What is TimeTiles?
TimeTiles is an open-source platform that turns spreadsheets of events into interactive maps with timeline controls. Upload a CSV with dates and locations, and TimeTiles geocodes, clusters, and visualizes your data — making it explorable by anyone, no technical skills required.
The Problem
You have a dataset of events — incidents, observations, reports — each with a date and a place. You want people to explore it. Your options:
- Spreadsheets can’t show events on a map or let readers filter by time
- BI dashboards (Metabase, Superset) are powerful but built for analysts, not public audiences
- GIS tools (QGIS, ArcGIS) require expertise and produce static outputs
- Storytelling tools (TimelineJS, StoryMapJS) are limited to a few hundred curated events
TimeTiles fills the gap: a ready-made platform for publishing large, filterable event datasets as interactive maps — without writing code.
How It Works
Your CSV/Excel file
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TimeTiles detects the schema and maps fields
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Addresses are geocoded to coordinates
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Events appear on an interactive map with timeline, filters, and charts
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Share via URL — filter state is preserved in the link1. Import
Upload CSV, Excel, or ODS files — or point TimeTiles at a URL for scheduled automated imports. TimeTiles detects your schema and suggests field mappings. You review and confirm.
2. Process
TimeTiles geocodes text addresses to coordinates using multiple providers (Nominatim, Google Maps, OpenCage) with automatic fallback. Events are deduplicated, validated, and stored with full metadata.
3. Explore
Your data is now an interactive map. Readers can:
- Pan and zoom the map with clustered markers
- Scrub the timeline to watch events unfold over time
- Filter by category, date range, data source, or any field in your schema
- Click events to see full details
- View histograms that reveal temporal patterns
4. Share
Every view has a unique URL. Filters, map position, and time range are encoded in the link — so when you share it, recipients see exactly what you see.
Who It’s For
Journalists documenting patterns across regions — police shootings, environmental violations, political events. Import investigation data and give readers an interface to explore it themselves.
Researchers analyzing spatio-temporal datasets — conflict incidents, urban development, migration patterns. Handle 100k+ events with server-side clustering and PostGIS spatial queries.
Activists tracking issues over time — pollution reports, human rights incidents, community organizing. Combine multiple data sources into a single explorable view.
Organizations publishing data-driven narratives — disaster response, public health surveillance, historical documentation. Self-host for full control over data and presentation.
Key Capabilities
| Area | Features |
|---|---|
| Import | CSV, Excel, ODS, JSON API; automatic schema detection; multi-provider geocoding with fallback; scheduled URL imports; batch processing with progress tracking |
| Visualization | Clustered map (MapLibre GL JS); timeline histogram; dynamic filters from schema; light/dark themes |
| Platform | Multi-language (English, German); user quotas and trust levels; content management (pages, branding); audit logging; data export |
| Sharing | Public/private access control; shareable URLs with filter state; catalog and dataset organization |
| Scraping | Optional Python/Node.js scrapers running in isolated Podman containers for non-tabular sources |
Tech Stack
Built with Next.js 16, React 19, PostgreSQL 17 + PostGIS 3.5, Payload CMS 3, and MapLibre GL JS. Self-hostable under AGPL-3.0.
Learn More
- Core Concepts — Data hierarchy: sites, catalogs, datasets, events, and views
- Comparison — How TimeTiles compares to Timemap, uMap, Kepler.gl, TimelineJS, and others
- Quick Start — Install and run TimeTiles locally in 5 minutes