Aeon Timeline is a great app for creating timelines. While it was probably created for novelists, it is very flexible and can also be used for managing projects/events etc. They have a new iOS version. I like the app but need to integrate it more into my writing routine.
Any fellow Aeon users here?
Workflow examples, tips and troubleshooting welcome!
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Not yet a user of Aeon, but interested to follow the discussion. My intended use is for mapping process flows in a more visually appealing format than a Visio swimlane diagram. From my initial investigations, it seems there is not full feature parity between iOS and Mac versions, with an edge towards the Mac currently.
Probably no parity yet, but from ānormalā usage I didnāt find any major features missing in iOS. But Iām probably not an Aeon Power User yet.
Subscribing to this thread.
I bought Aeon Timeline 2 a while ago, and still donāt really know how to use it.
I have a project coming up, requiring the alignment of skill-sets across a variety of modules, that (off the top of my head) seems to be something that Aeon will be able to do well ā since I will be needing multiple timelines running concurrently over the course of a year, with different āactionsā happening at different times, across the different modules.
Hope to use the above as the opportunity to leap in and get to grips with it.
By all accounts, shouldnāt be too difficult, but Iām missing some obvious points somewhere!
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The basis is simple: You create events on the timeline. You can apply āarcsā, which for a writer means different storylines but could in your case mean different modules.
Once you have those you can start digging into the meta data you can apply to the events, e. g. related persons, links, checkboxes, lists of options you can customize yourself and choose from ā¦
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So is Aeon Timeline more of a writing tool or can it be used for any kind of project, sort of like OmniPlan?
I dont know Omniplan, so I cant compare. The main function of Aeon is to organize events on a, well, timeline. In most cases this will be a usual calendar, but you can even create custom calendars (e.g. your fantasy world if writing fiction) or relative dates (e.g. day 1, day 2 etc.). You can really customize a lot and use it for all kinds of stuff, but all with regard of organizing something in a chronological way.
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Itās a good app - especially the ability to display data based on various categories in grid form which can then be filtered - all of which can be exported to a web interface. Iām not a writer but can imagine it would be especially useful for that. I have used for a number of small projects - including a family tree timeline.
I have been looking to describe timing of events/actions as relative to a central event. This would be like BC/AD where year zero would be the birth of Christ. Also T- / T+ where T is a launch event (typically used by NASA) where a lot of things needs to be planned and completed prior to launch, but also just following the launch and during the remainder of the mission.
What I have found most commonly with relative dates is that they will all start from a fixed date, but with no possibility to schedule anything prior to the start date.
Can this representation be described within Aeon Timeline?
Thanks!
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Yes! You will need to set some date for āTā, but then you can create other events relative to that. I just tried. I created an event T, then two other events that are scheduled relative to T:
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The second screenshot showes the settings for event no. 1, which is depending on event āTime=1ā, beginning -3 hours before the start of that event (could also have it depending on the end of that event).
Same here. I thought it had great promise when I bought it, but havenāt touched it in a year or two. I donāt āgetā it, or itās not a good fit.
Iām looking at using markdown and Typora for creating diagrams now.
I think it has a very special use case. If you have that use case, itās great.
Finally pulled the trigger on the iOS version. It sure looks promising, but I will need to time to study and come to terms with the central concepts of the software.
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Sorry for missing this thread. I love Aeon Timeline and thereās a development blog update here: https://www.aeontimeline.com/2019/05/20/development-update/
Although itās meant as a story development tool with a capability for fantasy calendars for different planets, it was taken on board by lawyers looking for a way to present timelines for court cases on this planet, and by project managers. But it has other applications as well: hereās an article about configuring it as a pen and ink database. https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2018/8/20/currently-inked-with-aeon-timeline?rq=aeon
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That are great news, looking forward to those features.
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In my experience, I find full parity between Mac and iOS in terms of the underlying data model and the information you can enter. You see less of the data at a time in the iOS version due to smaller screen sizes. However itās handy to be able to access timelines on iOS.
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I had great success applying it to IT process mapping, integrating four separate processes. It made it quite obvious where we had gaps, overlaps, when deliverables needs to be available for the next step etc. I could also map the roles involved, specify the type of event and what documents to be created / updated.
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Hi all - Aeon Timeline is looking for more beta testers for version 3.
AT3 is gaining relational database features which will allow it to take on more sophisticated documents while still remaining true to its original purposes.
As well as the new data underpinnings it has some great new user experience features - multiple views that you can arrange as you wish, a spreadsheet view for easy data entry and a subway view for showing a timeline like a subway map rather than a Gantt chart - brilliant.
More details here: https://www.aeontimeline.com/2020/12/18/aeon-timeline-version-3-0-is-coming/
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I just got an email, itās coming soon!
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