Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

DO YOU CREATE ALL THE DIGITAL PRODUCTS YOURSELF?

Yes I do. I started creating timelines over 10 years ago and haven’t stopped since. And the family trees were a natural extension especially with the ancient Roman penchant for including characters from mythology in their lineage.

CAN I MAKE A SUGGESTION FOR FUTURE VERSIONS OR NEW PRODUCTS?

Yes, certainly. We welcome any suggestions you may have, you can contact us at support@worldhistoryandmythology.com 

I’M EXPERIENCING A TECHNICAL ISSUE WITH MY PRODUCT. WHAT DO I DO?

Please emailing us at support@worldhistoryandmythology.com and we’ll work with you to resolve the issue. If we’re not able to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, you will be entitled to a full refund.

I FOUND A SPELLING/GRAMMAR ERROR. HOW DO I REPORT IT?

We try hard to ensure that our products are error-free, but if you do find a mistake, we appreciate being told so we can update the product. You can let us know the details of the error by emailing us at support@worldhistoryandmythology.com. As all our products are editable, you can also make any corrections on your personal copy yourself.

I BELIEVE THERE IS A DATA INACCURACY IN ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS. HOW DO I REPORT IT?

If you believe you have found a data error in one of our products, please report it by emailing us at support@worldhistoryandmythology.com.

All our products have gone through a checking process to ensure that the information is accurate, but it is always possible that we have missed something. We appreciate being told about issues or errors which we are happy to fix.
Regarding our timelines, there is often no consensus on the dating of ancient events particularly in the early centuries of the Common Era (CE/AD) and for many events Before the Common Era (BCE/BC). One group of historians will suggest one set of dates and another group will suggest a different set of dates.
Regarding out mythological family trees, there is often more than one version of a particular myth that has come down to us from the ancient source material, and these frequently contain different versions of a myth which show alternative relationships between the Gods. The family trees do not always reflect all these alternative versions.

WILL YOU LET CUSTOMERS KNOW WHEN THERE ARE  UPDATED VERSIONS AND HOW DO I GET ACCESS TO THEM?

If you have signed up to receive our emails, we will be able to send you details about new updates.

Product Questions

WHY DID YOU CREATE THE PRODUCTS IN EXCEL?

When I first thought about recording a list of the Roman Emperors in a timeline (which is where the World History Timeline started) I immediately thought to use an Excel spreadsheet. It is extremely versatile and has an essentially unlimited canvas which is very helpful when you have lots of information to present. It also has a range of features that let you make connections between data which is also ideal for portraying relationships in a timeline or mythological/historical family tree.

ARE ANY SPECIAL EXCEL TOOLS/FEATURES
USED TO CREATE THE PRODUCTS?

Yes, some of the files contain a macro to address a known issue with Excel where comments are not always displayed correctly. Microsoft has yet to address this issue. Comments will sometimes not display all the text or may appear as a thin horizontal line rather than a correctly sized yellow text box. The macro offers a straight-forward fix by resizing the comment with a keyboard shortcut.

HOW BIG ARE THE FILES?

The largest files are less than 20 MB.

DOES THE WORLD HISTORY TIMELINE COVER
ALL OF WORLD HISTORY?

The World History Timeline is very comprehensive having over 14,000 entries across 25 unique categories and 250 subcategories. However, a timeline by its nature can only offer a summary of events. We are currently working on adding new entries, but you are also able to add your own entries on topics that are of interest to you. Instructions on how to do this are included with the timeline.

ARE ALL THE SMALLER TIMELINES INCLUDED
WITHIN THE WORLD HISTORY TIMELINE?

The following timelines are included in the WHT:

Timeline of Africa
Timeline of the Americas
Timeline of Ancient Greece and Rome
Timeline of Australia
Timeline of the British Isles

Devices and Apps

CAN I USE THE PRODUCTS ON MY PHONE?

It is possible to use a phone to view the timelines and family trees, but this may be impractical due to the limited screen size.

CAN I GET THE PRODUCTS IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT OTHER THAN AN EXCEL FILE?

Presently, Excel is the only development tool I am using to create the timelines and family trees.

CAN I STILL USE THE PRODUCTS IF I DON'T
HAVE EXCEL?

To enjoy the full features of the products it is recommended to use the Excel desktop app which is part of Microsoft Office/Microsoft 365. Mac users can use Excel for Mac.
All other versions of Excel (such as Excel for the Web, for iOS, for iPadOS and for Android) offer more or less limited functionality but can display the timelines and family trees.
Online apps such as Google Sheets will display the products but our product testing found that these apps perform very slowly due to them being web based. They are not capable of handling the size of the spreadsheets used for the timelines and family trees.

DO I NEED TO HAVE THE MOST UP TO DATE VERSION OF EXCEL?

If you have Microsoft Excel 2007 for PC or later, or Excel 2011 for Mac or later, you can use all the features of the timelines and family trees.

User Questions 

DO I NEED TO BE AN EXPERT IN EXCEL TO BE ABLE TO USE THE PRODUCTS PROPERLY?

All of the timelines and family trees are very easy to use. Navigation instructions are included to help you move around the large amount of information, but if you can use a mouse or touchscreen, you’re good to go.

WHERE DO I FIND THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE PRODUCTS?

Instructions are included as part of every timeline and family tree as a separate tab in the file.

CAN I ADD MY OWN ENTRIES TO THE TIMELINES AND FAMILY TREES?

All our products are editable so you can add as many new entries as you like. The World History Timeline comes with detailed instructions for how to so this.

CAN I TRUST THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION IN THE PRODUCTS?

Yes, all entries have been fact checked to the best of the creator’s ability. If however, you do find an error of any kind we would really appreciate you pointing it out to us.

You can do this by emailing us at support@worldhistoryandmythology.com.

Refunds

WHAT IS YOUR REFUND POLICY?

We have a no-hassle, 14-day refund policy which means that if you are not satisfied, for any reason, we’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy, even if that means a full refund. Please refer to our Refund Policy here.