Events are located in both the timeline and the panel below. The event metadata
provides more information about the event.
Viewing Events
To view more information about an event, click on the label or icon visible in the timeline
or map.
Events are visible as a label/title accompanied with an icon (the colour of said icons
depend on the event type) in the timeline and as an icon in the map. To learn more
information about the events, click on an icon in the timeline or map. The
metadata/description for that event will appear in the text box between the timeline and the
map. Users can then scroll through the information. When users click on an icon in the map
the timeline will scroll so that event is highlighted.
When you click on an icon that has multiple events, a popup with a list of those events
appear.
Users can also view events in a list or grid format (by changing the panel view to “List
View” or “Grid View”). When using the grid view to look at events, the user is unable to
read event description.
If an event does not have a date attached to it, users cannot view that event in the
timeline. If an event does not have a location attached to it, users cannot view that event
in the map. To view these events, there is an option located above the map on the right
side.
To view the events that are not listed, click on “17 results” to bring up a popup of the
missing results. You can scroll through the list of events until you see one you would like
to look at, click on that event. This brings up a popup on the left side of the
timeline.
Metadata
Each event contains metadata that informs the user about the event. This metadata includes
a label, date, location, country, description, event type, and source information (generally
a URL).
The metadata for events serve multiple purposes. The date situates events on the timeline.
The location plots them on the map. The event type determines what colour of icon is
assigned to it (see below). The label and description are searchable and describe the event
for users. Events can also be filtered by its metadata, specifically date, event type and
country.
Users can only view the event type in the grid view or by looking at the colour of the icon
associated with each event. The event types available for this version of Plot-It are:
- Dark Blue: bibliographical
- Green: biographical
- Yellow: literary
- Black: political
- Light Blue: social
- White: mixed
If the event has a longer description, users can scroll through the popup.
Important: In the map, do not use the smart feature on 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, by clicking on the scroller available in the popup.