A private, multi-user web application for families to record, share, and explore life events together — births, moves, weddings, travels, milestones, and more — all in one beautiful chronological timeline.
- Family Groups — Create private group timelines; share an invite code for others to join.
- Rich Event Timeline — Chronological timeline with images, descriptions, and album links.
- 10 Event Categories — Birth, Move, Anniversary, Graduation, Milestone, Wedding, Travel, Career, Health, Other.
- Year Range Minimap — VSCode-inspired vertical slider on the right sidebar. Scroll mode navigates the timeline; Filter mode hides events outside the selected range. Direction-aware (matches newest-first / oldest-first sort).
- Category Filter Sidebar — Left sidebar for filtering by event category, with per-category event counts.
- Social Visibility Tiers — Per-event and per-category defaults: Private → Family → Close Friends → Friends → Acquaintances → Public.
- Admin Panel — Super-admin management of users and referral codes.
- Demo Group — "The Johnson Family" (70 events, 1980–2024) lets anyone browse without an account.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | Laravel 12, PHP 8.2+, Laravel Sanctum |
| Frontend | React 19, React Router v7, Vite 6 |
| Database | SQLite (dev) |
| Auth | Token-based (Bearer, stored in localStorage) |
| Styling | Vanilla CSS, dark-mode design system |
Prerequisites: Laravel Herd installed and the c:\Dev\timeline folder linked as a site.
# 1. Install dependencies
composer install
npm install
# 2. Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate
# 3. Run migrations and seed demo data
php artisan migrate --seed
# 4. Start everything (Laravel + queue + log viewer + Vite)
composer devThe app is served by Herd at http://timeline.test.
Note: On Windows with Herd, use the full PHP path:
"C:\Users\r\.config\herd\bin\php.bat" artisan migrate --seed
npm run buildThe prebuild script automatically removes any stale public/hot file that can cause a blank page when the Vite dev server is not running.
After seeding, a super-admin account is created:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
admin@family.com |
|
| Password | admin123 |
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| INSTRUCTIONS.md | Setup, usage guide, and deployment |
| HANDOVER.md | Technical architecture and codebase overview |
| CLAUDE.md | AI assistant instructions for this project |