GB - Toolbar

Questions

1. Tell me about the Starfield™. What can it do?
2. What Features does the View Menu offer?
3. What do the different colors represent?
4. What is a Family Conflict?
5. What are the Lightning Bolts in my Starfield™?
6. What are the light bulbs in my Starfield™?
7. Are there different ways to view my family tree in the Starfield™?
8. How do I view an individual's descendants in the Starfield™?

Answers

GB-Starfield FAQ

1. Tell me about the Starfield™. What can it do?

   The Starfield™ is one of the most exciting features of OneGreatFamily's Genealogy Browser™. It is the graphical interface between you and your genealogy. The Starfield™ View removes the previous limitations in genealogy software with how you can view and display your genealogy. Within your Starfield™ are boxes representing the individuals in your genealogy. These boxes can be reduced or enlarged to allow you to see the big picture at once, or to zero in on the details of several individuals. When the boxes are reduced, you can literally see hundreds of individuals at once, yet still see the details of any individual by simply holding your cursor over any box. This is also where you will see the display of Gen-Bulbs™, Gen-Bolts™ and other unique features such as the Gen-Tracer™ and the descendancy of any individual in your genealogy.

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2. What Features does the View Menu offer?

   The View Menu offers a variety of ways to view your StarfieldT.
   
   Limiter
   
   Allows you to see an unlimited number of generations at once (other products only allow 4 or 5 generations). You get to select the amount of generations that you would like to view.
   
   Show Descendancy
   
   Allows you to view the siblings, spouses, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc., of any individual in your genealogy.
   
   Show Common Ancestors
   
   Common Ancestors are indicated by individuals (stars) that are colored blue. Common Ancestors are individuals who show up multiple times in your genealogy because they are connected to you in more than one genealogical line. In other words, their descendants married each other! (We all have them in our genealogies.) If you mouse over a Common Ancestor, a line will appear connecting you to the other place in your genealogy where the same person exists. You will also find a button of a blue tilted line in the toolbar of Genealogy Browser^TM. By clicking on this button, all of the lines between your common ancestors will appear in your Starfield^TM.
   
   Hints
   
   OneGreatFamily uses Z-Search^TM to perform internal searches within the OneGreatFamily database. A Z-Search looks for new information added by other users within the OneGreatFamilyTM database. When new information for your ancestors is found, a Gen-Bulb^TM icon will appear next the name of the individual in your pedigree. Simply click on the Gen-BulbTM, verify the new information, and your pedigree will automatically be updated.
   
   Conflicts
   
   This feature makes the verification of genealogical information possible by notifying you with the image of a yellow lightning bolt, called a Gen-BoltTM, when another OneGreatFamily user has conflicting information with your data. You can then collaborate with the source and work out your differences. If, in the end, you can''t resolve the conflict, you agree to disagree and each view the data as you believe it to be correct.
   
   Tracer
   
   This feature allows you to mouse over an ancestor in the Starfield and a blue line will come up to trace how you are related to that person.

    
   To watch a video on these options click here

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3. What do the different colors represent?

    

   Blue - The light blue boxes represent common ancestors. Common Ancestors are ancestors who appear more than once in your genealogy because you connect to them through more than one genealogical line. In other words, their descendants married each other!
   
   Red- This marks an end of line. There are no parents in the OneGreatFamily database for this ancestor. By looking at the end of line indicators, you can see at a glance where to begin to work on extending the reach of your genealogy.
   
   Dark Gray- Any individuals who are added to your family tree by OneGreatFamily will appear in a dark gray box.
   
   Light Gray- Any individuals who are added to your family tree by you (the member) will appear in a light gray box.

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4. What is a Family Conflict?

   Just like Individual Records, Family Records can contain conflicts after a merge. There are different types of Family Conflicts, depending on what information is conflicting. When you click on the lightning bolt icon for a Family record, you will notice two boxes. (The Family Information box on the left and the Family Conflicts box on the right.)
   
   Marriage: These conflicts are simply a marriage date or place dispute. If you want to accept the information on the right as your own, click Accept (This will erase the information on the left and replace it with their information.)
   
   Child: These conflicts state that some child record is being left off the child list because a different record is listed in their slot*. If you would like to add the child to the list in the left box, click Accept and Add Conflict. If you want to merge the conflicting child with the child listed in the left box in the same slot, press Accept and Merge Individuals. If you want to have the child in the right box replace the child in the left box in the same slot, press Accept and Accept Conflict. If the child in the right box should be merged with a child in a different slot in the left box, press Accept, then Add Conflict, and then Merge the duplicate children.
   

    

    To watch a tutorial video on resolving conflicts click here

   
   Child Order Conflict: The left box will show which slot your information states for this child, while the right box will show the conflicting slot. Press Accept and Accept Order to accept the order in the right box.
   
   * A slot is the order of that child in the family. For example, the third child in the family is in slot 3.

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5. What are the Lightning Bolts in my Starfield™?

   After two records are merged, any differences in information will become conflicts for the new single record.
   
   There are different types of conflicts depending on what information is conflicting. When you click on a lightning bolt, you will notice two boxes containing information (the Details For box on the left and the Individual Conflicts box on the right). The information on the left is yours and the information on the right is some other member''s*.
   
   Name/Birth/Death: These conflicts are simply a date or place dispute. If you want to accept the information on the right as your own, click Accept. (This will erase the information on the left.)
   
   Individual's Spouse: These conflicts state that there are two family records for this individual as a spouse/parent. Look to see if the names in these families look similar. If they are, press Accept and then Merge Families. This will bring up both of the family records so that you can examine them further. Press Merge again if you believe them to be the same family.
   
   Child's Biological Family: These conflicts state that there are two family records for this individual as a child. They can be examined in the same manner as the Individual''s Spouse conflicts.
   
   Note: If you believe that you have the correct information and that the conflicting information is incorrect, use Collaboration.
   
   * A conflict is most likely owned by another OneGreatFamily member; however, if you submit information more than once, you may receive conflicts from yourself.

    

   To watch a tutorial video on resolving conflicts click here

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6. What are the light bulbs in my Starfield™?

   The Gen-Bulb™ icon is a yellow light bulb and indicates the system found a hint for you from the data of another user. A Gen-Bulb™ allows you look at the data yourself to see if it qualifies as a match before you accept it.

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7. Are there different ways to view my family tree in the Starfield™?

   There are a variety of ways to view the Starfield. You may view it as a pedigree, see descendants, show common connections, zoom in and out, show all generations or limit them, show the split screen with the Handprint, or view only the Starfield.
   
   You can also adjust your view of the Starfield through user preferences. Select "User Preferences" from the File menu to adjust the Genealogy Browser™ to your liking. Your user information and preferences provide both essential information about you as a participant in OneGreatFamily and also specify program settings. Be sure to keep your information current so we can keep you updated on new features added to OneGreatFamily. You can change your preferences as often as you like.

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8. How do I view an individual's descendants in the Starfield™?

   To view your descendant's genealogy, there is a button on the toolbar that looks like a backward pedigree chart. Click on the button and it allows you to see your descendants. Unclick it and the descendants will be taken away.

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