Overview
This jQuery plugin uses the Canvas drawing API introduced in HTML5 to render timeline widgets. The idea is to take some dull input data, such as a table of dates, and transform this into a rich, interactive element with minimal effort.
Features include
- Supports periods as well as events
- Scale to years, decades, centuries, milliennia
- Scroll by keyboard, mouse regions, custom events
- Support for custom event handlers
- Customisable appearance and style
For an exhaustive list, check the wiki.
Roadmap
Here are some things I'd like to do with the plugin:
- soonAdd support for zooming in further
- very soonAdd support for dates < 100 AD/CE
- Selective event loading via AJAX
- Testing/development for mobile devices and iPads.
For more details on what is planned and when, check out the wiki.
Usage
These instructions should help you get started with the plugin, as well as how to customise it, and develop on top. If you have a question that isn't covered here, check the Support page.
Install
Tweak
Extend
Download
Changelog
Support
Some commonly asked questions and their answers can be found on this page. There's also a lot of information on daily usage in the documentation. If you're still stuck, drop me a message and I'll get back to you when I can.
Questions and some answers
Why are you using jQuery?
Honestly, it's been so long since I last wrote JavaScript without jQuery that I'd have difficulty. More importantly though, jQuery's plugin structure and extensions offered a nice way for me to offer up parts of the plugin to extension and customisation without having to make any blood sacrifices.
Why doesn't this use SVG?
Simple answer: I wanted to try Canvas. Maybe sometime in the future I will want to try SVG?
What alternatives are available?
Most prominent is the SIMILE timeline widget, which has an active community of developers, and seems to have a tremendous amount of functionality. The HEML-cocoon project can also produce timeline output in SVG form, and there is a MediaWiki extension by Markus Szumovski.
Why does it look so ugly/funny/boring?
Functionality was my main focus for the initial release, and will be for a few minor updates after that I expect. I'm also a programmer rather than a designer. However, I am working on some theming functionality, and welcome design input from those less pixel-challenged than myself.
Why doesn't it do X?
Maybe I haven't got round to it, or haven't thought of it. If you send me a good, detailed suggestion, I will consider adding it at some point. There is a to-do list here. Of course, you are more than welcome to build on top yourself!