Family Historian User Group

As a new user of FH7 and not very experienced genealogist I am trying to develop a workflow of research and documentation that will work for me.
I have been using Ancestry for a few months and have a limited time subscription (it runs out next month). My normal mode of operation is to have a subscription through the winter months and not during the summer when I have other outdoor activities.
As a result I have a tree in Ancestry with about 800 individuals. I find that the hints and other user trees are very helpful in developing my tree, whilst being aware that it can lead down wrong paths.
With help from Mike and other forum posts I have, successfully, done a first load of my Ancestry tree with media via Roots Magic Essential (free).
I am hoping that it will be possible to keep my definitive "Master" tree in FH and use Ancestry to gain new individuals and improve exisitng individuals. This approach would require work in Ancestry and then brining it over to FH, probably via RM to include media.
I believe that this would require using Compare/Merge.

1. Research in Ancestry
2. Export GEDCOM via Roots Magic
3. Backup main tree project in FH7
4. Open main tree in FH then Compare/Merge with new GEDCOM from RM

This logic seems simple, but I have come across issues that suggest it is not a long term way of working.

1. I have decided on a Places and Address strategy and applied it to all my Places. When I Compare/Merge with the new GEDCOM it has brought across Places that are the same as I those I already have , but with a space after each comma. I have been removing the space from after the commas in my Places. The result is many Places in my Compare/Merge that if I didn't Discard them would come across and effectively duplicate what I already have.
   Is there a way of dealing with this or do I have to go back to spaces after the commas in my tree to avoid update imports re-introducing them as extra Places?
2. I have understood that I have to check all the compared entries in, not only, Individuals, but also, Families, Repositories,Places, etc etc
   I found many familes that Merge wanted to add that looked exactly the same as those that I have. The same is true of repositories etc.

This approach seems to bring too many items to check. Is there a way to reduce the items to check with this approach ?
Could I edit the GEDCOM file before the Compare/Merge. I could bulk remove all the spaces after commas using Notepad++ and delete all the Individuals I already have, to leave only the 'new' Individuals and updated exisitng ones.
Any views on ways of working with Ancestry and FH7 appreciated.
Cheers
Daryl
I've just noticed that whether or not I have a space after the comma in Places and Addresses FH7 puts one in on reports and onscreen in the facts Property Box.

Without going into details, as you have already discovered, it is far from simple.
FH is not too good at synchronising/merging some record types as you mention.

I would advise you to keep a space after commas in Place names as that is the norm.

You would need to repeat all the 'tidying' of the imported Ancestry/RM GEDCOM and Media every time before it could be reliably merged. Purging branches that have not changed since the last update might reduce the effort required.

I think most users manually update FH and Ancestry in tandem.
See the FH -> RootsMagic -> Ancestry (Work-in-Progress) (18572) thread that suggests a different workflow.

Thanks for the advice and link Mike.
Cheers
Daryl

This Knowledge Base article is a better overview, as it captures the ideas in a much more structured way.

I’m very wary of letting anything/anybody other than me write to my master tree, so I do all my updates in FH, and sync with Ancestry via RootsMagic. It is a bit clunky, but for me the alternative of separate data entry in two different apps is far worse! The KB also includes a link to a dedicated plugin that selects records and cleans up the tree completely automatically, without having to remember complex settings and options.

Hi Mark, I am very interested in your approach for working with a 'synced' FH and Ancestry tree. Thanks for the link to the KB article.
Is the plugin you refer to the GEDCOM export plugin from Mike Tate ?

No. You could do it with Mike's plugin in combination with other tools, but Mike has designed his plugin to be as flexible and multi-purpose as possible, so it would need a fair bit of configuring. The plugin linked from the KB article is a much simpler affair, designed for this single task. That makes it easy to use, and ensures that exactly the same scope is applied each time, crucial for subsequent syncing.

As described in the KB, it automatically sanitises your tree by completely removing any reference to individuals marked as living or private. A lot of public trees have living people listed but marked as private. The main problem with that is that if the parent details are given, it's usually very simple to work out who the private entries are given mother's maiden name, approximate date of birth and where they lived.

I also omit all media and sources, for two reasons. Firstly, once you upload something to an Ancestry tree, you effectively give it to Ancestry Inc for free, and they can use if for whatever purpose they choose (make sure you read the T&C before uploading!). Secondly, most media files are protected by some form of copyright, so uploading to Ancestry while remaining legally compliant is a nightmare! A lot of people break the rules, either through ignorance or otherwise, but that's their choice.

If you want a different set of options, you will need to modify the plugin or use other tools, such as Mike's general purpose export tool suitably configured.

Thanks for the correction Mark, now I get it.
If I wanted to look at the plugin script, where do I find it.
I am new to this, but agree that the plugin capability is a great benefir of FH and want to learn more about it.

“Official” plugins are available from the plugin store managed by Calico Pie. This second tier of less formal plugins are generally shared via this FHUG Forum. If you check the KB article, there is a direct link to the plugin in the section Exporting From Family Historian. I keep just that single link so I can ensure that it always points to the latest version, rather than multiple obsolete references spread over the forum.

Daryl, sorry if you already know this, but any Plugin installed in the FH Tools > Plugins... list can be inspected via the Edit button revealed by clicking More >> at the bottom. Also, those in the Plugin Store can be inspected via the View Source Code orange link in the description & download page.

Hi both,
I didn't know those things. Thanks again.
A bit worn out today with family history research, my brain hurts , so logging off to lie in a darkened room