Using the timeline

Adding events

Double-click empty space

Adds an event there. It starts as a period sized to suit the zoom; choose Moment in the panel for a single point in time.

Shift + drag across empty space

Sweeps out a period, from where you press to where you let go.

Add event

In the toolbar, adds a period in the middle of the view, on the first free row.

A new event opens the panel on the right, ready for you to type its name.

Moving and resizing

Drag an event

Moves it in time, or up and down to another row. Everything linked to it moves the same distance.

Drag either end of a period

Changes its start or its end. Events linked to that end follow; the other end stays put.

Shift + drag an event

Moves it on its own, leaving the events linked to it where they are and changing the gaps between them.

Hold Alt while dragging

Ignores Snap to, so an event can land between the steps it would otherwise jump to.

An event anchored to its date can't be moved or resized by dragging, and nothing linked to it moves in time either, though it can still change rows. Its dates can still be typed in the panel. Changed your mind? Ctrl + Z undoes it.

Getting around

Scroll wheel

Scrolls up and down through the rows.

Shift + scroll wheel

Moves back and forth in time.

Ctrl + scroll wheel, or pinch

Zooms in and out around the pointer. Scrolling over the ruler along the top zooms too.

Drag empty space

Moves the view in any direction. Drag the ruler to move through time alone.

Swipe with two fingers

On a trackpad, moves the view in any direction.

Fit

In the toolbar, zooms to show every event at once.

The date under the pointer shows at the right of the toolbar, only as precisely as the zoom allows: to the minute when you're zoomed right in, and to the nearest few years (“c. 1450 BC”) when you're zoomed far out.

Selecting

Click an event

Selects it and shows its details in the panel on the right. The round button on the panel's edge opens and shuts the panel.

Click empty space, or Esc

Clears the selection.

Delete or Backspace

Deletes the selected event.

On someone else's public timeline you can look around, select events and read their notes, but not change anything.

The event panel

Everything about the selected event, from the top of the panel down.

Title

The event's name, as it appears on the canvas.

Category

A Period runs from a start to an end; a Moment is a single point in time.

Precision

How finely the dates are known, from the year down to the minute. The date fields show only that much, so “539 BC” never turns into “Jan 1, 539 BC”.

Certainty

Choose Uncertain to say how much earlier (−) or later (+) the start and the end could be. A period's uncertainty can't be longer than the period itself: it shows how far a date might move, not a rival chronology.

Start, End and Duration

Type a date, or a length to move the end. The end can't come before the start; typing a start after the end moves the whole period later instead.

Color

Pick one of the swatches, or More colors for the rest.

Note

Your reasoning, explanation or references. Tick Show this note on the canvas to open it there too.

Anchor

Holds the event to its date, so no drag can move it, or anything linked to it.

Link

Ties the event to another, so the two move as one. Say how they're related in a sentence: “This event's start is 4 years after the start of Reign of Solomon.” Each link is listed with Edit and Remove link; switching Link off removes them all.

Delete event

Asks first. Ctrl + Z brings it back.

Reading the canvas

A bar

A period, from its start to its end.

A dot

A moment: a single point in time.

Banded ends

How much earlier or later a start or end could be, beyond the bar or inside it. The solid outline is the best guess.

A whisker

How much earlier or later a moment could be.

A name under its bar

There's no room for the name inside its bar or beside it, so it hangs underneath, from a small tick at the start of the bar.

A dark corner

There's no room for the name anywhere near this bar. Point at the bar to see the name and dates, or zoom in. Pointing works the same for any name that's cut short.

Note

The event has a note. Click the icon to show or hide it on the canvas. While the note is showing, the icon has a ring around it.

Anchor

The event is anchored to its date. Dragging won't move or resize it, or move anything linked to it.

Link

The event is linked to others, and moves with them. The note and anchor icons take their event's color, but a link icon takes its group's, so every event that moves together shares one color. Point at the icon to see the whole group's links — dashed for this event's own, dotted for the rest — and click it to list them or remove one.

Sharing and layers

Share

Make the timeline public and copy its link. Anyone can then view it, search it by text or date, lay it over their own, or import it.

Layers

Lay a public timeline over yours to compare them. It stays read-only and can be switched off at any time. Import copies its events into yours for good, with the original author credited.

Save a copy

On someone else's public timeline, makes a copy of your own that you can change.

Your work saves as you go. Without an account it's kept in this browser only; Save to an account keeps it for good. Sharing, importing and saving a copy need an account.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use ⌘ for Ctrl and Option for Alt. Shortcuts wait while you're typing in a field.