Reference documentation

Summary of available sections and features

map

The map presents all the events that happen in the selected time and space. The markers use different colors and icons to represent the categories. By clicking on any of them you can see more details in a popup, and in the in map section. The map allows for scroll and zoom.

time selector

The time selector allows you to move forward or backward in time, in order to see the facts corresponding to a certain time. Accepts years between -999 and current year.

Time selector

Panels (or sections)

In map

The section in map allows you to see the details of all the events of the time and place selected. By clicking on one, it is highlighted on the map.

Elsewhere

Section elsewhere allows you to see the events that happen at the same time, in other places on the map, outside the selected space. By clicking on one, it moves to the same.

Unknown location

Section unknown location shows facts that happen at the same time, but in an undefined place (either due to be too generic, or missing information). On click, it won't produce any movemente.

search

The search functionality allows to find relevant facts in any time and place.

Search

When doing a search, the results are displayed in a new section, which can be used to go through them. Can be ordered by different criteria. These facts can be anywhere on the map and in any year. By selecting each, it moves to that time and place. And displays the selected result in context, updating the sections in map and elsewhere.

Search results
Order search results
Search result buttons

Next to the magnifying glass, there's a button to clear the search results. Below, it shows the number of results, and then several buttons that allow you to sort the results by different criteria:

lessons

First examples showing what can be done, as a much more powerful way of use of the project. The goal is to present a lesson, or in other words a more complex topic from the story, usually covering different events and moments.

The lesson guides us through them, while leaving the application 100% functional, so that at all times one can see the rest of the context of what is being explaining. In this way, it seeks to enhance the person's analytical capabilities, and incentivize your own discovery and learning process. One can go back and forth through the lesson freely, and switch between different available lessons. The lessons are also sensitive to the context, so those that correspond to the time in question will be presented.

Lesson

Users can use existing lessons or create their own.

main menu

Main menu
categories

The categories allow filtering the facts presented based on the type of events that you want to select.

Categories selector
add facts

User collaboration is now allowed, who can add facts to the project.

sign-in - register

Allows people to registar and sign-in to help with the content.

take a tour

Interactive tour through main application functionality.

language control

Allows to select the language. English and Spanish supported. Important: it also modifies the content shown, it's not just the same facts translated.

smaller screens

The design adjusts to the screen's size. The content is the same, while disposition and presentation changes according to size. The goal is always to present the largest possible amount of information.

Sample for mobiles and small screens

multimedia - NEW

Facts can now include multimedia content (like audio or video) to provide a richer experience.

layers control - NEW

Allows to select different base maps. Currently supports physical or political.

Physical map

Add or Edit Facts

This section references the details of the form for adding or editing facts.

Overview of the form

To add a new fact, access it from the application's main menu:

Adding a fact

To edit a fact, you must log in to the project with your own account and enable the contributorMode setting, which activates the editing function when viewing facts (the small blue pencil icon to the left of the date).

Editing a fact

Main Fields

Title
Description
Date

Date on which the fact occurred. A complete date including day, month, and year should always be provided. However, if the data is not exact, you can indicate that only the year, or the year and month should be considered, by setting the precision of the date(s).

If the fact spans over time, you can provide an end date to indicate the period during which it occurred.

Date
End Date
Precision of the Date(s)
Coordinates

Used to indicate the location where the fact occurred. There are several tools available to make entering this data easier. You can drag the marker on the map to the desired location, or first navigate to the place and then right-click to set it. Alternatively, you can directly enter the coordinates if they are already known.

You can copy both coordinates from Wikipedia when they are displayed (usually in the top-right corner). Similarly, if you're using a map service like Google Maps, you can right-click on the location to view its coordinates. Clicking on them copies the values to your clipboard. In both cases, if you paste the full coordinate value into the Latitude field, the system will automatically split them into the corresponding fields.

Latitude
Longitude
Wikipedia's coordinates
Wikipedia's coordinates
Google Maps coordinates
Google Maps coordinates

Automatic feature: When pasting full coordinates into the Latitude field, the system automatically splits them into both fields.

Categories
Icon
Image URL

General Validations

Field Required Validation
Title ✅ Yes Not empty, maximum 100 characters
Description ✅ Yes Not empty
Date ✅ Yes Valid date between -999 and current year
End Date ❌ No Valid date between -999 and current year
Date Precision ✅ Yes One of the available options
Latitude ✅ Yes Number between -90 and 90
Longitude ✅ Yes Number between -180 and 180
Category(ies) ✅ Yes At least one category selected
Icon ✅ Yes An icon must be selected
Image ❌ No Valid URL

License and Collaborative Use

Return to Map

Once the form is completed and saved, the user returns to the main map where the fact appears with its location and details.

List of Previously Worked Facts

If other facts have been created or modified, they are displayed in a list that makes it easy to view them on the map, edit again, or copy their identifier (for example, to use as a step in a lesson).

Advanced Options

These options are available under a hidden section (Show advanced options) and are mainly intended for contributors with deeper technical knowledge.

Element Type
Language
Minimum Zoom
Maximum Zoom
Source or Web Page with More Information (URL)
Aliases or Additional Tags
Multimedia Content
Relationships

Advanced reference

This section references some advanced features available, even when some of these are no directly accessible from the UI.

Supported parameters to add in query string

lat
initial latitude to center the map (must be used together with lon)
lon
initial longitude to center the map (must be used together with lat)
z
initial zoom (only used if together with coordinates)
y
initial year (only valid integer from -999 to current year)
f
fact id to select
l
lesson id to present
ls
lesson step to start at
t
enable tour to present main functionalities
lang
language (currently supports 'en' & 'es')
q
search string (previously 'q', changed on Jun 2025)

Supported config values, currently only to define as parameters in query string

contributorMode
enables to edit facts (default value: false)
useCachedYears
uses cached years for requests (default value: true)
traceEnabled
shows trace window (default value: false)
fullyFunctional
used in DEV to reduce web traffic or have slow Internet connections (default value: true)
showAllFacts
avoid zoom filter for facts, showing all facts everytime (default value: false)
maxRetryTimeSeconds
maximum retry time in seconds to wait between re-attempts to fetch facts (default value: 60)
specialSearches
special searches offered to users, like anniversaries, by location and others (default value: false)
factDetails
selects what sections to show for the selected fact (default value: all)
extraInfo
show extra information on screen to add more data details (default value: false)
svgIcons
show SVG icons for highlighted elements (default value: false)
Click here to try it now!
It's recommended to use a PC and a monitor with good resolution. Anyway, tables & mobile cellphones are also supported.