A friend sent a link to a thread on the Gramps genealogy subreddit (link) where somebody is discussing taking their genealogy work to a family reunion, and they don’t want the “technically-challenged” folks “accidentally” making changes. They are asking if there is a “view only mode” for Gramps.
The recommendations seem to be in favor of generating an HTML report and viewing it locally, and I think that’s probably the best way to do it for a lot of genealogists – most people know how to use a web browser, and Gramps supports a “Narrated Web Site”, and RootsMagic and many other genealogy programs support web/HTML output. You can always use an app like GedSite (link) to generate HTML files for local viewing as well.
Using a web browser and generated HTML files is fast and easy, and the interface won’t be as technically challenging as your desktop genealogy program. You can set the browser’s home page to the index page (or the start page depending on the software) so that people can easily get back to the beginning.
Generating HTML files also lets you include them on a USB flash drive (or CDs) if you want to allow others to take home a copy (you could make a batch of CDs with the HTML files). If you are thinking of something like this, see my thoughts below about what data to include/exclude.
I think you should make use of the wall chart printing capabilities of your genealogy software if it has it as well (you can get PDF charts printed out at office supply places, etc.), and if not, import into something that does, or use something like Progeny’s charting software (link), maybe with photos and names of the people in attendance, going back a few generations. It can be displayed somewhere (on a wall or whiteboard) and used to get people up to speed on how everybody is related, and it’s especially great for kids to see how they and their cousins are related. Maybe have a slideshow of really old family photos running on a TV in the room as well.
I would add a few things in terms of the software itself:
- I would NOT have a laptop (or a desktop) sitting there with your genealogy software loaded for people to look at. A family gathering is not the place for somebody to try and learn how to navigate around genealogy software that they’ve never seen (if they’ve ever seen genealogy software in the first place!).
- If you have an iPad, maybe get a copy of MobileFamilyTree 10 (look for it in the App Store, see the videos at the bottom of the page) and load a GEDCOM file. Make sure this a copy of your work and restricted to specific family members (see my thoughts below). I’m sure there are probably other apps on the iPad such as Heredis (link) (and/or Android equivalents) that can make for a good presentation, but MFT is what I’m familiar with on the iPad – they have some nice presentation features for moving through 3D representations of trees, and many people are used to touch interfaces (and kids love tablets).
- If you choose to let them use an actual genealogy program on your laptop, desktop, or mobile device, DO NOT have your main genealogy research open – have copies open, and make sure and have backups of your main genealogy research. You don’t need somebody making changes to it (see below) or copying your research and putting it online because there maybe sensitive data in that research.
There’s some great advice in the thread, and it’s worth a read, but I’d like to add some of my thoughts on the genealogy data itself, regardless of what program you use (and I know some may disagree with me):
- I wouldn’t be worried about the technically-challenged folks accidentally making changes, I would be worried about anybody making changes, whether by accident or intentional because they believe my data is wrong or they are trying to “help me out”. My data may very well be wrong, and maybe the well-intentioned person might have first-hand knowledge that I didn’t know about, but if somebody sees an error that needs correcting, I’d like to be be informed and be the person making the correction so that I can properly document it. The idea of my genealogy research being changed by other people without my consent or knowledge…..if I want that, I’ll hop on FamilySearch!
- Tying into the above, make sure this is a copy of your data and not the original/master research, and being a copy, I would tailor the data in it to the event at hand (see below).
- If you are on a computer that allows for it, setup a guest account with limited access (see below in terms of data present) and use that for people to browse – don’t let somebody run amuck in your computer’s main account while you are not around.
- I would exclude all living people (and maybe people who have passed away in the last 10-20 years). Regardless of whether it’s just on your computer only (what if somebody copied it?), or whether you are distributing it on a USB drive or CD – you need to think about privacy concerns and assume that somebody may try to take this information and put it on online (not just the embarrassing photos). You could have a lot of people mad at you, and for good reason.
- You may not know who all will be in attendance. Keep the data confined to the immediate family and specifically their ancestors – you don’t need to provide any more data than what is relevant to those who are there. Using a guest account on a computer, with genealogy data restricted to non-living individuals in that branch of the family is the best way to minimize risks.
- Finally, if you know of any specific events that have cause a lot of angst, drama, etc., I would find a way to sanitize it in the tree (another reason to use a copy of your data). A family reunion/gathering is not the place to re-open old wounds and is generally not the place to have opposing views on an dramatic event aired – that could (and would) overshadow the reunion and cause bad feelings (maybe even enough for some people to leave early). If somebody asks, and you want to get into those kinds of events (and more detail in general), I would setup an online video call with family members specifically about genealogy, and maybe set an agenda and ask people what they want to discuss.
Think of this “presentation” regardless of format, as a recruiting tool to get family members into genealogy, and maybe even to spark some discussions about events or people where cousins may have had differing stories about something or somebody passed down to them. Setup a video call online in the very near future. It’s a potential jumping point to more genealogy discoveries down the road, and maybe you can get cousins in other branches of your family to start doing interviews or research of their own to contribute to a large/more detailed tree.
With all of that said, I’ll try to put together an article with specific software suggestions in the near future.
In the meantime, here are a couple of MobileFamilyTree 10 videos showing what I meant about interesting presentations:
