Users report that the topic timeline is missing on topics without replies, leaving blank space on the right side, which can be confusing—especially when the post is long enough to require scrolling. Moin notes this inconsistency affects usability, as the reply count and action buttons are sometimes hidden below the fold, and the empty space suggests something is missing. supermathie and Arkshine explain this is intentional: the timeline is hidden for short topics (under ~1000px) to reduce visual noise, since it offers no useful information without replies. However, Arkshine acknowledges the issue on larger screens and suggests showing the timeline once the post exceeds ~450–500px in height for better consistency. JammyDodger escalated the issue to the UX team. Separately, manuel notes that the timeline tooltip sometimes appears incorrectly on reply-less topics, and Moin references a related topic requesting the tooltip be shown only on topics with replies. The core issue centers on visual consistency and user expectation when the timeline is hidden, even if technically unnecessary.
I noticed there is just white space on the right
To reproduce visit a topic without replies like Indicate which themes and components are safe to use with RTL locales or another one without replies. As long as this topic has no reply you can also see it here. I have the impression that the topic should not be too long. Long topics had a timeline.
I’m fairly certain the timeline is not so much “missing” as “deliberately not shown” for short topics to reduce the noise onscreen.
EDIT: ah, ok, for topics without replies. Once a reply appears, it shows up:
I can’t envision any reason to change this - there’s no information imparted by the timeline on a topic with no replies.
I believe this is by design! 
If there is one post, and its height goes below 1000px, it doesn’t show the timeline.
It makes sense to me. Especially for short posts, the timeline height is enforced to 300px; it won’t look good and has little usefulness here.
That said, I understand that for (visual) consistency, I would not mind seeing one (even a shorter version). I think 
Your example makes sense to me too. But for a topic where I have to scroll to read the full post, it is confusing. How do I know that it is missing because the post is “short” and there is no reply?
The first information for me is the number of replies. There are also two buttons. At some topics I have to scroll to use the buttons at the end and at other topics they are below the timeline. If there is no reason to put them there, you could always scroll down to reach them.
My first post here was also to short, but the timeline easily fits next to it
For me the blank space at the right indicates something is missing. Maybe the post notice and the text should not leave space for the timeline, when it does not show? Then it would not seem something is missing. (But I think the wrench is shown on all topics, so for some users the space is used)
Good point 
I’ve tested it on a large screen. For sure you are not going to have the same behavior on a tablet or small screen. I did not think about it.
I agree with you. 
EDIT: I think it would be a safe bet to show the timeline as soon as the post height goes beyond the timeline height + some margin. So ~450/500px maybe.
I’ve slipped this over to Contribute > UX
On a related note there’s a tooltip popup as well explaining the timeline feature, but it sometimes shows on the welcome topic when there’s no replies. And thus there’s no timeline.
There is also a separate topic
