Hello,
I've installed and activated the Timeline add-on.
I'm not sure what to do next. Ideally, the plugin would have created a timeline I could add items to, but I don't see that anywhere.
I also don't understand the information found at:
http://omeka.org/codex/Plugins/Timeline
Any help and guidance would be much appreciated.
hello,
Apologies for the delayed response, mapmyth.
The Timeline plugin lets you create a timeline as an Omeka Item with a type of 'Timeline'.
1) Create an Item in Omeka, and choose 'Timeline' for the Item Type. Then, choose a tag from the drop down in the Item Type metadata form. This tells the timeline to get all the other items in your archive with this given tag, to display those on the timeline.
2) Save then item, then you can go to the timeline item's view at example.com/timelines/show/2, where '2' is your specific item's ID.
You can also use a custom query of items, but you'd need to do the query for these, and add the display for it, directly to your theme.
We're in the process of updating the Timeline plugin to make it possible to, among other things, choose your custom list of items for the timeline from the Omeka admin panel instead of programmatically. We're hoping to release these update before the end of the year.
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for getting back to me. This plugin seems unusually complex, so your help is appreciated.
I've done a test for your instructions and I still don't see a timeline. I created blank items except for Item Type as in 1) above, but when I go to the slug, all I see is a blank white space where I think the timeline would be located with the usual background etc.
Because my item type is already listed as something else, I'm not sure I will be able to use this plugin as the item type needs to remain "Sculpture" not Timeline. So, I'm confused how to connect my items to the timeline.
Thanks again.
Jared
Hi Jared,
Can you provide a URL to your timeline item? It sounds like a JavaScript error might be preventing the timeline from loading, but I wouldn't know for sure without looking at the page.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
I'm seeing the timeline now, but still no dot or point for the item.
Test items are found at:
mappingmythology.com/timelines/show/27
mappingmythology.com/timelines/show/28
I'm still concerned about how useful this is for people already using Item Type Metadata. All of my items will be classified as still image, sculpture/painting/architecture etc. I would have to give up the Item Type metadata slot to "timeline" if I wanted to use the plugin?
Hopefully this will be addressed in the update.
Thanks,
Jared
The timeline wouldn't show a dot for its own item, but rather items that have the keyword you chose when creating the timeline. I can't actually see a timeline on #27, but do on #28. It looks like Simile doesn't understand the date format you have for your items. Try somethign like '1937-01-01' instead of 'January 1937' for the item you want to show, and see if it appears.
You're right about the Item Type Metadata, Jared. This will be addressed in the update. I'm hoping this happens before the end of the month, but it may not happen until January.
Hi Jeremy,
Has there been any update on the development of the timeline plugin?
I tried editing the dates to the form you suggested and still no timeline. I've since removed the test items.
We're actively developing the NeatlineTime plugin as a much better replacement for the Timeline plugin. No official release yet, but the current master branch is stable, and we'd welcome you and anyone else to try it out and give us some feedback.
In the meantime, i'll see if there I can replicate your issue in the current Timeline plugin and figure out a solution.
I just tagged a version 0.1.1 of the Timeline plugin. This *should* address any JavaScript errors coming up for folks. There were instances where jQuery was undefined, which was causing the timelines to break.
I also added a note to the plugin page that we're deprecating the Timeline plugin and instead recommending the NeatlineTime plugin. I should have an alpha release of that plugin out by the end of the week for others to test.
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for this update. I'm happy to hear Omeka is developing this further and I saw the other recent post on NeatlineTime. I will give the new one a whirl and post an update.
Thanks!