Family Historian User Group

I am fairly new to FH and I have been trying to create a web site or CD (SD drive).

I have managed to create a diagram with hyperlinks and make a SD drive that works. But I have two questions.

1) The hyperlinks in the pdf diagram do not work in Firefox but they do if I open the pdf in Acrobat. Now I have just discovered that they do work in Microsoft Edge browser. The link is inthe form =file:///H:/Seal/data/ind18.html. Is this a general problem with Firefox or is it my configuration?

2) When creating and saving the diagram in pdf is it possible to not display the hyperlink text (which can be quite long and presumably makes the boxes bigger than need be)? I would like to display for example just the text "Full details" and the link to be hidden. Ideally I would like the whole box to be live (ie clickable) because it can be hard to 'hit' the link whnen the boxes are quite small in a large diagram.

Many thanks

Welcome to the FHUG Alan.

As a newcomer have you seen how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers?

It seems you have followed the advice in how_to:make_family_tree|> Make a Family Tree CD/DVD or Website under how_to:make_family_tree:diagram_hyperlinks_pdf|> Family Tree Tips ~ Diagram Hyperlinks PDF.

I am not sure about CD but the hyperlinks work in Firefox when linked to a website page.
However, when the diagram PDF is invoked from the CD I would expect the default PDF viewer to be used rather than a browser, and as you say Adobe Acrobat works OK.

I don't think you can set hyperlink display text such as Full Details.
You can set the Maximum box width in Diagram > Options > Dimensions tab to force hyperlink to wrap.
You can insert a <Font change> item before the hyperlink to make it larger and easier to click.

Many thanks for your help. I think there are still problems with the Diagram pdf in FH. Since I don't have a web site to put the data on, I am concentrating on the CD (or better SD) output.

I have discovered why Firefox pdf links don't work - the default is to view pdfs in the browser. I can change that to use Acrobat to open the pdf; and that opens the diagram file but in a new window and the links work. BUT you get the Adobe warning for each and every link - which becomes quite a pain every time. This is mentioned in the Family Tree Tips. Edge is able to open the pdf links - but then you cannot open a link in a new tab or window; so neither browser is ideal.

However, a big problem is that when I configure the diagram in FH, I have to include the path name eg file:///H:/FH CD/data/ind.html and this is hard coded in the pdf. However, my CD is G: someone else will be E: or F: or anything. So the CD or SD won't be able to find the file from the hyperlink. I haven't found a way in FH to make the file path relative and not include a drive letter. I would have thought that should be possible, so that the CD will work in any drive letter. (Or to force the CD or SD to be eg S: - but that could be risky.)

The further problem with the box settings is perhaps for the FH wish list. Standard HTML linking allows the hiding of the target and also I think making the whole box clickable.

I'll continue to experiment.

As an alternative you could try fhugdownloads:contents:gedmill|> Utility ~ GedMill together with the Export Gedcom File Plugin V3.3 just published using the (GWC) GEDmill Website Creator mode.

That produces web pages similar to FH but each one has a small family tree with clickable boxes to navigate around the relatives.

Also see Wish List item Ref 246 Family Tree Diagrams in CD/DVD/Website pages that you can Vote for.

I have worked further with the Diagram saved as PDF and things would be much easier if I could save the diagram as HTML; which is what the rest of the website is in (ie the index and the individual reports).. PDFs in the mix causes the problem with hardcoded filenames; I haven't found a way in the diagram optiosn to make the filenames relative (ie not including a drive letter or www address. HTMl would be much easier to edit and I can make the site run locally as well as uploading to a live ISP if needed. Could I suggest 'Saving diagrams as HTML' as an enhancement?

There are several pdf to html converters available.

I haven't tried them but there is

http://www.zamzar.com/convert/pdf-to-html/

and

http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf-to-html/

The hyperlinks in the PDF are being done by the PDF Printer, there are details on
http://www.novapdf.com/kb/create-active ... al-68.html

So I don't think it would be possible to use relational links.

I suspect generating a diagram in pure html would be a horrendous job. The PDF to html conversion I suspect will result in a graphic which may or may not retain it's hyperlinks.

I have tried pdfonline.com but when it says it has done the conversion it tries to load malware called hemailaccessonline.com - which is malware. So I would advise AGAINST using that, unless I am mistaken.

zamzar.com does work and does not seem tp be not malware but it takes your email address (which is risky) and then it does not convert the diagram as boxes - as Jane indicates.

I'll investigate novapdf. But itlooks like I won't be able to use the pdf diagram, unless and until FH develops a more useful html output. I use Findmypast for research and they can produce a hyperlinked family tree chart; so it can be done. But with findmypast I cannot share it with relatives, which is the whole reason for doing this - so that they can check the research I have done in an easy way (eg on a CD or sd or website) and the hyperlinked diagram would be ideal for them.

Many thanks

Have you tried the free fhugdownloads:contents:service_zoompast|> Service ~ ZoomPast that does allow controlled sharing with nominated users, and is almost certainly safer that FindMyPast.
See the Export Gedcom File Plugin (ZPG) ZoomPast Genealogy export mode.

Also did you look at the free fhugdownloads:contents:gedmill|> Utility ~ GedMill as I suggested yesterday?
That will produce a useful CD for review.

You might also want to take a look at the great Gedsite software by John Cardinal. It's great for producing websites from GEDCOM files and is getting better all the time. See here: http://www.gedsite.com

For websites GedSite needs you to purchase online server space, but it will also produce CD compatible output, but does it produce a family tree diagram with hyperlinks that Alan wants?

GedSite is also supported by the Export Gedcom File Plugin.

Hi Mike,

Yes, it does produce tree views with hyperlinks. There's also no need to publish a tree or buy online space. You can just view the website on your local machine.

It's very flexible and if you know what you are doing you can also use it for producing reports. I actually produce family history reports from Gedsite by taking the html produced and reconverting to PDF! But that does take some messing around with css etc.

It's well worth taking a look at the example sites on this page: http://www.gedsite.com/en/examples.htm

Simon

As already said, GedSite can produce content that is viewable on a PC (including from a CD) without ever going near a web site; and if this is all you want to do, you can get quite respectable results with the simple theming options provided, or further customise it if you require (you don't need to be able to understand css to do this, although it will help if you want something out of the ordinary).

It can produce a clickable 'navigation chart' for each individual showing 2 generations of ancestors, any siblings and partners and children. It can't display a whole tree like ZoomPast (neither can GedMill).

It can also produce pages with clickable text lists of ancestors or descendants for a given individual.

And the content of the page for each individual is highly customisable too.

It can take a bit of learning, especially as the terminolgy will be unfamiliar to FH users (if they haven't come from elsewhere) but I'm very pleased with the results I've achieved.