* Lost Source Citation links in upgrade

[JLGordon]

I've returned to my family tree after many years and upgraded from v. 4 to v. 7.
The List of Source Records shows >200 records, with their ID nos., all "Untitled".
An individual will have one or more Source Record nos. in the Citation Pane, but there's no link to that individual in the Source Records list.
How can I rescue this information and present it in the new v. 7 "Template" format?
I'm reluctant to re-input everything de novo.

[LornaCraig]

Hello, welcome to FHUG.

I assume that when you created the source records in V4 they did have titles? Did you by any chance always use the Short Title field and never enter anything in the main (long) Title field? If so you need to make sure FH displays the Short Title.

Try using Tools > Preferences > Records Window and make sure the option to Use Short Title for Source record name if available is ticked. Does that reveal any titles?

In the Source Records list the Citations column will show how many times each source has been used. To see exactly where those uses are, select a source and click to open its Property box, then use the cog-wheel icon in the small toolbar at the top of the Property Box to open a menu and choose Show Source Record’s Citations in Results Window.

Converting existing Generic Sources to Templated Sources is not easy and depends on how well structured and consistent your existing sources are. Some users choose to continue using only Generic sources, and some choose to keep their existing sources but use Templates for any newly created sources. I suggest you make sure nothing has been lost from your old sources before making that decision. I don’t use templated sources myself but others will be able to advise you on the pros and cons.

[tatewise]

Before upgrading from V4 to V7 did you take a Full Project Backup so that whatever we suggest there is a way back to your original database? If not then I suggest you use File > Backup/Restore > Full Backup... now.

[JLGordon]

Many thanks for your prompt and helpful responses. It's over 20 years since I worked on my tree, and at that time my documentation was inadequate: it appears that I didn't include titles in the citations.
With 300 or more individuals in the tree, the nos. of entries in the citations column range from 1-100 or more, and I haven't been able to locate where all the users are: when following Lorna's instructions, highlighting (and clicking) a source in the list of citations doesn't open a Property Box.
I've been backing up the project since upgrading, but apparently didn't do so when using v. 4, 20+ years ago.
If I can locate where all the existing sources/citations were used, I should be able to add more details to them in the current format (thus making them more useful) and link them properly to individuals.
Then perhaps I'll use Templates for new sources.
It's a daunting prospect, but worth doing, I think.
John Gordon

[tatewise]

I think you are referring to this list of Citations:

image.png (29.62 KiB) Viewed 1081 times

Select one and click the large blue arrow to open the Source record Property Box.
Then on its cog Menu top right use the Show Source Record’s Citations in Results Window option.

[JLGordon]

I was referring to the list in the attached file, but I've found that a small modification to Lorna's instruction works: highlighting a line in the list activates the "OK" button at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on that reveals the individual entry to which the citation refers. So I can now identify the "home" of all the citations.
However, with the relevant individual entry in the Focus Window, there is no obvious link in that window to the citation(s) for that entry.
Either v. 7 is more different from v. 4 than I had realised, or (more likely) my memory is faulty and/or my level of competence with the program is deficient. My next challenges are (1) retrieving the information from my previous citations; (2) deciding on the "best practice" for formatting source/citation entries (there seems to be some debate about this); and (3) entering new data where appropriate.
Thanks again to both of you for your help.

[tatewise]

To avoid future confusion, your screenshot is a list of Source Records and not Citations.

To see Source Citations click the yellow Show Sources button highlighted below in the Property Box.

image.png (35.18 KiB) Viewed 1008 times

In the resulting dialogue click the Edit Source Citation button highlighted below.

image.png (28.66 KiB) Viewed 1008 times

Now explore the tabs of the Citation Window, which is new in FH V7.

image.png (46.85 KiB) Viewed 1008 times

In the original Property Box shown above, open the Facts tab and select any Fact.
Any associated Source Citations will appear in the two dialogues shown above.

[JLGordon]

Thank you for the clarification.
I've been misinterpreting the terms, and I now realise that when clicking on "View", and then "Citations to source record", what appears is not Citations.
In order to create citations for these sources, what's the best procedure for linking a new citation to the relevant source in the list of Source Records?

[tatewise]

When you use the View > Citations to Source Record... command and there is no Source Record selected, the first thing FH presents is a Select source... dialogue so you can choose the Source Record for which you want to obtain a list of Citations. So choose any Source Record and click OK to obtain a Result Set listing all the Items with a Citation involving the chosen Source Record.
Double-click any Item cell to open a Property Box highlighting that Item and its Citation.

Depending on where you have navigated to in the FH data there are other ways of discovering the Citations involving a particular Source Record.

There are various ways of adding Citations, but one technique is to highlight the Fact in a Property Box to which you want to add a Citation. Ensure the yellow Sources For pane is open by clicking the Show Sources button as I illustrated earlier. Then you can use the Add Citation > Cite Existing Source... option.

However, the FHUG Knowledge Base > Sources and Citations in Version 7 (for Upgraders) provides more details.