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Excalibur

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Everything posted by Excalibur

  1. Color Tags?

    If only... <sigh> I'm still hoping, too. Colorizing at the MTTL level would go a long way toward making me happier. Being able to indicate say green for 1850 census, yellow for 1860 census, brown for 1870 census, etc. or to say that all occupation tags are peach or to say that all death/burial tags are black background with white text would all be tremendously helpful. The visual picture might not be appealing to some folks, but it sure could say those "thousand words" we always hear about.
  2. VCF chart as a Table of Contents;

    Virginia, this is simply great stuff! I particularly like the notebook view. It shows the charts "in action" and perfectly illustrates how they can be used. Well done!
  3. Exihibit file naming

    Well, DUH! Just pick one? Teresa, that's obviously much too easy for me. I'da nevah thunk of just pickin' one. Sometimes the simplest of things escapes me. In all seriousness, I had thought about what to do with multiple people and decided it fell into the "Very Hard to Impossible" category. So I pretended it didn't exist. I've been doing this for years, so the little tidbits posted on here aren't just for newcomers. A couple of words from you and you provided a simple solution for what I made into a complex problem.
  4. Paul, Are you able to delete the boxes and enter the correct characters? If you are able to do that, the only thing I can come up with is that it almost has to be coming from something external to TMG - word processor generating spurious characters.
  5. World War I Draft Cards

    Teresa's on a roll! She plays a big role around here and, because of her role, the Roles just keep rolling along... rollin', rollin', rollin'... I think I would shrivel up and die if I didn't have my Roles. Teresa, doancha just love the recently implemented Reminder section? I have been able to pretty much do away with Post-It notes, duplicate Post-It notes I'd make when I couldn't find the first ones, Post-It notes to remind me of where the Post-It notes were, and the bazillion little files scattered everywhere that tell me what goes where! It's amazing how much that little Reminder really meant as an upgrade for the Tag Type Definitions.
  6. When was TMG first developed?

    Hi Teresa, My um-m-m-m-m cable bill includes cable TV and internet. I'm getting ready to knock another $14.00 off the bill, but it will still exceed $100.00 per month. How many channels do I get? Hm-m-m-m, 60 or 70 I would guess. How many do I watch? Maybe, 4 or 5 ... especially the Discovery channel (my fav I guess). I like your "Ancestor Doll" idea! I'm not sure how I would use the web site, but I like the concept. In addition to your comment about the cost of another unnamed product, there is one other huge thing that TMG has going for it. People! Yep, people. I cut my genealogy software teeth on the other unnamed product. On their support boards, everybody seemed distant, removed... like I (or anyone) was just another ho-hum number or the duty dummy. No so with TMG. Over the last few years I feel like I know or live down the street from some of you. I've written personal emails to some of you and you to me. I've disagreed with some of you, only to come back and agree with you about something else 10 minutes later. There is never any residue hostility from a disagreement. My problems have been self-generated (99% of them), yet I've always gotten help. When we laugh at our mistakes, we all laugh. We are not made to feel like some kind of idiot -- well, except for me, because being an idiot is a sign that I have been recognized for something in my life. Sheeeeeeeeeeesh, I could ramble on and on. Bob needs to get this stuff for his advertising.
  7. When was TMG first developed?

    While my math skills might not be as good as they once were, I find it refreshing to note that if a person jumped on the TMG bandwagon 15 years ago they would have paid for a grand total of five (5) releases, plus the original purchase price! HOLY MOLY! AND, after the initial purchase, each subsequent upgrade release has been for the insane price of $29.95! Double HOLY MOLY! That's a grand total of $248.75 I would have spent for TMG since July 1993. I spend nearly that much for cable bills in two (2) months. How does Bob and crew continue to do it? Check around on some of the other genealogy software out there and find out what the cost would have been over the same period of time. Lesser products, more costly products, and nowhere near the support that TMG offers. It is no wonder that Bob has, what might be, the most loyal following of users of any software product out there. All that AND there is never a bug or problem or new thought or whatever that Bob and crew does not listen too or try to fix. Hate to insert these ramblings with this thread, but it just seems like a good place to let these thoughts escape from my old head.
  8. Counties

