Family Historian User Group

So far I have been using generic descriptions to name the sources, with particular citations being defined in the ‘where within source’ box. So for example, a source has been ‘1901 census RG13’ and the exact page, Piece 626, Folio 127, p3 , put in the ‘where within’ box. This seemed perfectly logical to me at the time, but now I come to link images of these sources it seems that FH does not link directly to the particular pages but only to the generic source descriptions. This is not what I want to do. So, is the only way around this to go through all my individuals and re-enter all the source data so that the information in the ‘source’ box contains all the page data as well, or is there a slicker way of linking my images to the whole of the source information, and not just the ‘source’ reference?

Ian

ID:4724

You can attach your images to the citations if you want, you just need to use the All tab to do so.

I think the majority of users, now create one source per document, but as you want to use the other method, you will just need to add the media to the citation using the right click and add media on the source citation on the all tab.

See http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... ry:sources


Personally I prefer the many sources method at it makes it much quicker to find all the people in a single census group.

Thanks Jane, but that has left me more confused. Clearly I am not that familiar with the inner workings of FH! I did look at the link you provided before I posted but didn't find it particularly illuminating.

What I understand by your reply is that most users enter the full details of a source in the 'source' field, as distinct from what I have done, where I have put just the generic title in the 'source' field. When you say that you prefer the 'many sources method' it is not clear to me which of these two options you prefer.

I'm afraid I don't understand the method of using the 'All' tab. If I click on this tab I do not see anything to do with 'source citation'. OK, I can expand all the branches to reveal 'source', and below it, 'where', but if I right-click on 'where' I don't get the option to add a multimedia object. I only get this option at the 'source' level. Does this not mean that if I link my multimedia object to the 'source' that the image is linked to every appearance of that particular source, even though the 'where' may be different, the same problem I am trying to avoid? I would need to test this. Also, since I would have to link every event individually, rather than just the once using 'Add link to a source record' this would add significantly to the workload, so it comes as no surprise that the custom is to include all the source details in the 'source' field. So I may have to grasp the nettle and re-enter all my source details. In the end, it may be the simplest solution.

Sorry if I appear a little dense, but getting to grips with the finer points of FH is tougher than I expected.

Regards
Ian

I'm a fairly new FH user...but what I do is use the 'Name' box for:

Census: Waite E, 1851, Moorby, HO107/2108

And in the 'text from source' box I put

Moorby
Elizabeth Waite, head, widow, 75, ag lab widow, Thimbleby, Lincs
Eliza Dawson, granddaur, 9, Sleaford, Lincs
William Carter, grandson, mar, 27, ag lab, Horncastle, Lincs

The 'name' box entered in that order means that all the sources line up in order.

Maybe that's of some help?

I have one source per Census Page, and one per certificate.

You have used the single source method so you only have one source per Census, not one per page.

This means you have to attach your image to every citation for the page, rather than to the source record.

So go to the All tab select the Fact and then the source citation right click on the citation and select add media.




For entering future information if you use Ancestral sources that supports creating the images for both methods.

Just to add, contrary to my concerns, having tried out linking though the 'All' tab, it seems that linking at the 'source' level does not cause every identical source to be linked. However, I did note that when linked in this way the 'Show Multimedia' button in the source pane is greyed out and inoperative. When linking to the 'source' in the conventional way it is functional. Perhaps another reason to make the source identifiers unique rather than generic.

Ian

William, Jane, thank you both for your replies. It's looking more as though I ought to re-enter my source data, but better now than later. I'll certainly consider your approach William. It's a pity we can't have hindsight before we embark on these things!

Regards
Ian

Obviously I'm biased but I really would recommend you use my Ancestral Sources program for entering census data as Jane mentioned. It makes the whole thing much easier and it is free and is used by hundreds of other Family Historian users. The 'one source per census household' is the default setting for Ancestral Sources and I call this 'recording method 1'. I think this is the preferable system to use but you can choose to use 'recording method 2' (one source per census year with data held in the citations) in the options page.

You may also find the knowledge base page on sources a useful read.

Yes, thanks, I downloaded your software and shall need to investigate further. Installation required additional software to be installed (NET something or other) but during set-up I got an error message and I ended up aborting the installation. Strangely, after re-booting, Ancestral Sources seems to work OK so far as I can tell!

I presume that if my family tree already exists, Ancestral Sources will just fill in the gaps and establish links, rather than try to build it again. Yup, I shall need to read the documentation!

Regards
Ian

You may find the video useful (linked off the page I linked to in the last post).

A.S. doesn't do anything you couldn't do manually in Family Historian, it does the hard work of generating all the various facts, citations and sources for you from the data you enter, linking images, etc. So yes just use it with your existing file. I'd suggest you use a copy of it while you find out how A.S. works and while you tweak the options to meet your needs.

I've not heard of too many installation errors in the past (actually I can only remember being told about one). Did you close all other programs before installing?

Cheers

Nick

No, I think others were running, including FH. Looks as though it is working though.

Ian

Ah OK I think this explains it - the first screen of the install does recommend that you close other programs before continuing, set up programs always suggest this, I frequently ignore it too!

I hope you find A.S. useful, please do use the Ancestrsl Sources forum on this site if you have any issues or questions.

Best wishes

Nick