Calendar & Timeline

Overview

Swashbuckler lets you create custom calendar systems for your fictional worlds — think 6-day weeks, 10 months named "Firebloom" and "Frostfall", or ages instead of years. Once you define a calendar, you can add custom date fields to your entries and view them on interactive timelines.

There are two ways to use timelines:

• Timeline tab — a curated timeline you build on any entry, perfect for "History of the Realm" or "Campaign Timeline" documents
• Timeline view mode — an auto-populated view on template pages that positions entries by their custom date field

Setting Up a Calendar

Each space has one calendar. To create yours:

1. Go to Settings and click Calendar
2. Enter a name for your calendar (e.g., "Imperial Calendar")
3. Add months with custom names and day counts
4. Set the number of days per week
5. Optionally customize day names (e.g., "Starday", "Moonday")
6. Set an epoch label (defaults to "Year" — change to "Age", "Era", etc.)
7. Click Create Calendar

{/* screenshot: Calendar editor with months, day names, and live preview grid */}

The live preview grid updates as you configure, showing how a sample month looks with your week structure.

Custom Date Fields

Once your space has a calendar, the Custom Date field type becomes available in the template field builder.

Adding a Custom Date Field

1. Open a template in Settings > Templates
2. Click Add Field
3. Select Custom Date as the field type
4. Name it (e.g., "Date of Birth", "Founding Date", "Battle Date")

Setting Date Values

On any entry using that template, expand the Fields section to see the custom date picker:

• Year — numeric input with your epoch label
• Month — dropdown showing your calendar's month names
• Day — numeric input (in compact mode) or clickable day grid

Filtering and Sorting

Custom date fields work with the filtering and sorting system:

• Filter operators: is before, is after, is empty, is not empty
• Sorting: entries sort chronologically by the custom date value

Timeline Tabs

A timeline tab is a curated timeline you build manually on any entry. Use it for campaign histories, character timelines, or world chronologies.

Creating a Timeline Tab

1. Open any entry and click + to add a tab
2. Select Timeline from the tab type chooser

Adding Events

Click Add Event in the toolbar to create events:

• Label — the event name displayed on the timeline
• Date — pick a year, month, and day using the custom date picker
• End date (optional) — toggle on for date ranges (wars, reigns, journeys)
• Color (optional) — accent color for the event marker

Events can be standalone (text label only) or linked to an existing entry (double-click to navigate).

Zoom Levels

Use the toolbar buttons or +/- keys to switch between zoom levels:

Keyboard Shortcuts

Timeline View Mode

The timeline view mode auto-positions entries on a timeline based on their custom date field values.

Enabling Timeline View

1. Navigate to a template page from the sidebar
2. Click the Timeline icon (calendar) in the view mode toggle

If the template has a Custom Date field, entries with dates appear on the timeline. Entries without dates are shown in an Undated sidebar.

Choosing a Date Field

If a template has multiple custom date fields, a Date field dropdown lets you choose which one drives the timeline positioning.

{/* screenshot: Timeline view mode showing entries positioned on a horizontal timeline */}

Tips

• One calendar per space — each space (world) has its own calendar. Switch spaces to use different calendar systems.
• Calendar required — the Custom Date field type only appears in the field builder when the space has a calendar configured.
• Horizontal scroll — timelines scroll horizontally. Use the trackpad, mouse wheel, or scroll bar.
• Jump to year — enter a year number in the toolbar and click Go to quickly navigate to a specific point in time.