Preparing Family Tree Maker GEDCOM files

For Uploading to TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding)

 

Author: Stephen A Conner

Edit:  22 DEC 2012

Last Edit:        06 JAN 2018 – Updated for FTM 2017

 

This document explains how the Microsoft Windows program “GC_FTM.exe” works.  This program is in beta testing.

 

1.        SCOPE

 

Many people use the program Family Tree Maker (FTM) to gather and organize their family history. When it is time to share with others, they publish their research online using TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding) by Darrin Lythgoe. The only way to transfer data from FTM to TNG is by a GEDCOM file.

 

A GEDCOM file is a way of saving family tree data so that is can be used by other genealogy programs. This sounds good in principle. However, the way programs save and load GEDCOM files varies. As a result, the data is not displayed properly on the program that is importing the data.

 

Instead of assigning blame and waiting for the problem to resolve itself, there is a way to modify the output of a GEDCOM file from FTM so that it will display properly in TNG.

 

The standalone program GC_FTM.exe will do the following:

 

  1. 1)TNG will now display the Description field for Facts using three fields (Date, Place and Description) on the person’s Individual page. 

  2. 2)The photo assigned as the Primary Photo will be displayed next to the individual. 

  3. 3)FTM 2012 / 2017 is exporting media links for both scrapbook items and those attached to sources. Both will now display properly. 

  4. 4)The GEDCOM is modified so that the media’s date, title and description fields will be displayed properly in TNG. FTM forgot to include a FORM tag following the media link and some versions of TNG may not display thumbnails correctly. 

  5. 5)Media files with prefixes (“p_” for photos, etc.) will be assigned to the proper storage folder in TNG. If a user has their own defined Collections, they can assign files using the new “x_” prefix. This is optional.  

 

This program WILL NOT modify the Family Tree Maker family files that have the extension “.ftm”. It WILL examine the GEDCOM output file from FTM and then create a separate modified version. These files have the extension “.ged”.

The user must be familiar with Family Tree Maker and TNG (The Next Generation by Darrin Lythgoe). The user has set up a WEB site for the TNG software and is familiar with uploading GEDCOMs to their public trees.

 

Also, the user should know how to upload photos and documents to their public trees. Usually this involves using an FTP program (File Transfer Protocol).

 

Section 2 tells the user how to run the program. Section 3 describes how the Gedcom file is modified.

 

 

2.        PREPARATION AND EXECUTION

 

 

2.1        DISCLAIMER

 

This program resides on www.connergenealogy.com and is executed from this site only. The user may get a message that “The publisher is untrusted” because we have not paid the fees that VeriSign require.

 

Only run this program from the link on the web site. We are not responsible, if this program is misused. If you are unsure about using it, then don't use it. Better yet, stop reading and don’t do anything.

 

 

2.2        REQUIREMENTS

 

This program runs under Microsoft Windows 10, Vista and Windows 7. It requires the presence of Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0, which may be present on newer computers. This program will automatically place this on your computer.

 

If you want to look ahead and see if you already have the 4.0 .NET Framework installed, open MS Internet Explorer (not Firefox or any other browser). Then, go to the following site: “http://www.smallestdotnet.com”.

 

The yellow box labeled YOUR PERSONALIZED RESULTS will tell you, if you have it. If you don’t, you can choose to install the “4.0 .NET” from the Microsoft link that is displayed.

 

This program will read and modify the GEDCOM file that is created by Family Tree Maker. GEDCOM files have the extension (.ged). This is not intended to modify any other file type ( .ftm, etc.). Only use this program on GEDCOM files that are generated by Family Tree Maker.

 

2.3 PREPARATION

 

Before proceeding, it is a good idea to clean up your FTM database as much as possible. This is especially true, if you want to enable the Google Maps feature in TNG. This means making sure that you have all the events listed that you want to display. It also means that all place names are resolved. Make sure each unique place name is not duplicated due to a typo or a change from an upper-case letter to a lower-case one, The “Places” tab in FTM and the Place Usage reports are good tools for maintaining consistency.

 

Review the media files that are linked and ready for uploading. Thumbnails can be generated on TNG for files that are less than 1 Megabyte.

 

 

2.4        CREATE A GEDCOM FILE

 

Go into Family Tree Maker and open your family file. Select the FILE Tab from the pull-down menu and select EXPORT. .

