Family Historian User Group

Hi

Apologies for being dumb, but I have 1500 people in my tree and previously I have saved various records to my hard drive and just noted a reference.

I thought it was about time I used Family Historian to record this information. Can someone please point me in the right direction for recording UK census information and attaching this information to relevant people. I have read lots in the knowledge base and watched a video but the information seem either too simplistic (video) or overly complicated with too many choices( knowledge base).
Ideally I would like a set of instructions to start me on my journey that I can get used to, before progressing to more in-depth analysis . I would like to record all the information in say one census source and connect this to the many people contained therein. Hope this makes sense!

If anyone is using a successful method that I could adopt please give me details.

I suggest you experiment on a COPY of your Project before committing to a particular process.

Sorry, but your first decision is to choose between standard GEDCOM Generic Sources and the new Templated Sources.
Since you have not added Source Citations before you are effectively a new FH V7 user.
So, see FHUG Knowledge Base Sources and Citations in Version 7 (for New Users) that explains the pros and cons, etc...
In your COPY Project, you can try both alternatives to see which you are most comfortable with.

The method of associating Individual facts with Source Citations that you described appears to match the most popular method and is often referred to as Method 1 'Splitter' Source Citations. It is the default for most FH tools and the method supported by the supplied Source Templates.

The last section in the FHUG KB link above is An Alternative Way to Work with Facts, Sources and Citations which suggests using Ancestral Sources to capture sources such as a Census Record, because it saves much of the repetitive process of adding the same citation to many facts.
There is a worked tutorial for adding a Census using Ancestral Sources but it only uses a Generic Source, although the process is much the same for Templated Sources.

The complication with a Census is that each Individual not only has a Census Event to deal with but also their Birth Event details and potentially their Occupation or other attributes mentioned in the Census.

This is only an overview and further pointers will be necessary to get you started.
Be aware that capturing Census Records is perhaps one of the most complex processes due to a whole household being involved and it might be easier to cut your teeth on something simpler like a Birth Certificate.

Thank you Mike A good starting point for me.

Mike's comments above are as usual excellent. I think you have noticed Sources can get very complicated if you are being purist and/or using the new FH Templates+Rich Text. However, you ask for something SIMPLE. Fear not, if you can manage with simple text (i.e. without FH rich Text).

On the link that Mike provides above look at Should I Use Source Templates? And sub section However, there are reasons you might decide to use Generic Sources instead:

There have been a few posts on Sources, especially after the FHv7 release and I repeat some of my earlier comments:

"For me it is to keep it simple but flexible.
- Create a Generic Source.
- Add that Source(citation) to as many facts as required.

FH V7 has added a lot of features that some welcome but others, myself included, find confusing, especially if you previously used the more simplistic Generic Sources. I am a keen user of Ancestral Sources, but that took some understanding and setting up, but once done saves me much time and provides conformity. I have no doubt that the new Source templates can be useful, but like AS, need some understanding and setting up.

These old topics might help simplify an approach to Sources.
For me this was the crucial KnowledgeBase article
Customising V7 to use V6 (Simple) Style Sources
Note the comment "Newcomers to ƒh may also choose to work only with Generic Sources for simplicity or to ease exporting data to other products".

In Particular - My personal thoughts on Templated v Generic Sources (19466) jimlad68 comments 29 May 2021 15:50
Generic Sources (19422)
Change default opening Tab for Citation floating window (19000)

I think it is important to experiment with any new software to find the best methodology for your needs. Be prepared to redo some things."

Words to live by indeed - I have been experimenting and have redone my work several times as I've learned more about the program. My database isn't pretty, I'll grant you, but at least the info is there. I won't live long enough to make it perfect, that much is for sure!!

Teresa

jimlad68 wrote: ↑

26 Sep 2022 20:30

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