Timeline - Filtering

The Filter button on the Timeline lets you easily view only those Scene Cards associated with specific story elements — with all others faded out until you remove the filter.

What this Article Covers

Getting Started

You can filter Scene Cards on the Timeline by Characters, Places, Tags, Colors, and custom attributes. The filter panel opens with a column for Characters, Places, Tags, and Colors. Each scene-card custom attribute also appears as its own column, under its own name (for example, POV), and lists its values plus “(blank).”

To filter the Timeline:

  1. Click the “Filter” button on the Timeline toolbar.
  2. Click the elements you want to filter by.

The Timeline Filter keeps a Scene Card visible if it matches any of the filters you select. Cards that don’t match any of your choices fade out. For example, if you select the character Ann and the tag Red, a card with only Red and a card with only Ann both stay visible — not just cards that have both.

Plottr Timeline with the Filter panel open. The character Ann and the tag Red are selected. The toolbar shows a Timeline is filtered badge, and Scene Cards A, B, and C all stay visible on the Main Plot line.

When a filter is active, the Timeline toolbar shows a “Timeline is filtered” badge. To remove the filter from the Timeline:

  1. Click the “Timeline is filtered” badge on the Timeline toolbar.
  2. The Timeline will return to its original state (displaying all Scene Cards).

Use Cases

Here are a few ideas for using Filtering with the Timeline:

  • Colors: Filter the Timeline by card colors to view only Scene Cards which are done (for example, Green) or still need work (for example, Yellow).
  • Characters: Filter the Timeline by characters to view only Scene Cards which involve them.
  • Places: Filter the Timeline by places to view only Scene Cards linked with those settings.
  • Tags: Filter the Timeline by tags to view only Scene Cards linked with particular items, clues, themes, and so on.
  • Custom attributes: Filter the Timeline by a custom attribute (for example, POV) to view only Scene Cards linked with particular values, such as a point of view, conflict, or motivation.

Advanced

You can turn every item in a category on or off at once by clicking the category heading in the filter panel (for example, Tags).

  • If you have lots of items, you can scroll the filter menu to see them all.

Known Limitations

  • The filter can’t currently show only the cards that match every selected item.

Need a hand?

Email us at support@plottr.com and we’ll help you out.

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