 

 

Under Output Format select GEDCOM 5.5 (standard)

 

 

Select the items you wish to include such as facts, notes and media links and click OK.

 

In the next box select “Other” as Destination.

 

 

Select the “UTF-8” character set. For English sites, TNG is usually set up for ISO-8859-1 and is expecting ANSI characters. Almost everything you save in your GEDCOM is an ANSI sub-set of UTF-8.

 

However, if you are using special characters found in some foreign languages, they may not show up correctly. You will have to enable the UTF-8 functionality at your TNG site. That is explained at: http://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php?title=Changing_to_UTF-8 .

 

Make a note of the saved GEDCOM filename and location.

 

The program is now ready to run. Please note that the program will not install on the user’s computer. When the user presses the Start button on the Web site, the program is then downloaded and executed. Afterwards, it is erased. Microsoft calls this a Click-Once application. When the program first runs, Microsoft may install some files it needs for the .NET framework.

 

 

2.5        Step 1 -- RUNNING THE PROGRAM  --  Method 1

 

USE “Internet Explorer” as your browser. This is the easiest and preferred method.

 

Go to http://ConnerGenealogy.com and follow the links for FTM to TNG GEDCOM converter. On the page “Using GC_FTM”, click the START button.

 

 

 

Click on the RUN button. If this is your first use, the program will do a one-time install of any necessary files.

 

Skip the next 3 pages and jump ahead to 2.7 Select the Description Field Format – Step 2.

2.6        RUNNING THE PROGRAM – Chrome and other WEB browsers – Method 2

 

2.6.1 Install The Microsoft . NET Framework Add-On

 

This is a one-time install to enable Click-Once capability.

 

FIREFOX may have an add-on. Search the internet “Clickonce firefox”.

 

or

 

Google Chrome Add-On at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/eeifaoomkminpbeebjdmdojbhmagnncl

 

Other browsers may have the Microsoft .NET Framework add-on available as well.

 

2.6.2 Run the GC_FTM Gedcom Converter

 

Go to http://ConnerGenealogy.com and follow the links for Load FTM Gedcom Files into TNG. On the page “Using GC_FTM”, click the START button.

 

 

You will be given two options:

2.6.3 Setup

 

The first time that you use this program click on the RUN button and it asks you to save SETUP.EXE. Click SAVE FILE and it will save it to your designated download area. Usually this is a folder called Downloads. From there you will have to double-click on SETUP.EXE. Setup.exe will do a one-time load of any necessary files and it will run the program.

 

 

 
 

When you run SETUP.EXE you may get a message that “this publisher cannot be verified”.  We did not pay Veri-Sign for a certificate because of the limited use for this program. Click RUN.

 

 

 

 

2.6.4 Launch

 

After SETUP.EXE is run, the program may be run at anytime from the Web site by clicking on the small hard-to-see “LAUNCH” link that is underlined. (Note: the Add-Ons for either Firefox or Chrome must have been installed)

 

 

 

2.7        Step 2 -- SELECT THE DESCRIPTION FIELD FORMAT.

 

The program is now running. If you are not using the Description field for Births, Marriages, Deaths, etc., then skip ahead to Step 3. If you are using the three field format, select how you wish to display the description field. Three formats are shown.

 

 

The “All In One Field” format will take the Description field data and insert it in the front of the Place field. A comma and a space are added between the two fields. This will create a longer Place field. The values that were in the Description field are erased so that data is not displayed twice. TNG allows up to 248 characters in their place field.

 

NOTE: This will affect ALL Facts that have a Place field format.  The GEDCOM tags that are affected are:

 

ADDR, ADOP, ANUL, BAPL, BAPM, BARM, BASM, BIRT, BLES, BURI, CENS, CHR, CHRA, CONF, CONL, CREM, DEAT, DIV,  DIVF, EMIG, ENDL, ENGA, EVEN, FCOM, GRAD, IMMI, MARB, MARC, MARL, MARR, MARS, NATU, ORDN, PROB, PROP, RESI, RETI, SLGC, SLGS

 

Custom Event types are not included. In the GEDCOM file they have an underscore as their first character (“_HEIG” for height). Also not included are events followed by a TYPE tag.

 

For example:

1 EVEN

2 TYPE Social Security # Issue State

 

The “All In One Field” format has several advantages.  The Description and Place will always be viewable. The first two options allow the display of the Description field on the Individual page for facts such as Birth, Marriage, etc. However, they will not be displayed when you export the individual to a PDF file.

