Tumbline v1.2.2

Getting Started

Welcome to Tumbline. Now you're here, just put the Tumblr ID of your favourite Tumblr blog in that textbox on the right side of the header, and hit the [ENTER] key (or click that little blue arrow), and you should see everything come to life!.

Tumbline now supports bookmarking (and browser back), so you can just put a hash (#) followed by the Tumblr ID you're after.

Navigation

To move back and forth in time you can drag either of the calendar tracks on the left side of the screen. Use the narrow one on the far left to move quickly, the broad one with images in it to more slower.

Alternatively you can use the mouse-wheel to scroll up and down while the mouse pointer is positioned over the relevant track

You should also be able to double click on a date (in either track), though that seems to be unreliable at the moment.

Populating the timeline with image posts

The page always fetches posts for several day prior to the first visible day. As the posts are placed in the timeline, small blue ticks will appear in the narrow track on the left. It is possible to get ahead of the timeline, but it should catch back up with you if you give it a chance

Viewing posts

Hovering the mouse over stacked images in the timeline will bring the image under the mouse to the front.

Images are grouped in four hourly batches (up to a maximum of 10. If there are additional posts in amy four hour period this is shown just to the right of the image stack (4 More...). Clicking on this text will show the additional images in the light band on the right side. These defaults can now be changed

Clicking either an image in the timeline, or one shown in the light preview band will enlarge the complete post in the main area to the right. Clicking an image in an enlarged post will open the actual Tumblr post in a new window (or tab). All links in the text of a post should also open in a new window/tab - but beware, it looks like this depends on the setting chosen for each blog (I usually right click anyway as a matter of principle).

Credits

All the icons used on this page come from the Must Have icon set by VisualPharm. They're free provided you link back, but they're worth the link back even without being asked

The widget that does the hard work for the timeline is a SIMILE Widget, though I have made some changes, mostly to correct bugs related to vertical timelines. I recommend taking a look at their stuff should you be that way inclined, find their website (and some good demos) at www.simile-widgets.org.

This page also uses the prototype JavaScript Framework, another excellent piece of work. Find it at www.prototypejs.org/

If you find something wrong, or think of something new you can mail me through my Tumblr page Ant Ramblings (just click here to get the form)

Nescafe provided nearly all the coffee consumed while creating this page. They still make me pay for it, so stuff 'em - no credit.

Things To Do That Got Done (and other changes)

V1.2.2

1. Corrected a bug when a post published with "Publish On..." is included, that caused posts between the time it was published and the time it was created to be missed

V1.2.1

1. Added a few options - you can now control the period over which events are grouped in the timeline, and how many posts are shown in a group before additional posts are shown with # More... and must be previewed in the preview strip. You can also choose how many posts will be fetched at a time while pre-fetching, and how many days worth of posts will be pre-fetched. Changes to Settings are stored in a cookie by default - this too can be disabled.
2. The preview strip now allows left/right scrolling if you have more posts to preview than fit in the strip
3. Added small activity text in the Heading (low on the left) to show whats happening, if anything.

V1.1

1. It now works with Chrome (tested version 4.1.249.1042), Internet Explorer 8 (tested version 8.0.6001.18882) and Firefox (tested version 3.6.2).
   It should work with most other things, though as always older versions of IE are pretty much pot luck!
   If there's some browser you have a particular problem with I'd appreciate being told, just click here and send me the info (thank you).
2. Support for bookmarking and browser history has been added (so now you can add a hash (#) and the desired Tumblr ID after the url and you should go straight there)
3. All links in the text of posts should now open a new browser tab/window (regardless of the user's Tumblr settings).

Things Still To Do

1. Keep up to date with Tumblr posts made since the page was refreshed. For now you'll just have to refresh the page!
2. Think about showing other types of posts (somehow - any and all ideas welcomed!).
3. Rebuild the timeline library to make it more compact.
4. Allow users to browse their Dashboard
5. Fix up scrolling the preview strip when the page is re-sized
6. Fix timeline position after resize (it seems to get a bit lost)

Settings

Time Interval for stacking posts		Hourly Two Hourly Three Hourly Four Hourly Six Hourly Eight Hourly Twelve Hourly Daily
Posts to show in a stack
Number of posts per fetch
Delete Cookie when closing this page
Number of days posts to pre-fetch
Tumbler ID for Dashboard browsing