Now presenting: the Timelines Showcase!
We’ve been working hard on expanding our product line, and we are proud to announce our latest addition to the Timelines family – the Timelines Showcase!
Similar to Timelines SE (in case you were wondering, SE is for “Sports Edition”), the Timelines Showcase enables newspaper clients to present their past content in the context of the present, while maintaining the look and feel of their site. So, what does that mean? It means that a news topic that unfolds over time with multiple articles, photos and videos can be easily explored across time and place, helping readers answer the questions: “How did we get here? What happened in the past about this topic?” It also means that a newspaper can quickly (and cost effectively) create unlimited number of timelines without having to build this functionality every time a timeline is needed.
One of our clients, Boston.com, is utilizing the Timelines Showcase across three very different topics: the Russian Spy Ring, the Amy Bishop Case and Health Care Reform. Lets’ take a walk through the Amy Bishop Case implementation to see its benefits, features and function. (By the way, the Amy Bishop Case is about a former University of Alabama-Huntsville professor- Amy Bishop- who shot and killed a number of her colleagues when she was denied tenure. She is originally from the Boston area.)
Explorer Page
The first page a reader encounters is what we call the Explorer Page. This page is sort of the home page for the Timelines Showcase.
It has a timeline at the top of the page with a thumbnail image for each event. A reader can roll over an event, read the title and get a quick understanding of that event and the sequence of events relating to the topic. Additionally the reader can scroll backwards and forward through time to get to any event he/she is looking for.
List View of Events
Below the timeline is a list of the events in reverse chronological order.
A reader can use this list to get a high level summary of the topic and how it developed over time, and he/she can click on any event to get more information.
Map View
If a reader wants to explore the topic geographically, he/she can click on the Map link. And like magic, all of the events are now displayed where they happened. (Personally, this is my favorite feature).
By clicking on any one of the locations, a bubble appears with the summary and thumbnail photo of that event. By clicking on the title of the event, the reader is brought to the event page.
Event Page
The Event Page houses all of the articles, photos, videos and links related to an event.
If you are interested in hearing more (or want to sign up for the service), just drop me a line at: Bob at Timelines.com
Major props to Scott, Geoff and Zach who made this happen!
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