    In my book, Teresa has it right on. I work with a lot of Eastern Shore material and people and it can become daunting to keep track of some of the changes. BUT... if you put a person in Wicomico County when Wicomico County didn't exist would be wrong and confusing. On the same token, if you put a person in Somerset County when it was actually Wicomico County it would be wrong and confusing. By using Somerset County as the birth place and Wicomico County as the place of death, with no apparent movement of the individual, you are showing the correct county, the correct information, and the fact that the county lines did change.
  9. Well said, elevator. Yes, the subject of visual appeal has come up several times, but nobody seems to be able to define what they want to see. I've asked for examples, either here or on the TMG list, but have not gotten an answer. IMHO, just because it doesn't look or maybe feel like a MS product doesn't make it a lesser product. The TMG interface is so customizable that many of us are running something totally different than the next person, than the next person, etc. -- as evidenced by another thread, showing pages of customizations, on this site. BoricuaSeeker, please take some time with TMG. Poke around, play with it, input some data that seems to make sense to you, get a feel for it. Then run some filters, make some reports, feel its raw power all at your fingertips. I think you will enjoy what you find.
  10. The little Person Icon

    Ah-h-h-h-h, 'I see' said the blind man to his deaf and dumb daughter as he picked up his hammer and saw.
  11. The little Person Icon

    Well, color me confused. Are you talking about the same thing that I'm talking about that you were talking about that I thought I was talking about or are you talking about something different from what I thought I was talking about when I was talking about it?
  12. Member List

    After seeing a couple of Forum attacks over the past several days and seeing a couple of user names from early this morning that looked suspicious (bottom of the page), I thought I'd take a look at the Members list. Ugh! Is there a way that someone could cleanup, prune, delete some of the fictitious names from the Members list? Some of them are nothing more than gobbledygook, some are very obvious (especially some more recent ones), and some, I'm sure, are considered offensive. I know house cleaning of this nature is probably pretty low on the priority list, but it will just continue to get more out of hand as time goes on. IF a cleanup was going to be done, maybe a post on the Forum that said something simple so that people would know what to do if there name got accidentally deleted. "We are in the midst of housecleaning the Members list. If your name is accidentally removed in the process, please sign up again. We regret any inconvenience this may cause, but it is a necessity."
  13. Member List

    Bob, The Forum spam and abuse has really been curtailed over the last several days. I can see you upgraded the software (love this new posting screen), but don't know if anything else was done. I just wanted you (and any others) to know that I appreciate whatever action was taken. It is definitely noticeable! Maybe the abusers will find somewhere else to play for awhile. Thank you
  14. The little Person Icon

    Um-m-m-m-m, under personal info, pick your sex. Do you want male, female, or unknown? Hm-m-m-m-m, does that sound right? At any rate, the selection box shows blue for male, pink for female, and gray for whatever is left.
  15. The little Person Icon

    Find somewhere to click on GenerationGoneBy, your profile will come up. Look at Personal Info and select Female.
  16. Member List

    Thank you, Bob. I appreciate you taking time to reply. I'm sure the new attachment policy is a result of this mornings spam posting in The Master Genealogist v7 Forum. I believe having to be a Senior Member to post an attachment is a small price to pay to rid the Forum of picture postings. Plus, if a valid Member (not yet a Senior Member) had an attachment that needed posting they could talk with an Administrator or Moderator and it would get posted. In my humble opinion, a good move. I am aware that spam is not going to go away. On the other hand, an automatic subscription validation does not eliminate all spam bots. The spam bots of today are very sophisticated and, as I understand it, some are able to get through an automatic validation. If a human did the validation, it could very well eliminate more spam bots and many other undesirables. I do not believe that asking a prospective member to wait six, 12, or 24 hours for validation is an undue hardship on the prospective member. Once that human verification element was in place, spammers might not be so eager to register and post. I realize that your staff is small and that it would take some quantity of time to accomplish this on a daily basis, but it might be worth the effort. I definitely would not want to see all posts approved. Ugh! What about the Members list? When an IP/domain/User has been banned, can't that persons name be removed from the Members list? What will ever happen to those names on the Members list that have never validated, dating back as far as 2004? What will ever happen to those names on the Members list that are offensive or bogus? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of those that could be removed. What can I do to help?
  17. Member List

