TimeScroll Studio

Scroll through time in your browser and experience the real distance between events. Create, explore, and share beautiful timelines that make history and stories visual and interactive.

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Inspiration

TimeScroll Studio is an idea I’ve had in the back of my head for years, but it always felt out of reach - until now. The inspiration came from traveling with my wife in our 20s. We explored many countries together, and we especially loved visiting ancient ruins. We often found ourselves comparing the different sites, trying to understand how close - or far apart - they really were in history. We realized that most timelines just list events, but don’t help you feel the true distance between them. That curiosity sparked the vision for TimeScroll Studio: a tool that lets anyone experience the real passage of time, not just read about it. Thanks to bolt, I was finally able to bring this idea to life.

What it does

TimeScroll Studio lets anyone create, explore, and share beautiful, interactive timelines. Events are spaced in true proportion, so you can visually experience the real distance between events as you scroll. Users can add events with custom labels, descriptions, and images to instantly see how history unfolds. With a modern interface and smooth animations, every timeline feels immersive and intuitive. Timelines can be shared with a simple link, or—if you choose—featured in the public gallery for others to discover and explore.

How I built it

TimeScroll Studio was built entirely in Bolt, with a codebase that uses React, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind, and ShadCnUI.

For authentication and user data storage, I used the Supabase integration. Setting it up was surprisingly fast and seamless. I also took advantage of Bolt's built-in GitHub integration for version control and Netlify integration for one-click deployments. Setting up my custom domain through Entri/IONOS was also very easy.

Bolt generated about 90–95% of the code, with the remaining 5–10% hand-written by me. My manual contributions were mostly UI tweaks and bug fixes where Bolt got stuck or needed a little extra direction.

Overall, Bolt's AI-driven workflow made it possible to build a full-featured, production-ready app in a fraction of the time it would have taken on my own.

Challenges I ran into

On a personal level - Halfway through this hackathon, my wife gave birth to our first child! I’m incredibly grateful for a healthy baby, but caring for a newborn has meant less sleep - and less time to build - than I ever imagined. As I write this, I’m running on pure vibes (and a lot of coffee)!

*On a technical level - * The biggest challenge was getting events to align precisely with the timeline, especially across a wide range of dates. Ensuring that the spacing between events accurately reflected the passage of time required extensive testing and many iterations with Bolt. There were moments when I doubted it was possible, but persistence paid off - I’m proud of how seamless and flexible the final result is.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

As a front-end developer and UI designer with over 12 years of professional experience, I’ve always gravitated toward the visual side of web development. I’ve been intimidated by databases and always shied away from solo projects that required authentication or user data storage.

The moment when I first integrated Supabase and saw authentication and user storage working was such a rewarding milestone! I finally built my first “full stack” application, and, thanks to Bolt, it was far less daunting than I’d imagined.

I’m also incredibly proud to have brought an idea that’s lived in my imagination for years into reality. Bolt empowered me to build and launch something I never thought I could accomplish on my own.

What I learned

Before this hackathon, I felt threatened by AI and uncertain about its impact on the future of front-end development. Building websites and software has always been my passion, and I worried that AI might take away the opportunity to do what I love.

Immersing myself in Bolt during this hackathon completely changed my perspective. I discovered that AI isn’t something to fear - it’s a powerful tool that can make the design and development process smoother and more enjoyable.

What excites me most is how Bolt frees me from tedious, repetitive tasks, allowing me to focus on the bigger picture: creating great user experiences and bringing new ideas to life. This experience reassured me that while AI can handle the busywork - skills in design, development, and understanding users are still essential for building truly great products. As AI becomes more widespread, I’m excited to spend more time on creativity and problem-solving, and less time on fixing bugs or updating npm packages.

What's next for TimeScroll Studio

This is just the beginning - TimeScroll Studio is currently a Minimum Viable Product, and there’s a lot more I want to build:

  • AI Assistant:
    My top priority is adding an AI-powered assistant. Users could simply describe the timeline they want, and AI would generate events for them. This would save time, lower barriers for non-experts, and make TimeScroll Studio an even more powerful tool for learning and discovery.

  • Collaboration & Forking:
    I want to enable real-time collaboration, so multiple users can build timelines together. Additionally, a “fork timeline” feature would let users clone existing timelines and customize them as their own.

  • Social Features:
    Adding likes, comments, and the ability to follow creators would help build a community around timelines and encourage engagement.

  • Filters & Search for Public Timelines:
    Improving the public gallery with filters by date, event, or timeline name would make it easier for users to discover and explore timelines that interest them.

  • Enhanced Media Support:
    Allowing users to embed videos or image carousels in timeline events would create a richer, more immersive experience.

  • Custom Themes:
    Giving users more control over the look and feel of their timelines through customizable themes would help them make each timeline unique.

  • Monetization:
    In the future, I’d love to experiment with pay-gating advanced features like the AI assistant, collaboration, or theme customization to help sustain the project.

I’m excited to keep building and see how TimeScroll Studio can empower even more people to visualize and share the stories that matter to them.

Sponsored Challenges / Bonus Challenges:

This project also qualifies for the following sponsored challenges / bonus challenges:

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