Manage Entities

Accessing the Manage Entities dialog

You can access the Manage Entities dialog by choosing Manage Entities in the Timeline menu, or by clicking on the Manage Entities toolbar item

Editing an Entity

The left-hand side of the Manage Entities dialog shows a list of all entities that currently exist in your timeline, divided by their entity type. To view and edit a particular entity, first click on the entity type to expand the list, and then click on your chosen entity.

Note that entity names must be unique throughout the timeline (i.e. they cannot share a name with another entity, even of a different type, nor can they share an event with a field, entity type or role).

Adding a new Entity

You can add entities using the dedicated Add Entity toolbar button in the main interface, but it is also possible to add Entities in the Manage Entities dialog.

To add an entity in the Manage Entities dialog, do the following:

Click on the entity type that you wish to add.
Click on the green + symbol that appears next to the type name.
Enter a name for your new entity in the right hand part of the dialog.

Deleting an Entity

To delete an entity, select it in the list on the left-hand side of the dialog. Once selected, hit the red Delete Entity button at the bottom of the right-hand section.

Configuring entity birth and death

If your template is configured to allow it, Aeon Timeline is able to calculate entity ages for every event it is associated with.

Before that can happen, you need to tell Aeon Timeline when your entity is born or created (and optionally, when your entity dies or is destroyed).

There are two different options to provide that information:

By typing a birth date directly into the Manage Entities window. This is the simplest option.
By specifying your entity’s birth as an offset from a given event.

Calculating a birth date from an event

If choosing the latter, you will need to specify the following information:

Event: The event to be used when calculating the entity’s birth date.

Offset: The offset from that event to use in the calculation, and whether it should be calculated from the start of end of the specified event.

For example, an offset of -10 years from start will mean the entity is born 10 years before that event. In other words, that the entity will be 10 years old when that event occurs.

Once a birth event is specified, the birth date will be calculated and displayed in the Date field below that event. This field will be disabled so that you cannot edit the birth date directly.

If the event is moved later, then the birthdate of the character will shift also.

Setting a death/destruction date

Setting a date for death or destruction is done in exactly the same way as described above for birth/creation.