TimeLiner 5.0 ©
To Create a Time Line:
¯ Start/Programs/TimeLiner
¯ Click the New Time Line button
¯ Choose Time Line Type. The types available are:
· Standard: Standard time lines are the typical chronological time lines. A few examples of Standard time lines are: A Family History, Famous African-American Authors, Egyptian and Greek History, The Civil War, The Cold War, Vietnam, and The Presidents. The time of the event entered can be as general as 1500 or as specific as 4:32 AM, March 5, 1957.
· Yearly/Monthly: Yearly/Monthly time lines, such as a school year, are not anchored to any particular year. They can be a year long, or a month long.
· Weekly: Weekly time lines, such as a weekly schedule, are not set in any particular week. These time lines can show what occurs regularly on certain days of the week.
· Daily: Daily time lines, such as a class schedule, are not set on any particular day. These time lines can show what occurs regularly at certain times of the day.
· Geologic: Events in a Geologic time line can range from 100 billion years ago to zero (the present). Dates can be entered in different forms including: 1 million; 1,000,000; and 1 MYA (Million Years Ago). In a Geologic time line you can also prefix a year with a plus sign to indicate “in the future.”
· Custom: Custom time lines present non-time-based data such as temperature, distance, or percent. Custom time lines can have any label you choose to represent the units on the bottom axis. Some examples are: degrees, m.p.h., kilometers, and $. Choose Units in the Format menu to change the label of a Custom time line.
Putting the diameters of the planets and the sun in a Banner time line would be a good example of a Custom time line. This is a great way to show how big the planets are relative to each other and compared to the sun (which would be many, many, many pages towards the end of the banner). Custom time lines are great for showing concrete examples of information that can be quite abstract.
¯ Click OK.
¯ Data View opens and allows you to enter information. The Data View shows all of your data at all times, even if some events are hidden in other views. This is the
place to go for a “bird’s-eye view” of all of your time line information.
¯ The When column shows the date of an event. Some events may have a starting date and an ending date. To show both dates, simply choose Use Event Range in the Format menu. The When column will become the Start column, and an End column will be added.
¯ Press Tab.
¯ The What column is where you enter the information for an event.
¯ Press Enter to get another blank line. You can now type a new date and event.
To View a Time Line:
There are five different views in TimeLiner— Data, Banner, Compact, List, and Slideshow.
1. Data View shows all of your data at all times, even if some events are hidden in other views. This is the place to go for a “bird’s-eye view” of all of your time line information. There are as many as four columns in the Data View: Start, End (if you are using Event Range), What, and Category (if you have added any).
¯ Category: Identify events by themes. You can add as many categories as you want to a time line.
2. Banner View lets you quickly and easily create and print banner time lines containing all kinds of pictures, events, colors, flags, etc. that can be up to 100 pages long!
3. Compact View lets you create, view, and print time lines that range from one page to a multi-page poster. Single-page time lines are great for worksheets, tests, newsletters, papers, lesson plans, etc. Poster time lines are great for bulletin boards, as visuals for reports and presentations, and for displays in hallway,
classroom, auditorium, and home! Events in the Compact View are represented as points in time or ranges rather than flags, as in the Banner View.
¯ If you enter an event with a start date only, that event will be represented by an arrow.
¯ If you enter an event with a start and end date it will be represented by a bar.
4. List View allows you to create a vertical list of the events in your time line. As with the Banner and Compact Views, you can change the font, size, style, and color of any event in the list. You can also hide events in the list.
5. Slideshow View allows you to create a slideshow of your time line in which every event becomes a slide. This view is most useful if you have attached media elements to your events.
To switch between views, simply click the little icons near the top left of the screen. When you enter data it is entered automatically into all five views.
To Change the View of a Banner Time Line:
Banner time lines can be viewed in three sizes: 100%, 50%, and 25%. To change view size,
1. Click the icons in the lower left corner of the screen. Or
a. The left button zooms in, and
b. The right button zooms out.
2. Choose Zoom In and Zoom Out from the View menu.
The Clock Tools:
The main tools you will use in each view are located on the clock on the left
side of the screen. The clock also indicates the present time of day. Additional features are located in the format bar along the top of the screen and in the menu bar. The Banner View tools are:
1. New Event—click button to add a new event.
2. Delete—removes an event permanently. Click on the event you want to remove, then click the Delete button.
3. Edit—click on the event then click on the Edit button. Make changes and then click OK.
4. Graphic—click to select a graphic or picture from the gallery.
5. Label—add a title by clicking on the Label button, type in text and then click the OK button.
6. Expand—increase the width of the time line.
7. Compress—decrease the width of the time line.
8. Merge—merge another saved time line into the current time line. Click the Merge button and then select the desired file to merge.
9. Print—click to print the current view of the time line.
Customize Event Font, Color and Style:
1. A Single Event
¯ Click on the event, click Edit on the menu bar and click Choose Event Font (Ctrl + F) OR click the Change Font button.
¯ Change the Font, Font Style, Size, Effects and Color in the Font dialog box.
¯ Click the OK button.
2. All Events
¯ Click Edit on the menu bar and click Select All Events (Ctrl + A).
¯ Click Edit on the menu bar, click Choose Event Font.
