Family Historian User Group

I would like to apply some updated diagram box configurations to older charts that I have created over the years. I know I can create and Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type, but when applying the custom type to older charts the entire chart is rebuilt and the overall chart configuration is lost. This can be especially discouraging when multiple trees are part of the chart or when there is a variety of open and closed branches. I also know I can Add Conditions to older charts' Boxes through Diagram > Options > Boxes, but this can be time consuming, particularly if it must be done for every older diagram. And I am aware that I can set more complex Box configurations in Diagram > Options > Save As Defaults but this would require changing those charts where the more detailed conditions weren't desired. All of this makes working with FH more time consuming and less efficient.

I was hoping to find something similar to Diagram Options > Text Schemes but for Diagram Boxes. The nearest feature is Diagram > Options > Box > Presets, but it is limited to just the nine presets. It would seem that a solution would be to have the ability to create custom Diagram Box Presets. After all, if the present DNA Flag Preset can change a existing chart without having to rebuild it, then other similarly complex Box Presets should be possible too -- again, somewhat similar to creating custom Diagram > Options > Text Schemes. To me, having the workflow of Diagram Text Schemes and Diagram Box Presets be the same would make sense.

Some in FHUG have noted that the Boxes tab does not have a Restore Defaults button. (There is the Presets button but it is not explained which preset is the Installation Default) and that the Save Current Diagram Options defaults are only applied to new diagrams. What is need is a Diagram > Save/Restore Options > Load Current Diagram Options command and/or a Load Saved Options button on each Diagram > Options... tab. That would set the displayed diagram's options to the currently saved diagram options.

There are many more settings on the other Diagram > Options tabs that users might want to migrate from a Diagram Type or Saved Chart to another Diagram Type or Saved Chart, so a button to do that on each tab would make working with FH more efficient.

I looked for this in the wish list so I could vote for it but I was unable to find it.

Thanks for showing interest. I believe I've done all that I can to request these features be added to FH. According to FHUG: "If you can not find the feature you are looking for, please go to the New Wish List Requests Forum and post your request there. Then the Moderators will review it and add it to the Wish List for voting." I've posted my request, so evidently we're both waiting for the Moderators to review it. I imagine there would be others equally interested and would like the opportunity to vote. If you think I've posted the request improperly or if you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks again.

I think I must have missed this when it was first posted. Mark has added it to his “to be closed” list but I would like to add some support for the suggestion.

The OP’s request arose because it is difficult to apply a new Boxes Scheme to a Saved Chart, because the box settings have to be laboriously entered for each old saved chart. (Applying a new custom diagram type disrupts the overall chart configuration because the chart is rebuilt). Whist this is not a particular need I have, I would support the request for reasons of consistency. The boxes tab of Diagram options should allow the user to add their own custom sets of box conditions which can be saved to the Presets list, in the same way that custom text schemes can be added to the list of available schemes in the Text tab.

However I don’t think there is a need for the suggested new Load Current Diagram Options command, because the existing Apply button serves the purpose.

The OP has also suggested that users might want a similar method of saving custom settings from other Diagram Options tabs. This would be a lower priority for me because I rarely change other settings and when I do they are quicker to re-adjust. It is the box conditions which are the most time consuming.

Issues:
In Text tab of the Diagram Options the user can create a custom text scheme and add it to the list of available schemes. But on the Boxes tab there is only a limited selection of ‘Presets’, supplied by CP, and the user cannot add their own custom scheme to the list.
This makes it difficult to apply a custom Box Scheme to a Saved Chart, because the box settings have to be laboriously entered for each old Saved Chart. (Using a new Custom Diagram Type means that the chart is rebuilt, so the overall configuration and additions, if any, to the Chart are lost). It also means that the effects of applying a different Box Scheme cannot be tested quickly in the same way as testing the application of a Text Scheme.

Proposal:
Users should be able to add their own custom Box Settings schemes to the existing list of Presets (perhaps renamed Box Schemes, analogous to the list of Text Schemes in the Text tab). This will enable the user to apply a different set of box conditions to an existing Diagram or Saved Chart, in the same way that a different Text scheme can be applied, without changing any other settings or having to rebuild and reconfigure the diagram.