 

The All-In-One-Field takes the Description field and inserts it in the front of the Place field creating a new and longer Place field in the Converted gedcom output.  

 

 

2.8        Step 3 -- OPTIONAL – LEAVE THIS UNCHECKED.

 

This applies to those who want files to go to TNG’s five folders – PHOTO, DOCUMents, etc. The user must have TNG version 9.0.1 or later. Then, the user would  assign prefixes to media files from the Family Tree Maker program. For example, if this is checked, files with the “p_” prefix will point to TNG’s PHOTOS folder, the “h_” prefix will point to HISTORIES, etc.

 

Read the discussion in section 3.5 about creating prefixes.

 

This is strictly optional. Leave it unchecked. By default, TNG will have the media-links point to the PHOTO folder on your TNG site. Be sure to upload (ftp) ALL your files to the PHOTOS folder. If this is checked and you have version 9.0.1 (or later) and none of your files have any prefixes, then all the media links will point to the DOCUMENTS folder.

 

 

2.9        Step 4 -- OPTIONAL - Geocodes.

 

This feature is not operational because TNG Version 9 geocodes the places on site. This is the preferred method.

 

 

2.10        Step 5 -- OPTIONAL – Display media attached to sources.

Media files attached to sources are only displayed with the source data. This is viewed on a TNG site by clicking on a source link at the bottom of an Individual or Family page. If this option is selected, the media will display in two places. First, it will display on the Individual / Family page as if it were a scrapbook item. Second, the media will display with the source information.

 

 

2.11        Step 6 -- Click the OPEN GEDCOM (.ged) FILE

 

You will be asked to open a GEDCOM file that is to be modified. You will also be asked for a filename to save it as. The save filename must be different than the open filename.

 

The program will read the GEDCOM file and modify it. The output will go to the save filename. The original GEDCOM will NOT be modified.

 

A progress bar shows that the program is running. On newer computers a GEDCOM file of 50,000 individuals may take ten seconds.  

 

 

2.12        UPLOAD TO TNG

 

The newly created GEDCOM is now ready for uploading to TNG. Proceed as you have done in the past.

 

 

When you are logged into TNG as Administrator, select the “Import/Export - Import a GEDCOM file” Tab.

 

 

You must upload (via FTP) the actual files. If you did not try the optional method for filename-prefixes, then load all files into the TNG’s PHOTOs folder and the images will appear where they are linked. If you like, run the thumbnail generator. (Note: files must be less than 1 MB to generate a thumbnail).

 

If you have been using the three field format for facts such as Birth, Marriage, etc., the description part will now be displayed in your TNG tree.

 

If you selected the media-links option from FTM as you saved the GEDCOM, the filenames attached to individuals and family groups will appear in your TNG tree. The Title, Date and Description fields have been corrected and will now display.

 

When you were in Family Tree Maker, you may have set some photos as the primary ones to display with an individual. GC_FTM has fixed this. The photos set as primary for FTM will also be primary for TNG.

 

 

2.13        USING TNG Place Table Utility to adjust the Place and Zoom Levels.

 

A second program is available that adjusts the Place and Zoom Level on TNG sites that enable Google Maps. The Web page is at

http://connergenealogy.com/home/tng-place-zoom/

 

 

2.14        FINISHED

 

Genealogy is never finished. You will probably want to run this program again and again. At least until FTM’s GEDCOMs are compatible with TNG. You may run the GC_FTM program from the WEB site. It will not need to install any added files after the first use.

 

3.        WHAT THE PROGRAM DOES

 

Family Tree Maker (FTM) allows an export of the data in GEDCOM format.

 

This document describes a procedure for repairing GEDCOM files generated by Family Tree Maker. Furthermore, a method is described for uploading media files linked to FTM individuals and facts. The program described in this document only modifies a GEDCOM (.GED) file. It does not modify the main Family Tree Maker (.FTM) file.

 

The program will examine a GEDCOM file to find and replace specific text values.

 

Part 1 – Repairing Birth, Marriage, Death and Burial, etc.

Part 2 – Having the Primary Photo display with the individual.

Part 3 – Repair the tags in the Media File Links to display properly in TNG.

Part 4 – Repair the placement of media that are attached to sources.

