I started using timeline a while ago and dug in deep. I love the widget,
but I really disliked the way it was loading the javascript and how its
script block needed to be in the head section. I tore out the timeline
code from the overall Simile project and removed much of the base code that
wasn't needed or was just a duplicate of what jquery has. I've changed the
way class methods are defined to be more streamlined and the overall result
is now one file that is 153kb minified and 44k zipped. This is a
significant size difference from the Simile version, which loads faster on
the iPad. This code version also has tablet touch support as provided in
other threads on the web.
I've completely removed all support for doing ajax directly from Timeline
as its just more mainstream to use something like
$.load(...).done(function(json){...}). This is an example of removing
stuff from timeline that jquery already does.
Another thing removed is the history stuff which forced another query on
the server and wasn't really used in timeline anyway.
Also, the code no longer tries to load its own version of jquery. My
thinking is, if you cant properly setup jquery on the page, you probably
aren't ready to use timeline. I think the main developer should be crystal
clear on what version of jquery is being used in their project. That code
was just bloat.
I've also setup the creation of the timeline as a real jquery plugin. All
examples I've converted over work, and my own app which pushes the edges of
the timeline works with the new code.
I'm not sure if this new code should be setup as a branch to the main
project or just shared somewhere else. I want to take timeline further
than it is now, including support classes in .NET for ASP.NET classic and
MVC. Right now I'm thinking I'll just host this version on another site
and let it go from there.
I'm adding better event notification to support having other things on the
page show data related to the events showing on the page. For example, all
financial transactions visible on the timeline are summarized in a table
below the timeline.
I've also added support for event grouping by having bands that dont have
to have a timeline painter. Put different events on each band and only
have the bottom band have the date tic marks. This groups events well.
I also need to add support for paging events rather than loading all events
into the timeline at once. As the user scrolls through time, the timeline
should be able to have events added and removed dynamically to keep the
total # of events (and DOM elements) actually rendered down to a minimal.
I worked on the Nitobi Grid which did virtual scrolling with data paging
via ajax and it worked well. I see it as critical for timeline to support
this really well.
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