PlotPastPICK A STARTING POINT
Free timeline
templates.
Four editable starting points for history, personal stories, and product plans. Explore what’s inside, download an example, and make it yours.
Open PlotPast01 / HISTORY
History of Rome
Follow Rome through kingdom, republic, and empire. This template combines individual turning points with longer conflicts and overlapping periods, giving you a starting point for a historical overview.
Use it for a lesson, a revision board, or a research outline. The traditional founding is marked as approximate; other events include descriptions and Wikipedia links you can use as starting points for further reading.
Make it your own
Narrow the question before adding more events. For a study of the late Republic, focus on that period and add your own sources. The supplied entries are a curated starting point, not a complete account of Roman history.
Inside the template
- Traditional founding of Rome
- Roman Republic established
- Assassination of Julius Caesar
02 / PARALLEL STORIES
World War II
Compare turning points across Europe, the Pacific, and the home front. Parallel lanes make it easier to examine what was happening in different places during the same years.
Use it to prepare a class discussion or organize study notes. Open individual events for descriptions and reference links, and switch to Story view when you want a chronological reading.
Make it your own
Choose a theme such as logistics, diplomacy, or civilian life. Add relevant events and sources, and keep their lane assignments consistent so readers can follow each thread.
Inside the template
- Invasion of Poland
- Attack on Pearl Harbor
- D-Day
03 / YOUR OWN STORY
My Life
Turn personal milestones into a story you can revisit. This template contains editable placeholders for school, work, moves, proud moments, and future goals, alongside longer life chapters.
Use it for reflection, a biography outline, or a personal presentation. The in-app template asks for a birth year; the download is a sample you can edit after importing.
Make it your own
Replace the example dates and titles with your own. Delete milestones that do not fit your experience and add the quieter moments that matter to you. Review personal details before sharing a board.
Inside the template
- A favorite childhood memory
- A life-changing milestone
- My next big goal
04 / WHAT’S NEXT
Product Roadmap
Connect a product’s direction to its milestones across Design, Engineering, and Launches. The template spans three years of example work, from discovery through launch and growth.
Use it to explain the sequence of planned work and the relationship between tracks. The dates, descriptions, and linked events are editable examples to adapt to your project.
Make it your own
Replace the sample milestones with your actual scope and target dates. Add owners and decision notes to descriptions, and use periods for phases such as discovery or launch. Keep estimated dates clearly labeled.
Inside the template
- Customer discovery
- Private beta
- Public launch
MAKE IT YOURS
How to use a timeline template
In the app: open PlotPast, choose a new board, and select a template from the gallery. The My Life template lets you set the birth year before creating your board.
From a download: save one of the JSON files above, then open PlotPast’s Settings and choose Import JSON under Board data. Review the preview before choosing Add to merge it into your board or Replace to replace the current contents. Use an empty board if you want to keep the example separate from existing work.
The downloads contain editable timeline data for PlotPast. After importing, change events, periods, lanes, colors, and descriptions as needed. Export PNG or SVG for a document, print Story view to PDF, or export JSON to keep an editable backup.
Local editing is free and needs no account. For a walkthrough of dates, periods, and sources, read how to make a timeline.
Have a different story in mind?
A blank canvas works for research, fictional worlds, and all the stories that do not fit a template.
Create your own timeline