Following is a draft of a suggested enhancement dealing with Web Links
My intention is to send this to the Development Group in the next few days, but I thought maybe some additional ideas could be obtained by posting it here first
The draft I developed contains a JPEG embedded in a MS Word document ------- Apparently that is a no no. So I will try to send the JPEG separately as an attachment. Hopefully that will work
SUGGESTIONS FOR ENHANCING FTM 2012 WEB LINKS
The capability to create “Web Links for People” and “Web Links for Source Citations” was recently implemented in FTM 2012. This capability is a welcome addition to the system
I [and I am sure other users] are taking advantage of this new capability.
From my standpoint I am beginning to see where some enhancements to the existing capability would be useful/helpful
I have outlined some of these suggested enhancements below. If a particular suggested enhancement already exists in the system then please just disregard the suggestion. However, I have been unable to find any mechanisms in FTM 2012 that will achieve any of the suggestions. NOTE BENE: Recognizing that some users want things done “This Way” and other users want them done “That Way” it is important that the implementation of the suggestions be flexible, not ”hard wired”, and include as many options as can be devised
Suggestion 1
I have begun to add Web Links for People in my data base and so far I have added quite a few. My problem is I have not found a way in FTM 2012 to keep track of the Web Links for People I have added. So I developed a BASIC report in MS Word that allows me to know the Web Links for People I have created [I have over 63,000 people in my data base and find it necessary to keep track of the Web Links I have created – in fact when I first started this I added a few Web Links before I started keeping track of them and quickly realized I needed this mechanism]
Following is a shortened version of the Basic Report I devised to keep track of the Web Links for People.:
WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE REPORT
ID 63646
Biography of Robert de Beaumont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Beaumont,_2nd_Earl_of...
ID 61536
Biography of William Fitz Robert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fitz_Robert,_2nd_Earl_o...
ID 62610
Biography of Richard de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_3rd_Earl_of_H...
ID 64189
Biography of Gilbert de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Clare,_4th_Earl_of_H...
Report Key:
Line 1: FTM 2012 Individual Reference Number of Person
Line 2: FTM 2012 Link Name
Line 3: Web Address
As can be seen the above report is quite rudimentary [and only includes Web Links for People and does not include *Web Links for Source Citations] and could be made more useful through the use of filters that now exist in the Custom Report of FTM 2012. And this is what I am recommending. That way, for example, a user could obtain a listing of all ancestors of person X for which Web Links have been created and/or they could obtain a listing of all ancestors that shows those with Web Links and shows those without Web Links. The FULL capability of the Custom Report filter should be taken advantage of in this suggestion.
*The Web Links for Source Citations as presently implemented appears to work satisfactorily when generating the Source Usage, Source Bibliography, Documented Facts, and Undocumented Facts Reports and no enhancements are suggested here. However, Web Links for Source Citations as presently implemented could be improved in other areas. For example, the report suggested above for Web Links for People should also be implemented for Web Links for Source Citations. And some of the suggestions dealing with reports and the Web Icon symbol discussed in suggestion 2 should be considered/implemented
Suggestion 2
As presently devised the Web Links for People Icon is somewhat “hidden” For example a user must be in the “People/Family Window” in order to see the Web Links for People Icon. This could be improved by also putting the Web Links for People Icon Symbol on the Pedigree View in the middle top panel of the People/Family Window, along side the “shaky” green leafs. Other ways to make the Icons more visible [and usable] is to include them [the Icon itself] on some of the charts/reports being generated by the system, e.g., the Family Group Sheet, the Family View Report, the Pedigree Chart, the Index of Individual Reports, some of the error reports, etc, etc.
Suggestion 3
The Web Link Information could also be helpful as a source of “Proof” of data/information presently shown on some of the charts/reports being generated by FTM 2012
An example of this is shown below.
The report is a small example of a Line of Descendancy Report. The top portion of the report consists of a Line of Descendancy Chart and the bottom portion of the report consists of a list of Biography “Web Links for People.” Note a Web Link [when available] is provided for each person shown on the Chart.
