AddingCustom Tags Types

by Janis Parkison RodriguezArlington RUG Meeting

13 August 2011

Chapter 14 of Terry Reigel’s A Primer for The Master Genealogistand beyond …

Why Create a Custom Tag Type?

Easy way to record frequent events not accommodated easily with a standard Tag Type

Easy* to find Custom Tags on Person View, in FGS or Individual Detail reports. Easy to see who has, or is missing, a certain tag

Allows certain events to be easily excluded from reports when you wish

Dealing with Names or Relationships in a way not accomplished with the standard Tag Type

Some Situations where Custom Tag Types are

Useful:

Alternate Data Candidates

Census Years

Restricted Data

“Not Married” Couples

Standardized Names

Alternate Data Tags Record conflicting data from different sources in “-alt” versions of Common Tag Types

Birth-alt

Marriage-alt

Death-altDraft sentence to dovetail with the standard sentence

Candidate Tags Record data of less certainty which still requires more research

Birth-canMarriage-canFather/Mother-canCensus-can

The Custom Sentence can explain the person referred to in the data is only a candidate vs. a certainty and why.

SSDI CANDIDATESBirth-Can Tag - SSDI Role If [P] was the “[M1]” in the Social

Security Death Index who died [M2], then he was born [D].< [M3]>

Death Tag - SSDI Candidate Role According to the Social Security Death

Index, a person named "[M1]" died [D]. < Last benefits were sent to [M2].>< The index identifies his last residence [L]>. This may have been [P+]<[M3]>

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Census YearsMany users prefer to have a separate tags for each census year. Easy to see whether that person has been found for that year

Allows custom narrative for each year providing a quick way to vary narrative for many people without significant effort

Restricted Data Create a separate tag to record information you may not want to include in all reports. Anecdote you only want to share

with certain people Information a source has requested

not be shared

Easy to de-select these tags for a report.

“Not married” Couples

Create a Custom Relationship to record someone’s significant relationships even though they are not “married”

Liaison

Partner

Standardized NamesSurname spellings vary widely, for various reasons.

Sometimes it is handy to use a Custom Name Tag to record a Standard Name

Easy to exclude a Custom tag name tag from a report by making it non-printing using the exclusion mark a “-” hyphen

Create a Custom Tag Type

Tools > Master Tag Type List

On the Tag Type Definition Screen, click Add button on the right side

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Tag GroupBe careful to select the correct group for your custom tag By default, TMG uses the Tag Group from

the Tag Type which was selected/highlighted when you clicked Add

It also picks up the default Role Names from that Tag Type but not the entire sentence structure

Most often missed entry 12

Tag Group is Important Tag will not work properly if it is in the wrong group Cannot easily change an -alt or -can tags

to the standard tag by just clicking on the tag type button if the custom tag was created in the wrong group

Names tags must be in the name group to use that Name in narrative reports/sentences

Tags in the Birth, Marriage, Death, and Burial groups have special functions in certain reports Children lists BMDB paragraphs

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Relationship Tag GroupRelationship tags have no sentences and tie people together without explanation – if primary they will still be used in reports

When using custom relationship tags, consider adding a corresponding tag in the Other group so you can explain the basis for using the custom tag 16

Remember! When creating a Custom Tag Type, the

Tag Group cannot be changed afterwards, in TMG. All other fields can be edited after the tag type is

created

However, TMG Utility allows you to change all EVENT tags of one type to another event tag type, regardless of Tag Group. So, you may create a new custom tag with a different name in the correct group, then change Ex: Change “Probate” tags in “Burial” group to

an “Estate” tag in the “Other” groupNOTE: Does not move sentences or roles to the other tag

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LabelConsiderations:Where do you want it to sort on the Tag Type List?

Birth-alt and Birth-can will sort with the standard tag types

Make Label meaningfulWill it fit in the Label column of Person view 18

Past Tense

Used in the List of Children in the Journal Report to create a brief statement about the child’s events

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Abbreviation

Used to identify the tag in charts such as the Pedigree, where space is limited.

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Tag Label Color TMG v8 Beta

Change color of the Label on the Person view and the Tag Type List

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“Roles & Sentences” tab on the

Tag Type Definition Screen

Roles & Sentences

Click on the Roles and Sentences tab of the Tag Type Definition screen

The usual default sentence added is awkward:Principal:

[P] <was|and [PO] were> New Tag <[M]> <[D]> <[L]>

Witness: [W] witnessed the New Tag of [P] <and [PO]> <[D]>

<[L]> 24

Adding/Modifying Sentences and/or Roles

Create sentences for all roles (See Chapters 11-13) Create male/female sentences if using

hard pronouns

Add Custom Roles (See Chapter 13)

Remember you can restrict role by sex or age 25

Ordering Roles Move Roles up or down the list You may disable a role in TMG v8 Beta

Selecting Roles Select from Drop down list of Roles on the Tag Entry screen

You may choose “Add Role” from the drop down list in TMG v8 Beta 26

“OTHER” tab on the

Tag Type Definition Screen

Add a Reminder

Select the “Other” tab to make other changes to your new custom tag type

Add a Reminder on how to use the custom Tag Type Click on the Other Tab of the Tag Type Definition screen

Type into the Reminder box29

Display Tags on Person View

On the “Other” tab, choose how you want to display the new custom tag on the Person view Choose whether to show “witness” or the tag type label for witnesses tags

Choose whether to display the role name for Principals and/or Witnesses

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Year ValidationLittle used feature on the Other tab Constrain the dates allowed for a tag by including a Minimum or Maximum year

Very handy for Census Year tags

Does not stop you from entering a different date, just asks if you are sure

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GEDCOM ExportIf you think you might export you data to a GEDCOM file, make certain you have the GEDCOM data completed portion completed

Even seems to work for most but…

I found that I needed to identify my custom Federal Census Year tags as CENS tags for GEDCOM or GenSmarts did not know they were Census tags 35

Easy Ways to Create a Custom Tag Type

COPY an existing Tag Type

Includes all roles and sentences!

IMPORT a Tag Type in TMG v8 Beta

Includes everything! 37

COPY a Tag Type

Save a lot of time by copying a tag type that is close to what you want. Then you just modify the entries, particularly the sentences, to fit your needs…

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IMPORT a Tag TypeIn TMG v8 Beta, you can import already perfected Tag Types exported from other projects! Import from your own project

Import from a friend’s project!

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Custom Tag Types - Exercises

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Exercise1910 Federal

Census Tag Type

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Principal Role

Witness Role

Candidate Role

Alive Not Found Role

Child Role

Head Role

Wife (as Principal) Role

Wife (as Witness) Role

Unlikely Role

NOT FOUND Role