History of the University - an interactive timeline

Recently we published an interactive timeline on which you can explore the key milestones, facts and figures of the University's 50 year history. There are over 150 entries, including historical images, newspaper clippings and videos of the University's past, all in an easy to use and attractive interactive format.

Building the timeline

The timeline was built using Tiki-Toki, an cloud-based timeline product. We tested quite a lot of alternatives and nothing really compared; it's a great product.

Users can pan, zoom, enlarge and browse stories quickly and easily, including on tablets and smartphones. The timeline can be filtered to just show a particular category of story or searched for keywords. We've been really pleased with the response so far - everyone who has seen it seems to like it.

The Tiki-Toki authoring interface

From the creator's end, too, it is incredibly easy to use, requiring only a date and some text in order to place a story on the timeline. The software automatically places an entry in the relevant spot and manages the spacing of multiple stories. The ability to embed images, audio and video is also helpful, and has allowed us to develop a rich gallery alongside the textual information presented.

New pages, and a new design, for the 50th Anniversary

The University is celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2013 and we're happy to have just launched some new web pages about the celebrations taking place and reflecting on our history: www.york.ac.uk/50/

We'll be adding more features reflecting on our achievements and documenting the events that are coming up as the year progresses, so check back occasionally to discover more.

A new design

The design is quite radically different from our standard template. We've been working with an outside agency on a revised design which ultimately will roll out across much of the website and this is the first pilot project using some of what we've been working on.

Many of you will no doubt have questions about the design change. I can answer a couple of likely ones straight away: For the enthusiasts I'm afraid, no, you can't have the design for your site just yet. For those a bit more cautious, don't worry, this is an early pilot and there is a long way to go before this will affect your pages. We'll share more details about the wider project soon.

We hope you like the design and the content. If you've any feedback then we'd be happy to hear it - leave us a comment or drop us an email at web-office@york.ac.uk.