Effective storytelling is a key part of building a successful brand identity. However, to make the historical roadmap of your business compelling, it helps to present it in a visually engaging manner. This is why we recommend using a timeline to showcase milestones, achievements, and other important dates for your organization.
WordPress timeline plugins make adding a timeline of events or milestones to your site effortless. In this post, we’ll discuss what these tools are and explore their benefits. Then we’ll introduce you to seven of the best timeline plugins for WordPress.
Let’s get started!
An Introduction to Timelines for WordPress Websites
As a business, it’s crucial that you’re able to build trust and credibility with your audience. One of the most powerful ways to do that is through engaging storytelling. Letting customers know about where you started and how your brand came to be is an effective way to personalize your company and demonstrate your values.
Incorporating timelines on your website can help with this. In a nutshell, these are visual graphics that display a map of business-related milestones or content, typically in chronological order.
There are various types of timelines that you can add to your website. For example, one of the most popular options is a “dynamic content timeline”. Typically, this is used to arrange your blog posts in chronological order (either ascending or descending). However, you can also organize them by category.
The purpose of this is to provide your users with a better way of browsing your content and locating content that was published at a certain time. Another benefit is that you can add an interactive element to the otherwise basic and bland list of posts.
A second popular type is “static announcement timelines”, which are used to display company history and important events. For instance, you might use one on your About Us page to showcase the milestones your business has reached over the years.
Adding either type of timeline to your site becomes significantly easier when you’re armed with one of the best timeline plugins for WordPress. There are both free and premium options available, with features and functionalities ranging from basic to advanced.
7 Best Timeline Plugins for WordPress
The type of timeline plugin you pick for your WordPress site will depend on a variety of factors. For example, you’ll need to consider what kinds of timelines you’d like to create, as well as how much you’re willing to pay.
In the list that follows, we’ve considered features, ratings and reviews, support, ease of use, and more. The result is seven of the best timeline plugins you can find for your WordPress website. At least one of these plugins should be a suitable option for your site, regardless of the type of timeline you want to create or your experience level.
1. Timeline Express
Timeline Express is a freemium WordPress plugin that offers an expansive set of features for creating animated vertical timelines. This includes timelines for events, dates, announcements, and more.
You can easily add these features to your site via shortcodes. This tool is also packed with customization and design options, letting you choose from a collection of fonts, icons, and images:
One of our favorite aspects of Timeline Express is its flexibility. You can use it for websites of all sizes and scales. For example, the free version ships with everything you need to build and display aesthetically-pleasing, vertical timelines. However, if you’re looking for something a bit more intricate, you can access various advanced features by upgrading to a premium license.
Key Features:
- Flexible, responsive, and cross-browser compatible
- Easy-to-use shortcodes for seamless integration
- Custom images and Font Awesome icons
- CSS3 animations
- Ascending and descending order options
- Localized date formatting
- Translation-ready for international users
- Multiple timelines (Pro)
- Announcement categories (Pro)
- Timeline sorting features (Pro)
- Priority support (Pro)
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You want a single tool that can easily be used for various purposes and on multiple types of websites.
Pricing: Free, with a premium version starting at $29 | More Information
2. Content Timeline
Content Timeline is a premium plugin that delivers a smooth, seamless experience for showcasing content in a timeline view. Once installed, you can use it to arrange your content into interactive grids.
Users can easily browse through the timeline items, and then access the full “story” by clicking on the date or Read More button. This provides a clean, sleek solution for organizing and displaying highlights and links to further information.
One area where Content Timeline shines is its plethora of customization options, including design and style features. You can quickly curate timelines to complement your existing website’s branding. Also, you can adjust the size of the timeline’s width and scroll speed.
Key Features:
- Lightweight and responsive
- Drag-and-drop functionality
- Included shortcode
- Support for animated previews
- Posts by category
- Swipe-motion navigation
- Four timeline styles (flat, dark, light, and cards)
- 12 card layouts
- Seven embedded script control methods
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You’d like to quickly create stylish, customizable timelines without any hassle.
Pricing: $30 | More Information
3. Cool Timeline
If you’re looking for the best timeline plugins for WordPress that offer both free and premium versions, Cool Timeline is another option to consider. It provides a quick and easy way to spice up the way you display your blog posts instantly.
This tool is loaded with various style options, making it easy to customize the timeline to your branding:
It also supports multimedia elements such as sliders, images, and videos.
Cool Timeline is an excellent option if you’re interested in creating both vertical and horizontal timelines. You can use it to showcase important dates and milestones in your company’s history, and display blog content engagingly and practically.
Key Features:
- Free and premium versions available
- Both-sided and one-sided timeline options
- Compact timeline option for saving space
- User-friendly with extensive documentation
- Over 20 horizontal and vertical timeline styles
- Responsive, retina-ready, and modern design
- Pop-up timeline images and the option to link to stories
- Translation-ready with support in three languages
- Animation effects (Pro)
- Multiple timelines (Pro)
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You need your timelines to mesh well with your branding, or you’d like to experiment with their formatting.
