How to create a ';To do '; list in FH

autobyke · Post by **autobyke** » 14 Jan 2009 19:43

Hi, Is there a way to create a 'to do' list from the information I have entered into FH. Either auto or manual. I am thinking on the lines of using the lists for individuals and groups when going to records office etc...Thanks...Shaun

ID:3355

gerrynuk · Post by **gerrynuk** » 14 Jan 2009 19:55

Not directly at present, I think. But you could create a series of flags - such as FindBaptism/CheckPoorLawRecords/Findin1891Census etc etc and use these to create ToDo Lists.

Gerry

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » 14 Jan 2009 20:42

Hello Shaun,

If you go to chapter 15 of 'Getting the Most from Family Historian' which can be accessed from the 'Help' Menu within Family Historian there is a lot of information there about using named lists.

What I do and I suspect many others do is have a list for each Record Office/Library etc. then I just add the person that I am working on to the list, type the information that I am after in the bottom pane of the list. When I am ready to visit the Record Office I select the appropriate list and print it off.

Hope this helps, if not ask again, there is bound to be someone who can explain it better or point you in a different direction.

Margaret

RalfofAmber · Post by **RalfofAmber** » 14 Jan 2009 20:44

I do this as well but if you want anything structured you will need a spreadsheet at the least in my opinion - I might make a list based on a flag called 'CheckatXXX' but have more detail in a spreadsheet tab where I also collect the findings before bringing them back into FH.

With the new project files in FH4 maybe in the future we will get other things associated with projects than the gedcom file and the things it references[smile]?

jmurphy · Post by **jmurphy** » 15 Jan 2009 16:19

I have just created a Named List '1911 Census -- get images'.

As I find search results for individuals, I add them to the Named List -- once I purchase the images, I'll take people out of the list as I find them.

[I also use GenSmarts -- which will read a GEDCOM file, though it has some annoying problems (there's a discussion in the 'what other software do you use' thread). Trial versions are available, so by all means, give it a spin for free and make sure you can live with the annoyances before buying the full program.]

I'm about to test GenScribe, a research organizer for the Mac -- it's a pity we don't have a companion program like that for Family Historian (yet).

Jan

RalfofAmber · Post by **RalfofAmber** » 16 Jan 2009 08:50

Jan,

I see why you like the look of Genscribe - it almost tempts me to take up programming again!

jmurphy · Post by **jmurphy** » 16 Jan 2009 16:21

I like the idea of GenScribe, but now that I have actually looked at it, right away I can see that I will have problems, just as I did with Bygones. It will handle some things very well, and not handle others at all.

He has data entry screens for census forms -- very nice, since all the questions are present -- but only US ones. And he allows you to assign project names and sub-project names to the item you are working on -- but that means that before I even get started on the program, I have to decide how I want to set up my project names.

Fair enough, most people have files that say 'KELLY surname research' 'ANDERSON surname research' and so on, and will want to keep those labels.

So while poking about I set up a couple of project names, only I made a typo. I can't seem to find any way to edit a project name. Easy enough at this point to delete it and start over, but it's annoying just the same.

He does have some nice features, though -- for instance, he takes into account that you may have images of the same document from more than one source, and gives you the ability to make notes about the image quality being poor from this 'venue' and better at the other 'venue'.

My ideal program would be one where the user could generate a template for any document that came up. Many programmers replicate the form of the document so that it will be easy for the user to 'fill out', but that means the programmer has to have seen the document or there will not be a form to fill out -- and if there are three different forms for the same document (e.g. US Draft Registration forms for WWI) then you have to have THREE different data entry templates -- very tedious for the programmer to design.

I would rather see a method whereby the user could feed the program a list of the questions on the form in the order they appear, and have the program store the answers in its table, without fussing so much about the data entry form. This would allow the users to add new documents as new record sets came out, and if they could share 'fact sets' as Family Historian does, the programmer would not have the entire burden of updating the program.

Of course I am an Old Fart: I started out with command line interfaces and word-processors that had markup tags (not unlike what this forum does). WYSIWYG is nice, but sometimes it gets in the way.

The search engine capabilities of GenScribe are tempting, however. It might solve the problem of 'houses as people' for instance -- allowing a user to search for all the residents of a particular address over time.

I can see a nightmare scenario whereby to keep the US data tidy I'd be putting it into GenScribe, to keep the UK data, I'd be putting into Custodian, and for the data which didn't fit into either, I'd be pulling my hair out with both hands!

I want something like GenScribe and something like GenSmarts but made to work with Family Historian.

In short, Nick Walker has spoiled me terribly. Gedcom Census behaves so nicely with FH, I wish everything else would do the same. [wink]

Jan

davidf · Post by **davidf** » 17 Jan 2009 19:21

I have created a Custom Attribute 'Work Outstanding'. Against individuals I use this attribute by putting in the value field a headline (details in the notes field), plus the name of the solution place (Record Office, Internet site etc.) in the Address Field (danger of polluting the Place field, so don't use it).

Then a custom query sorted by Individual or address gives the todo list.

HTH
David

lancashiredave · Post by **lancashiredave** » 25 Jan 2009 11:33

I have tried what davidf suggests and it looks like a good solution.
The only problem for me is that, as far as I can see, the custom query doesn't like multi line notes.
Following on from my topic on Carriage returns.
The handling of multi lines seems to be difficult for FH3 hopefully Fh4 might have some refinements.
Does any one know if this issue has been address in FH4?

Dave[cry]

jmurphy · Post by **jmurphy** » 25 Jan 2009 17:53

I just wanted to put in another word for GenSmarts, which is designed to produce lists of records targeted to specific records offices.

Jan

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