Past Timeline

[wjfox]

For those who don't know, we have a sister website, a kind of prequel to Future Timeline:

https://www.pasttimeline.net/

It's been in (slow) development for several years, and lacks any timeline content or other features. However, I finished the homepage recently, and now that our new forum here is essentially complete, I should be able to devote more time to Past Timeline.

This thread is for my news and updates on the project, and for people to suggest ideas for things they'd like to see.

I want the format to be fairly similar to Future Timeline, but with perhaps slightly more creativity.

[Time_Traveller]

For those who don't know, we have a sister website, a kind of prequel to Future Timeline:

https://www.pasttimeline.net/

It's been in (slow) development for several years, and lacks any timeline content or other features. However, I finished the homepage recently, and now that our new forum here is essentially complete, I should be able to devote a lot more time to Past Timeline.

This thread is for my news and updates on the project, and for people to suggest ideas for things they'd like to see.

I want the format to be fairly similar to Future Timeline, but with perhaps slightly more creativity.

Sounds great, this forum has been in my bookmarks for years ever since you created the site. Look forward to when it is finally complete.

[TrueAnimationFan]

What do you plan on adding to the website next, Will?

[wjfox]

What do you plan on adding to the website next, Will?

Probably going to start on the basic template for a timeline page.

i.e.

Main banner
↓
Dropdown menu
↓
Section headings
↓
Main text content
↓
Footer.

I should be able to "clone" some of the code from FutureTimeline.

Once that's done (and made responsive), I'll create a generic box with sample/placeholder text, to go within the main text content. This will be used as a template for each timeline entry. For Past Timeline, the references will go within each timeline entry, rather than being listed at the bottom of each page like Future Timeline. This will make things much, much quicker to update, as I won't need to go through dozens of anchor links whenever a timeline entry is moved or deleted.

[TrueAnimationFan]

Sounds good to me. Be sure to let us know in this thread once you add something new - I’d hate to miss it.

As for the timeline itself, my suggestion would be to include as many non European events as possible (China, Japan, Polynesian migrations, Olmecs/Mayans/Aztecs/Incas).

Good luck, Will!

[wjfox]

Wow, my tweet went viral, and I gained almost 200 new followers.

[Time_Traveller]

Wow, my tweet went viral, and I gained almost 200 new followers.

Wow, congrats. I hope you achieve more in the months to come.

[TrueAnimationFan]

Any new progress?

[wjfox]

Any new progress?

You'll be pleased to hear I'm working on a template this evening.

[wjfox]

Doing some pretty extensive work on the first timeline page today. Creating a logarithmic-scale graph with section links. I've now discovered a way to combine Excel + Illustrator that should make these graphs a lot easier and quicker to make for subsequent pages.

[wjfox]

This could be very useful as a guide for organising the sections/pages:

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vect ... -670187668

[TrueAnimationFan]

How's the timeline page coming along?

[wjfox]

How's the timeline page coming along?

Little or no progress since the last update.

However, I'm taking a week's holiday soon and plan to spend that entire week on Past Timeline.

[wjfox]

Some progress on the main "flowchart" for navigating the timeline. Half the images are now done. I'll try to do the rest tomorrow. Will then need to add CSS transitions/links, which lead to each of the big sections (early Universe, young Earth, dinosaurs, etc.).

[TrueAnimationFan]

Some progress on the main "flowchart" for navigating the timeline. Half the images are now done. I'll try to do the rest tomorrow. Will then need to add CSS transitions/links, which lead to each of the big sections (early Universe, young Earth, dinosaurs, etc.).

Can't wait to see the website get another updated layout.

[wjfox]

Sneak preview of the "flowchart" I'm creating for the main timeline page (currently viewable on desktop only).

https://www.pasttimeline.net/timeline.htm

This will be different to the homepage, in that you'll be able to switch between numerical years, and historical periods.

I hope to create some nice fade/transition effects when it loads. So first, the Big Bang will fade in from white, then each section below it will fade in, one after the other. Then the years will appear in each rectangle, on a logarithmic scale, i.e. 10 billion BC, 1 billion, 100 million, 10 million and so on, down to 10. I'll do the same for "browse by period", and then do a responsive version for mobiles and tablets.

Once this page is done, I can then work on the subsections with more detailed years.

[TrueAnimationFan]

How has work on PT been going since late August?

[wjfox]

How has work on PT been going since late August?

No further progress, unfortunately. I've been incredibly busy in my job, which has reduced my available free time. I think my current plan is to spend the next couple of weekends getting a few more predictions up on Future Timeline, and then a weekend or two after that could be devoted to the timeline/template for Past Timeline.

Oh, also, there's a new assistant joining my department at work, who should help in reducing my workload somewhat!

[wjfox]

I added some CSS transitions here, on the main "Timeline" page, which you'll see if you mouseover (desktop version only).

https://www.pasttimeline.net/timeline.htm

Next, I'll be doing the tablet/mobile versions, which shouldn't take long at all.

I will then do the "Browse by period" option, which might be a bit trickier... lots of geologic eras, centuries, etc. However, I've figured out the transition code for dropping down boxes, so the hardest part is essentially done.

After that, I can begin the first actual timeline entries!

[erowind]

The red has grown on me. It's a really good contrast colour to the blue on FT. I really like the transparency on the year banners, slick but not so minimalist that it loses form.