One timeline or several?

Q & A
1

Hello - I use Aeon to make timelines for research projects. I am researching in different subject areas at the same time. At the moment I use separate timelines for each subject area but I need to include national and international events in every timeline so I am wondering:

  • should I make one timeline that includes everything relevant to all my subject areas and the national and international events
  • or should i keep my separate timelines?
    If I keep the timelines separate is there a way to export national and international events from the timeline that includes them and incorporate them in my other timelines? Or, if I make one master timeline can I filter it to subject area 1 plus national and international and make a new timeline with the info e.g. when i finish the project.
    Grateful comments
    Pip
2

This depends on how you want to set up your workflow and is entirely up to you. Many things are technically possible.

  • To synchronize shared events with a master timeline, you can try CSV import and export of filtered or tagged events.
  • To keep everything in one project file, you can separate, group, and filter the events in many ways. As for me, I prefer the Arcs for this.
3

Thanks, Peter. It will be easier for me to make one master timeline and then Export (or other process) Events to new timelines when I need them. You say there are lots of ways to do this. Can you point me to some links where I can learn how to do it please? Many thanks

4

It may take a period of experimentation until you have found your optimal workflow. The full extent of the possibilities will perhaps be revealed over time.

The knowledge base is a good place to start. Visit the “Import, Export & Printing” section if you want to try out the data transfer between different timelines via csv files. An alternative could also be to transfer events to the sub-projects via the clipboard.

As already mentioned, my preferred method of structuring events is with arcs. But there are also other tools, such as colors or tags. If you want to export events on a recurring basis, e.g. to update other timelines via import, you will want to group or filter your events in such a way that they can be easily selected for export.

Otherwise, have a look around the forum to see if anyone has already developed a solution for a use case similar to yours.