* FH tools menu

[jbrooks]

how do you add Ancestral Sources to FH tools menu

[neil40]

You can't, AS is a standalone program, that loads the FH database.

[tatewise]

You can add the Ancestral Sources Data Entry plugin to the FH Tools menu and that will invoke AS from FH with the advantages that it ensures the correct Project is used, the current Individual is pre-selected, the desired mode is opened, and a Close on 'Save Entry to File' option is added.

[Baysig8]

Hi,

I have attempted to add my Ancestral Sources (7.8.6) to Family Historian, through the Tools menu of FH > Plugins > New., then with or without going to > Import.

Would someone, (Mike perhaps?) kindly list the exact steps required to achieve this? I do mean 'exact' as computer is not my native tongue, but if I persevere with someone pointing out the path, I almost always arrive/survive!!

Appreciate your help.

[jelv]

Just open the downloaded plugin file and it should automatically install.

[ADC65]

Just to be clear, you can only add the Ancestral Sources plugin to the Tools menu, not the Ancestral Sources program itself, which is not a plugin.

The plugin can be added to the Toolbar, and its function is to call the Ancestral Sources program to open, with the added benefits of it opening to the current project and highlighted person (among other benefits).

So if you don't have the plugin yet, go to the Plugin store and download that (ask if you need further help with that).

Once you have the plugin, or if you already have it, use Windows Explorer to go to the folder that the file has downloaded to. Double-click it and it will be added into Family Historian with a confirmation pop-up. You can then add it to the Tools menu by opening Family Historian, clicking Tools > Plugins and then the More button. Single-click the Ancestral Sources plugin and then tick the Add to Tools Menu box. Click Close. The plugin will now be available in your Tools menu.

If you need further help, please ask.

[NickWalker]

It has always been a frustration to me that the plugin wasn't given a better name (e.g. Launcher for Ancestral Sources). Too many people get confused and think that the plugin is Ancestral Sources and that AS is Mike's creation.

[tatewise]

With hindsight the plugin perhaps could have had a better name, but its name is different from the program.
Its name is "Ancestral Sources Data Entry" and not "Ancestral Sources".
Its Plugin Store description is as follows and includes a hyperlink to the program:

This invokes the Ancestral Sources program for the current Project, the currently selected person, and any chosen type of data entry.
The Ancestral Sources companion program is a Windows application that must be installed separately.

The FH Tools > Plugins... description for it is :

Launches latest Ancestral Sources Version for the current Project, with the current selected person, for any chosen type of data entry.

It has a different Version and Date than the application program.
I continue to be amazed at the confusion. Perhaps users don't bother to read those descriptions!

[ADC65]

I continue to be amazed at the confusion. Perhaps users don't bother to read those descriptions!

Nobody ever reads descriptions

Maybe the plugin could have been named differently, but I believe one of the causes of confusion is that Ancestral Sources is a standalone program, which in the FH environment is very different to the normal plugin paradigm. Of course, it has to be a standalone program, but it's not what users are used to. I agree it is a perennial problem though.

[NickWalker]

There weren't plugins when AS was created. They didn't appear as a feature of FH until a few years later.

[jelv]

It has always been a frustration to me that the plugin wasn't given a better name (e.g. Launcher for Ancestral Sources). Too many people get confused and think that the plugin is Ancestral Sources and that AS is Mike's creation.

Or Ancestral Sources Launcher

The current name is very misleading because the plugin itself doesn't do data entry!

[ADC65]

There weren't plugins when AS was created. They didn't appear as a feature of FH until a few years later.

Yes I am aware of that. I have used, and been a fan of, Ancestral Sources since its early days as Gedcom Census (I think it was called).

I hope the OP can find the answer they were looking for in all this discussion, which has gone a bit off-piste perhaps.

[fhtess65]

I second that thought - most people won't read descriptions. Exactly the same as they don't read signs...

I continue to be amazed at the confusion. Perhaps users don't bother to read those descriptions!

Nobody ever reads descriptions

<SNIP>

[tatewise]

If users don't read important details then I have little sympathy if they misunderstand what they are using.

[Mark1834]

Plugin names aren’t written on stone tablets. Authors can easily change them if they are minded to do so…

It might create a little confusion reading old threads, but a different name will probably mean fewer issues anyway!

[tatewise]

IMO it is not as easy as you make it sound to change a plugin name.
It means managing two plugins in parallel for a while until users of the old plugin switch to the new one.
The new plugin will need adjusting to pick up 'sticky' settings files for either the old or new name.
It means editing all the Help pages associated with the old name to use the new name and keeping the old pages until nobody is using the old plugin or replacing them with references to the new plugin.
There may references to the old plugin in the FHUG Knowledge Base or Plugin Store that will need changing.
Eventually the old plugin and its Help pages will need to be deleted.

[Baysig8]

Thank you so much, Adrian.

You reply was concise and gave me each of the stepping stones I needed.
Hopped across each to success!
Very much appreciate your kindness - and the offer of extra help, if required.