* Media Locations

[GeneSniper]

Hopefully simple question here and even more simple answer. What is the best way to store media in FH? All in one media folder or add separate folders in the media folder and if I do the latter is there any issue when exporting.

[tatewise]

The answer somewhat depends on how much Media you expect to create.
Some users don't add many Media files, and focus more on just text transcripts, plus some photos of people.
Other users add a document Media file for every document image they can get hold of and supplement those with photos of gravestones, and much more.

The Windows operating system becomes sluggish with very large numbers of files in one folder.
On the other hand, too many nested folders can lead to exceeding the 250 character path length limit.

It is fairly unimportant how to store those Media image files from the point of view of how to find them.
That is because the FH tools for managing Media records are usually a better option, and once the Media record has been found then that links directly to the associated file.

So sorry, but the answer is not as simple as you might have expected.

Regarding exporting, that largely depends on the target products you have in mind.
Most online products such as Ancestry, FindMyPast, ZoomPast, etc, do not import Media files in bulk, so how you store them is not important.
Windows applications will typically require the same rules as outlined above.
However, more importantly, the way Media must be handled depends on what features of FH you use.
In another thread you spoke of avoiding product specific codes such as the FH glossary:gedcom_extension_list|> GEDCOM Extension List, but that eliminates many useful FH features. However, the Export Gedcom File Plugin does cater for such features and converts to the format required by many other products. It also lets you choose whether to keep or abandon your Project's Media folder structure in the Export folder.

[GeneSniper]

Don't think I mentioned not using GEDCOM specs. I said

Just read that gedcom spec, so putting the tree on hold and going to go away and have a long hard talk with myself about why I decided to change software and redo my family tree

So was just having a bit of a laugh about having a look at the spec that Helen had put a link up for (different from yours) and to be honest still haven't got a clue what it all meant. Please don't try to explain it as I think life is to be enjoyed and that doesn't look like fun

[tatewise]

But you did say: "I was more looking for the place that FH wants the information to be for it to export a standard GEDCOM file that can be imported by another program with no issues. We all moan about importing files from other programs and the information not going to the right sections, but this will happen going the other way if our FH data is in the wrong place to start with."
To me that implied avoiding FH features that are not standard GEDCOM. Sorry, if that was not your intention.

[GeneSniper]

No what I meant was that I didn't want to put information in the wrong place, only to find that if I passed the information on to someone in a GEDCOM file the information ended up in the wrong place. As an example the William Clegg saga about entry dates. His suggestions although quite sensible to me as a beginner to FH, would give many people the impression that my family had all ran out in the last week and registered their births deaths and marriages as the date I entered their information was in that field. As I have said before I am just trying to get it as right as it can be for the next person, so if there is a right place for some information I would like it to be there. But as I am learning the hard way, not as easy as you would think.