FTM2019 - Web Links Tab

A problem that I have had, with the Family Tree Maker program, is the ability to identify which Profiles use the Web Link Tab, in the People Workspace, Person View.

In this example, the profile has 10 Web Links. I wanted a way to see "who all has Web Links". Understanding the Filter Feature, I created a FACT called "Web Links Tab", and created a Citation for that fact. So, I can create a list of ALL Profiles that have Links in the Tab, but then I can Filter OUT some other Fact. In the Video, I can Filter OUT All profiles that do NOT use the WikiTree Fact that is in use. All profiles that have a WikiTree FACT will have a information in the Web Links Tab, to take me to their Profile on WikiTree.

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Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

FTM2019 Clean Up

After I Privatized my Media Files, I thought I would do some File Clean Up.

This is work on my own File, with 12,661 profiles. I have two questions in my mind as I have been doing this clean up.

What do I need / want to see

What do I want YOU to see

Those two questions have been on my mind when I give presentations on Family Tree Maker or when I blog, here, about the program. I have implemented these questions in a couple of smaller files, but not on my own file. I have been cleaning up a lot of information, like Citations in my file, but not really spent some time making this file public. Too messy, and needed to be cleaned up.

Thinking through the Media file issue, those two questions returned to this file and the related, linked Ancestry Member Tree (AMT). In an earlier blog post I figured out a way for someone finding the AMT, to communicate that I had images for the Profile. I can do that with my Master File.

But what about other information, like Facts, Notes, those stories. I know what I want to handle the Person (Profile) Notes. Each Note will have a Citation, keeping in mind that may be many notes in one persons Notes, but each one will have a Citation and that citation is in Bold. I have been doing that. The bolded Citation is a visual for me, that there is the "next" note, in the person note Tab. So, IF I have notes and I have not put the Citation, in bold, I just Privatize that Persons Notes. Looking at what I had left, not made private, I just privatized that note and moved on. I realized that the notes, with citations, were not consistent. So, I went through almost 200 pages of notes and made them Private. I want to see consistent notes, with Citations, but don't want anyone else to see them YET. Also, Ancestry AMTs do not present the Notes with the formatting (like bold Citations) that I have in my version of the Notes. Remember that those notes may appear in a Book that I may create from this file. That Formatting WILL remain in that Book. I can also unprivatize those notes for that book.

All Notes are not marked as Private.

I already have a number of FACTS that I have marked as Private, like Current Place Names for a Historical location (see earlier blog posts on that), but when I was looking at the 200 Facts that I have in my database, again my use of those Facts were not Consistent.

I did two things with the Facts. Marked ALL but Birth, Marriage, and Death Facts as Private, but Default, AND those existing, as Private. I can see that ALL. As I did this, I created an EXCEL spreadsheet with each Fact and the Number of times that Fact was used. As I went along, I made a quick notation that I needed to fix my usage of that Fact, in EXCEL.

What I also have, is an Evernote (another program) Notebook on how I use Family Tree Maker. I have used that for a long time, especially for Citations. So my next task, and I may blog about this, is to put all of those Facts in Evernote, and describe how I use that Fact and Where I get it from.

In EXCEL, I made a couple of Notes. Self, Records, System. Where did that fact come from. Very high level, but I did this to give me a clue as to the Order in which I want to work on those Facts. Some are easy, some, not so much. My Military FACTS are out of control.

Going forward, my workplan is to make those Private Facts public, as appropriate. Keeping in mind those two questions.

What do I need / want to see

What do I want YOU to see

I have not forgotten my prep work for the 1950 U.S. Federal Census project, as I will switch between the two projects from time to time, probably one day with one project the next on the other.

I probably will share some of this work in this blog, if there is any interest. But I want my file to be the way it should be. I have learned a lot of information since I started AND Family Tree Maker has many new features that make it easier to accomplish my goal.

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Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

FTM2019 and WikiTree

I have been a WikiTree user for a number of years, as I recall, from it's beginning. BUT I have not been doing much with it. 

After my experience with doing a Match with the FamilySearch website profiles, I have hint's from that website that I can see and use, as appropriate. With WikiTree there are NO Hints. BUT, it a source of documents / sources, that I might use in my own research. 

That is in addition to what documentation I might contributred. I also, as a Profile Manage, have a responsiblity, I think, to update those Profiles I manage. Also, those Profiles I don't manage, there may be documents I have not seen and/or used. 

What I created is a process in which I can SEE, in my Family Tree Maker File, that there is a WikiTree profile, for the FTM2019 Profile. This video explains that process.

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Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

User Question - Fact not listed

Here is a question from a Reader:

Trying to clean up unknown in "facts labels" and found an Indiv unknown fact & source s/be marraige shared fact but marriage fact not an option in fact change list for individuals.

