The AP's are quite intentionally independent of each other and there is no timeline to follow, so you can play them in any order. The one exception to this is Jade Regent, which is a sequel to Rise of the Runelords.
Please note that even though Jade Regent is a sequel to Rise of the Runelords, that doesn't mean you have to play both with the same characters. In fact, both of them start at level 1, so it would be very difficult to play one after the other with the same characters.
They're a sequel only insofar as in-game world actions are set up so that one happened after the other.
Heck, at my table, we played Jade Regent before we played Rise of the Runelords. So it really doesn't matter if you play them in order.
Shattered Star, however, does assume that Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and (to a lesser extent) Second Darkness have happened.
Thought Shattered Star had certain elements playing off Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne as well. I also thought in general that the year of release corresponds with a year on the Golarion calendars, so your timeline is basically outlined by the AP Volume # and they are ordered by AP volume when you click the Adventure Path link on the ribbon on the left side of the page. I'll see if I can find a reference for relationship of Earth year to Golarion year.
At your table, you can play them any way you and your friends like. There is no requirement to play them in order. However, there is a rough timeline. The Galorian calendar is roughly based on our calendar, and each AP starts at roughly the year-equivalent in the Golarion world as it was released in our world.
Rise of the Runelords officially takes place in the year 4707, and it was released in 2007 here on Earth. The current Golarion year is 4715. See the correlation?
So you can look up and see when the AP was released and get an idea of when it took place in Golarion. Or you can completey scrap all that and run your own time table. This is a game, and as a game it's meant to be fun. If changing the "official" time frame is what it takes to make it fun for you and yours, then by all means have at it.
Per Rob McCreary (Developer):
Adventure Paths are normally assumed to begin in the Golarion equivalent month when the first adventure in the AP is released, in the Golarion equivalent year. So the Adventure Path released in February 2013 would begin in the month of Calistril in the year 4713 AR.
Ninja'd by the Rat
Cool! That's very helpful, thank you! Does that go for modules as well?
Maybe some, but it's not a trend I have noticed. I believe it's primarily the APs that follow the official time line. I could be wrong, though.
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Thought Society followed the year of release rule, but not having luck finding anything concrete on Modules or PFS Scenarios.
So with further searching. Mark Moreland has this to say:
Adding 2700 to the current real world year should coincide with the current year in the campaign setting. Time in Golarion progresses at the same rate as it does here, so a product released in 2009 would take place in 4709, one the following year is set in 4710, etc.
I'm assuming this applies to most Golarion relevant Modules and definitely to PFS Scenarios.
Society adventures are generally self-contained. The ones that aren't relate directly to the plot for the season. You'll recognize them by their summary (for example, season six scenarios with chronology relevance will all be about robots).
I'm uncertain if society modules are linked with the APs or normal modules, but PFS does not require that their modules be run in order. In fact, based on the nature of PFS, it is very rare for any given character to go through the modules in order of release - which is why there are rules in place to explain the expansion of factions followed by the reduction of factions. The PFS modules themselves are in order, but they're ratey played that way are are absolutey not expected to be run that way - even for the ones that are specifically meant to be sequential (like First Step or Eyes of the Ten).
Useful to know.
I wanted to try to link some of them together - not necessarily by the same PCs, but by what happened in the previous adventures themselves - to give the players more immersion and such. I know that, if I were to play in the same group over multiple adventures, I would be thrilled to know that those same adventures changed or impacted my new character's playthrough, if that makes any sense.
I say that because I will be GMing for the same group of people every week.
Oh yeah; it's really cool when that happens. But as a GM and storyteller, you really don't need the official timeline to be able to do this. Just gives hints and rumors (or even stronger effects, like refugees from a destroyed town) pop into later campaigns with different characters.
Or have them overhear a conversation or argument between two people about "what really happened" in a previous campaign. Imagine the look on your players faces when some NPC poser tries to pretend that he was the true hero of something your players' previous characters actually did! Or if they happen to be near the same area, perhaps set up a holiday or festival in their names at some town that really benefitted from their actions (maybe they saved the town, so that town and other small towns celebrate "Sir PC" day).