Creating an animated timeline map

Use Infogram to create an animated timeline map. You can set the start and end dates for each location on the map, adjust how fast you want the animations to play out, and do much more. Here's an example:

Adding a map to your project

First, you'll need to add a map to your Infogram project.

1. In the Infogram editor, select Add map in the left-side toolbar.
2. Use the search bar at the top to look for maps (of cities, states, countries, etc.) or scroll down the list to find the one you'd like to use.
3. To add the map, hover over its thumbnail and select Insert or drag and drop it onto the canvas.

Enabling the timeline function

1. With the map selected on the canvas, go to Map properties in the right-side settings panel.
2. Toggle on the Timeline option.

Setting up the animations of the map

Adding dates to your locations

1. After you've enabled the timeline function, go to the map's datasheet by selecting Edit data in the top right corner of the editor or by double-clicking on the map.
2. Scroll to the right, where you'll now see two new columns – Start date and End date.
3. Enter each location's start and end dates in the respective cells opposite them.

Setting a start and end date for the animated map

In addition to adding dates to your locations, you can also set specific start and end dates for the map.

Expand the Value tab in the right-side settings panel and enter the dates in the text boxes under Start time and End time. Make sure they match the date format of the map.

Setting the timeline duration

You can adjust how fast the animations will play out on your map. Go to Map properties and use the Timeline duration slider to set the duration of the timeline map. The maximum duration is 60 seconds.

Hiding all values after a fixed time

If you want to, you can hide all of the values on the map after a fixed time set by you. Under Map properties, enable the Hide after a fixed time option, then scroll down and use the slider under Fixed timeline duration to set the time.

Now, all values will disappear from the map after the time you've set here, regardless of the timeline duration you've selected.

To learn more about Infogram's maps and how you can customize them, have a look at the articles of the Maps section of our knowledge base.