That is because the Marriage Fact is a Shared Fact. ____________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

FTM2019 - Update Privatized Facts

In the previous blog post, I marked certain Facts as Private by default. Meaning the next time that Fact is used, it will be private. The one I selected in the previous video, the fact had not been used.

There is a couple of screens that appear, when that Fact is being used. This video will demonstrate that.

In addition, I will show what a "messy" Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) looks like when Alternate Facts are selected in the Facts Tab in the AMT.

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Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

FTM2019 - Just the Facts

As I am considering making my Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) Public, I want to evaluate what Facts in my database, do I want a visitor to the AMT to see. 

I will demonstrate the process that I am going through, making the changes, as to which Facts are Marked Private by default, and by checking the Properties of each Fact, which existing Fact will appear in the Updated AMT.

Keep in mind, that they always can be changed back globally, or individually.

 

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Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

Reader Question: Duplicate Facts

A Reader Question:

Is there a way to find duplicate facts on people without having to look at each individual person. As a example, I may have multiple Residence facts that occurred when I merged Census records at different times. I probably have multiple sources as well. If there was such a report, you could then go in to the specific person and delete the duplicates.

ANSWER: Short Answer is NO.

But, lets think about your example (Multiple Residence Facts):

I find many records that provide information for the Residence Fact. Mostly from Census Records, but City Directories, Newspaper Articles, Vital Records, Military Records provides us with information about where the person Resided at that specific time. That is NOT multiple residence Facts. They are Alternate Facts.

There are a couple of Census Records and Military Records in this list. I had to decide which is the Preferred Fact. I chose the 1940 Census Entry as preferred, because is got down to the City Level. I could have chosen the most recent entry, but that record provided the County Level.

I do know what you mean about seen a Preferred Fact and an Alternate Fact that have the SAME EXACT information, ALL fields. I suggest that you re-think just deleting the Duplicates. Consider the Merge Duplicate Fact feature. I have blogged about that before.

REASON: When you do a Web Merge, in FTM2019, you may not see all of the ALT Facts for a specific Fact, so you may end up with the Same Alt Fact. BUT, the Alt Fact you didn't see during the Web Merge will have a Citation and the one you did see, during the Web Merge has a Different Citation. Deleting that "duplicate" will also delete the Citation. Using the Merge Duplicate Fact feature, Right Clicking on the Fact Name, will merge the Facts and Citations, both of them (citations).

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Copyright © 2020 by Cousin Russ

Census Records - Extra People in Household

What do you do, when the Census Record has people listed, that may not be family?

This is a 1940 U.S. Federal Census Record, where Raymond Lane and Donald Dutton are both listed in the Household. Since this is a 1940 Census Record which indicates that they both are Hired Hands.

I have spend a couple of days thinking and seeing if it is important to capture this information. That is, add these two people to the database. So, I played around with this to see if there was any benefit.

When I enter a Census Record, I Copy what Ancestry provides in the Transcription and Paste it into the Residence Fact NOTES.

You will notice, that these two "extra" people are in Bold. That is the indication to me, that I have entered them into my database, as Unrelated People. The Data Error Report will show them with that they have No Spouse, No Children, No Parents. I can deal with that.

But, what about later, I find that person again, in another record. I wanted to be able to see, that in a Census Record, there were in a Census Record, but NOT related to the Head of Household. So, I created a Fact called "How Related", where I enter the Census Year, Head of Household, and what the relationship is. Here is what Donald looks like, with the Data Error Report and the How Related Facts appear.

He is unrelated, and will appear in the Data Error Report, but when I run that report, I filter OUT everyone who has a Data Error Report Fact. Meaning, I KNOW about that error.

Why the Extra Work?

I found this one person, Relation to Head of Household as Boarder. A throw-away, right ? Wrong.

As it turns out, the Head of Household would become his Mother In Law.

Here she is in the 1900, 1920, 1930, and 1940 Census (haven't gotten to the 1910 census yet)

1900 she is Head of household where I found my person as a boarder. 1920, 1930, and 1940, she is the Mother-in-Law to the Head of Household. (don't jump to conclusions please).

Those are the Residence facts as recorded, but look at the How Related Fact looks.

The 1940 Census record shows that she had moved into another Daughter's home. Because the 1940 has the reference to 1935, showing Same House, I can now pin point as to WHEN show moved from on daughter's house to another, and in a different state.

My records indicate that the "mother in law" was widowed about 1911. I have not yet found a reason why she might have moved back to Pennsylvania, only that the "son in law" and her daughter had 6 children in the 1920 Census and the second daughter, the one in Philadelphia, only had 1 daughter.

I have added this to my new Best Practices: Add seemingly Unrelated Individuals to the Database.

The secret to this is the Bolding of the Name, in the Residence Fact Note, when you Add that "Unrelated" person to the database.

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Copyright © 2019 by Cousin Russ