Service Edit Vs. Timeline Edit

When overseeing Service records, adjustments become necessary to maintain the current accuracy in documented Service data. These adjustments span various tasks, like integrating Vendor Contract modifications, adjusting pricing, updating pickup schedules, altering Vendor Accounts, or terminating a Service, among other actions. Rectifying setup or data entry errors in Service documentation might also be required. Effectively managing these adjustments doesn't just enhance data accuracy but also greatly impacts the overall quality of service offered to clients.

Service adjustments are of two distinct types:

  • Service Edit: Adjust details of the Service resulting from natural changes over time.
  • Timeline Edit: To correct errors entered during Service creation or during a previous Service Edit.

Understanding the differences here are key to which procedure you follow to apply the proper edit.

Service Edits

Given that Services regularly evolve and adapt naturally over time, the necessity to edit a Service should occur more frequently than requiring a Timeline edit. To apply a Service Edit please see the How Do I Edit a Service documentation.

Timeline Events

Timeline events are centered around the core concept of the Service Timeline, offering a chronological record of the Service's evolution. This Timeline traces the Service's journey from its inception, capturing every Service Edit made, and culminating in its current state. Each Service Edit type is logged as an event in the Timeline, featuring the date and the individual responsible for the alteration. This meticulous documentation provides clear insights into when modifications were made to the Service and precisely what was changed.

The Service Timeline pane can be found on any Service (Active, Pending Activation or Terminated) on the right-hand side of the page.

You can utilize the Timeline to view how the Service appeared after each Service Edit event. Follow the steps below to view how the Service looked on any given event date:

  1. First click on the View All button.

By default, the Service details on the left appear as they do according to the most recent event. The most recent event is always at the top of the Timeline. Edit events then display chronologically in the Timeline from top to bottom.

  1. To see how the Service appeared on any given event date, simply click on the orange event date button. Here, we clicked on the 05/01/2024 date button. As a result, we can see how the service appeared on that event date.

In this case, the bin was picked up six times per week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Clicking on the most recent event date button (09/01/2024), we can see that the pickup schedule was changed to Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

This is a typical example demonstrating how the Timeline preserves a service's edit history for future reference, aiding in understanding its evolution over time.

Timeline Edits

When a data entry error or any other mistake occurs during the setup of a Service or while making a Service edit, a Timeline Edit then becomes necessary. A Timeline Edit simply corrects a mistake or errant data to make it appear as if it were correct all along. A timeline edit is not used to amend natural changes that occur within a Service.

To make a Timeline Edit, follow these steps using the same example Service above:


  1. When on a Service detail page, click on the View All button in the Timeline pane.

  1. Click on the Edit button on the Timeline event that needs a correction. Here we're choosing the Creation Service event date as this Service was created using the wrong Bin Size.

  1. On the resulting Edit Service Creation screen, enter a new Bin Size.

  1. Provide Internal Change Notes.

  1. Click Submit Change.
  2. You will be taken back to the Service detail page and will see a message at the top stating the Service is currently rebuilding. This means that Discovery is rebuilding that Timeline event to reflect the correction.

  1. If there are any more recent Service Edits in the Timeline of the same Type, these will need to be edited similarly as the original error is recorded in each of these as well. Simply repeat steps 3-5 for each qualifying Service Edit.

Note: The Creating Service event is inclusive of most all other Types of Service Edits. If you make a Timeline Edit on the Creating Service event, one or more succeeding Timeline event Types may need to be edited to include the correction depending on the nature of the correction.

If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.