In this article, you can learn more about Timetoast supported dates and formats as well as events and timespans.
Timeline dates and formats
Timetoast timelines support several date formats for your events. You can specify the day, month, year, or alternatively, you can specify just the year. BCE or BC era dates are also supported. You can mix and match between the different date types on a timeline.
Date input format and calendar
You can select the date input format that makes the most sense to you. On your preferences page, you can now choose from the following formats:
MM-DD-YYYY
DD-MM-YYYY
YYYY-MM-DD
You can access your preferences by going to your Account page (top right on the homepage when you are signed in) and clicking on the Preferences tab.
Once you set your preference, the date input fields in the timeline editor will adjust to match your chosen format. For example, if you select DD-MM-YYYY, the event editor will display date input fields in the day-month-year order.
You can also input dates using a calendar. Clicking the calendar icon next to the date input fields will open a pop-up calendar, making it quicker and easier to select dates accurately.
Year-only dates
Month and day fields are optional, so you can just fill in the year when editing timeline items.
Dates before 600 CE/AD are year-only.
BCE/BC era
You can create events with BCE/BC era years, just check the checkbox next to the date input.
What's the furthest back year you can go?
The furthest back year we currently support is 271820 BCE.
Events and timespans
What’s the difference between events and timespans? Events occur on a specific date (whether specific day or year) and can include an image. Timespans have both a start and end date and no image.
You can use timespans to mark an era, for example, the Middle Ages, with multiple events happening during a timespan. An example of a timespan for a biography could be when the subject lived in a specific city and events could be used to describe significant events that happened while living there.
For a timespan, you will need to enter both the start and the end date.
For help on adding an event to your timeline, see our help page on Adding events.
For help on adding a timespan to your timeline, see our help page on Adding timespans.