Part 5 – Allow storing Photos, Documents, Media etc. in TNG Folders.

 

 

 

3.1        Repairing Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death and Burial

 

FTM allows an expanded option for facts such as Birth, Marriage, Death, etc. The option splits the PLACE field into two fields. The first field is still the PLACE and a DESCRIPTION field follows it.  By default, FTM uses only date and place for facts. To change to a three field option, select EDIT from the toolbar, then MANAGE FACTS.

 

 

Select the fact that you want to change and select Properties. Inside the properties window select the Date / Place / Description field.

 

 

The PLACE can hold the values for City, County, State and the DESCRIPTION field can hold the values for Street Address, Church name or Cemetery name.

 

However, the DESCRIPTION field is not being imported into TNG because FTM is violating the GEDCOM 5.5.1 rules. FTM is storing the DESCRIPTION immediately following the event Tag.

 

The GEDCOM text items that need to be modified are:

 

“1 BIRT " Birth

“1 BAPL” Baptism (LDS)

“1 BURI “ Buried

“1 CHR “ Christened

“1 DEAT “ Died

“1 DIV “ Divorced

“1 ENDL “ Endowed (LDS)

"1 MARR " Married

“1 SLGS “ Sealed – Spouse (LDS)

 

For example, the following burial fact is

Date: 16 Nov 1882

Place: Baltimore City, Maryland

Description: St. Peter's Cemetery

 

FTM stores the GEDCOM information as

1 BURI St. Peter's Cemetery

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC Baltimore City, Maryland

 

TNG rightfully ignores the text to the right of BURI because the specification says that there must be either an end of line or the capital letter " Y". This is true for the facts of Birth, Marriage and Death as well.

 

The program searches the entire GEDCOM document for any occurrences of text to the right of the nine tags listed above. If there is any, a new line is inserted after the Tag name with a NOTE or ADDR Tag followed by the DESCRIPTION text. The GEDCOM file from before would now be changed to:

 

1 BURI

2 NOTE St. Peter's Cemetery

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC Baltimore City, Maryland

 

The data will now be used and displayed by TNG. The Tag ADDR will also work. There is also an option to place the Description Field in front of the existing data in the Place Field. This creates an All-in-one-field that is put in the Place field of the generated Gedcom.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

 

The first two options will allow the description field to appear on the person’s Individual page. It will show up, when you select Print. However, if you select the PDF option, the added notes disappear. Option 3 All-In-One physically moves the Description field to the front of the Place field, thus creating a Place field that is viewable everywhere. The place field can hold 248 characters. The following charts show what happens:

 

Unmodified

1 BURI St. Peter's Cemetery

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC Baltimore City, Maryland

 

 

The description to the right of “1 BURI” is not displayed.

 

Modified with ADDR

1 BURI

2 ADDR St. Peter's Cemetery

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC Baltimore City, Maryland

 

The description to the right of “1 BURI”  is placed under the date and place as:

 

Address:

St.Peter’s Cemetery

 

The text to the right of BIRT, DIED and MARR, etc. is displayed in the same way.

Modified with NOTE

1 BURI

2 NOTE St. Peter's Cemetery

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC Baltimore City, Maryland

 

 

The description to the right of “1 BURI”  is placed under the date and place as:

 

o St.Peter’s Cemetery

 

The text to the right of BIRT, DIED and MARR, etc. is displayed in the same way.

 

 

 

 

ADDED NOTE:

 

The GEDCOM specification allows a NOTE Tag to follow the PLAC Tag. We tried placing the DESCRIPTION text information in a NOTE Tag following the PLAC Tag and it did not work. TNG seems to ignore the data.

Modified with Description added to PLAC Field

1 BURI

2 DATE 16 NOV 1882

2 PLAC St. Peter's Cemetery, Baltimore City, Maryland

 

 

 

The description to the right of “1 BURI”  is placed in front of the text in the PLAC tag along with a Comma and a Space.

 

St. Peter's Cemetery, 1301 Moreland Avenue, Baltimore City, Maryland

 

(Note: The previous example is from a file that had street addresses added.)

 

The text to the right of BIRT, DIED and MARR, etc. is displayed in the same way.

 

3.2        Primary Photo

 

In Family Tree Maker, a Primary or default photo can be assigned to an individual. It appears on their individual page, reports and tree charts. TNG allows a photo to be Primary. FTM thinks it is assigning a default photo by exporting the following notation with the Individual:

. . . . . . . . .