    While I understand the need for it, it is somewhat ironic that a new member can immediately post about buying Viagra, while an established member must wait and have their post approved before it will appear in this part of the Forum.
  18. Member List

    Now I wonder how do user names like blogforlove, CHEAPVIAGRA-FREEPORN, and CHEAPSOFTDOWNLOAD become validated Members? Yes, three of our newest Members, registered within the past 24 hours, and one of them was so nice as to leave a wonderful post on the TMG7 page.
  19. My new favorite layout

    I can't resist the opportunity to point out the ease of making new tags and roles. I completely agree with Teresa. Heck, there is always something available to Copy, Rename, and Edit to say exactly whatever is needed. There is always that possibility that I will only use the tag/role one time, but the tag/role is there if I need it and the possibility that I will use it once seems to be remote at this point. I'm not saying that everyone needs to make a gazillion tags and a bazillion roles -- just don't be timid about experimenting with what you can do with tags and roles.
  20. Good Job!

    A tip of the hat to whomever it was that cleaned up the V7 group this evening. Once again, it's nice to know that we users have someone alert, paying attention, and able to take corrective action when problems slither in. Thank you!
  21. GUI

    Most excellent advice, John!
  22. GUI

    Brand recognition! The Mistral (if that is the actual font) font is used in the logo graphic, not as a font used for display of the web site. Often, the logo is as important to a company as the company name is. To change the Wholly Genes logo at this point would be like changing the Coca-Cola logo with its red can to Turnip-Cola with a green can. It could be done, but might not be advisable when brand recognition is considered. The merits of TMG data tracking are quite likely tied directly to the interface and layout. Any user can change the TMG layout in so many ways that is truly a users paradise. More button, less buttons; more information, less information; more toolbars, less toolbars; more layouts, less layouts; increase size, decrease size; display this, don't display that -- it's all there or not, depending on how the user wants to see it. The interface is "clunky and needlessly busy" -- how so? Change it to a minimalist display or whatever you like and "clunky and needlessly busy" go away. I don't know how much simpler that could be. I have no comment on FTM 2008 or any FTM products. Maybe, just maybe greater sales are tied to the tremendous flexibility of TMG and its accompanying interface.
  23. GUI

    Virginia, I have wondered the exact same thing since my post yesterday. I could be wrong, but something just doesn't feel right about all this. The "font-family" for this page/forum is set to: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Trebuchet MS, Sans-Serif, Georgia, Courier, Times New Roman, Serif. "Mistral" is a fancy (quasi-script/quasi-italic) Sans-Serif font. Unless I am mistaken (which I could be), snowdrift would have to be running a computer without Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, and Trebuchet MS, then have his own system defaulted to Mistral as the main Sans-Serif substitute in order for it to be displayed. That much really makes me wonder, but the Web 2.0 design for TMG has me completely baffled as well. Like you, the question is, "Are we getting our leg pulled?"
  24. GUI

    After looking at the web site link provided by retsof, I'm not sure what to make of the comments by snowdrift. It appears to me that Web 2.0 is for designing web pages and has nothing to do with redesigning the look and feel of an actual program. TMG is not web based, it is a program that runs on your computer. This is like saying horseshoes should be designed like automobile engines -- the two just don't go together.
  25. GUI

    Hm-m-m-m, snowdrift, I notice that you joined the Forum today and this is your first post, so I'm not at all sure what background you have with TMG. You say that you would like a Web 2.0 style. Can you give an example or examples of what you would like to see? At this point in time, would a new "look" (accompanied by a new "feel" and adjustment period) be beneficial to TMG users? I'm thankful that I've got the most robust genealogy program on the market and I'm not at all sure that changing its "look" right now would be of any benefit. I would imagine that at some time in the future (speaking in years) the "look" will probably change, but I would not put that on the table right now as something needing attention. I'm not at all sure what you are saying about the "Mistral" font. My display is in the standard "font-family" of "Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Trebuchet MS, Sans-Serif, Georgia, Courier, Times New Roman, Serif;" and it looks just fine to me.
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