Working with Categories

Categories can be assigned to events so that related events can be grouped together and relationships between events can be displayed in timeline charts. When you enter information in the Category field it is automatically saved in a list of categories. As you enter more events, the program will try to auto-complete your category names with information it has saved in the list of categories.

In this article

• Assigning categories to events
• Editing categories
• Assigning category colors

Assigning categories to events

To assign a category to an event:

1. Select the Timeline Data tab
2. Click in the corresponding event field under Category.
3. Enter the category name, or select it from the list of saved category names.
   

Tip: You can create a list of Category Names using the Category Names button. In the Home tab, click the Category Names button in the Data group and select the New.

Editing categories

Using the Category Names button, you can rename, delete or add new categories

To add categories:

1. In the Home tab, in the Data group, select Category Names.
2. Click the New option.
3. Enter the category name, then click OK to confirm.

To rename or delete categories:

1. In the Home tab, in the Data group, select Category Names.
2. Click on the category you wish to modify, then select the Rename or Delete button, as desired.
3. Rename or delete the category, then click OK to confirm.

Assigning category colors

Timeline Maker Pro automatically assigns colors to your categories based on the theme in use on your timeline chart. If you wish to change the category color, including the color of all events associated with the category, you can do so quickly and easily using the Category Colors button.

To assign new category colors:

1. While viewing the timeline chart, select the Chart tab, or click on the legend. This will open the Legend, Format tab.
2. In the Chart group, click the Category Colors button.
3. Click on the category you wish to modify, then choose a color from either the Theme Colors (drawn from the theme currently in use), Standard Colors, or click More Colors to choose a custom color.
   

The legend and all events associated with the category will now be updated with your new color choice.

_Note: When you save a theme with custom category names and colors, the category names and their associated colors are saved with the theme. This means that the colors you have chosen for specific category names will be used if you apply the same theme to a new timeline chart with the same category names, even if you are using a separate file. For more information on saving themes, see Creating, Importing and Deleting Themes