FAQ

Can I work offline?

Yes. The first time you use the tool, it is automatically downloaded and stored in your browser.

If you clear your browser storage, you will need to visit tools.chronolator.com to download the relevant tool again.

The Help files are not downloaded automatically. To view a PDF copy of this Help that you can save for offline use, click here.

I pressed Resume, but Chronolator Define says 'No previous chronology found'

Chronolator automatically saves your work in the browser. This is convenient, but does have a couple of consequences that should be borne in mind:

The data is browser-specific. If you change to a different browser, you will not see your previous work. This is because, although it is an online tool, Chronolator never uploads a chronology to the Web and thus cannot restore a chronology from there.

If you (or your IT department) clear your browser cache, the stored data is lost.

Always save your work to your computer from time to time using one of the File > Save As buttons to protect yourself from these eventualities and from system problems.

I pressed one of the File > Save As buttons to save my work, but I can't find the saved file

Depending on your browser settings, your work might automatically be saved in your usual Downloads folder. If your chronology appears to have gone missing, this is a sensible place to start looking.

You might have more than one Downloads folder, particularly if your organisation uses SharePoint.

If you want to be prompted to save it in a particular place, search for instructions relevant to your browser, using a search such as get browser to prompt for download location .

How do I get the latest version?

If you are connected to the Internet, your browser checks if there is a later version and should automatically download it.

If the automatic update does not work, you can force an update as follows:

Save your chronology in your computer's file system, as the next step will cause any work saved only in the browser to be lost.

Clear your browser cache.

Saving the chronology in your File System

See Save As for information about saving to the file system.

Clearing the browser cache

At the time of writing this Help, you could clear your browser cache in Chrome and Edge as follows:

press Ctrl+Shift+Delete simultaneously on the keyboard. In the resulting panel:

Clear Cookies and other site data.

Close the browser and reopen it.

Restart Chronolator Define.

For Firefox, see support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-clear-firefox-cache.

How secure is my chronology? Can I password-protect it?

Your chronology is stored in a format that can only properly be understood by one of the Chronolator Browser Tools. Text can neverthless be read in a JSON file. txt files provide an extra level of obscurity: if you open one in Notepad or any other text editor it appears to be nonsensical. However, anyone can still use one of the Chronolator Browser Tools to read it.

You can also password-protect the file, which encrypts it even further. The Chronolator Browser Tools will require the password to be supplied before decrypting and opening it.

See Common Tasks for how to set, change, or remove a password.

Can I save the chronology in a way that does not require one of the Chronolator Browser Tools to open it?

You can do this in several ways:

Press the Print button above the chronology table to display it in a new browser tab, and then use the browser's print facilities to print it to a physical printer or save it as a PDF or other file.

Use one of the Export > Clipboard buttons above the chronology to copy the chronology to the Clipboard, and then Paste it into another program. See Copying to another program for details.

Use the Export > docx button to create a docx file that can be used by Microsoft Word and other word processors.

Can I save the chronology as a Word document?

Use the Export > docx button between the Ribbon and the table to create a docx file that can be used by Microsoft Word and other word processors.

You can also use the Chronolator Conversion Tool to convert a JSON file to a macro-enabled Word document, but note that you must be allowed to run Word macros to do this. See Chronolator For Word.

What will happen to the Word version of Chronolator?

Chronolator started life in 2000 as a Microsoft Word™ application. Since then, technology has moved on and the Chronolator Browser Tools have taken on most of its functions. A few minor features are yet to be migrated, so a limited version of Chronolator for Word remains available at www.chronolator.com/for-word.htm.

Please see Chronolator For Word for details about using Chronolator for Word and the Chronolator Browser Tools together.

File types and security

Chronolator Define can process three types of file: JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), txt (simple text), and docx (as used by Microsoft Word™ and other word processors).

JSON files provide a 'bridge' between Chronolator Define and other programs such as Chronolator for Word. JSON is the least secure format, insofar as anyone with a text editor can open and make some sense of the file.

txt files are produced when you save a chronology with one of the tools. If opened in a text editor, the text appears to be nonsense. However, anyone who uses one of the tools will be able to read it. If you want to, you can protect the file with a password by following the instructions under Setting, changing, and removing a password in Common Tasks.

docx files can be password-protected using Microsoft Word™. Check their own documentation for other word processors.