Cues & Clues for AQ: August 2014

Friday, August 29, 2014

Correcting Spelling Errors in Those Places...

Often when entering places wrong spellings are typed. The "Quick Data Entry" doesn't know that it is a misspelling and can come up when you try to enter the correct information in for that particular place and either frustrate you or make it almost impossible to spell it correctly.

To fix this, simply go to "Edit" and scroll down to "Quick Entry Place List"

This will bring up the following menu where you will be able to fix those mis-spelled places:

Notice the choices you have, Add, Edit, Delete Name, Delete All, and Referesh.

You highlight the wrong spelled place and edit it or delete it if you already have a correct spelling in the list.

Hopefully this will assist those who are having problems with misspelled place names. Once you are done, just close out the file.

Remember Ancestral Quest is fully FamilySearch Certified!

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...

Claire ;)

AQ Cues & Clues Blog:http://ancquest.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncQuest

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ancquest

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/inclinesoftware

Monday, August 25, 2014

Open, Restore, Import....Understanding How and When to Use them

When working in Ancestral Quest it sometimes can get confusing as to how to access one's database of names, dates and places.

People have files that end in .paf, .aq, .ged, .zip, .aqz and wonder why they many not 'open' under an 'open' command.

The reason they many not open is that they need a different command to do just that.

The "File" menu has this drop down where you will find all of the right commands to help you open up your database files:

The files that end in .paf and .aq will open up with File and Open and then locating that file, double click it and you'l have all your family file information right there.

If you have a .ged file, this is a GEDCOM file and needs to be imported into a blank database. So one creates a new database and then goes to File and scrolls to 'Import', clicks it and locates that .GED file and again double clicks it. Once that is done the file will import into that blank database file filling it up with whatever is in the GEDCOM file.

If you have a .zip or .aqz file, this is a back up file and needs to be restored. One needs to go to File and 'restore', clicks it and locates the zipped file and again double clicks it to restore your database files.

With the end goal to being able to access one's family database, it is helpful to use the correct commands depending on the type of file available and hopefully this blog has provided some help in doing just that!

Remember Ancestral Quest is fully FamilySearch Certified!

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...

Claire ;)

AQ Cues & Clues Blog:http://ancquest.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncQuest

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ancquest

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/inclinesoftware

Friday, August 15, 2014

Setting Your Preferences

Under the "Tools" drop down menu is where one can set some preferences with how they want their database to function. Once one scrolls down and clicks that option there is an array of tabs to choose from that allow changes to be made from the defaults that are pre-set in the program.

The first tab it defaults to in "General". Here you can say whether you want to attach RIN numbers or FamilySearch ID numbers to a person's name, have 'Quick Entry' set up which helps when entering in places as well as activating or not activating LDS features. Here is a screen shot:

You'll also note that one can adjust the color scheme and add a password if you wish.

I usually don't use that password function as there are times one forgets and it is not that easy to retrieve it. Also note that there is a 'Help' box in case there is something under this tab that one is not sure how it functions. The "Help" function goes through each item and provides additional detailed information to help one decide whether to check it or not.

We'll cover the next couple of tabs in future blog posts!

Remember Ancestral Quest is fully FamilySearch Certified!

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...

Claire ;)

AQ Cues & Clues Blog:http://ancquest.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncQuest

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ancquest

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/inclinesoftware

Friday, August 8, 2014

Merging Duplicates Using AQ Intelligent Matching..

Merging individuals can be challenging if one is not quite sure how to proceed using this feature in Ancestral Quest.

Clicking on the Icon that looks like the one above will take you to the Merging screen which looks like this:

Taking a good look at this match/merge screen, one can choose how to proceed. In order to allow the program to find the duplicates, one can simply click on the "Enable Intelligent Matching" which will put a check in that box.

You also can alter the way the program searches your database by clicking on "Options" which brings up the following menu or you can leave these settings as they are listed here:

The next step is to click "Next Match" which allows Ancestral Quest to search through your family files database and locate possible matches. Here is the first match it found from my own file:

Using the color coding at the top I see the entry that was on the left in Green and the entry that was on the right in Red, the Black shows what the resulting merge would look like in my family file database.

Looking close one can also see check marks and arrows. The "Legend" up in the right hand corner shows what those items mean:

If you want to change how the program is dealing with those items, one just clicks on the box and the mark that is in the box will disappear and that piece of information will just disappear.

When you click on "Merge" the merge takes place and is reflected on the screen showing anything added to the notes or any changes to dates. The merge is now complete.

Clicking the next match allows you to continue with removing duplicates from your family file database and will continue to bring up duplicates until it finds no more. When done you simply click on "Close" and are returned to your program to continue with either research or whatever you wish to work on.

Take advantage of this great feature in Ancestral Quest to help you remove your duplicates!

Remember Ancestral Quest is fully FamilySearch Certified!

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy Ancestraling...

Claire ;)

AQ Cues & Clues Blog:http://ancquest.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncQuest

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ancquest

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/inclinesoftware