* Export Gedcom File for Tribal Pages

[tatewise]

There has been some discussion on the [FHU] Mailing List (which is back in operation) regarding the use of the Export Gedcom File Plugin for Tribal Pages Family Trees.

If anyone is interested in helping me add a Tribal Pages option to the Export Gedcom File Plugin then please reply.
I'm not expecting anyone to write Plugin code, but just help with trial exports from FH to Tribal Pages, especially with subscription accounts that may have more features.

[andrewbraid]

Mike

I have used Tribal Pages in the past but not for some time because of its limitations.

I would be happy to help in testing the Plugin

[tatewise]

Andrew,
Can you confirm your understanding of the Tribal Pages limitations.

I believe it only only supports a single instance of Fact types (e.g. Census, Occupation, Residence).

It does allow multiple Source Citations and multiple Media per Individual/Source record.

Notes seem to be limited to 300 characters, or about 60 words.

Does not support Address field or Age field.
Does not support From ... To ... Date Periods.

It supports so little that I initially gave up trying to produce a usable export.

[andrewbraid]

Mike

My understanding is the same as yours. I have not uploaded anything since December 2011.

Would you like to look at my tree on Tribal Pages? I will need to send you the access code privately.

[tatewise]

Maybe later Andrew, because a free account offers me enough to test all structures.
I think a paid for account only expands capacity for more records.

I am thinking that to workaround the one instance of each Fact, the Plugin could create synthetic/custom facts such as Census2, Census3, Occupation2, Occupation3, etc. Do you know of any limits to such custom facts?

Usually the workaround for missing fields such as Address and Age is to add labelled Note details, but that may run into the 300 characters limit.

Users may simply have to put up with some missing details.

[andrewbraid]

Mike

I am not at home at present. When I get back I will try and establish if it is always the first census fact that is added.

Personally I am not too bothered about the address limitations but your workaround seems fine.

BTW my subscription has lapsed but I do have contact with somebody who has a current one.

[Nalaho]

Mike,

Further to our exchanges in the mailing list, I have finally found time to re-register and access this forum.

I have uploaded several versions of my tree to T.P. and, once I found that the FTM Gedcom setting worked, I've not had any real trouble. Having said that, there are many limitations in what can be displayed on T.P. Those limitations, such as only one census, have been pointed out already. For my purposes, that isn't too important as all I want to do is allow distant (genealogically and by location) relatives to check the information that I have gathered. Having more notes and facts listed might even make the displays more and more cluttered and harder to follow for inexperienced visitors to the site. I must check whether the data that was uploaded can be downloaded intact - i.e. whether all the census details are still there though not displayed on T.P.

I have been trying to upload pictures of individuals from F.H. to T.P. I hoped that it could be done simply by uploading the Gedcom with all the media still linked in some way. I haven't managed to get that to work at all, whichever option settings I have tried. So far, the best I have achieved is to get a folder of images set up on my PC using the export plugin and to then add those to the T.P. site manually. That's OK for a dozen pictures but a bit tedious for 50+.

I had a quick look round the T.P. site and Help files to see if the limitations are defined anywhere. There doesn't appear to be a comprehensive definition of what can be uploaded or the limits on what can be displayed.

Alan Hourd

[tatewise]

Welcome Alan,

The objective of the Export Gedcom File Plugin has always been to retain as much data as possible.
That often means converting FH Gedcom structures to suit the target product Gedcom dialect.
You may be in the minority if you prefer not to retain multiple instances of facts.

In my experience, trying to download a Gedcom from any product is fruitless, because it will inevitably be incompatible with your original FH Gedcom due to the way each product interprets and customises its dialect of Gedcom. It is because of those dialects that the Export Gedcom File Plugin is needed.

BTW: I could not find a Gedcom download option within TribalPages so can you tell me where it is please.

I find few online products automatically upload media (exceptions are TNG and RootsWeb).
That includes Ancestry, FindMyPast, ZoomPast, GenesReunited, and now TribalPages.

[Russell]

Mike

To download a Gedcom on the page headed 'Your websites' select the 'edit' option and then follow through to the Files section.

Click on Backup/Download, then Download your saved tree.

This will then give you a link to your file to download.

Russell

[tatewise]

Thanks Russell, I never expected having to complete the Backup operation in order to get to the Download option.

I am also not impressed with the resulting Gedcom that has many details missing.

Are you interested in helping to test an Export Gedcom File Plugin option for Tribal Pages?
If so, what are your objectives for exporting from FH to Tribal Pages?

[tatewise]

An updated Export Gedcom File Plugin Version 3.1 Date 05 Dec 2016 is in the Plugin Store but it adds little for Tribal Pages yet because I needed to publish it early for GedSite and TNG

[gw3190]

Tribal Pages.JPG (90.74 KiB) Viewed 11811 times

I have been a subscriber to Tribal Pages in the past but currently I only have a free site.

As seen from the attached image, Tribal Pages allow increasing numbers of user defined facts, from 10 to 24, depending on level of membership. I have used these to create individual facts for the various census years and use the "Change Any Fact Tag" plugin to modify the GEDCOM file to include these before uploading it to Tribal Pages.

With regards to notes, those attached to events are limited in size but those attached to individuals can be 1000, 2500 or 8000 words in length, once again dependent upon subscription level.

I would be happy to assist with the plug in but I am not very technically minded.

Gillian

[tatewise]

Thank you Gillian. I anticipate the Plugin will automatically do something similar for multiple instance facts such as Census events, but an upper limit of 10/24 may be a bit restrictive, and result in some custom events not migrating across. The details about Notes is also helpful.

