Hands-On AQ 15 Guide

Many individuals prefer to have a PDF, E-File or some format to appear on which ever operating system they are using. Today, however, there are still many AQ 15 users of all different ages who want to have a physical manual to look up how something works in the program.

This guide has step by step directions with accompanying screen shots to help the user follow the instructions and complete the task they looked up.

It is broken up into three (3) sections: 

• Basics of Ancestral Quest
• Advanced Tools and Uses
• Appendices

Basics of Ancestral Quest makes up the first five chapters. For anyone new to the program it provides how to set up the program, how to work with different research strategies and features, printing reports and charts. 

The advanced tools and uses sections takes up 17 chapters of tips, hints, collaboration tools, tweaking preferences and all of the powerful tools and features of the program.

In the Appendices are several more helps like keyboard shortcuts to citing sources and others to help you make your research and data entry faster and easier.

The PDF is 12.95 and is text searchable, the physical copy is 28.95 plus S/H. Take advantage of a great help to learning how to use Ancestral Quest even more! Click here to order it now. Once you get to this page, scroll down and choose whether you want the download or the physical book.

Enjoy this user guide and learn how to use Ancestral Quest even better!

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com

AQ: Fonts in the Program

In today's world one has many choices because of technological improvements and designs. If you walk down an aisle in a grocery store, your selection of any particular item is vast and larger than in times past.

Computer programs are the same, one can research and determine which particular program will be what is needed for the task. Each program will have unique features as well as standard ones. The same goes with the fonts we use for various tasks.

You may wish to type a letter in one font but use a different one if you are designing something special. In Ancestral Quest there are multiple charts as well as the entering screens, notes, sources, etc.

One can change these fonts to make them larger, smaller or a different style depending on the need. To do this you simply click on "Tool" then "Preferences", once that window is open click on the tab "Fonts".

Once there, you'll be clicking on the drop down as seen above. This is where you can change a font for a specific section as well as the size of that font. Once you click "OK" the font will be changed. 

Here is where you can experiment to see if this is what you are wanting. The next section is the "Advanced Options" section:

Sometimes individuals need larger print or even smaller print. All of that is done in this area. If you decide you want it back the way it was, simply click on "Reset fonts" and that will bring everything back to the way it was in the beginning.

Enjoy this feature and others in Ancestral Quest 15!

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com

Why Backups?

image by tookapic, pixabay.com

Many genealogists make regular backups to their data, however, not all do. 

Ancestral Quest reminds you to back up your files whenever you are closing out your program. There are additional prompts for backups with other features in the program to guard you in case there is a problem. 

For instance, if you are adding a GEDCOM file to an existing file, it prompts you to make a backup before the import. The reason is if you decide it wasn't a good idea and have way to many duplicates, you can go back to backup.

Backups prevent years of hard work disappear which is disastrous. When the program closes, simply follow the prompts to create the backup to an external device for safety.

There is one additional reason for a backup; sharing it with other family members. This actually is one of the best ways to insure a copy is somewhere else.

To make a backup one simply clicks "File" then select "Backup" and follow the prompts. If you need to change the drive to an external one it is at that point you would change it.

At this point the next menu that comes up allows you to save it where you want and also give the backup file a name or use the one the program supplies.

Here you can use the area circled to have the backup saved to an external drive or in the cloud and the bottom area is where you enter the name of the file or accept the one AQ put there. Once you've done this you'll click on "Backup" and once done it is all set and there in case it is needed.

Having backups and sharing your data with other family members provides you with peace of mind in case of the worse happens to you or your computer. Enjoy this and all of the features of Ancestral Quest 15.

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com

LDS Features

One of the key features for various genealogical software is the ability to record all types of events connected with individuals throughout their lives. For many there are Christenings or Baptisms, Confirmations, and other events which are important factors connected with a specific religious affiliations.

Ancestral Quest has the ability to add all of the various events including the ones connected with temples in the Latter-day Saint faith.

