, then select Baseline 2 to show on the chart to compare planned dates with current dates.
The baseline layer appears as a dark line on task bars 3. If a task shifts from its baseline, Wrike shows a dotted line 4, so you can quickly see, where the baseline is and which direction it moved, even when it falls outside the visible task bar area.
When an item is delayed compared with its baseline, its bar appears in red on the Gantt timeline if you’ve enabled Baseline delay warnings. By default, Wrike highlights any delay, but you can adjust the threshold by clicking Configure delay warnings.
Click the Fields button 5 in the toolbar, then turn on the baseline fields 6. In the table portion, these fields show start and due dates, as well as baseline due variance for tasks that have shifted or been delayed compared with the baseline 7.
You can control when Wrike highlights delayed items in Gantt Chart.
- Open Gantt Chart 1.
- Click the three-dot menu 2 in the toolbar.
- Select Configure delay warnings 3 from the drop-down.
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Enter the delay threshold 4 you want to view.
By default, Wrike highlights delays starting at 1 day. You can change this to highlight only larger delays, such as 10 days or more.
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Click Set 5.
Items that are delayed by at least the specified amount of days or longer are highlighted in red. You can turn red highlighting for delayed tasks on or off by clicking the three-dot menu and selecting Baseline delay warnings.
Wrike recommends using baselines as your main project benchmark. Baselines let you compare your current schedule with the original plan and spot delays quickly.
Use snapshots to capture progress at different stages of a project. A Gantt Chart snapshot creates a static record of how the Gantt Chart looked at a specific moment for a folder, project, or space.
Use baselines when you want to:
- Track your project against the original plan.
- Compare planned dates with current dates.
- Report on baseline data and access it outside of Gantt Chart, while snapshots are available only in Gantt Chart.
Use snapshots when you want to:
- Save the state of a project at a specific point in time.
Tip
Use a baseline as your official plan, and use snapshots as checkpoints throughout the project.
- Open the relevant project, folder, or space in Gantt Chart.
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Create a Gantt Chart snapshot or to view the past snapshots created for your project by:
- Click the Public sharing icon.
- Select Share public snapshot.
- Open the Past snapshots tab.
- Click the snapshot you want to view.
Wrike shows the selected snapshot on the chart as a grayed-out schedule, so you can compare it with the current timeline and see how tasks moved or were rescheduled.
When you set a baseline in Table view, the baseline fields appear automatically. You can show or hide them at any time from the Fields menu by turning the baseline field toggles on or off.
Owners and Admins can edit baseline field settings and configure the values used in those fields.
- Click the three-dot menu next to a field name.
- Update the custom field settings.
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Edit formula fields by changing the rules and values.
Tip
You can create additional formula fields to monitor more baseline-based metrics. For example, to track Baseline duration variance, create a formula field with [Duration] - [Baseline duration]. This shows how much an item’s current duration differs from its baseline duration.
You can use baseline fields anywhere custom fields are supported. This makes it easier to track schedule changes, build reports, and monitor project performance across your workspace.
You can filter by baseline fields in any view that supports filtering.
Use baseline field values to narrow down items based on planned dates, duration, or variance.
You can use baseline fields in dashboard widgets the same way you use other custom fields.
For example, you can create:
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A Table widget that shows baseline values for selected tasks or projects.
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A Chart widget that visualizes baseline data, such as due date variance or duration variance.
This helps you track baseline performance and spot schedule changes more easily.
Tip
You can also create a formula field to calculate the percentage of duration delay compared to the baseline: ([Duration]-[Baseline duration])/[Baseline duration]. This is especially useful for reporting, because you can use this formula in Dashboard widgets to analyze average duration slippage across tasks, for example by item type, assignee, or other parameters.
Note
If the Design tab doesn’t include an option to switch the display from hours to days, add the Duration metric, change the display format to days, and then remove the Duration metric from the view.
Users need both of these permissions to record baselines:
- Set baseline permission enabled in User Types.
- Set baseline permission enabled in Access Roles.
If one of these permissions is missing, the user can’t record a baseline.
Account owners and admins have the ability to manage these permissions in account settings.
- Click your profile image in the sidebar 1.
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Select Settings 2 from the drop-down.
- Click User Types 3.
- Under Categories, select Folders and Projects 4.
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Turn on the Set baseline toggles 5 for the relevant user types.
Note
By default, this permission is enabled for admins and regular users.
- Click Access roles 6 and select folders and projects.
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Check the Set baseline boxes 7 for the relevant access roles.
Note
By default, this permission is enabled for Full and Editor roles, but you can change it based on your needs.
- There’s no limit to the number of items included in a baseline recording.
- For large projects, recording a baseline may take some time.
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Once a baseline is recorded, you can remove its records by clearing the baseline field values.
You can remove baseline records in either of these ways:
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In the table portion of Gantt Chart or in Table view, click a baseline field value and delete the data for all items.
Note
To clear a baseline field value for all items, users must have editing rights for those baseline fields. For details on configuring these permissions, see How to edit baseline field settings.
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When you set a baseline, select Project history as the source, and choose a past date when the project didn’t exist.
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