Engage 360: Timeline Interactions

The timeline interaction in Engage 360 lets learners discover the events on a timeline. Use the timeline interaction to:

Walk through a series of periods and events.
Highlight key milestones in a schedule.
Explain the steps in a sequence.

Exploring the Editor
Adding Periods and Events to a Timeline
Changing the Color of Periods
Renaming Periods and Events
Rearranging Periods and Events
Resizing Periods
Deleting Periods and Events
Adding Content to Events

Exploring the Editor

The timeline editor has the following panels:

Steps	Located on the left side of the screen, this panel is used to manage periods and events for the timeline.
Timeline	Located at the top of the workspace, this panel is used to select periods and events for editing. It also provides a dynamic preview of the timeline's layout.
Text	Located in the middle of the screen, this panel is used to add text to each event.
Audio	Located on the right side of the screen, this panel is used to add and edit audio.
Media	Located in the lower right corner, this panel is used to add pictures, characters, and videos.

Here are some tips for working with the editor:

Change the width of any panel by dragging its boundary with your mouse.
Click the triangle beside any period in the Steps panel to collapse or expand it.
Click the triangle in the upper right corner of the audio panel to collapse it if you need more room to work with the media panel. Click it again to reopen the panel.

Adding Periods and Events to a Timeline

Each step in a timeline interaction is called an event, and events are grouped into periods.

Periods:

To add a period to your timeline, do either of the following:

Press Ctrl+G.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon and click Add Period.

New periods get added to the right end of the timeline (and the bottom of the Steps panel).

Events:

To add an event, do any of the following:

Press Ctrl+M.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon and click Add Event.
Click the Create a new step button in the lower left corner of the Steps panel.
Click the Duplicate button at the bottom of the Steps panel to copy the selected event(s).

New events get added just below the event that's currently selected in the Steps panel. If an entire period is selected, new events get added to the end of the period.

Tip: A timeline interaction can have up to 12 periods and up to 100 events per period.

Changing the Color of Periods

To change the color of a period, do the following:

Select the period in the Steps panel or in the timeline panel.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon and click Period Color.
Choose one of the predefined colors, or click More Colors at the bottom of the drop-down and specify a custom color.

Tip: Events—the dots on the timeline—will be a lighter shade of the color of the period in which they're located.

Renaming Periods and Events

To rename a period, do either of the following:

Double-click the period in the Steps panel to open it for editing. Type the new name and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
Select the period in the timeline panel to open its title for editing, then type the new name.

To rename an event, do either of the following:

Double-click the event in the Steps panel to open it for editing. Type the new name and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
Select the event in the Steps panel, then type the new name in the title field at the top of the text panel.

Rearranging Periods and Events

Here's how to change the order of periods and events.

Periods:

Select one or more periods in the Steps panel, and do any of the following:

Drag them to a new location in the list. An orange line will move with your mouse to indicate where the periods will be dropped when your mouse button is released.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon, click Move Period, then select Left or Right to change the position on the timeline.
Use the Up and Down arrows at the bottom of the Steps panel.

Events:

To change the order of events, select one or more events in the Steps panel, and do any of the following:

Drag them to a new location in the list. An orange line will move with your mouse to indicate where the events will be dropped when your mouse button is released.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon, click Move Event, then select Left or Right to change the position on the timeline.
Use the Up and Down arrows at the bottom of the Steps panel.

Tip: You can change the order of events as well as the spacing between events by simply dragging them back and forth in the timeline panel.

Resizing Periods

To change the length of a period, do the following:

Hover over the beginning or end of a period in the timeline panel.
Click and drag the boundary to shorten or lengthen the period.
Release your mouse button to accept the change.

Deleting Periods and Events

To delete a period or event, select it in the Steps panel, then do any of the following:

Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Go to the Timeline tab on the ribbon, and click Delete Period or Delete Event.
Click the Delete button at the bottom of the Steps panel.

Tip: You can't delete the introduction or summary, but you can hide them.