* Stupid question about notes and facts

[Jessie 888]

Sorry to be a pain ... I know the answer will be in the manual somewhere but it may be quicker to ask before my brain fries completely!

I've started writing some Notes on my granddad ... but they seem to be all appearing in the summary box/Focus Window which is a bit alarming. What have I done wrong? Should I have written them as Facts instead? They're just little things like ... loving his garden ... being a stretcher-bearer in the war ... in the British Red Cross ... heart damage after working on a crusher in the quarry, etc. I've written them all as separate little Notes so far.

Any advice would be very welcome!

[tatewise]

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with using the Individual Record local Note field.

However, your last comment suggests you may have been entering them via the Notes tab, and used the Add Note button with the Create local note option several times.

If on the Notes tab there are several entries listed at the top with a blue bullet against each one, then that is what you have done. In which case only the top one appears in the Main tab Note box and the Focus Pane.

You are correct in thinking that most of those Notes might be better associated with Facts.

On the Facts tab use the Add Fact button, then select and Add appropriate Facts.
e.g.
Occupation for each of Army stretcher-bearer, British Red Cross, Quarry man, ...
Then you can add extra Notes local to each Fact as necessary, together with approximate Dates and Places if possible.
The "loving his garden" Note could be added to a Residence Fact giving again the Dates and Place.

This will result in a better biography in your Reports later on.

If necessary, you can also create Custom Facts for anything not covered by the Standard Facts.
See the fhugdownloads:factsets|> Downloads and Links ~ Fact Sets provided by other FHUG members.

Once you have added the Notes to Facts, remember to delete them from the Notes tab.

[Jessie 888]

Thank you so much for such a quick and detailed reply, Mike. You're a legend!

[LornaCraig]

As Mike says, only the first Individual Record Note will appear by default in the main tab Note box and in the Focus Window.

You might like to know that the Focus window can be customised to not display any notes. Use Tools > Preferences > Focus Window and untick Show Notes in the available options.

Similarly, the Note box on the main tab of the Individual Property Box can be removed if you don't want it (although it does no harm, and is a quick shortcut if you just want to enter a single Note). Click the Menu icon on the Property box toolbar, then click Customize and select Note from the list on the right, click the < symbol in the middle and then click OK. This does not delete any Notes themselves, and they will still be visible on the Notes tab of the Property Box.

[Jessie 888]

Lorna, thank you very much. I've just followed your clear instructions and it worked! It's much easier to understand now without any extra displayed Notes to distract me.

I think, in about a year, I will have managed to use about 2% of the potential of Family Historian. Still, slow but steady wins the race and all that!

[Jessie 888]

Mike, you were quite right about how I'd created those Notes and I've turned them all into Facts now, so thanks for that.

The only odd query I've got left now is that certain names have been spelt in different ways in censuses so I feel I should make a Note or Fact of that somewhere because it makes it easier to search for alternative names? I've tried the Add Fact Title box/option but that doesn't seem right ... nor does the More option next to the Name in the Property Box. I'm probably missing something obvious!

[tatewise]

Census details should be associated with Census Events, one per Census year.
The free add-on Ancestral Sources makes adding such details much easier.

Using the more... option is the best way to add alternative names.

Searching for almost anything is easily achieved using the Search and Replace Plugin.

The FH Edit > Find Record works well for names.

[LornaCraig]

certain names have been spelt in different ways in censuses so I feel I should make a Note or Fact of that somewhere because it makes it easier to search for alternative names? I've tried the Add Fact Title box/option but that doesn't seem right ... nor does the More option next to the Name in the Property Box. I'm probably missing something obvious!

If a person is recorded in a census with a name or spelling different from the one used at birth/baptism I record that in the Note field of the census event for that person. If the spelling is only a minor variation I don't usually bother to record it anywhere else, because most websites offering census searches have the option to search for spelling variants. However if the spelling is very different or they have been recorded under a different name also I record that using the More option next to the Name in the Property box.

This article in the Knowledge base explains more about how to handle multiple names:
http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... iple_names

[Jessie 888]

Thank you very much, Mike. Plug-ins are way too advanced for me yet, I'm afraid ... I'm only up to chapter five in the manual ... but I'm going to save all your replies for when I have more experience and brain power. I'm a bit frazzled tonight after spending seven hours squinting at parish records on microfiche and cursing every vicar/curate who couldn't write clearly!

For now, I'm going to take your advice, Lorna, and add the Notes as you suggested. Much appreciated.