timetoast – The review!

Our reviews of timelines continue with timetoast! timetoast.com is nice. Not great, but nice. After working with xTimeline.com timetoast was a nice change of pace to see a timeline that actually looks like a timeline. It’s easy to use, like xTimeline, and the final product looks pretty good. There were things I liked and things I did not like (how about that for being vague). Read on past the break to see why timetoast earns a solid 2 DTs. There is also a quick video to see it in action and a link to my timetoast timeline

Getting started is very easy. It only requires an email, so if you’re teaching little ones, it may be best to use one you create. Once in creating a timeline and adding events is crazy easy. From the homepage just select Create a new timeline and you’re off. A new window will pop up (even simpler than xTimeline) and all you have to do is give it a title, catefgorize it (if you want), and upload an image for the timeline (if you want). Click Go and you’re ready to start adding events. Thus far I am digging the clean design and ease of use. Check out the pics below to see what I mean.

 

Adding an Event
There is a big and easy to find button that says Add Eventat the bottom of the timeline. When you click on it a new window will pop open and you can add the particulars about the event. You can even upload a photo if you like, add a link to another webpage, but sadly there is no embedding of online videos, animations, etc. This is a big negative and something I am sure that most (if not all) of timetoast’s competition probably offers.

  

Adding a Timespan

Some events are not summed up in a day. timetoast does an OK job of handling this. To get started click on Add Timespan at the bottom of the timeline (look at the picture above). Like an event a new window pops up and everything is . . . hold the phone. What is missing from the picture?

There is no place to add a picture. Why wouldn’t they offer this? I am not too sure, but it seems a little silly to me. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but I just wish there was a way to add a picture to a timespan.

Making it Public and Sharing

What is nice about timetoast is that your timeline starts off as a draft and you have to decide to make it public. So you decide when it is ready to view. To do this click on change status here right above the timeline. It will take you to a list of all your timelines were you can decide to either publish or make draft.

 

Viewing the timeline
When you view the timeline, it looks like a timeline and you can move a slide at the bottom to change the view (like zooming in). When your mouse hits a particular area in the timeline the events show themselves and if you want the details of each particular event you just click on it. It works very smoothly and seamlessly. One thing I don’t like is how the timespan’s are displayed. There is no real attention drawn to them and they are easily overlooked. The title doesn’t show, just part of the timespan which does not look too nice.

Check out the video below and below that is the link to the actual timeline itself for you to view in all its mediocre glory.

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-life-of-omar

Conclusion
It looks better and is as easy to use as xTimeline, but the lack of embedding videos from YouTube or other similar services is a real downer. Also, the way that it handles timespans is not great. It’s a solid program but there is better out there for you and your students.