Family Historian User Group

Fair enough, I agree that Templates would be a must,, if flexible, but I can not find a way to make them fit.
In my case, after I edit a template (either a new one or copy), after the 1st save of that template I can not go back and successfully make edits that work, as it will be permanently stuck to the 1st edit/save.

That sounds like a bug of some sort - I do this all the time with templates (new and cloned)...Have you reported it to CP?

danielvb wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023 19:00

Fair enough, I agree that Templates would be a must,, if flexible, but I can not find a way to make them fit.
In my case, after I edit a template (either a new one or copy), after the 1st save of that template I can not go back and successfully make edits that work, as it will be permanently stuck to the 1st edit/save.

Daniel, can you please describe the process you use to modify templates, specifying the commands you use step by step?
Provide screenshots if that helps. Clearly, your experience is different from others. It would be useful to find out why.

It can be...

Although I am a fan of using templates, converting a large number of freeform or generic sources can be a veritable nightmare, especially if you have a large number of existing ones.

I first attempted to use templates about 14 or 15 years ago and that was a mess. I then created my own approach about 12 years ago, using RootsMagic. While I have been very content with my templates (essentially one template that will work with all sources but subdivided into three smaller ones) and have used them ever since, I spent years trying to convert old sources to use my own templates in RootsMagic. It wasn’t until I switched to FH7, just a year ago, that I finally completed that tasks. FH7 literally shaved YEARS off the process of converting but it was still a big task.

I would recommend that you start using templates for new data (and find an approach that you like) and leave your existing data alone . . . or slowly convert them over with the understanding that such a task is likely to take months or even years of work.

It would be great if there was some type of magic conversion tool to deal with this situation but given the nearly endless variety of templates, I suspect that designing such a tool would still be a monumental task that would still require a LOT of work on your part.

danielvb wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023 19:00

Fair enough, I agree that Templates would be a must,, if flexible, but I can not find a way to make them fit.
In my case, after I edit a template (either a new one or copy), after the 1st save of that template I can not go back and successfully make edits that work, as it will be permanently stuck to the 1st edit/save.

It sounds to me like you aren't using the Compare/Sync with Source Template Record... function within the Source Template Definitions dialog (Tools > Source Template Definitions...). If you make a change to a template after it is already in your project, and want those changes reflected in the template definition itself, you need to use this function to update it. Hopefully that makes sense!

Seems likely - I know when I first started, I didn't realize I had to take this step. Every once in a while I also forget to add new templates to the project after creating them.

sbell95 wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023 23:58

It sounds to me like you aren't using the Compare/Sync with Source Template Record... function within the Source Template Definitions dialog (Tools > Source Template Definitions...). If you make a change to a template after it is already in your project, and want those changes reflected in the template definition itself, you need to use this function to update it. Hopefully that makes sense!

sbell95 wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023 23:58

danielvb wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023 19:00

Fair enough, I agree that Templates would be a must,, if flexible, but I can not find a way to make them fit.
In my case, after I edit a template (either a new one or copy), after the 1st save of that template I can not go back and successfully make edits that work, as it will be permanently stuck to the 1st edit/save.

It sounds to me like you aren't using the Compare/Sync with Source Template Record... function within the Source Template Definitions dialog (Tools > Source Template Definitions...). If you make a change to a template after it is already in your project, and want those changes reflected in the template definition itself, you need to use this function to update it. Hopefully that makes sense!

Thank you for your suggestion! Problem solved. Managed to test some modified templates now.