Time Series
Event Timeline
Discrete events as point markers on a single time axis, optionally grouped into lanes — distinct from a Gantt (no bar lengths / durations) and from sparkline-with-annotations (events are the primary mark, not the overlay).
Product Launch Timeline
Key milestones 2024
View data (8 rows)
| Date | Category | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-01 | Planning | Kickoff |
| 2024-03 | Development | Alpha Release |
| 2024-05 | Development | Beta Launch |
| 2024-07 | QA | User Testing |
| 2024-08 | QA | Security Audit |
| 2024-10 | Launch | GA Release |
| 2024-11 | Growth | First 1K Users |
| 2024-12 | Funding | Series A |
Use an event timeline when…
- Project milestones
- Historical events
- Incident timelines
Avoid when…
- Quantitative time series
- When duration matters more than timing (use Gantt)
Data it needs
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Min Rows | 4 |
| Min Columns | 3 |
| Column Types | datestringstring |
| Notes | Date column must be parseable as a date or month string (YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY-MM, or 'Jan 2024'). |
Visual anatomy
Marks
circleline
Channels
position-x (time)color-hue (category)
Axes
x-time
Guiding principles
Consider instead
Common mistakes
Overcrowding events
Inconsistent spacing not reflecting actual time gaps
History
Timeline visualizations date back to Joseph Priestley's Chart of Biography (1765).
Accessibility notes
List events in chronological order with dates as text. Pair category color with a redundant shape or text label so the encoding survives color-vision deficits.
Related reading
Got data? Let's see what works.
Drop your CSV. You'll get an Event Timeline plus four alternatives - ranked by which one actually fits your data best.