1 _PHOTO @M6@

1 OBJE @M1@

1 OBJE @M2@

1 OBJE @M3@

1 OBJE @M4@

1 OBJE @M5@

1 OBJE @M6@

. . . . . . . . .

 

The _PHOTO tag is not recognized by TNG. The object M6 is not marked as the default PHOTO in TNG. Darrin Lythgoe emailed that “_PRIM Y” can only appear in the Individual area of the GEDCOM and it must be under the “1 OBJE “ as “2 _PRIM Y”

 

When the program detects the tag “1 _PHOTO @M6@”, It will search and find the related media object tag and insert “2 _PRIM Y” after it. The preceding code will be changed to:

 

. . . . . . . . .

1 OBJE @M1@

1 OBJE @M2@

1 OBJE @M3@

1 OBJE @M4@

1 OBJE @M5@

1 OBJE @M6@

2 _PRIM Y

. . . . . . . . .

 

The 1 _PHOTO tag will be deleted and the OBJE that precedes the 2 _PRIM Y tag will be accepted as the primary. The photo will now be displayed with the individual.

3.3        Media Files

 

Family Tree Maker 2012 / 2017 media links are now exported to GEDCOMs. The links point to objects found in the scrapbook attached to an individual or family group. Links to sources are also exported.  When you import the GEDCOM file to TNG, only the filename is displayed where the title should be. The date, title and description will not display properly.

 

FTM saves all the media file data at the end of a GEDCOM. It is stored as:

 

0 @M1@ OBJE

1 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Hibbitts Media\Patrick Hibbitts_0001.jpg

2 TITL Passenger List

2 DATE 1851

2 TEXT 19 April 1851 arrival. On-line database at Ancestry.com "New York

3 CONC Passenger Lists 1851-1891".

 

NOTE:

FTM 2017 always puts “2 FORM jpg” after each file regardless of type.

 

Six things must be changed:

 

NOTE: FTM 2017 uses “2 _DATE” and “2 _TEXT”

 

The GC_FTM program changes this to:

 

0 @M1@ OBJE

1 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Hibbitts Media\Patrick Hibbitts_0001.jpg

1 FORM JPG

1 TITL Passenger List

1 CHAN

2 DATE 1851

1 NOTE 19 April 1851 arrival. On-line database at Ancestry.com "New York

2 CONC Passenger Lists 1851-1891".

 

3.3.1 DATE

 

NOTE: FTM 2017 uses “_DATE” as the DATE tag for media . The program changes this as well.

 

FTM saves the Gedcom in the following way:

 

2 DATE  6/16/2012 12:02:04 PM

 

However, TNG is expecting the following format:

 

1 CHAN

2 DATE  16 Jun 2012 12:02:04

 

In other words, spell out the month (3-char abbreviation) and put it in the middle, and don't put an am or pm on the end (military time).

 

If it doesn’t appear in this format, TNG will not put the time-date stamp on the media file.

 

FTM allows the user to enter text in the “Date” Field.

 

This can be in any format and cannot be converted.

 

TNG should treat this field as a Text field.

 

 

 

3.3.2 File Structure

 

The file structure discussed is in Windows format. It is unimportant, if the path of the filename appears as:

“C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\” or as

“C:\users\UserName\Documents\”

3.4 Media attached to sources.

 

FTM exports media objects that are attached to a Source in the Family / Individual area as follows:

 

2 SOUR @S16@

3 OBJE @M5@

 

TNG is expecting the media object for the Source to be defined in the Level 0 SOUR area. All the Sources are lumped together as Level 0 definitions. The preceding example would have the M5 object added after the Level 0 SOUR definition as follows:

 

0 SOUR @S16@

1 OBJE @M5@

 

An option in the program’s software allows the 3 OBJE @M5@ in the Family/Individual area to be displayed with scrapbook data by changing –

 

3 OBJE @M5@

To

1 OBJE @M5@

 

 

 

3.5        OPTIONAL. Storing Photos, Documents, etc. in TNG Folders.

 

FTM gedcoms do not describe the media links type (PHOTO, DOCUMENT, RECORDINGS, etc.). As a result, all of the media links in TNG will point to the PHOTOs folder. The user will need to upload the actual media files to this folder.

