Here's what's new in Timepath this month. In Timeline and Liveblog you now edit right on the card, Survey handles long questionnaires, and Data Story makes infographics from a template.
There's also a new sidebar and Home, one share screen for every product, and a long list of smaller fixes. The three big ones are below, the rest is in our changelog.
Timeline and Liveblog - edit right on the card
Adding or editing an event in Timeline used to mean filling in a form next to a small preview. Now the card itself is where you work. Click the title and type, click the story and write it in place, or drop a photo straight onto the spot where it goes. The panel on the right shows only the options for the part you clicked, like the font of the date or the title. Adding a new event works exactly the same way.
Liveblog updates now work like this too: you write the update on the card, with the formatting toolbar above it. You can also schedule an update to go live at a set time. And both editors work on a phone, so you can add an event or post an update when you're away from your desk.
Purpose: Write and edit your timeline and liveblog where your readers will see it.
Key Benefit: What you see while you type is what your readers get.
Example Use Cases:
Fixing a typo in an event title with one click
Dropping a new photo onto an event while the news is breaking
Scheduling a liveblog update for the moment an embargo lifts
Posting a liveblog update from your phone
Try it: open a timeline and click an event's title.
Survey - sections and optional questions
Long surveys are a lot easier to manage in Survey now. You can group questions into named sections, collapse them, and drag questions in and between them. You also decide which questions a reader has to answer: switch on "Let readers skip questions" in the Design Studio, and only the questions you mark as required are required. New surveys start that way.
Readers get their half too. You can show the name of the section they're in, let them jump between sections, and let them finish early once every required question is answered. If something required is still open, the survey tells them how many questions are left and takes them to the first one.
Purpose: Run a long survey that's still easy to fill in.
Key Benefit: Readers answer what matters to them, and you still get the questions you need.
Example Use Cases:
A reader panel that opens with an "About you" section
A questionnaire about local services, split into themes
A survey where only the first three questions are required
A yearly reader survey people can finish when they're done
Try it: open a survey and add a section.
Data Story - infographics from a template
Data Story can now make infographics. Start from one of three templates: an approval tracker with key figures and a trend line, a state snapshot with a map of the US, or a by-the-numbers layout with grouped bars. Each one comes with sample data, clearly labelled as such, until you paste in your own. The fonts and accent colour follow your workspace's brand kit, if it has one.
There are new blocks to build with as well: grouped bars to compare groups across categories, a US state map where you colour each state by a category such as a race rating, notes on a line chart, number formats like % or €, and a source line with room for a note on the method. When you're done, you can export the whole infographic as a PNG or a PDF, in its own fonts.
Purpose: Turn your data into an infographic that's ready to publish or share.
Key Benefit: A finished, on-brand layout instead of a blank page.
Example Use Cases:
Race ratings for the US midterms on a state map
A government approval tracker you update every week
Poll results by age group in grouped bars
A PNG of your infographic for social media
Try it: create a Data Story and pick an infographic template.
Also new in September
Share has its own page for every product, with the link, the embed code, a QR code and who can edit, all in one place. You can publish from there too.
A new sidebar and Home. The sidebar shows which workspace you're in and where Create will save, and Home opens on your latest live story and its numbers.
Social Story starts from your article: paste a link or pick a recent article, and you get a first post in your template to review.
Voices: edit the cover and every question on the screen readers see, and walk through the whole flow yourself in Test Mode.
Map Timeline can open straight on the full-screen map, and the map's search, filters and buttons now share one bar.
Why it matters
Some of this started with a newsroom whose long survey made readers answer every question before they could move on. The rest came from using Timepath ourselves: writing an event in a form next to a small preview never felt like writing the story.
So keep it coming. If something in Timepath slows you down, tell us and we'll look at it.
These features are available now in the Timepath editor.
Curious how these new updates could improve your newsroom's workflow?
Book a short demo session with our team!
