Creating Timelines

Overview

Thea offers three flexible approaches to creating timelines, each suited to different situations. Choose the method that best fits your workflow and available materials.

Method 1: Manual Creation

Best for: Building timelines from scratch when you know exactly what events to include.

When to Use

• You're building the timeline as you investigate the case
• You have a clear structure in mind
• You're working from notes or your own knowledge
• You want complete control over every detail

How to Create Manually

1. Open your project
2. Navigate to the Timelines tab
3. Click New Timeline
4. Fill in the timeline details:
   • Title: Clear, descriptive name (e.g., "Financial Transactions - Smith Case")
   • Description: Brief context about what the timeline covers
   • Icon (optional): Choose an emoji to quickly identify the timeline
5. Click Create

You'll be taken to an empty timeline where you can start adding events manually.

Adding Your First Events

• Click Add Event or the + button
• Fill in date, parties, action, description, and category
• Save the event
• Repeat for each event

See Working with Events for detailed guidance.

Method 2: Conversational Creation

Best for: Getting guided assistance when building a timeline structure.

When to Use

• You want an interactive, question-based approach
• You're not sure how to structure the timeline
• You want Thea to help organize your thoughts
• You have a general idea but need help with details

How It Works

1. Open your project
2. Navigate to the Timelines tab
3. Click Create with Assistance
4. Thea will ask you questions like:
   • "What type of timeline are you creating?" (e.g., contract dispute, employment matter)
   • "What date range should this timeline cover?"
   • "Who are the key parties involved?"
   • "What categories of events should we track?"
5. Answer naturally in your own words
6. Thea builds the timeline structure based on your answers
7. Review and refine the generated framework
8. Add or modify events as needed

Benefits

• Structured approach: Questions guide you through important considerations
• Quick setup: Categories and players are created automatically
• Flexibility: You maintain full control to edit anything generated
• Learning tool: Helps you think through timeline organization

Tips for Conversational Creation

• Be specific: "Contract disputes between Acme Corp and Beta LLC from 2022-2024" is better than "contract case"
• Mention key dates: If you know important milestones, mention them
• List parties upfront: Identifying players early helps Thea structure the timeline
• Don't worry about perfection: You can always refine later

Method 3: Document-Based Suggestions

Best for: When you have case documents containing chronological information.

When to Use

• You've uploaded documents to your project
• Documents contain dates, events, and timeline-worthy information
• You want to discover timeline opportunities you might not have considered
• You want to save time by extracting events from documents

Prerequisites

1. Upload documents to your project (see Managing Documents)
2. Wait for documents to process (typically 1-2 minutes)
3. Ensure processing shows "Completed" status

How Suggestions Work

After documents are processed, Thea analyzes them for chronological patterns:

• Financial timelines: Bank statements, payment records, invoices
• Communication timelines: Email chains, correspondence, meeting notes
• Contract timelines: Obligations, deliverables, milestones
• Incident timelines: Sequence of events, occurrences

Using Suggestions

1. Navigate to the Timelines tab in your project
2. Look for the "Suggested for you" section
3. Review each suggestion, which includes:
   • Title: What the timeline would cover
   • Description: Why Thea thinks this timeline would be useful
   • Estimated events: Approximate number of events Thea found
   • Confidence score: How suitable Thea thinks the suggestion is
4. Click Use this on a suggestion that matches your needs
5. Thea creates the timeline with:
   • Pre-filled title and description
   • Relevant event categories
   • Initial event structure (you review and approve events)

After Using a Suggestion

• Review all suggested events before accepting them
• Edit details as needed for accuracy
• Add additional events manually
• Remove any irrelevant suggestions
• Refine using the feedback panel (see Refining Timelines)

Refreshing Suggestions

• Click Refresh to generate new suggestions
• Suggestions update as you upload more documents
• Dismiss suggestions you don't need using the X button

Hybrid Approach

You can combine methods:

1. Start with a suggestion to get a framework
2. Add manual events for information not in documents
3. Use conversational refinement to make improvements

This approach leverages the best of all methods.

Timeline Settings

After creating a timeline (by any method), you can configure:

• Title and description: Edit anytime from timeline settings
• Icon: Change the emoji identifier
• Categories: Add, edit, or remove categories
• Players: Define parties involved in the case
• View preferences: Set default visualization mode

Choosing the Right Method

Situation	Recommended Method
Building from notes or memory	Manual creation
Want guidance and structure	Conversational creation
Have case documents	Document-based suggestions
Complex case, multiple angles	Suggestions + manual additions
Simple, straightforward timeline	Manual creation
First time using Thea	Conversational creation

Next Steps

Once you've created your timeline, learn how to:

• Add and organize events
• Use categories effectively
• Manage players and parties
• Switch between visualization modes
• Refine your timeline
• Export for presentations