For Aeon Timeline to calculate a character’s age at an event, the event needs to be related to that character. Once related, the character's age at that event is shown automatically in the inspector.

1. Select an event.
2. In the inspector, find the Characters field.
   If it isn’t shown, scroll to the bottom of the inspector and click Add and Edit Fields to add it.
3. Click Add, then select the character.

Each related character now appears in the Characters field with their age at that event.

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Learn more about relationships in the Connect Events, People, and More guide.

The Relationship view can lay out every event against every character in a grid, making it easy to see all your characters' ages at every event at a glance.

1. Select or create a tab set to the Relationship view.
2. Open the [] Content panel in the view header.
3. Under Rows, select Events.
4. Under Columns, select Characters.

Each intersection between an event and a character shows the relationship between them. When both have dates, the intersection also shows the character's age at that event — giving you a full grid of ages across your story.

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Tip: To see an example of tracking ages in the Relationship view, explore the Biography template in the app.

You can pin a single character’s lifespan to the top of the Timeline view, which will show their age at the current timeline position.

1. Select or create a tab set to the Timeline view.
2. Open the [] Filter panel in the view header.
3. Filter the view by a single character.

If the character has a date set, a bar appears across the top of the view, showing the character’s age at the current timeline position. As you scroll, the age updates to reflect that point in their life.

There are several kinds of rules you can add, depending on what you need. Two commonly used for story timelines are:

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Keep two events in a particular order

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Use this when the sequence matters more than the exact dates — for example, a body has to be discovered before the investigation begins, or a clue has to be planted before a character can find it. Even as you shift dates around during revisions, the two events will stay in the right order.

1. Select one of the events you want to make dependent.
2. In the inspector, find the Dependencies field.
   If it isn't shown, scroll to the bottom of the inspector and click Add and Edit Fields to add it.
3. To make the selected event come before the other, click Blocks → + Add. To make it come after, click Blocked by → + Add.
4. Select the other event from the list.

Tie two events together, with an optional time gap between them

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Use this when events need to happen at the same time, or when a specific amount of time has to pass between them — for example, a wedding happening exactly a year after the proposal, or a sequel needing to take place at least ten years after the original story ends.

1. Select one of the events.
2. In the inspector, find the Dependencies field.
   If it isn't shown, scroll to the bottom of the inspector and click Add and Edit Fields to add it.
3. Click Constraints → + Add.
4. In the first dropdown, choose the event's Start or End date.
5. In the second dropdown, choose Equals start of or Equals end of.
6. In the third dropdown, select the other event.
7. Optional: Enter an offset to enforce a time gap between the events — for example, 1 year for a wedding a year after the proposal.

When you move an event that other events depend on, Aeon Timeline can either shift those dependent events automatically so the rules stay valid, or leave them in place and flag the conflicts for you to review later. You can choose the behaviour that suits how you work.

• Automatically resolve is useful when you want your timeline to stay consistent without manual cleanup — events that depend on the one you moved will shift along with it.
• Highlight violations without resolving is useful when you'd rather see what would break before deciding how to fix it. Conflicts appear with a red warning icon, which you can resolve one at a time, or all at once from the Dependencies sidebar panel.

To set this:

1. Open [] Settings.
2. Select the Dates tab.
3. Scroll to the Date Editing section.
4. Under When moving items with dependencies and constraints, choose:
   • Automatically resolve dependencies and constraints, or
   • Highlight violations without resolving.

1. Open [] Settings.
2. Select the Dates tab.
3. Under Calendar Style, choose:‍
   
   • Day count to display dates as Day 1, Day 2, etc., or‍
   • Week count to display dates as Week 1, Week 2, etc.
4. If you’re switching from calendar dates, you’ll be asked to choose which calendar date should be treated as Day 0 or Week 0. Pick the date you want to anchor your relative timeline to.

Times can also be included alongside day or week numbers — for example, 5:00pm Day 1 or 5:00pm Monday Week 1.

1. Open [] Settings.
2. Select the Dates tab.
3. Under Calendar Style, choose Timestamps.
4. If you’re switching from calendar dates, you’ll be asked to choose which calendar date should be treated as Hour 0. Pick the moment you want your runtime to start counting from.

Once switched, events will display as clock-style times like 00:10:15, and the timeline will lay them out across the chosen runtime.