 

If you are satisfied that TNG stores all the media files from your FTM gedcom into one folder (PHOTOS), then skip ahead to section 3.6 FTP The Files.

 

If you wish to store photos in the PHOTO folder and documents in the DOCUM folder, then the program is set up to accommodate this. However, it involves the following:

  1. 1)Modify the prefixes of the media files stored in the FTM Media Manager. 

  2. 2)Upgrade to TNG Version 9.0.1 or later. 

 

When you upload your modified GEDCOM file, the media links will point to the appropriate folder on your TNG site. When it is time to upload the actual files, the FTP program will have them sorted by name so that the same prefixes are next to each other. This makes it easy to select and upload one folder of data at a time.

 

It is important that the folder holding the Family Tree Maker media objects has a name ending in “MEDIA\”. This is the FTM default for names of trees. For example, if your tree is named SmithFamily, then FTM will store all the photos, documents, etc. in a folder named:

 “C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\FamilyTreeMaker\SmithFamily Media\”. FTM uses the tree name and adds a space and “Media” to create the folder.

 

ADD PREFIXES

 

Go into Family Tree Maker program and select the Media link on the top toolbar. NOTE: Prefixes must be added inside FTM and not in Windows Explorer. FTM must be aware of the filenames. It will be saving these filename links in the GEDCOM.

 

Create a prefix on each media’s filename. For example change the filename for JohnSmithPhoto.jpg TO p_JohnSmithPhoto.jpg.  The prefixes are CASE-SENSITIVE and must be lower case. Use the following prefixes:

 

p_ Photos

h_ Histories

b_ Biographies

d_ Documents

f_ PDF files

m_ Headstones (m can represent Monuments)

v_ Video

a_ Recordings of audio

 

TIP: Do not add a prefix for documents. Typically, most media files are of this type. If no prefix is found, the program assigns the file as a Document by default.

The GEDCOM file generated by FTM looks like:

0 @M1@ OBJE

1 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Hibbitts Media\p_Patrick Hibbitts_0001.jpg

 

The program sees a "p_" prefix in the filename. It will insert "1 _TYPE PHOTO" before the line "1 FILE". The program changes the GEDCOM file media link to:

0 @M1@ OBJE

1 _TYPE PHOTO

1 FILE C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Hibbitts Media\p_Patrick Hibbitts_0001.jpg

 

The program stores the first five letters of the first value. The exception is RECORDINGS because TNG requires all the letters. That means the letters in all caps must be present in the following TYPEs:

 

TYPE   TNG Folder

 

PHOTOs  \photos\

HISTOries  \histories\

BIOGRaphies  \histories\

DOCUMents  \documents\

PDF                        \documents\ The media symbol is the Acrobat symbol

HEADStones  \headstones\

VIDEOs  \other media\ The media symbol is film

RECORDINGS \other media\ The media symbol is headphones

 

Ordinarily, if a TYPE tag IS NOT present, media links will be assigned to the \photos\ folder. If the TYPE tag IS present and the type is not recognized, the media file link is not created. In that case it is NOT LINKED to any folder. The program has been tested to ensure the proper spelling of the TYPE tags.

 

 

3.5.1 USER DEFINED COLLECTIONS, FOLDERS AND PREFIXES.

 

TNG allows users to create their own collections that can point to their own folders. For example, if a user had images taken of artifacts passed down from an ancestor, they may want to store it in a collection other than the eight types and five folders with which TNG comes standard. They may want to create a collection type called ARTIFACTS and have it store the media into a folder created for it.

 

As of 16NOV2012 a user defined prefix is allowed for media. The prefix starts with “x_” and it is followed by the name of the collection, followed by an underscore “_”.  The prefix is CASE-SENSITIVE and must be lower case – (”x_”).

For example, if there were a file name “Jewelry_worn_by_Aunt_Jane.jpg” and the user wanted to store this into a user defined collection called ARTIFACTS, they would need to add a prefix (eg. “x_ARTIFACTS_”) with the collection name embedded with the “x_” prefix and followed by an underscore (“_”). The aforementioned filename would be changed to:  “x_ARTIFACTS_ Jewelry_worn_by_Aunt_Jane.jpg”. If the file already existed in FTM, the name change would have to made from within FTM media manager.

 

The user logs into TNG as an administrator and proceeds to select edit Media. Under the tabs of Search or Add New, click on the ADD COLLECTION button. There are four fields that must be entered. They are:

 

1 Collection ID: This is the name in the file prefix name without the underscores (eg. ARTIFACTS). The cases of the characters are unimportant.

