Getting Started

This guide walks you through importing your first dataset and exploring it on the map.

Developers: If you need to install TimeTiles locally, see the Quick Start Guide.

Prepare Your Data

TimeTiles works with CSV, Excel, or ODS files. Each row becomes an event on the map. Your data needs three fields:

Field	Required	Example
Title	Yes	”Earthquake in San Francisco”
Date	Yes	2024-03-15 (ISO 8601 recommended)
Location	Yes	”San Francisco, CA” or `37.7793, -122.4193`

You can include any additional fields — description, category, source, severity, URLs. These become filterable in the interface.

Example CSV:


title,date,location,category,description
"City Council Meeting","2024-01-10","Berlin, Germany","Politics","Budget debate for 2024"
"Factory Fire","2024-02-14","Hamburg, Germany","Incident","Chemical plant fire, no injuries"
"Climate March","2024-03-15","Munich, Germany","Protest","5,000 participants"
"Data Leak Published","2024-04-02","Frankfurt, Germany","Investigation","Financial records from 2019-2023"
"River Pollution Report","2024-05-20","Cologne, Germany","Environment","Elevated lead levels detected"

Import Your Data

Navigate to /ingest or click the import button in the interface. Importing needs an account with a confirmed email address; the wizard asks you to sign in or register first.

Upload your file

Drag and drop your CSV, Excel, or ODS file. You can also paste a URL to fetch data from a remote source.

Choose a catalog and dataset

Catalogs are project-level containers. Create one for your topic (e.g., “German Events 2024”) or select an existing one, then choose the dataset the events go into.

Check the field mapping

TimeTiles analyzes your data and identifies field types — dates, locations, categories, numbers. Verify the mappings look correct and adjust if needed, especially if your file includes start/end date pairs or a single combined coordinate column.

Schedule and review

For a URL source, the Schedule step lets the import repeat; file uploads skip it. The Review step summarizes your choices.

Start the import

Click Start Import. TimeTiles will:

Validate your data
Geocode text addresses to coordinates (or use coordinates directly if provided)
Create events and add them to the map

A progress bar shows the current stage and estimated time remaining.

Explore Your Dataset

Once processing completes, your data is live on the map.

Map — Events appear as markers, clustered when zoomed out. Click a cluster to zoom in. Click an individual marker to see full event details.

Timeline — A histogram at the bottom shows event density over time. Drag the handles to filter to a specific date range. Watch how patterns shift as you narrow the window.

Filters — Sidebar filters are generated from your data. If you have a “category” field, you’ll see checkboxes for each value. Combine multiple filters to drill down.

URL state — As you pan the map, adjust the timeline, or toggle filters, the URL updates. Bookmark it to save your exact view.

Every view has a shareable URL. Filters, map position, and time range are all encoded in the link — recipients see exactly what you see.

You can also export all your data as a ZIP archive from your account settings.

Tips

Start small — Test with 100-500 events before importing large datasets
Use consistent dates — ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) works best
Add categories — Fields with a small number of distinct values become interactive filters
Include coordinates — If you already have latitude/longitude, TimeTiles skips geocoding (faster and more accurate)
Check combined coordinate columns — If one field stores both numbers, confirm whether it uses lat,lng or lng,lat
Preview first — Review the schema detection before starting the full import

Next Steps

Data Import — Scheduled imports, scrapers, deduplication, schema evolution
Exploring Data — Map, timeline, filters, and sharing
Use Cases — Real-world examples