Implementing Syncfusion React Timeline

The Timeline component displays events or steps in chronological order with visual indicators. It supports vertical and horizontal layouts, multiple alignment modes, customizable dots and connectors, templates, and events for complete flexibility.

When to Use This Skill

Use the Timeline component when:

• Displaying event sequences chronologically (project milestones, shipping tracking, activity logs)
• Creating career progression or timeline visualizations
• Building step-by-step process flows
• Showing company history or project roadmap
• Implementing event feeds with timestamps
• Displaying before/after comparisons in alternate layouts
• Customizing visual indicators (icons, images, colors) for events

Choose Timeline over alternatives:

• vs Stepper: Timeline shows completed events; Stepper guides users through steps
• vs List: Timeline emphasizes chronological relationships and connections
• vs Chart: Timeline focuses on event sequence; Chart focuses on data relationships

Quick Start Example

import { TimelineComponent, ItemsDirective, ItemDirective } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-layouts';
import '@syncfusion/ej2-base/styles/tailwind3.css';
import '@syncfusion/ej2-layouts/styles/tailwind3.css';

function App() {
  return (
    <div style={{ height: '350px' }}>
      <TimelineComponent>
        <ItemsDirective>
          <ItemDirective content="Shipped" />
          <ItemDirective content="Departed" />
          <ItemDirective content="Arrived" />
          <ItemDirective content="Out for Delivery" />
        </ItemsDirective>
      </TimelineComponent>
    </div>
  );
}
export default App;

Component Overview

TimelineComponent is the root container that manages the timeline layout and behavior.

Key Properties:

• orientation: Layout direction (Vertical | Horizontal)
• align: Content positioning (Before | After | Alternate | AlternateReverse)
• reverse: Invert display order (most recent first)
• cssClass: Apply custom styles
• template: Custom rendering for timeline items

ItemsDirective & ItemDirective define timeline items within the component.

Item Properties:

• content: Main event text or template
• oppositeContent: Secondary text on opposite side
• dotCss: CSS class for dot styling (icons, images, custom appearance)
• cssClass: Individual item styling
• disabled: Disable interaction and dim appearance

Documentation and Navigation Guide

Getting Started

📄 Read: references/getting-started.md

• Installation via npm and package dependencies
• CSS imports and theme setup
• Basic TimelineComponent structure
• ItemsDirective and ItemDirective usage
• Running your first timeline application

Layout Configuration

📄 Read: references/layout-configuration.md

• Orientation options (Vertical, Horizontal)
• Alignment modes (Before, After, Alternate, AlternateReverse)
• Content positioning strategies
• Choosing the right layout for your use case
• Code examples for each layout combination

Items and Content

📄 Read: references/items-and-content.md

• Adding string content
• Template-based rich content
• Opposite content configuration
• Dot customization with icons, images, and text
• Disabling individual items
• Per-item CSS classes

Styling and Customization

📄 Read: references/styling-and-customization.md

• Connector styling (common and per-item)
• Dot color, size, shadow, outline, and variants
• CSS custom properties for dots
• e-outline class usage
• Complete customization examples

Events and Callbacks

📄 Read: references/events-and-callbacks.md

• created event when component renders
• beforeItemRender event for item customization
• Event handling patterns and use cases

Advanced Features

📄 Read: references/advanced-features.md

• Template property for complete custom rendering
• Template context (item, itemIndex)
• Reverse property for newest-first display
• Complex template patterns
• When to use templates vs built-in properties

Accessibility

📄 Read: references/accessibility.md

• WCAG 2.2 and Section 508 compliance
• ARIA attributes and roles
• Keyboard navigation support
• RTL (Right-to-Left) language support
• Mobile device accessibility

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Vertical Timeline with Before Alignment

<TimelineComponent orientation='Vertical' align='Before'>
  <ItemsDirective>
    <ItemDirective content='Step 1' oppositeContent='Description' />
    <ItemDirective content='Step 2' oppositeContent='Description' />
  </ItemsDirective>
</TimelineComponent>

Pattern 2: Horizontal Alternate Layout

<TimelineComponent orientation='Horizontal' align='Alternate'>
  <ItemsDirective>
    <ItemDirective content='Event 1' oppositeContent='Date 1' />
    <ItemDirective content='Event 2' oppositeContent='Date 2' />
  </ItemsDirective>
</TimelineComponent>

Pattern 3: Timeline with Custom Dots and Icons

<TimelineComponent>
  <ItemsDirective>
    <ItemDirective content='Shipped' dotCss='e-icons e-package' />
    <ItemDirective content='Delivered' dotCss='e-icons e-check' cssClass='state-completed' />
  </ItemsDirective>
</TimelineComponent>

Pattern 4: Activity Feed with Reverse Order

<TimelineComponent reverse={true}>
  <ItemsDirective>
    <ItemDirective content='Latest activity' />
    <ItemDirective content='Previous activity' />
  </ItemsDirective>
</TimelineComponent>

Key Props Summary

Prop	Type	Values	Purpose
orientation	string	Vertical (default), Horizontal	Layout direction
align	string	Before, After, Alternate, AlternateReverse	Content positioning
reverse	boolean	true, false (default)	Reverse item order
cssClass	string	CSS class name	Global styling
template	function	React function	Custom item rendering
content (item)	string | function	Text or template	Event text/content
oppositeContent (item)	string | function	Text or template	Secondary content
dotCss (item)	string	CSS class	Dot styling
disabled (item)	boolean	true, false	Disable item
cssClass (item)	string	CSS class	Per-item styling

Troubleshooting

Timeline not displaying:

• Ensure CSS imports are included (tailwind3.css or your theme)
• Container must have explicit height: style={{ height: '350px' }}
• ItemsDirective must contain ItemDirective children

Items not centered vertically:

• Add height to TimelineComponent container
• Adjust with CSS custom properties: --dot-size, --dot-outer-space

Content positioning unexpected:

• Verify align property: Before, After, Alternate, AlternateReverse
• Check oppositeContent is defined for two-sided layouts
• Confirm orientation matches your layout intent

Dots not visible:

• Verify dots have e-outline class or custom CSS styling
• Check dotCss property contains valid CSS class names
• Ensure theme CSS includes dot styles

Templates not rendering:

• Verify template function returns valid JSX
• Check context properties: props.item, props.itemIndex
• Ensure function signature matches: (props: any) => JSX.Element