Clicking on a particular Web Link will take the user back to the Web Site where a Biography of that person can be found. Clicking one by one on each of the Web Links and reviewing the Biography will allow the user to ascertain the accuracy of the information shown in the Chart and most importantly will allow the user to “prove to themselves” whether the linkage between and among the people shown is correct. Note in this example though in three cases Web Links are not available there is sufficient information on the spouse’s biography to determine the accuracy of the missing spouses data and the linkage
In a sense the report is similar to the Line of Descendancy Report presently available in FTM 2012 with sources listed at the bottom of the report. However this suggested report is much more than that in that the user can quickly determine [prove] whether the data is accurate and/or the linkage is accurate.
This type of report is especially useful when used with Wikipedia Web Site Biographical data [which this example Line of Descendancy Report uses]. Wikipedia Biographical Data [when available] is very useful in Genealogy due to its high accuracy. It is continually being updated and new information is continually forthcoming. In this case/example all a user has to do is click on a Web Link where they will be immediately taken to the Biographical Data and they can easily determine whether they need to update their data base with any new information.
Hence, in general “proof” reports, of which the report shown below is just an example, would be a significant enhancement to FTM 2012 and it appears that they would be somewhat easy to develop and implement
Note: This space [from here to the end of this page] is purposely left blank in order to have the entire example shown on one [the next] page
Another Note:
Evidently the Family Tree Maker Forum feed back mechanism won’t accept a JPEG embedded within a MS Word Document
Hence, I will send the chart discussed below as a separate attachment. See Note below where it fits in
The Chart fits in about here just above the “BIOGRAPHY WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE”
BIOGRAPHY WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE
ID 63646
Biography of Robert de Beaumont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Beaumont,_2nd_Earl_of...
ID 61542
Biography of Amica de Gael
Web Link Not Available
ID 61540
Biography of Hawise de Beaumont
Web Link Not Available
ID 61536
Biography of William Fitz Robert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fitz_Robert,_2nd_Earl_o...
ID 62614
Biography of Amice Fitz William
Web Link Not Available
ID 62610
Biography of Richard de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_3rd_Earl_of_H...
ID 64189
Biography of Gilbert de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Clare,_4th_Earl_of_H...
There are probably many more enhancements dealing with Web Links that could and should be developed.
It is suggested that the Development Group “brainstorm” other potentialities and it might be advantageous to make contact with the user community and solicit their ideas
My intention is to send this to the Development Group in the next few days, but I thought maybe some additional ideas could be obtained by posting it here first
The draft I developed contains a JPEG embedded in a MS Word document ------- Apparently that is a no no. So I will try to send the JPEG separately as an attachment. Hopefully that will work
SUGGESTIONS FOR ENHANCING FTM 2012 WEB LINKS
The capability to create “Web Links for People” and “Web Links for Source Citations” was recently implemented in FTM 2012. This capability is a welcome addition to the system
I [and I am sure other users] are taking advantage of this new capability.
From my standpoint I am beginning to see where some enhancements to the existing capability would be useful/helpful
I have outlined some of these suggested enhancements below. If a particular suggested enhancement already exists in the system then please just disregard the suggestion. However, I have been unable to find any mechanisms in FTM 2012 that will achieve any of the suggestions. NOTE BENE: Recognizing that some users want things done “This Way” and other users want them done “That Way” it is important that the implementation of the suggestions be flexible, not ”hard wired”, and include as many options as can be devised
Suggestion 1
I have begun to add Web Links for People in my data base and so far I have added quite a few. My problem is I have not found a way in FTM 2012 to keep track of the Web Links for People I have added. So I developed a BASIC report in MS Word that allows me to know the Web Links for People I have created [I have over 63,000 people in my data base and find it necessary to keep track of the Web Links I have created – in fact when I first started this I added a few Web Links before I started keeping track of them and quickly realized I needed this mechanism]
Following is a shortened version of the Basic Report I devised to keep track of the Web Links for People.:
WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE REPORT
ID 63646
Biography of Robert de Beaumont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Beaumont,_2nd_Earl_of...
ID 61536
Biography of William Fitz Robert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fitz_Robert,_2nd_Earl_o...
ID 62610
Biography of Richard de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_3rd_Earl_of_H...
ID 64189
Biography of Gilbert de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Clare,_4th_Earl_of_H...