¯ Change the Font, Font Style, Size, Effects and Color in the Font dialog box.
¯ Click the OK button.
Note: If events have been categorized you cannot change the Font, Font Style, Size or Color using the Select All Events option.
3. Multiple Events Not Next to Each Other or in a Category
¯ Hold the Ctrl key down while you select the events you wish to customize
¯ Click the Change Font button
¯ Change the Font, Font Style, Size, Effects and Color in the Font dialog box.
¯ Click the OK button.
4. Contiguous Events
¯ Click the first event, hold the Shift key down and click the last event in the group.
¯ Click the Change Font button.
¯ Change the Font, Font Style, Size, Effects and Color in the Font dialog box.
¯ Click the OK button.
Customize Styles:
In the Banner, Compact, and List Views, event styles can be modified.
In the Banner View, Choose Style will allow you to choose the style of your flags.
1. For a single event
¯ Select the event flag, click Edit on the menu bar, and then click Choose Style (Ctrl + Y), OR click the Edit Flag Style button. The Flag Style dialog box opens.
¯ Make changes to flag shape, text color, flag outline color and flag fill color.
¯ To change font, font style and size click on the Choose Font button.
¯ Click OK.
2. All events
¯ Select Edit on the menu bar, click Select All Events, then click Choose Style (Ctrl + Y), OR click the Edit Flag Style button. The Flag Style dialog box opens.
¯ Make changes to flag shape, text color, flag outline color and flag fill color.
¯ To change font, font style and size click on the Choose Font button.
¯ Click the OK button.
Note: If events have been categorized you cannot make changes using the Select All Events option without the change affecting all of a category.
3. Multiple Events Not Next to Each Other or in a Category
¯ Hold the Ctrl key down while you select the events you wish to customize
¯ Click the Edit Flag Style button. Make changes to flag shape, text color, flag outline color and flag fill color.
¯ To change font, font style and size click on the Choose Font button.
¯ Click the OK button.
4. Contiguous Events
¯ Click the first event, hold the Shift key down and click the last event in the group.
¯ Click the Edit Flag Style button. Make changes to flag shape, text color, flag outline color and flag fill color.
¯ To change font, font style and size click on the Choose Font button.
¯ Click the OK button.
In the Compact View, you may choose the style of the event range bar or event arrowhead.
¯ To select a single event, click on the event.
¯ To select all events, click on the first event, click Edit on the menu bar and click on Select All Events.
¯ To select multiple events not next to each other, click the first event, hold the Ctrl key then select all other events.
¯ To select contiguous events, click the first event, click the Shift key then click the last event.
¯ Click Edit on the menu bar then click Choose Style OR click the Edit Bar Style button. The Style dialog box opens.
¯ Make changes to Text Color, Outline Color, Fill Color or click the Choose Font button to make font changes.
¯ Click OK.
Note: If events have been categorized changes will affect all events in the category. All changes made are displayed in Compact View only.
In the List View you may choose the style of your bullets.
¯ To select a single event, click on the event.
¯ To select all events, click on the first event, click Edit on the menu bar and click on Select All Events.
¯ To select multiple events not next to each other, click the first event, hold the Ctrl key then select all other events.
¯ To select contiguous events, click the first event, click the Shift key then click the last event.
¯ Click Edit on the menu bar then click Choose Style OR click the Edit Symbol Style button. The Bullet Style dialog box opens.
¯ Click on a new symbol.
¯ Click OK.
Note: If events have been categorized changes will affect all events in the category. All changes made are displayed in List View only.
To Hide and Include an Event Without Deleting It:
The Hide and Include features appear in the Banner, Compact, and List Views. You can hide events in a particular view without deleting the events from other views. If, for example, you have an event that you want to show in the Compact View, but you do not want it to show or print in the Banner View:
¯ Click the Banner View button.
¯ Click on the event to hide.
¯ Click Format on the menu bar, select Hide Event.
This event will now be invisible and will not print from within this view. Events
can be hidden independently in different views. Events are hidden and included independently in each view except the Data View which displays all events in a time line, whether they’re hidden in different views or not.
To Add a Title or Text Box to a Time Line:
Editable text boxes can be added to your current view. These text boxes can be used to create titles as well as comment boxes next to events and graphics. Labels can be resized, edited, and moved.
¯ To add a title or comment, click Label on the clock. In the dialog box that pops up type a title for your time line and click OK.
¯ To move a text box, simply click it, hold the mouse down, and drag it anywhere you want. If you place a text box above a date, it gets anchored to that date, so if you expand or compress your time line the text boxes automatically move with their dates.
¯ Change the font, font style, or font color by selecting the title or text box.
¯ Click Edit on the menu bar, select Choose Label Font (Ctrl + F) OR click on the Change Fonts button.
¯ Make your selections in the dialog box and then click OK.
To Add a Note to the Time Line:
¯ Select an event.
¯ Click the Edit button on the clock. The Edit Event dialog box appears.
¯ Click the Notes tab.
¯ Type in the desired information to display in slideshow view or view as links to events in all other views.
¯ Click OK.
To Add a Graphic to Print with the Time Line:
¯ Click Add on the menu bar and then New Graphic. Click the Graphic button on the clock. The Add Graphic dialog box appears.