Panel

General Information

The users can view events four ways, in the timeline, in the map, in a list view, and in a grid. This allows users to personalize their viewing experience when using Plot-It.

You can change the view of the events in the space between the timeline and the map.

Map view

The Map view is the default view of the events in the timeline. Plot-It provides context to events by drawing out the geographical information of events and arranging them on the map.

The map is powered by Google maps.

Users can move the map around using either their cursor or the navigation button located in the top left corner of the map.

Users can zoom in/out of the map three ways. The first is using your mouse, you can scroll in and out of the map using smart features of your mouse or trackpad. The second is using the existing zoom tools located on the left side of the map. The third is double clicking on the map ,though this option will not work when your cursor is over an event icon (it will just open the event).

The map allows users to play around with how they view the terrain. In the top right corner, users can switch between a “Map” and “Satellite” view. For further personalization, users can chooses to view the “Terrain” when in the “Map” view, and the “Labels” when in the Satellite view.

To change between these features, click on either the “Map” and “Satellite” options and then check (or leave unchecked) the terrain/label option that pops up.

When using the map, you can switch to street view by dragging the person icon (located on the left side of the map) on to the map. This brings up a popup screen imposed over the map.

You can then transverse the street. Using either your mouse, keyboard arrows, or the provided controls, you can walk around the streets looking for event points.

If you try to drag the person icon over to the map while you are zoomed out, it will work, but you will not end up anywhere near an icon. The best results (for finding the specific location of events) is zooming in as much possible first.

To quit out of the street view, click on the “X” in the top right corner.

Note: In street view, you can click on an event icon, but the metadata information will not come up. Instead the timeline will move to that event point and bring up the information in the timeline.

Viewing the metadata/information of events in the map is as simple as clicking on an event icon. The different types of events are represented by colour coded icons.

Dark Blue: bibliographical
Green: biographical
Red: cultural
Yellow: literary
Black: political
Light Blue: social
White: mixed

Where there are multiple events of the same type and occurring in the same location, they are grouped together (and display the number events grouped there).
To learn more information about the events, click on an icon. The metadata/description for that event will popup in the text box, and users are able to scroll through the information. When you click on one of these event points in the map, the timeline will move until that event is visible. When you click on an event in the timeline, the map will move to the location of that event.
Important: In the map, do not use the smart feature of your mouse or trackpad to scroll through the event description, this will zoom in or out of the map and lose the popup. Users must manually scroll, in event popups, by clicking on the scroller available in the popup.

When you click on an icon that has multiple events, the event icons will split into multiple icons. If you would like to view the information select one of the icons and the information will appear in the text box between the timeline and map.

List view

If you would not like to view timeline events in the map, you can choose to view them in a list.

When viewing the timeline events in a list, the user views the date, location, title and description. If the title or description is too long to fit in the preset area, then the user may scroll down to read more. Only the first 10 results are show on the first page, but at the end of the page users have the option to see all results. By clicking on this option all the results are loaded on the page for the user to scroll through.

You can change the way that the list is organized by selecting how they are “sorted by.” The users can select multiple different categories to sort the list with. To add multiple sorting categories, select the “and then” option. this will continue to add sorting categories until you stop adding them or you have select all the sorting options. The categories available are:

List:

a - z (this is a sub organization and is available for all categories)
z - a (this is a sub organization and is available for all categories)
change types
change items
countryName
description
endDate
eventType
labels
latLng
location
modified
schema
startDate
type
URIs

You can sort any of these options from a - z or z - a. To remove any of these grouping options, click on the category and select “Remove this order”.

Note: You cannot remove all the sorting options, you must have at least one option selected.

You can additionally opt to “group as sorted” the categories as you are organizing the events, by checking the circle.

Important: You cannot click on the events listed, so as to view on the timeline. This feature is only available in the map view.

Grid view

The timeline events in the grid view contain the fields of “Label,” “Type,” “Date,” “Location,” and “Country. Users can organize the events by these five categories by selecting the column title. When the small black arrow is pointing up, then the events are organized from a - z (starting with numerals). When the black arrow is pointing down they are organized from z - a (ending with numerals). To change the direction of the black arrow click on the title. The dates are organized from earliest to latest when the black arrow is pointing up (and vice versa when pointing down).

Note: If the event does not have a location or country attached to it, then it appears first in a list sorted by location or country and organized from a - z.

Important: You cannot select any of the events when they are organized into the grid mode. As such, you cannot use the grid view to view the events on the timeline. This feature is only available in the map view.