This page provides an index to the complete Help pages provided with the system. These serve to define the program, and include the design of some future features. You can also see these pages by clicking on links from various pages.
Introduction. This provides an overview of the site, its main features, and the concepts on which it is built. It also includes a brief “Guided tour”. If this is your first encounter with the site, then you should read this first.
This system is changing rapidly, and some
features are not yet implemented as intended.
See Current Status for a description
of the main outstanding tasks, and some of the more important “missing or
incorrect” details.
Frequently Asked Questions deals with questions that have been (or might be) asked.
Searching and Viewing documents. How to retrieve documents that have been stored on the site already. Also, how to link a stored document to an individual’s record.
Storing and linking documents.
Genealogy programs such as PAF, FamilyTreeMaker, and others, can export a GED (Genealogy Export Database) file. If you have stored a GED, then the system will analyse this and create entries in the Genealogy Database (GDB) for each individual, using all of the information that you already have. You can add information about further individuals on line (indeed, you can build your entire tree on line – you don’t HAVE to start with a GED!), and you can edit the information that you’ve already stored. You can also link individuals to other individuals, perhaps stored by you, perhaps others, attach documents to the individual records, and compare your records with others. In the future you will also be able to synchronize your records with others’ records, and merge them if they are identical.
Searching the GDB describes how the search works.
Viewing and editing individual details. This describes the individual page, first as it appears when you view a record created by somebody else, and then with the extra editing controls that appear on your own pages, allowing you to edit them and link them to documents, and other GDB records.
Comparing records. If you create a “Potential Duplicate” link, then you can compare the two GDB records, as described here.
Remaining features are currently under
development, and are not available in the prototype yet. Regard the following pages as the design
specification:-
If the first record of the comparison is yours, then this comparison page will have a “Synchronize” button, that will synchronize this and related records
Synchronizing records. Clicking the “Synchronize” button will import into your record any information from the second record that you do not already have, and highlight any situations where your information is different to that from the second record. You may choose to accept one or more of the different facts from the other record. Synchronize will also establish “xxx Duplicate” links with parent, spouse, and children’s records (“xxx” is “Potential”, “Part” or “Full” depending on the amount of synchronization that has occurred), and, if asked, continue the synchronization process with these records until all related records have been processed.
Merging records. When all related records have been completely synchronized, then if you and the owner of these records agree to do so, you can merge the records so that there is one record, not two, for each duplicate individual.
These are described in a separate document, available only to system administrators.