Family Historian User Group

I have run the 'Check for Unlinked Media' plug-in and seem to have a number of unlinked media!

I am afraid that I don't really understand the term 'unlinked'.

All my media is correctly located within the project's media folder.

Census photos are always entered via Ancestral Sources and the census image is automatically positioned within 'sources' and also linked to the individuals listed on the census.

All other photos are 'linked' directly to the individuals in the photo.

Sometimes a photo, say of a marriage certificate, is simply linked to the individuals listed - perhaps the image should be linked using a much more involved method!

I seem to have sometimes entered media items and yet failed to have some kind of link to someone/something.

I hope that someone can tell me the correct way to do this linking so that it avoids being identified as 'unlinked'

PS I fully understand the 'link to face' method

Thanks,
Stewart

All media files within the Media folder should normally be referenced by a Multimedia Record.
You may be unaware of Multimedia Records because their Records Window tab is hidden by default.
To see them use View > Record Lists > Multimedia or Tools > Preferences > Records Window > Multimedia: Always Show.
The File column shows the path to each file, and the Links column shows how many Sources or Individuals link to that Multimedia whether they be full images or Link to Face.
Usually the File path starts with Media\... but can start with C:\Users\....

(There are other ways of linking Media but you are unlikely to have used them.)

The Plugin checks every Media file against the Multimedia Records and lists any that effectively are not in the File column.

However, I have just spotted the Plugin can get it wrong if the File path starts with C:\Users\...
Do you have any of these?

Mike, all of my listed 'unlinked' media as listed by the plugin begin with C:\Users\

I didn't understand why so many files had been listed by the plug-in as being a problem because I had only a very small number of unlinked media files when I viewed Records window > Media > Links

I am sure that your technical wizardry Mike will soon have this plug-in fixed!

Thank you!
Stewart

Stewart,

The plugin checks that all the media files in the media folder are linked to media Records in the Project.

When you look at the Records window, you are viewing media Records, which have already been created by linking media files to FH. The number of links displayed in the Links column of the Records window shows how many links, if any, each Media Record has to other Records (Individual, Family, Source, Place). Ideally none of these should be zero (unlinked), but this is not what the plugin is looking at.

Thanks Lorna

So what is the plug-in searching for?

I thought that it was media which was unlinked....not that simple?

I'm clearly muddled trying to understand the terms 'media files', 'media records' and 'media folder'

Lorna, there is a bug in the Plugin as explained in Check for Unlinked Media problems (12208) and hopefully Jane can fix it soon.

Stewart, Media files are your photos & other images (e.g. JPG) stored in the Media folder within your Project just like you probably store other non-FH photo files in the My Pictures folder. Media Records are similar to Individual Records within your FH Gedcom file, and that cross-refer to the Media files.

Stewart, I suspect all the File entries that begin with C:\Users\ ... are actually referencing the Media folder if you look further along the path.

These are what we call an Absolute path that rarely migrate from PC to PC when you eventually need another PC, and sooner or later it will happen. That will result in 'broken' Media links.

The File entries that begin with Media\... are Relative paths that migrate happily from PC to PC, and are a major benefit of FH Projects.

However, there is an easy solution to convert your Absolute paths to Relative paths:

Use Tools > External File Links that lists all your File Links.
You should see two sets of entries:
1) Absolute C: - Users - ... - Family Historian Projects - ... - Media - ...
2) Relative Project Data Folder - Media - ...

In the Absolute path single-click the first folder under the Media folder so it is highlighted.
Then click Re-Map > Re-map within Project Data Folder and OK the selection of Media.
That folder should have moved into the Relative path section (without a X next to its files).
You will have to repeat this for each Absolute folder under the Media folder.

Finally click OK to close the External File Links dialogue, but if uncertain at any time then click Cancel to undo all changes.

If that all converts Ok then run the Plugn again and no files should get listed.

Mike,
Yes I understand that you have found a bug in the plugin.
But Stewarts has also said

I had only a very small number of unlinked media files when I viewed Records window > Media > Links

so he will still need to check those media Records and see what individual/families/sources/places they need linking to, even if the plugin finds no unlinked files after converting absolute file paths to relative file paths.

Lorna, I think we are in danger of confusing Stewart with too many links in too many directions. So perhaps fix one issue at a time, and return to the Links = 0 later.

Mike, they do seem to point to the media folder.

However when I used the 'External File Links' tool it appears I've only one stray media item.
I will re-map this later

In that case, apart from that one file, the Plugin really is listing files in your Project's Media folder that do NOT appear in the File column of the Multimedia Records nor will they appear in the File List in the External File Links you posted above.

So you need to review that Plugin file list via Windows Explorer to understand why they are there, and whether they can be deleted, or whether they need linking to your Project.

They may be files that have been deleted from the project, but not deleted from the media folder. Finding and removing these files was the original intention of the plugin, and also why I requested an option to MOVE the files, so that, if necessary, they could be re-instated later.

Mike, you say that the unlinked files are in my Project's Media folder but not in the File column of the Multimedia Records.

How could I have done this?! I can't work out what I am doing that's so wrong.

(I see that the plug-in has been updated - my results are the same as far as I can tell!)

I have posted an updated Plugin in the Plugin Discussions Forum, but it has not yet been updated in the FH Plugin Store. You are welcome to install the Forum version to see if its unlinked file list is any different.

It is difficult for me to know what has happened. The Plugin simply reports the files it finds in the Media folder that are not mentioned in your Multimedia Records.

When you checked the Tools > External File Links presumably none of them had an X over the icon on the left? But if any do, then it means that File name in the Multimedia Record does not match the filename in the Media folder i.e. it has become unlinked. Have you any cases of that???

Alternatively, as John said above, if you have ever deleted a Multimedia Record in FH, then that does NOT delete the associated Media file in the Media folder. So it will remain there unlinked. Might that have happened???

Use Windows Explorer and review the unlinked files listed by the Plugin. What is their Date modified? Does that give a clue of when they were added to your Project? Are they left over from some very early experiments?

Do any of the above scenarios ring true?

I believe that I may have made a bad move in the past! (one of many! )

I found that I was constructing the same section of tree twice and I definitely would have added media to both.

I deleted one of the sections believing that I was permanently deleting all that I had done within that incorrect section.

Perhaps this sort of action left traces which I thought I had deleted....?

(PS I do not have any x's in the icons on the left)

OK, that is a possible explanation for some if not all the unlinked files.

So now you have to decide what to do with those Media files.

The simplest solution is to run the Plugin, and choose to delete them, but seems it bit rash!
Better to choose to move them all to another folder where you can inspect them.

I suggest you use Windows Explorer and work through each file.
If they are associated with that duplicated tree section that you deleted, then they should duplicate Media you already had in the original retained tree section.

When you inspect the files you may recall their origin and know they are redundant.
On the other hand they may be images of useful documents that can be added back into your tree.

Thanks for all your help on this problem Mike.

Yes... I will work my way through the listed files and will store them rather than deleting them.

I will be certainly be more cautious in the future when deleting records to which I have added media.

Thanks again

Stewart