I hope to get back to this Plugin in the new year.
I don't necessarily need technically minded helpers, but people with subscription accounts would be better, as I can test the free account features myself.

[Gowermick]

Mike,
A bit late to this thread, but I have a TP tree, which I loaded from an FTM gedcom. I am willing to help in testing your TP export plugin.
Let me know what you need.

Edit: I exported a gedcom from FH back in November, and one thing I noticed that didn't import into TP was my custom-ID's. Which if memory serves, did import from an FTM gedcom!

Edit2: FYI, I have a deluxe account!

[tatewise]

You are correct that Custom Id from FH do not appear in Tribal Pages.

It would be useful to know how they appear from an FTM Gedcom.

A Deluxe account will be very useful for testing the 'best' achievable scenarios.

Is there anything else you notice is missing?
We know about Address and Age but are there others?

When I get back to updating the Plugin I will let you know.

[Gowermick]

Mike
The Custom_ID went across as a REFN as seen in extract below:

0 @I13241@ INDI
1 NAME Thomas Benjamin /CAUSER/
2 SOUR @S35@
3 PAGE Film 0394857
3 DATA
4 TEXT Batch C01104-8
1 SEX M
1 REFN J0218b
1 CHR
2 DATE 31 MAR 1833
2 PLAC St Martin/Worcester, Worcestershire, England
2 SOUR @S35@
3 PAGE Film 0394857
3 DATA
4 TEXT Batch C01104-8


As for what else is missing, I haven't the foggiest. With 13000+ individuals to examine, I doubt if I'd ever know!
As an experiment, I used the plugin to produce a gedcom, I am still waiting for TP to load it.

[tatewise]

Yes, I know where Custom ID (1 REFN) exists in the GEDCOM, it is the same for FH, but how & where does it appear in TribalPages?

[Gowermick]

Ah, got you. Sadly I don't know.
When latest upload from FH is finished loading, I'll overwrite it with an old upload from FTM! TP is being a bit slow in processing latest updates, so it may take a few days. (Can't do anything whilst TP is processing!)
I'll let you know when I have an answer

[tatewise]

With such experiments it is worth creating a small but representative Project that employs a wide range of data structures but with few records, so the uploads are swift. That is the sort of technique that will help with testing the Plugin.

Also you can create multiple trees in the one Tribal Pages account, which helps with comparing one test upload against another without having to rely on your memory.

[Gowermick]

I'll give that a try later.
As for where Custom ID appears in TP is surely irrelevant. If FTM 'REFN' was interpreted correctly by TP, then as long as FH does the same (i.e. put it into 'REFN' tag), it too should work!

PS Whether there is a bug in the plugin I don't know, but TP has wiped my tree. It could be they haven't finished processing yet, so I'll wait for the confirming e-mail before I pursue it.

EDIT: Just loaded two small gedcoms, 1 via normal export, and 2 via plugin. Both loaded OK but neither showing custom ID.
Tried loading an old FTM produced Gedcom, but as it is quite large, it has been shunted to the queue for processing, which may take up to 24 hours.
The trouble I have, is that I no longer have FTM to play with to produce a smaller gedcom! I'm reliant on those I produced as backups, which are quite large. I'll try and locate some very early ones, which should be smaller!

[Gowermick]

Mike, have just up-loaded a gedcom from 2008, which has been loaded by TP.

I notice that my Custom_ID is NOT being displayed!

I now doubt if it was ever displayed. I have asked TP support for help on getting the REFN displayed!

[tatewise]

That might be the first of a long list of requests.
I found time to perform a few simple tests, and a large number of standard Gedcom facts are just not recognised.
It does not recognise FROM date TO date Gedcom format and just uses first detected year ignoring day & month.
[ EDIT: The following list is now exhaustive regarding facts, but other standard Tags are not recognised too.]
Tags and Fact Names for Individual records :-
BASM Bat Mitzvah
EMIG Emigration
NCHI Child Count
NMR Marriage Count
BAPL LDS Baptism
CONL LDS Confirmation
ENDL LDS Endowment
SLGC LDS Child Sealing
Tags and Fact Names for Family records :-
ANUL Annulment
CENS Census (Family)
DIVF Divorce Filed
ENGA Engagement
MARB Marriage Banns
MARC Marriage Contrcat
MARL Marriage Licence
MARS Marriage Settlement
NCHI Child Count (Family)
SLGS LDS Spouse Sealing

[tatewise]

Try the attached Export Gedcom File Plugin Version 3.1.3 Date 24 Jan 2017. [Now Deleted]
It is a compressed ZIP that will need right-click Extract All to obtain the Plugin file that when double-clicked will install into FH.

This version copes with multiple instances of the same fact by creating synthetic custom facts with the same name suffixed by a digit such as Census1, Census2, etc.
It also creates synthetic custom facts for all the unrecognised facts mentioned previously.
Some other data also creates synthetic facts or adds details to Note fields such as Custom Id.
Any Address data is appended to the Place field following the word at.

Is this a workable solution given the limitations of Tribal Pages, or are there glaring problems?

[Gowermick]

Mike,
Thanks, I'll give it a try tomorrow, with a small sample of my tree.

I'm having trouble with TP at the moment, it seems I have a large gedcom file, which has been stuck in a processing queue for the past week, and support have done nothing, despite multiple requests for help.

Although I can upload smaller files, which do not get queued, they seem to get wiped after two or three days!

[Gowermick]

Mike
Sadly there is an error being reported when I try to run plugin:

[string "C:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\..."]:6439:
bad argument #1 to 'min' (number expected got nil).
No changes have been made to data records.

Hopefully you'll understand what is wrong.