Family Historian\u00a0(\u0192h<\/span><\/span>) supports various ways of planning and tracking\u00a0Work in Progress\u00a0or\u00a0Research To Do Lists, each of which has its own advantages and pitfalls, and each of which will suit some individuals more than others \u2013 no two people’s brains work in exactly the same way, and organising research is a prime example of that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This section of the Knowledge Base set out the options available; and tries to help individuals identify which will suit them best and adapt it to their method of working.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The potential solutions fall into five groups:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Of course, you can adopt more than one solution, depending on what you want to achieve \u2013 for example:\u00a0Notes\u00a0for “I just realised I need to do this thing at some point but haven’t thought it through” or “I’ve a bunch of stuff I need to scan \u2013 how can I remember it?”, and\u00a0Named Lists\u00a0for “I have this complex research activity that has been going on for ever”, and\u00a0Custom Attributes\u00a0for “I just found new ancestor and need to research the usual stuff \u2013 BBMDB”.<\/p>\r\n You can view\/create them anywhere you can view\/create a Note record, by the same methods. They are shown separately from Note Records on the Research Notes tab of the Records List (use View > Research Notes<\/a>, or Tools > Preferences<\/a> and choose Records Window to make them permanently visible).<\/p>\r\n While Research Notes are a better choice than Notes<\/a> or Custom Attributes<\/a> for tracking research in V7, most other genealogy programs and services will not recognise them if you export them.<\/p>\r\n See Research Notes<\/a> for a more detailed look at how to use them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Notes are a key feature of \u0192h<\/span><\/span> and are a very simple but flexible way to keep track of work-in-progress\/to-do. They can:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n You can mix-and-match all these ways of working, as shown here, which includes three Notes being used to track research:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n You will find it easier to keep track of what you’ve done if you pay attention to the points in\u00a0Using Notes To Track Your Research<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some ways you might use Notes to track your research? These are just examples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Named Lists\u00a0are another simple \u0192h<\/span><\/span> feature that can be used to plan and track research (although they have many more uses than this). Essentially, they are a way of grouping records (of every kind) for any purpose that you choose, so that you can view or report on them as a collection of related items.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u0192h<\/span><\/span> automatically creates 3 default Named Lists for every project (unless you’ve turned this off via\u00a0 Tools > Preferences> Named Lists<\/a>); one of these default lists is called\u00a0Work in Progress, but you can use as many Named Lists as you want to organise your research.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some ways you might used Named Lists to track research? Again, these are just examples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n See\u00a0Using Named Lists To Track Your Research<\/a>\u00a0for more detail on this approach.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Just as you can define a\u00a0Custom Attribute\u00a0to store information about an individual that\u00a0\u0192h<\/strong>\u00a0does not support ‘out of the box’ (e.g. “Freeemason in the ZYX Lodge”, or “Biographical note”), you can also define a Custom Attribute to document your research.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This approach is more complex to set up than\u00a0Notes\u00a0or\u00a0Named Lists, but no more difficult to use once it is set up, and there are downloads available that will help you to configure it, as well as detailed instructions here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In outline, you will:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Fact can be linked to a single Individual; optionally to one or more Sources (and thence to Repositories); and optionally to one or more Media records. Some people choose to create a single To-do Fact per individual; others create a Task fact per research activity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some ways you might use a custom Fact to track your research? These are just examples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A Custom Attribute\u00a0is not suitable for tracking research tasks that aren’t linked to a\u00a0single<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0specified Individual. Use\u00a0Notes<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Named Lists<\/a>\u00a0for that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Using a Single To-do Fact per individual has the advantage of simplicity.There is a single place to record all the research you plan to do for an individual, and you can customise the Property Box to include a Tab to let you easily update your To-do list for an individual. A summary of these details for all Individuals can be created using Custom Queries or by Customise or Print Records Window Columns.\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n However, you’re limited to a single labelled paragraph for To-do item and it can be hard to record and query\/report on more granular detail.<\/p>\r\n See\u00a0To-Do List Attribute<\/a> for more detail on how to set up and use this approach.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Using multiple research tasks per individual allows you to include more details for each task (e.g. Status, Priority etc.) with corresponding structured reporting. Tasks can be viewed and edited on the Property Box tab for each individual.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n The\u00a0Research Planner<\/a>\u00a0plugin and associated queries and reports help you to use this approach, or you can adapt the techniques described at\u00a0To-Do List Attribute.<\/a><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a>Research Notes (V7)<\/h2>\r\nResearch Notes<\/a> are a new type of record in Version 7. They can be used in much the same way as Notes<\/a> in version 6 and below, but have the advantage of AutoText<\/a> (re-usable text) and Integrated Word Processing<\/a>.\u00a0 They are designed to keep notes about your research separate from notes about your family tree, and are described in more detail here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n
Notes<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/example_of_research_notes-e1587204143602.png\")
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Named Lists<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/using_named_lists-e1587122489309.png\")
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Custom Attributes<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Working with a Single To-Do Fact per Individual<\/h3>\r\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/todofactstab-e1587132654852.png\")
Working with Multiple Research Tasks per Individual<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fhug.org.uk\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/onefact_pertask-e1587218272543.png\")
Alternatives<\/h2>\r\n