There are lots more examples on the respective sites!

Timeline.js

I assumed everyone had heard of these tools (and honestly I wanted to geek out a bit about blockchain!), but in case you haven’t here you go! They are both easy to use, and work seamlessly with Google Docs. They embed well (Timeline better than Timemapper as you can see), and are compatible with any CMS or webpage.

Timemapper.js

The biggest drawback is design continuity. The baked in design is nice by itself (phew!), but there’s not much one can do in the way of quick customization. Fortunately the project is open source, and it looks as though the team at Northwestern has made updates to help developers dig into the code. So, if you’re part of an institution that wants your timelines on brand it’s possible to make it your own.

Otherwise, just fire up a Google Doc (each site has templates to help you get the formatting right), spent some time entering data, and you’re ready to publish! Timemapper allows you to quickly and easily tell multi-dimensional stories using, you guessed it, a timeline, a map and some content. Timeline is just the timeline and the content. In many cases, though, that’s enough. I like the concept of showing space and time together, but if your story doesn’t need the extra vector, why force it?

It’s really nifty, and crazy easy!