* Using address and place fields

[ShaneB]

This has probably been addressed before and if so, I apologise but ... do many people use both the Place and Address fields when recording details?

I get that they're different (sort of) but I'm not sure what the benefits are of using both.

No doubt I'm missing something!

Regards

Shane

[Gowermick]

The main advantages of separating Place and Address tables is:
1. geocoding is made much simpler.
The mapping system uses geocoding to insert the Lattitude and Longitude of a place, so that it can be located accurately on the map. Whilst it may know where Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales is, I doubt it would know every Building or street address within Swansea.

2. It reduces keystrokes needed to enter a location.

When adding a location to a fact, as you start typing, FH use auto-complete to find the location you want.
e.g.if I wanted Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, auto-complete would most probably recognise it within 5 or 6 keystokes (or 1 if you had only just used Swansea before). Then, when you added the Address component, another auto-complete kicks in to complete the Address.

Had you included tha Address part In your Place like High Street, 26, Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, you would have to type all of the address, before you reached the Swansea part, in order to identify the correct High Street, of which there must be thousands in UK.

If you search the forum, there will be lots of discussions on the various systems used, and the above is the reasons I separate Place and Address. Others may disagree

NB I add House number after Street name, to help auto-complete find similar addresses.

[ShaneB]

Things to ponder.

Thanks Mike.

[tatewise]

Shane, when you joined FHUG you were advised to study how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers.
One of its topics is Places & Addresses that leads to glossary:places|> Places and Addresses which has many links to Forum Posts on Places and Addresses where the pros and cons of different strategies are discussed.

The strategy best for you depends on how you wish to manage location details, how accurately you require locations to be plotted, where you want to include maps, and what other products you wish to export your Project to using GEDCOM. It is quite a complex topic, so you may have more questions after studying the advice.

[E Wilcock]

NB I add House number after Street name, to help auto-complete find similar addresses.

What a revelation Mike. Thank you. German addresses have the house number after the street name. I have been copying and pasting these addresses, too lazy to re-edit them with the house number first. Now I can leave them as they are.

[Gowermick]

Yes. When you work with Addresses, they are listed in alphabtical order, so it is easy to spot houses and potential neighbours in same street. (common street names may not be in same town, but can still be a useful clue).

If they were listed in house number order, not so helpful