So I’ve played WoW on and off for several years. I never really paid much attention to the main story until about Cata, because it was kind of just there. Then I leveled an alt and went, “how the actual heck does all this stuff fit together.” I also found this image from a thread I was on: which I just now thought about in depth, and I’m even more confused.
Here’s an unofficial timeline. It’s pretty accurate; it’s just not published by Blizz.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Timeline_(unofficial)