Appearance Settings - Date Formats
The Date Formats settings control how dates are written on your timeline, in the list below it, and in the date picker you use when editing events.
To reach these settings, click the Appearance button above your timeline and open the Date Format section.
Event Date Format
Preceden will use this format when displaying an event's dates on the timeline, as well as in the list below the timeline.
The default option, Unformatted, shows each date exactly the way you typed it when you set the event's dates. You may prefer something more consistent on the timeline itself. For example, instead of the full date like "May 18, 2021" you may want "May 18" or "5/18".
We recommend choosing an option other than Unformatted so that every date reads the same way, no matter how it was entered.
If you choose the 24-hour clock option, the axis uses 24-hour time too when your timeline's scale is hours ("14:00" instead of "2pm").
Don't see the format you need? Email [email protected] and we'll consider adding it.
Date Picker Format
Preceden will use this format for the date picker and when you change an event's dates with drag and drop.
A new timeline starts with the date picker format of the last timeline you worked on. On your first timeline, it's "Mar 3, 2021" style if your browser was set to English when you signed up, and "3 Mar 2021" style otherwise.
Language
The language you choose here determines the language of the event date picker, as well as the language of the dates shown on the timeline and in the list below it.
A new timeline uses the same language as the last timeline you worked on. For your first timeline, Preceden uses the language of the name you give it when it can tell what that is, and otherwise the language your browser was set to when you signed up. An AI-generated timeline uses the language of the topic you entered.
This setting covers dates only. Preceden's own menus, buttons, and dialogs are English, so if those appear in another language your browser is translating the page: Change Language Settings explains how to switch that off.
Approximate Format
Choose whether approximate dates appear on your timeline with a leading Approx. or a leading ~:
- Approx. March 3, 2021 (the default)
- ~March 3, 2021
Week Start
When your timeline uses weeks for the scale, this setting determines whether each week starts on Sunday or Monday. New timelines start the week on Monday.
Quarter Format
This setting determines how quarters are labeled on the axis. It applies when your timeline uses quarters for the scale, and also when it uses months, where the top and bottom axes mark the start of each quarter:
- Months (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) (the default)
- Numbers (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)
- Seasons (Winter, Spring, etc)
Fiscal Year Start
This setting determines which month Q1 starts in: January, April, July, or October. New timelines start the fiscal year in January. For example, the US federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 of one calendar year through September 30 of the next, so an October start lines your quarters up with it.
It only has an effect when Quarter Format is set to Numbers (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) and the timeline is using quarters or months for the scale. With any start month other than January, the axis labels each year as a fiscal year spanning two calendar years, like "FY 2021-2022".