* Working with Notes -- overcoming their limitations

[ColeValleyGirl]

I'm reviewing how I work consistently with notes, in particular notes for an individual or a couple, and want to make sure I haven't missed any tricks...

[I'm not covering Note Records here as I'm unlikely to make much if any use of those].

Unless I've overlooked something, my standard options for adding/editing/viewing Notes of various types using the property box are:

1. To add a local note to an individual, or a family note, I can add them from the Notes tab on the property box, or from the All tab. I can view them in the same places.
2. To add a note associated with a fact, including a marriage (the event, not the relationship) I can enter it when I enter the fact, or afterwards by editing the fact. I can also enter them from the All tab (which allows me to enter multiple notes for the same fact). I can view them in the same places and on the Notes tab.
3. If I want to add/edit or view a note associated with a Name, or Parents family or Spouse family, I have to do it from the All tab. They aren't accessible from the Notes tab, annoyingly.

I can also customise the Main tab to show the notes I wish to show, or create a Custom Note tab, but this would require me to know how many notes of each type I was expecting. A compromise option would be to create a Custom Note tab only for the items that aren't shown on the Notes tab. I can't customise the Notes tab.

If I constrain myself to one note of each type/per event (structuring the text with labels if necessary and using GetLabelledText in reports, diagrams etc. if necessary) customising tabs seems the least worst option (but it would be some much better if all the Notes were on one customisable tab...)

When it comes to including Notes in Reports (specifically the Individual Summary Report) , the options are very limited:

1. I can customise the Main section to include individual notes and notes such as those associated with a name, parents family, spouse family BUT (for example) if I include spouse family notes, and there's more than one spouse all the spouses come before all of the spouse family notes (and to I need to plan the customisation in advance guessing what the maximum number of spouses might be ). Same problem for multiple parent families.
2. I can ensure the notes associated with a fact are displayed immediately after the fact (standard option) including notes associated with a marriage event.
3. For reasons that escape me, individual notes and family notes can either be hidden or displayed in a section per note after all the marriages -- it would make more sense to include the family notes for each marriage in the section for that marriage (or if it must be, in a section per note following the section for the marriage) , but that doesn't seem to be possible.

I could work around the report problem with family notes by creating a custom fact type that was in essence a custom family note but that feels like a step too far -- especially as it would introduce yet another method of adding a note!

[tatewise]

Wow!

3. If I want to add/edit or view a note associated with a Name, or Parents family or Spouse family, I have to do it from the All tab.

For a Name you can add Note field to the Main tab or a custom tab, but you cannot add family notes that way.
To get to Spouse Family click the Married: box in the Focus Window below the couple.
To get to Parent Family first get them in Focus then click their Married: box.

BUT (for example) if I include spouse family notes, and there's more than one spouse all the spouses come before all of the spouse family notes (and to I need to plan the customisation in advance guessing what the maximum number of spouses might be ). Same problem for multiple parent families.

That is because you are using the built-in mutiple Spouses and Parents (other sets) items. Hide them and create your own Spouse 1 and Spouse 2, et seq, items interspersed with Note items.

Otherwise, I think you have summarised it thoroughly.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Two things.

1. I didn't cover Witness notes -- these are also *not* shown on the Notes tab, but can only be seen when editing the Witness, or on the All tab. And they would be extremely complex to add to a custom tab with any flexibility (if it's possible at all). Not have I identified any way to display them in an Individual Summary report (I'm struggling to get anything about witnesses to display in an individual summary report -- e.g. the source citations for a parent-child link introduced in 6.1.1) Which does make me question the value of entering the data if I can't report on it. They may be included in a narrative report -- I haven't tried as I don't use those (if I want narrative, I'll craft my own, not spend time configuring a the program to generate something that is still stilted English).

2.

That is because you are using the built-in mutiple Spouses and Parents (other sets) items. Hide them and create your own Spouse 1 and Spouse 2, et seq, items interspersed with Note items.

That's what I mean when I said I could customise the Main section of the Individual Summary Report but would have to guess first how many of each type to allow for. Is 8 spouses enough -- I have one cousin with 8 known (polygamous) wives and his children all had large polygamous marriages, so 8 might lose a wife somewhere along the line... And goodness knows where to set the limit for children -- in my own generation, I have a sister married to the 15th (and not last) child of a family, and his father was one of 18. I'm much rather FH programmed this stuff than me having to do it, especially as they've already done at least half of the job.

[tatewise]

Earlier in 1. we mentioned the Notes tab and its ability to mange Family Notes, but in 3. said could only get to Spouse family Notes in All tab, and I said use the Married: box in Focus Window. But are they not all the same Spouse Family Note that is in the Notes tab?

Regarding the other points, I think you are largely correct, so send that comprehensive summary to Calico Pie Support and hopefully they might get fixed.

[ColeValleyGirl]

I don't *think* they're the same thing Mike. See:

All tab

All tab.png (168.37 KiB) Viewed 4136 times

and

Notes tab

Screenshot 2016-01-28 12.19.44.png (81.56 KiB) Viewed 4136 times

The notes tab shows Spouse 2 note (as a shared note) for both members of the family, but not Spouse note for the individual in question (also Spouse note isn't attached to the other member of the couple).

[tatewise]

Oh, that Spouse Note - notice that it is blue (Individual) not brown (Family)!

I guess you realise that Spouse note is a local Note associated with the FAMS tag within the Individual record (%INDI.FAMS.NOTE2%).

That is why it does not appear as a shared Family record Note (%FAM.NOTE2%) such as Spouse 2 note, nor the other Spouse's Individual record.

The problem is that Notes are attached to so many places it is hard to remember them all, and certainly the ones hidden on the All tab rarely appear anywhere else.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Yes, I know it's an individual note and not a family one -- that's why I want to use it. You can do the same thing with a FAMC record. These may be the route by which I'll document the reasoning about relationships rather than use the incompletely implemented witness functionality. (Because it's an individual note, I should be able to get it on a custom tab or the customised main tab...) I'll then do some jiggery-poking post website production to re-jig the orders of things -- either in my scripting editor o rmore likely in-flight as I import it into my website.

[tatewise]

Yes, you will be able to get %INDI.FAMS.NOTE2% and %INDI.FAMC.NOTE2% on the Main or a custom tab.