Getting Started

Creating Your Account

1. Visit the Thea signup page
2. Enter your email address and create a secure password
3. Verify your email address by clicking the link sent to your inbox
4. Log in to access your dashboard

Understanding the Dashboard

When you first log in, you'll see your dashboard. The main workflow in Thea revolves around projects (also called folders), which contain:

• Documents: Legal documents, contracts, discovery materials, etc.
• Timelines: Visual representations of chronological events
• Intelligent analysis: Thea can analyze your documents to help create timelines

Creating Your First Project

Before creating a timeline, you'll typically start by creating a project to organize your work:

1. From the dashboard, click New Project
2. Give your project a name (e.g., "Smith v. Jones", "Contract Dispute 2024")
3. Optionally add a description

Once your project is created, you can upload documents and create timelines within it.

Creating Your First Timeline

Thea offers multiple ways to create a timeline, depending on your needs and available materials:

Path 1: Start from Scratch

Best for cases where you're building the timeline as you work:

1. Open your project
2. Navigate to the Timelines tab
3. Click New Timeline
4. Enter a title and description
5. Start adding events manually

This approach gives you complete control and is ideal when you know exactly what events you want to include.

Path 2: Conversational Creation

Best for when you want guidance and an interactive approach:

1. Open your project
2. Navigate to the Timelines tab
3. Click Create with Assistance
4. Thea will ask you questions about your case:
   • What type of timeline are you creating?
   • What date range should it cover?
   • Who are the key parties involved?
5. Answer the questions naturally, and Thea will build the timeline structure
6. Review and refine the generated timeline

This approach is great for getting started quickly with a structured framework.

Path 3: Document-Based Suggestions

Best for when you have case documents that contain chronological events:

1. Upload your documents to the project (see Managing Documents)
2. Wait for documents to process (usually 1-2 minutes)
3. Navigate to the Timelines tab
4. Thea will show suggestions based on patterns detected in your documents:
   • Financial transaction timelines
   • Communication timelines
   • Contract obligation timelines
   • Incident or event chronologies
5. Click Use this on a suggestion that matches your needs
6. Thea will create a timeline pre-filled with relevant information

This approach saves time by identifying timeline opportunities you might not have considered.

Working with Your Timeline

Once your timeline is created, you can:

• Add events: Manually add or extract events from documents
• Organize: Use categories and players to structure information
• Visualize: Switch between different view modes
• Refine: Use conversational feedback to make iterative improvements
• Export: Generate professional PDF or Word outputs

Tips for Success

• Upload documents first if you have them—Thea's suggestions can reveal valuable chronological patterns
• Start broad, refine later: It's easier to narrow down a timeline than to expand it
• Use categories early: Color-coded categories make it easier to see patterns
• Don't worry about perfection: You can always refine your timeline using the feedback panel

Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics, dive deeper into specific features:

• Creating Timelines - Detailed guide to timeline creation approaches
• Projects - Learn more about organizing your work
• Managing Documents - Upload and process case documents
• Working with Events - Add and organize timeline events
• Timeline Views - Explore different visualization modes