Family Historian User Group

Would a forum entry "Best Practices" or "Tips and Tricks" be something to share approaches of users in their research or publishing?

I know of the Knowledge Base but in my view (and experience) a knowledge base is what it says (it's about knowledge) and BP/TT would not be about increasing knowledge but about how FH can be used in specific research situations. So the knowledge is already there, but some approaches are fast and easy and some others more cumbersome (in some situations).

I'll give an example.

Where possible I like to work from scans of the original documents. And, when transcribing what's on the document, I like it to be in an internal window and next to the source fields. With help of Mike (and using existing FH options) I found an approach that is easy, quick and fault tolerant. Other users might have found the same or might still be using other (more cumbersome procedures). Sharing it as a BP/TT might be a great way to improve FH user experience.

The problem with Forums is the threads weave around and advice is difficult for newcomers to extricate in an orderly fashion.

Whereas KB articles present procedures and tips in an organised way that is easy to follow but can be updated whenever necessary, plus the history versions allow earlier versions to be retrieved. So I advise that KB topics are a better vehicle. Many existing KB topics are tips and tricks already, so don't get hung up on the 'knowledge' title.

I agree that every structuring (or indexing) leads to situations where arguments exist to include them in every index. Great examples are: in what folder to store your pictures, where do you archive your mail (gmail uses multiple "labels"). My suggestion for Best Practices (or Tips and Tricks) should be viewed in light of it being some kind of extension to the Help files (HowTo's from genealogic research point of view) whereas the Knowledge Base (in my view) should be used to store more and/or deeper knowledge about the usage and working of FH itself (including plugins of course).

I like the idea of "Best Practices" topics in the knowledge base. It would be a great learning tool. If the topic name started with "Best Practices: " then they would all appear together in the index. I suppose there could also be a master page pointing to the individual topics. Of course, somebody has to write them... But it would be great!

Shosh

The [kb]|[/kb] does not just store "deeper knowledge about the usage and working of FH itself" and never has. It is actually headed How To Guides and is largely an "extension to the Help files (HowTo's from genealogic research point of view)".

It covers much more than just FH, including Ancestral Sources, Genealogy Research, Downloads and Links (including other tools), Member Websites, etc. Most of the pages are already advice on Best Practices and Tips and Tricks. Have a good probe around the pages and you will see what I mean.

The glossary:index|> Glossary already has an index to glossary:animated_tutorials|> Animated Tutorials and it would be easy to add an index to Best Practices and/or Tips and Tricks in the same way using tags.

Mike,

I just took a look at the "Glossary." Interesting, I wouldn't have though to look there for this kind of content. There's a lot of good stuff here. I've always thought that a glossary was like a dictionary. It this a difference between Brit and Yank-speak?

Shosh

It probably did start out as a simple Glossary of Terms originally, but over the years has grown into what you see now.

Perhaps a better title now would be Compendium unless you have an even better suggestion.

Mike,

Drat! Now you've got me thinking. "Compendium" doesn't strike me as something I would look for... I would tend to call it "Index" or "Help" but that doesn't seem right and there's already a general index. Hmm...

Shosh

Like Shosh I was somewhat confused by the name Knowledge Base. What I've learned from this discussion is:
- KB offers a lot and is worth delving into;
- KB as a name is not synonymous to Best Practices (etc.) for everybody and that's a pity since it might lead to underuse;
- I think Shosh suggests some kind of sub-indexing within the KB to distinguish between the vast spread of topics that a KB can (and maybe should) cover. If so, then I support that idea. @Mike is this what you suggest with tagging (like the animated tutorials)?
- Compendium is, I think, a kind of scientifically correct term. I prefer a more low level approach (kind of Google speak ) where correctness is less important than easy to find and being appealing to the general user that wants to share something that's maybe not yet correct or full proof but nevertheless interesting as a lead for others.

Did you read the very first paragraph in the very first page headed Knowledge Base Home that opens when you click [kb]|[/kb] where it summarises what is on offer?

Welcome to the FHUG Knowledge Base, covering everything from simple how to's and getting started guides to research and recording suggestions...

Remember it is your Knowledge Base/Wiki, and as it says under How to Help on that same first page, you can edit it yourself.

All the sections and titles such as Knowledge Base, How To Guides, Cross References, Glossary of Terms, etc, can be renamed and restructured, and over the years they have been several times, but some changes need the assistance of Jane the Administrator. If you can offer any specific suggestions then please do so.

Regarding tagging, each page can be tagged with one or more keywords, which in the case of glossary:animated_tutorials|> Animated Tutorials is Animated-Tutorial, which you can see at the bottom-right of all such pages.

Tagging is superior to a title prefix such as Best Practices: or Tips and Tricks: because only one such prefix is possible, whereas multiple tags are allowed, so the same page can appear in more than one Index. (When does a tip or trick become a best practice?)

Study the fhugdownloads:index|> Downloads and Links section where this technique is used extensively.
For example fhugdownloads:contents:ancestors_census_places|> Query:Individual ~ Ancestors' Census Places is tagged with Query-Individual, Relations, Census, Places so it appears indexed under fhugdownloads:queriesindi|> Query Type: Individual, and fhugdownloads:familyrelations|> Family Relationships, and fhugdownloads:censusrecords|> Census Records and fhugdownloads:placedetails|> Places and Addresses.

I know that technically we can edit the KB ourselves, but, as such a newbie to FH, I wouldn't dare. Perhaps a few years from now...

Anyway, I'm still thinking about what I would call the "Glossary." So far, I haven't been able to come up with anything better.

Shosh