2 Export As: This is the collection’s name to be used when TNG exports a gedcom.

3 Display Title: This is the name that is displayed on your TNG site for the collection.

4 Folder Name: This is the name of the folder that is to be created in the TNG hosting area. TNGs other folders are all lower case. Since the folder will be created within TNG, The name can be any combination of upper and lower case.  

 

Click on MAKE FOLDER button.

Click on the SAVE button.

 

 

 

Upload via FTP all of the newly prefixed files to the newly created folder. Export a gedcom file from FTM with Media Links and run the GC_FTM program. Upload the converted gedcom file into TNG folder for gedcoms and attach it to a tree.

 

 

3.5.2        UPGRADE to TNG VERSION 9.0.1 OR LATER.

 

After the Program converts the GEDCOM file for use by TNG, the user needs TNG version 9.0.1 or later. It contains the modified file “gedimport_misc.php”. Your GEDCOM file is ready for importing. You do not have to bother entering paths in your TNG site’s “Setup - Import GEDCOM” settings. The _TYPE tag inside the modified GEDCOM will tell TNG where to point the file links.

 

 

3.5.3        BACKGROUND

 

Darrin Lythgoe acknowledges that he could not assign media files to the proper folder for FTM GEDCOMS.  He wrote, "… I think the problem here is that the code you're changing below is for a level-0 tag, and TNG is actually not checking the TYPE field there. It does check when the media is imported as a level-1 tag, and most genealogy programs do it that way, but it looks like the level-0 TYPE info was getting skipped. I've altered the code and attached a new file for you here, so please put it on your site and try the import again for me, then let me know if that fixes it or not."

 

He sent the file gedimport_misc.php. We got into Cpanel and renamed our current gedimport_misc.php file and uploaded Darrin's. It  works!

 

The modification will work on The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding, v.9.0.1 and later. It will not work for versions before this.  The TNG software must see a "_TYPE" or "TYPE" tag with a file type following it.

 

Because of the way FTM stores media object links, it does not matter how you set up TNG Import Setting as to which folders are to go where. (SEE http://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php?title=Media_-_Import). TNG will dump all media links into the \PHOTOS\ folder unless it sees a GEDCOM “_TYPE” tag for one of the other four folders.

 

FTM does not store the _TYPE Tag with the FILE Tag. A TYPE Tag must be inserted based on the document type either by hand or with the GC_FTM program.

3.6        FTP the Files (photo, documents, history, etc.) To TNG.

 

Open up your favorite FTP program and go to your My Documents\Family Tree Maker\Family Media\ files folder. If you have NOT assigned prefixes to your filenames and if you have NOT checked the optional “_TYPE” tag for various document types, then upload your entire file to TNG’s PHOTOs folder.

 

It was recommended that you do not make use of the “_TYPE” option because it is for advanced users. If that box WAS checked and prefixes were NOT assigned to filenames, then TNG will be expecting ALL files in the DOCUMents folder.

 

If you have assigned prefixes and then you ran the GC_FTM program, you can load them into TNGs 5 folders. The FTP program should open FTM Media folder and display your filenames alphabetically. The p_ prefix will sort all your photos together. Highlight/Select the entire Photo files and upload them to the \PHOTOS\ folder in TNG. Repeat this step for the four other file types and any other user defined types

 

Use of the “_TYPE” option to assign folder also requires the installation of TNG version 9.0.1 or later.

 

 

3.7        FINISHED

 

Your site is ready to be enjoyed.

 

If you have enabled Google Maps on your site, you may want to adjust the Place and Zoom levels for your locations. This requires using phpMyAdmin from within cPanel and is for advanced users only. A discussion is found at http://connergenealogy.com/PlaceTableUtility.html

 

 

PLEASE NOTE

 

This guide may be copied for personal use. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Do not view or download from any site other than ConnerGenealogy.com. Other sites are not authorized and may contain computer viruses.

 

 

 

This file and the program it describes are the Copyright of Stephen A. Conner.

 

Family Tree Maker is a trademark of Ancestry.com

TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding) is written by Darrin Lythgoe

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

 

Special thanks to:  Greg Burton, David Powell, Ralph Bowman, and Lawrence Appelt for all of their suggestions.