TimeGlider is a data-driven interactive timeline application built on the (Adobe) Flash platform. You can “grab” the timeline and drag it left and right, and zoom in and out to view centuries at a time or just hours. TimeGlider allows you to create event-spans so that you can see durations and how they overlap. Being web-based, TimeGlider lets you collaborate and share easily.

You can create timelines about the last year of your family, the last century of world events, or about pre-historical (bce/bc) times. You can try the application here without needing to sign up.

TimeGlider interface is draggable and zoomable: navigating TimeGlider is a lot like using familiar applications like Google or Yahoo maps. TimeGlider allows you to show the time span of events, indicated by a band of color. Simply enter the start date and an end date.

Timelines that zoom are tricky: If they are dense with events, they stack up and get cluttered. But with TimeGlider, this can be easily managed by assigning an importance level (from 1 to 100) to each event. As one zooms in, certain things can emerge that weren’t visible at a wider scope.

A free account comes with

• a really cool application for visualizing history and project planning!
• a basic image library & uploader
• linking and embedding tools for sharing your timelines