Tips and Hints Latest Topics

Accents - Confusion

Thu, 02 Jul 2020 01:32:57 +0000

Help! I haven't used the program in a while and I have forgot how to use accents. Example: I have "cleaned" and "uncleaned" to help me determine who are new people in my project who I need to confirm and "clean up." But I have forgotten how to change the value from N to Y on that person so that the color changes. Can you help!

Anita Tally

Accept the defaults

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 18:22:04 +0000

When presented with options, don't be afraid to accept the defaults, as they will usually produce good results. When you are more comfortable, you can experiment with the effect of those options.

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This item was originally published as Tips and Hints #5 and can also be found in TMG by accessing the Menu Item Help > Tips and Hints.

Access a chart printing service from inside TMG

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:18:14 +0000

There is a link to a chart printing service right on the Reports menu. You can design a large chart in TMG or FTST and use this convenient feature to upload it directly to the chart printing service, Chartform Delivery. Family tree charts are very popular at family reunions, they make great gifts, and the printing process couldn't be easier than with this built-in feature.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 26 June 2004.

Access the history of viewed people

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:23:28 +0000

Access the history of viewed people

Applies to: All products

Tip: If you wish to return to one of several last viewed individuals, access the View menu. You will find a list of the most-recently viewed people at the bottom of the menu.

The history is kept up-to-date if you delete, rename, renumber or merge people.

Add buttons to the Standard toolbar

Sun, 26 Sep 2004 01:51:08 +0000

Well... you can't add a button to the Standard toolbar...

But you can...

Recreate the Standard toolbar using the Custom toolbar.
Add one or more additional buttons to the Custom toolbar.
And replace the Standard toolbar with the Custom toolbar in your layout.

Add children efficiently

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:19:56 +0000

Add children efficiently

Applies to: TMG

Tip: The easiest way to add two or more children is to use the add sibling commands Add > Brother, Add > Sister, or Add > Sibling.

Add the first child by navigating to one of the parents and choosing Add > Son, Add > Daughter, or Add > Child. (Use Add > Child if you don't know the gender of the child)

For subsequent children, you don't have to navigate back to one of the parents: use Add > Brother, Add > Sister, or Add > Sibling instead. (Use Add > Sibling if you don't know the gender of the sibling)

In this case, TMG considers the new person a full sibling, i.e., they have the same mother and father. If that is not the case, don't use this method.

Back up the smart way

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:15:58 +0000

Back up the smart way

Applies to: All products

Tip: You should back up your project(s) on a regular basis. But that's only part of the story.

Rotate through several backups. If you discover a problem or decide to reverse changes, it is sometimes very important to be able to go back more than one backup.
Don't store your critical backup on the same HARD DRIVE as your project because if your hard drive crashes, then you may lose both.
Don't store your critical backup on the same COMPUTER as your project because computers are sometimes stolen or damaged.
Don't store your critical backup in the same ROOM as your project because fires, floods, or other disasters could destroy both.
Don't even store your critical backup in the same BUILDING as your project for the same reason.

A prudent strategy may be to:

backup to your hard drive every day, rotating through at least 3 or 4 file names.
backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every week and store it in a storage room away from the computer
backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every month and give it to a neighbor or store it in a safety deposit box.

Of course, the appropriate backup strategy for you will depend on how much you use the program. When designing that strategy, hope for the best but plan for the worst! Nothing ruins your day faster than losing a decade of research.

Backup with a custom toolbar button

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:27:10 +0000

You can perform a backup with just ONE click. You can add a button to the custom toolbar which performs a backup without stopping to ask you any questions. On the Custom Toolbar Manager (View > Toolbars > Customize), go to the end of the right-hand list and find "Run a backup of a specific name." Highlight it and click on ", the custom toolbar button will be created. Now you can back up with one click!

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 17 May 2004.

Backup with fewer clicks

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:26:03 +0000

You can perform a backup with just two clicks in the Backup Wizard. From Step 1, click on Next (the backup type that you used last time is already highlighted). On Step 2, click on and you're done! That is, you don't have to navigate through all of the steps of the wizard in order to start the backup. Note that the backup file destination is determined by an option in Preferences > Program Options > Advanced. Set that option to your liking so that you don't have to do so for each backup.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 17 May 2004.

Be consistent in data entry

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:18:34 +0000

Be consistent in data entry

Applies to: TMG

Tip: In order to obtain the best results from TMG (or any program), you should be consistent in how you enter your data. By being consistent, you can more easily generate reports based on the information you have entered since similar data will be entered in the same way and in the same fields. Before you enter your data, consider how you want certain data to appear in your data set. For example, you may want to spell out all state entries, or you may want to place the modifier "County" or its abbreviation "Co." with the County name in the County field. There are many other items to be considered, some about which you may feel strongly and some about which you really don't care. But if you decide before you do a lot of work, then things will be easier later. Of course, if you have just imported (or are about to) data from another program, then you will also want to have the data-entry standards defined before you do your clean-up in TMG.

Change the Focus to another person

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 19:08:25 +0000

Double-click on any colorized name to change the focus of the screen to that person.

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This item was originally published as Tips and Hints #6 and can also be found in TMG by accessing the Menu Item Help > Tips and Hints.

Choose the best Picklist

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:36:13 +0000

There are two versions of the Picklist. The Simple Picklist is the default and will come up when you click on the binoculars in the main toolbar (or press F2). It provides a quick-and-dirty alphabetical list of everyone in the project. But there is another choice. The Expanded Picklist offers even more information, including an "Event Mode" with which you can view a miniature version of the Person View for each person as you move within the list. The Expanded Picklist also has the distinct advantage of supporting the Accent feature. Because of its higher workload, the Expanded Picklist can be slower and is not recommended for users with very old computers or extremely large projects. To choose between the Simple and Expanded Picklists, access File > Preferences > Program Options > Lists.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 3 February 2004.

