What is Mnemograph?
Mnemograph is a web based application that lets you manage information as a timeline.

What is a timeline?
A timeline is a collection of events and images organized along a horizontal time-scale.

Why is this a good thing?
The internet offers many ways of organizing information. Search engines sort information by relevance, for example. Spatial software, like Google Earth, help us visualize information according to its relationship with a particular place. Mnemograph allows users to visualize information around the dimension of time.

How do I get started?
You have already given your first timeline a name. So, now you need to add an event to it. Click 'Add Event', and then enter a title, description, time and, if you want, select an icon (useful for visually clustering similar events on the timeline) and add a link to another web site where a user can go for more information. Click 'enter' when you are done, and your first timeline has its first event!

What is an event?
An event is some kind of occurance that has happened in the past or that will happen in the future. Timelines are collections of related events.

Do I have to manually enter all my events?
No. We are building importers so that you can automatically create events based on information stored on other web sites (Flickr photographs, RSS and Atom feeds for news and blogs, and Facebook for personal networks).

How do I add an image?
Click 'add image'. You can then either add a link to an image stored on another web site, or upload an image of your own. To upload an image click 'Upload' and then select the file from your hard disk. This will add the image to your Mnemograph image library. Then click 'Open Library' to select the image from your library. Add a title, description and time just as you would with a normal event before clicking enter. You can move an image around on the timeline by holding down the shift key and dragging it with your mouse.

Are there any short cuts?
Yes, to create an event simply double click anywhere on the screen. To move an image around on the timeline, hold down the shift key and drag it with your mouse.

Can I have more than one timeline open at once?
Yes. You can view timelines above and below the timeline 'ruler' in the middle of the screen. Click on the 'Timelines' header to see a list of all the timelines you have created. By clicking on the green 'options' button you can add the timeline to either the north (top) or south (bottom) of the screen.

Why would I want to see more than one timeline at a time?
Visualizing two timelines at once can present some interesting and unexpected relationships between events. For example, one timeline could show your photographs from Flickrr, and another could show a family diary. The combination of the two on a single screen leads to a richer experience.

Can I share timelines?
Yes. Mnemograph is both an authoring and a viewing tool. Click the 'mode' button to preview the viewing mode. If you choose to make a timeline "public", a URL will be created for it which you can send to anyone and which they can view (without being able to edit or create events themselves). We'll also be able to give you some html which will let you embed a timeline within another web page.

Why is it called Mnemograph?
Like many good technology companies, the origin of our name is Greek. Mnemosyne was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and, after a nine night stand with Zeus, the mother of the Muses. To be honest, we aren't terribly happy with the name. It doesn't seem exactly main stream and is hard to type and pronounce. So, if you have any decent ideas, let us know!