To activate these features within the program, one needs to go to Tools, scroll down and click on Preferences as follows:

In the red box, check these items shown in the red box above: 1) Use LDS Data 2) Show on Reports 3) Ordinance Codes on Child List and 4) Connect with FamilySearch. Now click OK , this is the first step. The next step will turn on the Temple Icons. 

From the main screen click on FamilySearch, scroll down and click on Ordinance Reservation and Tracking System, if you have no logged in, it will prompt you to do that, once you have successfully entered your login information you'll be brought another box with 5 buttons, one of them will be "Show Temple Icons".

Click on the "Show Temple Icons" and this will close and your temple icons will be there.

Once you've followed the above steps you will have turned on the LDS features within this program. 

You will note there are other buttons there to assist you these features.

Enjoy this and all the features in Ancestral Quest 15!

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com

Other Events

There are many events in our lives that are not on a simple family group record, if one wants to record those important events you have some choices of how and where you want to do complete that task.

So much happens to us from the time we are born, it would be impossible to have one form to cover it all. From the first day at school to purchasing your first car and entering college, there is much to share with our family, friends and descendants when that time is here.

These can be entered for any individual in the "Other Events" section for each person. When you click on them to edit them you'll get this view:

Note the "Other Events" is there with the main events in a person's life, one simply clicks on the "Add" button to choose which event you wish to document for that person. Here are the choices, the list is long and you can add your own event if it is not listed here.

At this point, you can use the scrolling bar, highlight it and click on 'Select' or click on 'Add Type' if what you need is not in this list.

With the event selected, you simply enter the information in the form and click add and it will populate the lower section of that ancestor's individual record like this.

At this point, you can close the 'Edit Individual' box or add more events. These events can be in date order using the arrows on the right. When finished, click on 'Save' and close this individuals edit screen. If you run a report this additional information will be included.

This is a great feature and allows one to add many of the wonderful events that happen in one's lifetime.

Enjoy this and all the features in Ancestral Quest 15.

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com

Are Your Files Stored on a USB Flash Drive?

These data storage devices arrived around the turn of the century, and for many genealogists they contain a life time of genealogical and/or family history information and research. If the flash drive were lost, it would be detremental to their hard work. Ancestral Quest will prompt you to backup your data and what you back up to really does matter.

According to Wikipedia, these devices are known as "a USB drive, USB stick, thumb drive, pen drive, jump drive, flash drive or USB memory". They replaced the small floppy disks of that time. They hold so much more data and are convenient to carry, however, if one is not careful, they can be accidently left behind on a library's computer or suddenly stop working.

Over time, these drives have improved in the speed of data transfer, their storage capacity and their life expenctancy, however, like hard drives, don't last forever and most individuals rarely think about needing to replace them until it is too late.

Advice to copy one's files to a main computer is good advice, as having backups both ways is the best way to go, create a folder on your main computer and copy the whole drive or copy it all to a cloud based area. 

Individuals hear of 'cloud based' storage for one's regular desktop and/or lap top computer, but one often forgets to back up any small digial devices at the same time. The end result is that over time these flash drives need to be replaced; like a computer needs to be upgraded. 

Unfortunately, there really are no warning signs they are going to fail which is the best reason to backup the contents on a regular basis. All storage devices come with warranties, however, the warranty is on the device and not the information on the device. Additionally, the life cycle of these devices is affected by the number of times you delete and add new information. When purchasing a flash drive one needs to look how the device is rated for write cycles, its ability to whether the kind of abuse it may take from dropping in water to walking over it all accidently.

TopTenReviews checks all sorts of devices, software, etc. to help educate the everyday individual. They do have a great representation for the best top ten USB flash drives. In reviewing their choices, one can easily see how they are judged and you should be able to view their report and make a wise decision.

Don't delay any longer, if you can't remember when you bought your flash drive and you don't want to lose all your genealogy and family history along with all you have stored on your current flash drive, then purchase a new more rugged flash drive and copy everything to the new device.

Your ancestors will be grateful for your diligence and taking care of all your Ancestral Quest research.

Take advantage of all the new features in Ancestral Quest 15 today!

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

(c) 1994-2017 Incline Software, All Rights Reserved

 gfindlay@ancquest.com