Report Key:
Line 1: FTM 2012 Individual Reference Number of Person
Line 2: FTM 2012 Link Name
Line 3: Web Address
As can be seen the above report is quite rudimentary [and only includes Web Links for People and does not include *Web Links for Source Citations] and could be made more useful through the use of filters that now exist in the Custom Report of FTM 2012. And this is what I am recommending. That way, for example, a user could obtain a listing of all ancestors of person X for which Web Links have been created and/or they could obtain a listing of all ancestors that shows those with Web Links and shows those without Web Links. The FULL capability of the Custom Report filter should be taken advantage of in this suggestion.
*The Web Links for Source Citations as presently implemented appears to work satisfactorily when generating the Source Usage, Source Bibliography, Documented Facts, and Undocumented Facts Reports and no enhancements are suggested here. However, Web Links for Source Citations as presently implemented could be improved in other areas. For example, the report suggested above for Web Links for People should also be implemented for Web Links for Source Citations. And some of the suggestions dealing with reports and the Web Icon symbol discussed in suggestion 2 should be considered/implemented
Suggestion 2
As presently devised the Web Links for People Icon is somewhat “hidden” For example a user must be in the “People/Family Window” in order to see the Web Links for People Icon. This could be improved by also putting the Web Links for People Icon Symbol on the Pedigree View in the middle top panel of the People/Family Window, along side the “shaky” green leafs. Other ways to make the Icons more visible [and usable] is to include them [the Icon itself] on some of the charts/reports being generated by the system, e.g., the Family Group Sheet, the Family View Report, the Pedigree Chart, the Index of Individual Reports, some of the error reports, etc, etc.
Suggestion 3
The Web Link Information could also be helpful as a source of “Proof” of data/information presently shown on some of the charts/reports being generated by FTM 2012
An example of this is shown below.
The report is a small example of a Line of Descendancy Report. The top portion of the report consists of a Line of Descendancy Chart and the bottom portion of the report consists of a list of Biography “Web Links for People.” Note a Web Link [when available] is provided for each person shown on the Chart.
Clicking on a particular Web Link will take the user back to the Web Site where a Biography of that person can be found. Clicking one by one on each of the Web Links and reviewing the Biography will allow the user to ascertain the accuracy of the information shown in the Chart and most importantly will allow the user to “prove to themselves” whether the linkage between and among the people shown is correct. Note in this example though in three cases Web Links are not available there is sufficient information on the spouse’s biography to determine the accuracy of the missing spouses data and the linkage
In a sense the report is similar to the Line of Descendancy Report presently available in FTM 2012 with sources listed at the bottom of the report. However this suggested report is much more than that in that the user can quickly determine [prove] whether the data is accurate and/or the linkage is accurate.
This type of report is especially useful when used with Wikipedia Web Site Biographical data [which this example Line of Descendancy Report uses]. Wikipedia Biographical Data [when available] is very useful in Genealogy due to its high accuracy. It is continually being updated and new information is continually forthcoming. In this case/example all a user has to do is click on a Web Link where they will be immediately taken to the Biographical Data and they can easily determine whether they need to update their data base with any new information.
Hence, in general “proof” reports, of which the report shown below is just an example, would be a significant enhancement to FTM 2012 and it appears that they would be somewhat easy to develop and implement
Note: This space [from here to the end of this page] is purposely left blank in order to have the entire example shown on one [the next] page
Another Note:
Evidently the Family Tree Maker Forum feed back mechanism won’t accept a JPEG embedded within a MS Word Document
Hence, I will send the chart discussed below as a separate attachment. See Note below where it fits in
The Chart fits in about here just above the “BIOGRAPHY WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE”
BIOGRAPHY WEB LINKS FOR PEOPLE
ID 63646
Biography of Robert de Beaumont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Beaumont,_2nd_Earl_of...
ID 61542
Biography of Amica de Gael
Web Link Not Available
ID 61540
Biography of Hawise de Beaumont
Web Link Not Available
ID 61536
Biography of William Fitz Robert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fitz_Robert,_2nd_Earl_o...
ID 62614
Biography of Amice Fitz William
Web Link Not Available
ID 62610
Biography of Richard de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_3rd_Earl_of_H...
ID 64189
Biography of Gilbert de Clare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Clare,_4th_Earl_of_H...
There are probably many more enhancements dealing with Web Links that could and should be developed.
It is suggested that the Development Group “brainstorm” other potentialities and it might be advantageous to make contact with the user community and solicit their ideas