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What's New?, 432 Threads

List of new features added. If you have a question or comment about an item here, reply to it! For potential new features, check out the list and add your votes.

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ThreadStart DateLast PostMessages
Sheriffs4-5-2014 by Ray Gurganus4-5-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
Added a new political position for "Sheriff" and tagged about 140 people, mostly in England, but a few in the U.S. as well. Feel free to add more! Here are some examples...
/mayors.php/position/Sheriff/state/England/county/Kent
Entering sources4-3-2014 by Ray Gurganus4-3-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
When entering sources, and you put something in the "website address" field, please only put in here the actual address of a website.  Thus it should begin with "http" and end with the ending of the website address, NOTHING ELSE.  Any other description information should go in the description.

I'll try to update the form to enforce this, but in the meantime, try to police yourselves.  Thanks.
Various Updates3-30-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-30-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
On the View > Surname page, added at the top is the button which allows you to select and re-arrange the columns that appear for the list of people on that page.  To add columns, click & drag items from below the "Not Shown" line, to above.  To remove columns, click & drag an item to below the "Not Shown" line.  These should be remembered for any time you return to this page.   If you remove too many, or if new options are added to the list down the road, the list will be reset to the defaults.

On the Politicians, Mayors, Miltary Officers, Religious Leaders, and Peerage pages, the similar button that was already there is revised to allow re-arranging as described above.  Your choices will be remembered for each group.

On the Pedigree & Descendant pages, the similar button is updated to work like those above (though except for adding and removing items, re-arranging items here doesn't have any effect.)
Directory Search3-28-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-28-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
Under Collaborate > "Rearcher Directory" is added an option to search the directory for words found in the resarcher's name or email address.

.... and remember to go to Collaborate > "Possible New Features" to vote on what you'd like to see. This one was the top on my to-do-list... and send me ideas for other improvements!
Adding and Editing Documents3-24-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-24-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
Brought back is an older option that was there and then was delayed in returning -- the option to add the text of documents (deeds, wills, etc.).  Go to the "Add" buttons at the top of a page, to "Historical Document".

.... and remember to go to Collaborate > "Possible New Features" to vote on what you'd like to see.  This one was the top on my to-do-list.
Peerage people3-9-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-18-2014 by Ray Gurganus3
A new page is up under View > "Politicians & Other Officers" > "Peerage Titles", categorizing the many people who have been identified with peerage titles (Dukes, Barons, Earls, Lords, etc.), mostly in western Europe.  Almost all of the people there were already on the website -- this just changes the way they are identified, so that they can be found and cross-referenced.  It's currently up to 982 people, and there are perhaps a few hundred more that I can track down and identify.

Most of these are documented in Wikipedia, at the bottom of their personal pages.

They are also identified here in the search results, surname pages, pedigrees, and other places by a shield icon, with the color corresponding to the country.

Let me know if you have any questions about how to enter this for new people, or suggestions for further improvement.
Another new page3-10-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-10-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
On each of the Politicans, Mayors, Organizations, Religious Leaders, Occupations, and Peerage pages (Military is coming soon), there's a new link "Show Statistics Summary".

This lists out the different roles, the number of people in each, and the percent completeness for different fields for those people.  Each percent is color coded green, yellow, orange, and red.

Just another way to point out where there are gaps waiting to be filled, if information can be found to fill them.
Possible new features3-9-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-9-2014 by Ray Gurganus1
Added a new page under Collaborate > "Possible new features" -- this lists items on my list to be programmed.  If there are any items that would be high on your priority list, you can submit your vote for it.  Knowing who's interested and how many people will help my priority list.
Peerage titles3-3-2014 by Ray Gurganus3-3-2014 by Ray Gurganus1

Up until now, peerage titles like "1st Duke of Cambridge" have been defined using many different ways -- titles, part of the first name, part of the surname, suffix, occupation, and notes. I'm starting to fix this, moving all into the office & role setup, under the add button.  I'll work on moving all of these, and editing the information out of the current locations.

This makes it consistent with the rest of the website, and makes easier to list people by title.

Here's an example:  /browse.php/Henry-Percy-Earl-of-Northumberland/p52676

New option for adding events2-27-2014 by Ray Gurganus2-28-2014 by Dottie6
I'm working on a new option for adding events.  Let me know if anyone has any questions or concerns....

Anyone who is logged in will be able to ADD new events (birth, residence, marriage, death, grave, etc.)  to any record, without needing to be a moderator, without needing to do a suggested change.  A source will be required.  This will be recorded in the log of changes, and will be included in the daily email of updates to your stuff.

No one wll be able to EDIT another person's existing information, even if it's an event that they added themselves.  Of course you as moderator are free to update or remove the event as you like.

I think this will help everyone