Help
How to use Timeline Traveler
This page shows how to make a timeline, add events, move around it, play it and share it. You can start without an account.
Start a timeline
- Open the editor. The page is called My timelines.
- Choose + New timeline for an empty timeline.
- Or open Start from a set of lanes or a gallery timeline. A set of lanes gives you an empty timeline with lanes already named. A gallery timeline gives you a private copy to change.
Until you sign in, your timelines are stored only in this browser. If you clear your browser data, they are deleted. When you sign in, the timelines you made in this browser move to your account.
To copy a timeline from Explore, open it and choose Use as template.
Use the AI
- Make a new, empty timeline. The AI panel opens on the right.
- Type a subject, for example “The Apollo program”. Then press Enter.
- Wait for the draft. This can take a minute or two.
- Read the events the AI proposes. Choose Add to put them on your timeline, or Discard.
The AI makes a first draft. Check the dates and the sources before you share the timeline. To open the AI panel again, click the gold AI tab on the right edge of the timeline. You can also use the arrow beside Add event and choose Draft with AI.
Change a timeline with AI
In a timeline that has events, type what you want changed. The AI proposes the changes. Nothing changes until you choose Apply. You can ask it to:
- Add, change or delete events, and move them to other lanes or inside other events.
- Star events, set their tags and add sources.
- Add a picture, video or map to an event from a link you give it.
- Add, rename, colour, hide, reorder or merge lanes.
- Change the title, description, time zone and other settings of the timeline.
- Make a tour. It chooses the stops and writes a caption for each one.
- Show a part of the timeline, for example “Show me 1969”. The view moves at once.
You can also ask a question, such as “Which events have no sources?” If an event is open, you can call it “this event”. To ask for many new events on a subject, such as “Add the main battles of the war”, type that. The AI makes a draft for you to review.
The AI cannot upload files, share the timeline, download it or import a spreadsheet. Use the controls on this page for those.
Make events from documents
With Creator or Pro, you can make events from PDFs, EPUBs, Word files, web pages or text you paste. Choose Documents in the AI panel, add your documents, then choose Build events.
AI credits
AI requests use credits from your plan. The AI panel shows how many credits you have left this month. Without an account, you can make one AI draft. The pricing page says how many credits each plan includes.
Free AI has a monthly limit for the whole site. If free accounts and visitors use all of it, they can use AI again next month (UTC). With Creator or Pro, you can still use AI.
Add and change events
- Zoom to about the time when the event happened.
- Double-click an empty part of the timeline. Or choose Add event at the top, or press N.
- Type the title. Press Enter to go to the next field.
- Type the date in Starts. If the event lasts for a period, type the end in Ends.
- Choose Done.
To change an event, click it. The event panel opens. These fields are also in the event panel:
- Description. You can use **bold**, *italic* and links.
- Lane. The row the event is in.
- Importance. When a lane is crowded, more important events get a card first.
- Star. A starred event shows larger. You can star up to 3 events.
- Tags. Words for search and filters.
- Part of. Puts the event inside a bigger event. It appears when you zoom into the bigger event.
- Sources. Paste a link for each source.
- Media. Paste a YouTube, picture, article or map link. If you are signed in, you can also choose Upload a picture.
To delete the open event, choose Delete or press Delete. To undo, press Ctrl + Z (⌘ + Z on a Mac), or choose Undo at the top. The editor saves your changes as you work.
Type dates and times
Type a date the way you would write it. A line below the field shows how the editor reads it. These forms work:
| Type | For |
|---|---|
| June 6 1944 06:30 | A day and a time |
| 1944-06-06 | A day, written as year-month-day |
| June 1944 | A month |
| 1960s | A decade |
| 19th century | A century |
| 44 BC | A year before the common era |
| c. 1200 | An approximate year |
| 65 mya | Millions of years ago (also kya and bya) |
- In Ends, you can type a length instead of a date, such as “+3 days” or “for 6 years”.
- Clock times use the time zone of the timeline. To change it, open Timeline settings and choose a Display timezone.
- To give one event a different time zone, type the zone after the time, such as “June 6 1944 06:30 UTC”.
Use lanes
A lane is a row of events on the same time axis, such as one lane for each country or each person.
- To add, rename, colour or reorder lanes, choose Lanes at the top of the editor.
- To move an event to another lane, open the event and change Lane.
- To remove a lane that has events, choose Remove. Then choose a lane for its events, or delete them with the lane.
- To show only one lane, click its name on the timeline. Click the name again to show every lane.
In a lane, events that follow each other, such as reigns or eras, sit side by side when each one is wide enough on screen to hold its card. If an event starts before the one before it ends, it goes below it.
An event can be part of an event in another lane. Its card then has a stripe down its left edge in the colour of that lane. When you point to the card or select it, the timeline highlights the event it is part of.
Zoom and move around
When you zoom in, more events appear. When an event with events inside it is wide enough on screen, it opens to show them. An open event inside another open event hangs from its title bar on a short hooked line.
- To zoom, scroll the mouse wheel or pinch with two fingers.
- To move along the timeline, drag it.
- To see every event, choose Fit everything on the toolbar at the bottom, or press F.
- To zoom to an event, double-click it.
- To keep an open event closed at every zoom, click the arrow at the right end of its title bar. Or open the event and choose Hide events inside.
- To open it again, double-click it, or open it and choose Show events inside.
- To find an event, choose Search and filter or press /. Then choose a result.
- To show only the events with a tag, choose Search and filter, then choose the tag. The events inside each match show too. To leave them out, clear Also show the events inside matches.
- To shorten long periods with no events, choose Close long empty stretches on the toolbar.
The period on screen is shown at the top left. To see every keyboard shortcut in the editor, press ?. The keys work after you click the timeline.
Play a timeline
- Choose Play on the toolbar at the bottom.
- Choose Tour to go through a few chosen events, or Every event in order to see all of them.
- To start where you are looking now, choose From here first.
While it plays, press Space to pause and the arrow keys to go back or forward. Press Esc to stop. Choose Read aloud to hear each event in the voice of your browser.
To choose the stops of the tour and write a caption for each one, choose Play, then Edit the tour.
Your account
- To sign in, go to Sign in. You can continue with Google, get a code by email, or use a password.
- To change your email address or password, or to delete your account, open your account page.
- To change or cancel a paid plan, open the account menu at the top right and choose Manage billing.
If something on this page does not match what you see, write to support@timelinetraveler.com.