Create a Timeline

When you first log into Preceden, or when you click Create Manually on your dashboard, you land on the create timeline screen.

To create a new timeline:

1. Under Choose an initial layout, click one of the starting layouts: Simple, Multiple Layers, Gantt Chart or Classic.
2. Keep the default color theme, or click one of the color options beneath the layout you picked.
3. Under Name your timeline, type a name for it.
4. Click Create Timeline.

Your new timeline opens, ready for you to start adding events. New timelines are private by default, so only you can see one until you choose otherwise. See Adjust Timeline Visibility if you'd like to share it.

If you leave the name blank, your timeline is called Timeline until you rename it. If you click Create Manually while a folder is open on your dashboard, the new timeline goes into that folder.

Where the Layer and Event List Is

Preceden lists your layers and the events in them below the timeline itself. On a brand-new timeline built from the Simple layout, that list is not there yet. Simple starts you with one empty layer called "Events", so there is nothing for the list to show, and Preceden leaves it out until there is.

The list appears as soon as any one of these is true:

• The timeline has at least one event.
• The timeline has more than one layer.
• You have renamed the starting layer or given it a color.

The other three layouts start with two or three layers, so their list is there from the moment the timeline opens.

The Welcome Tour

The first time you create a timeline, a short tour walks you through adding your first event. A dark tooltip points at the Add Event button, then at the event dialog to explain that only a name and a start date are required, and a final Way to go! tip suggests what to try next.

The tour only appears when all of these are true:

• The timeline is the only one in your account.
• Your plan has an event limit, so paid plans don't see it.
• You haven't changed anything on the timeline yet.
• Your browser window is wider than 960 pixels.

Click the X in the corner of a tooltip to close it. The tour isn't a saved setting, so it can come back if you reload the page before making any changes. Once you add your first event, create a second timeline, or upgrade, it stops appearing.

If your timeline was drafted for you with Create With AI, you get a single welcome tip instead, with an Explore Preceden button that closes it. A separate tip explaining the difference between layers and events appears the first time you open the layer dialog.

The Starting Layouts

Each layout gives your timeline empty layers and a few appearance settings to start from. None of them adds any events.

• Simple: one layer, with the dates across the top of the timeline.
• Multiple Layers: three layers, with each layer's name on its left and its events drawn in the layer's color.
• Gantt Chart: two layers in the Gantt chart layout, with event names listed on the left.
• Classic: two layers, with the dates on a colored band between them instead of across the top.

See Timeline Templates for a closer look at each layout and the kind of work it suits.

Your choice isn't permanent. To change it later, click the Appearance button above your timeline. The Gantt chart layout and layer name position are in the Layers section, where the dates appear is in Axis, and the background theme is in Colors.

To have AI draft a timeline for you instead, click Create With AI on your dashboard. See the Timeline Maker AI FAQs for how it works.

Once the timeline exists, 6 Tips for Creating Timelines with Preceden covers the habits that make one easier to read.