How to cite library items from the context menu
You will attach one or more library items to a timeline, either as sources on an existing event or as the sources of a new event.
Prerequisites
- The library holds at least one timeline.
- The items you select are all from one library. Attachments in the selection are ignored.
- For "Add as Sources to…", the timeline has at least one event.
The entries, their forms and the result messages are listed in The library item context menu.
Add items as sources to an existing event
Select the items in the library. Use Ctrl or Shift to select several.
Right-click the selection and choose "Add as Sources to Timeline…". If the library has several timelines, choose "Add as Sources to…" and then the timeline.
In the "Add as sources" window, pick the event in the Event select.
Pick the link type in the Type select. It starts on the library's first type.
Click Attach.
Read the result, then click Close.
Verification
The window reads "Attached N sources." Select one of the items and open its Timelines section in the item pane: the event is listed there without reselecting the item. See How to find which events cite an item.
If the window reads "Nothing attached: every selected item was already cited under this type.", the event already holds an identical, nameless source for each of them under that type. Choose another type if you want a second citation.
Add items to a new event
Select the items in the library.
Right-click and choose "Add to New Event on Timeline…", or "Add to New Event on…" and then the timeline.
If a confirmation titled "Switch to a different library?" appears, the Timeline tab is open on another library. Confirm to switch; this discards the current view and any unsaved editor changes.
If a confirmation titled "Discard the current edit?" appears, an event is selected in the editor. Confirm to replace it. Cancel to keep it and stop.
In the create form, check that Sources lists your items.
Type a title. Leave it blank to get "Untitled event".
Type a date. The form requires one and does nothing without it. Examples:
1789-07-14,1777/1783.Click "Create event".
Verification
The new event is selected in the editor and drawn on the timeline, and its source list shows your items under the library's first link type.
Troubleshooting
- No entries in the menu. Either the selection holds only attachments or plugin items, or the library has no timeline. Create one in the Timeline tab first.
- The entry is greyed out, with a tooltip about more than one library. The selection spans libraries. Select items from one library at a time.
- Only the flat entry shows, greyed out, although the library has several timelines. Same cause: a split selection never shows the submenu.
- "Create event" does nothing. The date is blank. A date the plugin cannot read shows "Not a date this can read" under the field. In a library that cannot be written, the button is disabled.
- A source has the wrong type. Both actions let you pick the type only in "Add as Sources to…". After "Add to New Event on…", change it in the event editor.