How to change the date format in your timeline

When your 3D map appears to be frozen and no timeline is appearing, this is probably because you got the date and time format wrong. Here's an example of what this might look like:

To change this and get your timeline to appear,

    1
    Go to the Points  > Animated points settings

    2
    Check if the date or time format you are using is available from the dropdown menu. If it is, select it and your timeline should display. If it isn't, follow the steps below.

    3
    If the time format supplied in your datasheet isn't available in the dropdown, you can overwrite the one in the text box. To do this, it has to be in d3-time-format syntax.  For example, if your date/time format looks something like this: 07/11/19 12:08:20 PM, you will want to paste the following to the text box: %d/%m/%y %I:%M:%S %p

    4
    That's it! If your dots are still not animating, you might not have gotten the syntax right. Here's a list to double check: 
    • %a - abbreviated weekday name.
    • %A - full weekday name.
    • %b - abbreviated month name.
    • %B - full month name.
    • %c - the locale’s date and time, such as %x, %X.
    • %d - zero-padded day of the month as a decimal number [01,31].
    • %e - space-padded day of the month as a decimal number [ 1,31]; equivalent to %_d.
    • %f - microseconds as a decimal number [000000, 999999].
    • %H - hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number [00,23].
    • %I - hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number [01,12].
    • %j - day of the year as a decimal number [001,366].
    • %m - month as a decimal number [01,12].
    • %M - minute as a decimal number [00,59].
    • %L - milliseconds as a decimal number [000, 999].
    • %p - either AM or PM.*
    • %q - quarter of the year as a decimal number [1,4].
    • %Q - milliseconds since UNIX epoch.
    • %s - seconds since UNIX epoch.
    • %S - second as a decimal number [00,61].
    • %u - Monday-based (ISO 8601) weekday as a decimal number [1,7].
    • %U - Sunday-based week of the year as a decimal number [00,53].
    • %V - ISO 8601 week of the year as a decimal number [01, 53].
    • %w - Sunday-based weekday as a decimal number [0,6].
    • %W - Monday-based week of the year as a decimal number [00,53].
    • %x - the locale’s date, such as %-m/%-d/%Y.
    • %X - the locale’s time, such as %-I:%M:%S %p.
    • %y - year without century as a decimal number [00,99].
    • %Y - year with century as a decimal number, such as 1999.
    • %Z - time zone offset, such as -0700, -07:00, -07, or Z.
    • %% - a literal percent sign (%).
    Visit the d3-time-format syntax module site for further information and specification.

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