Our Code

Kronofoto is an open source digital archive platform application for chronologically displaying digital objects in an engaging interactive timeline or grid; users can also explore the same images by interactive map, emphasizing place over time.

We built the software to power the collaborative Fortepan US photo history platform designed to organize and display family snapshots and local historical photos. Kronofoto can support any digital object collection, including photographs, video and audio files, maps, documents, and 3D artifacts.

Our Kronofoto team is dedicated to user experience and nimble navigation by showcasing the image and prioritizing user-friendly search and exploration: users organize, juxtapose, and explore collections according to place, time, theme, & collection. Kronofoto beautifully displays images in a large-display timeline format, chronological grid, or map view. The timeline is particularly dynamic because images from diverse collections can form immediate, associative connections. Scrolling through the images feels like a journey through time. Digital objects can also be mapped according to pin-point geolocations. By bringing digital objects into a single interface and encouraging users to explore variations of place, time, theme, or collection. Kronofoto can showcase a single collection or instigate profound conversations between image files from different collections.

Read our Kronofoto manifesto here. 

Kronofoto is built primarily with python, html and some javascript. The libraries are django, htmx, and alpine, with additional libraries used for certain features like leaflet, photo sphere viewer. All technology supporting the Fortepan US cooperative portal has been built exclusively with open source software, including the Linux operating system, Apache web server, PostgreSQL database server, Python programming language, and other open software and code, and it is mostly database agnostic but will run best on postgresql. A vibrant collaborative dynamic has been fostered between the developer and operations teams, creating an ideal environment for new ideas.

Built-in Digital Storytelling and Display Tools

Find out about Kronofoto's built-in tools here. All tools, or any part of the Kronofoto platform itself, can be embedded into another website. Every time a new photo is added to the main project portal, it will populate the embedded version. 

The platform also supports Traditional Knowledge labels through a partnership with Local Contexts.

Network Capabilities

And then there’s the network.

Kronofoto code can support an independent project, or interlink into a federated network. By integrating the social networking protocol application Activity Pub, which powers social media networks like Mastodon, Kronofoto platform instances can “talk to each other” and share actual files (not just metadata), even as these files are hosted on completely different servers.

Our project has grown with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Our team enthusiastically invites collaborative partners to get involved!

Start building collections and interpretive digital exhibits! Consider contacting us and set up your own Kronofoto instance! Help us test, build upon, and improve the code, front-end design, and creation tools to make

Kronofoto is available on GitHub.