Pricing: Free, with a premium version available for $25 | More Information
4. WP Timeline
WP Timeline is a popular, highly rated timeline plugin for WordPress. The premium tool helps you build and showcase stunning roadmaps and timelines anywhere on your site via shortcodes.
Although it doesn’t offer a free version, the premium price is well worth what you get. This solution is incredibly versatile and offers support for pages, posts, and custom post types, as well as taxonomies such as categories and tags.
One of our favorite parts about this WordPress plugin is that you can use it to create unlimited timelines. That means it’s a solid choice if you plan on adding more than one type.
Key Features:
- Over 45 templates for single- and multi-column layouts
- Ajax filter timeline
- Horizontal and vertical timeline displays
- Custom text decorations and descriptions
- Dark and light themes
- Unlimited timeline color options
- Intuitive interface
- Date picker
- Support for Font Awesome 4.7 and 5.9
- Infinite scroll support
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You plan to create a number of timelines and display them in multiple locations on your site.
Pricing: $25 | More Information
5. Everest Timeline
Next on our list of best timeline plugins for WordPress is Everest Timeline. This premium extension is another tool that boasts favorable reviews and ratings on Envato. It is a robust, dynamic plugin that you can use to create nearly any type of timeline imaginable.
While it does come with a price tag, it’s not as expensive as some other options on this list. It also comes packed with powerful features that make it an all-around quality choice for any site owner.
Everest Timeline lets you choose from more than 50 pre-built templates, and provides multiple layout options for vertical, horizontal, and one-sided layouts. It even includes options for Facebook layouts, in case you’d like to feature social media content.
Key Features:
- Library of pre-designed, highly-customizable templates
- Social share buttons and filters
- Built-in shortcode generator
- Support for multimedia files, including images and videos from YouTube and Vimeo, sliders, etc.
- Drag-and-drop builder compatibility
- Custom icons
- Font Awesome support
- Facebook and Twitter feed integration
- Lightbox functionality
- Dozens of animation effects and animated loader icons
- Various date formats
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You want a lot of included content to jump-start your timeline designs.
Pricing: $18 | More Information
6. Event Timeline
If you’re looking for a very straightforward solution, Event Timeline is worth exploring. This freemium timeline plugin for WordPress lets you create and display vertical and horizontal timelines in either a classic or modern style.
Additionally, you can streamline the process by choosing from one of 18 pre-built themes:
It’s an ideal solution if you want a simple way to display your company’s history as a timeline.
Plus, thanks to its clean code, Event Timeline is also incredibly lightweight. Depending on the level of support and the extent of features you need, you also have the option of upgrading to the premium version.
Key Features:
- Classic and modern styles
- Vertical or horizontal timeline displays
- 18 stunning themes
- Responsive and mobile-ready
- Support for multimedia files including images, audio files, and videos
- Color picker and customization options
- Multiple timeline stories
- Clean, sleek design
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You want to keep it simple and create appealing timelines very quickly.
Pricing: Free, with a premium version starting at $10 | More Information
7. Timeline and History Slider
True to its name, the Timeline and History Slider plugin for WordPress lets you create a timeline slider to organize your blog posts by date. This freemium tool makes building and showcasing vertical timelines on your site quick and easy.
With this plugin, you can add a title, featured image, and custom content to each item:
Also, the easy-to-use interface lets you navigate the timeline with your keyboard’s arrow keys.
As with several other options we’ve looked at, there is both a free and paid version available. The free plugin ships with all the standard features you need to create a unique timeline. You can add it anywhere on your site via a shortcode.
Alternatively, if you don’t mind paying a bit of money, you can invest in the premium version. However, it’s important to note that this tool is included as part of an “Essential Plugins” bundle, so it will be notably more expensive than other premium plugins on this list.
Our favorite aspect of this handy plugin is that it comes with Divi Page Builder support. This means you can seamlessly integrate it with your posts and pages, and ensure an aesthetically-pleasing design without any coding.
Key Features:
- Over a dozen beautiful designs
- Shortcode options
- Support for timeline touch-scrolling navigation
- Vertical and horizontal timeline options
- Fully responsive
- Category management
- Divi Page Builder native support
Timeline Express is for you if…
…You want access to a lot of customization options, or you’re a Divi user.
Pricing: Free, with a premium version starting at $119 | More Information
Conclusion
Your website likely serves many purposes. However, one of the most important is to let your audience know about your business, including its history. Whether you’re dealing with an extensive amount of blog posts or need to organize a specific set of dates and milestones, adding a timeline can help.
Fortunately, there are plenty of timeline plugins for WordPress that you can use to simplify this process. To find the best one for your specific needs, we recommend reviewing the above list and giving some of the demo versions a try. If you’re still not sure where to start, Event Timeline is a great option if you want to keep things simple, while Timeline and History Slider offers the utmost in customization options.
What features are most important for you to have in a WordPress timeline plugin? Let us know in the comments section below!
Featured Image via VectorMine/shutterstock