Color, Color everywhere

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 16:00:29 +0000

If your eyes get tired of the same old color scheme, you can easily change the colors in TMG.

One way is to go to Control Panel>Display and change the colors there. The only problem with this is your new TMG colors become your default for every program you use.

The second way is within TMG. First you need to go to PREFERENCES>COLORS and tell TMG where you want the color to come from. If you want to use the first method, then you select Windows Default. If you want a more colorful TMG, you will need to select Customize each window. Now the fun can begin.

In each Window in TMG, you can double click on the bottom right hand corner, and select a color for that window. You can even set custom window colors.

If you change from one layout to another your colors are remembered.

Now you can change the color of the names. Go to PREFERENCE>CURRENT PROJECT>COLORS, and you can change the color of the names as they show in TMG.

One thing I like to do is pick a soft color for my background window color in all programs in Control Panel>Display. I use a light purple, or light pink that is almost a white. Then I set my colors for my background color for my names to the same color. That way my screen is all one shade. If you like the witnesses and names to show up different from other tags, you won't want to do this. I prefer it to look like a piece of paper with information on it, so I like the colors to all be the same on the Person View.

This sounds complicated, but it isn't, and it's just one more way to customize your TMG to make it most comfortable for you to use. So if you like red text on a bright yellow background, now you can have it.

Combine wall charts

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:49:24 +0000

To combine wall charts, just generate a chart and save it as a VC2 file. Then generate a second chart to the screen. While that chart is open, go to File > Open and select the first chart. Now that they are both open, go to the Window menu and choose Tile in order to see both windows at the same time. Now you can simply select and drag one chart (or pieces of it) from one window to the other. Hold down the Ctrl key to copy the chart elements instead of moving them.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 22 December 2003.

Consulting on-line Help

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 17:55:54 +0000

Don't forget to consult on-line Help in order to learn about a feature.

To get help, press the key, click on the Help button, or access the Help menu.

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This item was originally published as Tips and Hints #2 and can also be found in TMG by accessing the Menu Item Help > Tips and Hints.

Control the Narrative Preview

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:14:28 +0000

You can control the effect of the "Individual Narrative Preview" button on the Reporting toolbar. This button executes a specific report definition. Access the Report menu, choose Individual Narrative, and then select "Individual Narrative Preview" from the list of configuration names. If you make any option changes now and click on Save (or Print and Save), then those customizations will apply when you next click on the toolbar button. There are similar matching report definitions for the two other "preview" buttons on the Reporting toolbar.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 26 June 2004.

Customize the "Other info" window

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:31:33 +0000

You can change the order of the items in the "Other info" window (in the top-right of the Person View). Right click on that small window and choose "Customize 'Other info' box...". Then highlight an item in the list and choose or .

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 17 May 2004.

Customize the backup process

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:21:36 +0000

You can create a backup configuration that specifies which files you want to include (data, layouts, toolbars, color schemes, etc.)? You can select one of the pre-configured backup types, of course, but you can also design your own. Give the new backup configuration a new name on Step 1 of the Backup Wizard. Thereafter, you can run it again by selecting it by name. You might even want to design more than one custom backup configuration for different purposes (e.g., archiving, transferring data to a laptop, etc.)

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 17 May 2004.

Distinguish between the source of the date and that of the place

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:37:29 +0000

You can distinguish between the source of the date and the source of the place. The surety fields in TMG provide you a way to specify which elements of the event came from which source(s). You can independently cite the source(s) for the identity of the two principals, the date, place, and memo (i.e., "1 2 D P M"). In this way, you can also document that the date is more reliable than the place, for instance. Among other uses of the surety fields, you can specify when generating a report that it should include only data which meets a certain threshold of reliability. So reports that are intended for your own use at the library/courthouse might include all of the speculative evidence while reports that are intended for public view (e-mail, published articles, web pages) can include only the most reliable data.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 3 February 2004.

Double-click to access the Exhibit Log

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:33:53 +0000

You can open the Exhibit Log by double-clicking on the Image Window. This is a handy shortcut if you don't use the standard toolbar.

This tip was originally published in the Wholly Genes Newsletter, 17 May 2004.

Enable all of the toolbars

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:36:26 +0000

Enable all of the toolbars

Applies to: TMG

Tip: By default, three toolbars are enabled. There are several other toolbars that are not enabled by default, however. Access the View menu and choose Toolbars to select one of the disabled toolbars.

Export a Slideshow

Tue, 16 Nov 2004 19:29:22 +0000

Did You Know.....

You can export a slideshow and send it to a friend, who can play it with a slideshow viewer that is also provided.

This item was originally published as Tips and Hints #71 and can also be found in TMG by accessing the Menu Item Help > Tips and Hints.

Father - OTH tag

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:48:58 +0000

What does this tag mean? When would I use it?

Free Viewer

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:01:59 +0000

I am reaching an age where I'm concerned with leaving the results of 30 years of family research to my children. I have purchased a 1TB portable harddrive for each child to contain these results. In one of the folders on the drive, I'd like to have the TMG data-base for some 5000 ancestors and relatives. I will recommend each child buy a copy of TMG to have full control of the data, but as a minimum I'd to include a viewer for the data so the children can at least do searches for their ancestors. Is there a free viewer for the TMG data-base? Thanks --Mike

how to omit names of female members (spouses) in TMGv7 ?

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:14:34 +0000

Hello, I'm quite new in this area and i have a question. I`m building a family tree for a friend and he wants to omit names of female spouses, which seems impossible to me. I have tried but it keeps returning me to fill out the field containing name of the wife. I`m using TMG v7. Please, give me some advice.