With the way Microsoft has been acting lately, I’ve been eyeing jumping to Linux, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Being able to bring Aeon Timeline over would make that a lot easier and would make Aeon Timeline a lot more comfortable to use (since I wouldn’t have to worry about MS’s decisions making it unusable and my work inaccessible). Would you consider adding Linux support, either either natively or via something like WINE or Proton?
I think an online version of AT is in the works, with a feature set comparable to that of the desktop version. If so, would this be a solution, assuming AT doesn’t eventually provide a Linux version?
One other thought. Is your project one that could be created in something like Obsidian? It runs on Linux and other operating systems and uses text files and markdown, making it future-proof no matter what Microsoft does. Of course, if your project requires the timeline aspect, Obsidian (or apps like it) is probably not a viable choice.
For simpler timelines there is a few kinda good add-ons for Obsidian, but nothing close to those of AT…
You can with a YAML header define notes that should be in a timeline and it will take the YAML keys for start and end dates and create a timeline in a note of your choise, by creating a “code section” (don’t remember what they actually call it in Obsidan).
You can also use Mermaid, Draw. io and a few other diagram tools that have some types of timeline in them… e.g. gantt charts.
I have not looked at the different plug-ins/add-ons for a while now, so I do not know what actually works and how advanced they are…
But one thing I have learned about the Obsidian plug-ins is that you need to be active and switch to the most recent active developer kind of often… (at least once a year)
Edit:
There is even a plugin for storytellers with their own date format, but I think it at the moment, and maybe forever only support vertical timelines and not a timeline chart/gantt chart for a timeline.
If you are interested in just taking a look at the different ones, this is the online Plugin area for Obsidian, if you click on the “Learn more”, you are taken to the plug-in’s github page.
PS I am not trying to promote Obsidian in any way, this is just a tip and a link to where you can see whats possible to add in that software.
There is some similar VSC plugins for markdown that can be used with FOAM for VSC to.
The Timeline Project is a FOSS project that also can be used on Linux, not as advanced, but there are some good features in it…
Or you may look at RunninG Reality.
I was under the impresion that the web version would be more focused on sharing and presenting timelines, with the interactivity mostly being there to help you navigate them, but I could be mistaken. If I am, then a web version with, with feature parity, would probably be sufficient if not ideal.
Yeah, the timeline functionality is a major part of why I’m using Aeon Timeline, as is the ability to have distinct items types for actors and events.
I’ll give both of those a look. Thanks for the tip.
You might be right. Did I read too much into the initial post in this thread? Web version update - Official Announcements - Aeon Timeline
Perhaps this would be a good time for @AeonRob to join the discussion. Rob, what should we expect regarding the online version of Aeon Timeline?
You can create notes for any object/item/subject you like in a Markdown editor like Obsidian, and you can store those notes in different folders in your “Vault”, the good thing is that anything you write is in plain text, so nothing will ever be application locked-in.
You can also have folders for your books, your maps, your sources etc. and in Obsidian use the longform add-in to create your story.
Zettlr also have a function for that. Zettlr is made with more focus on academic longforms, so you take a look at that one too, it is totally free and open source…, but do not have any timeline function or add-ons.
If you use VSC (Visual Studio Code) or VSCodium (the full open source version of VSC), you can add a lot of different plug-ins to create your writing space… with timelines, maps, etc. etc.
I have also seen som addons for characters and items for both VSC/VSCodium and Obsidian, but if they are specific for a game or something, I am not sure…
Just some more tips.