Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Using the Web Tags Feature in RootsMagic 6

A reader asked me in email if I had used Web Tags, one of the new features in RootsMagic 6.  I checked the RootsMagic TV YouTube Channel and didn't see anything about it.

I had not used Web Tags before, so I've done a little exploring and experimenting with it.  Here's the process I found for adding and using the Web Tags, and some comments on how to best use it.

1)  In an "Edit Person" screen in RootsMagic 6, the "Web Tags" button is on the top menu line above the "Person" heading of the right-hand panel:


2)  I clicked the "Web Tags (0)" button and the "Web Tags" screen opened:


There are four buttons on this screen - for "Add," "Edit," "Delete" and "Go."

3)  I clicked on the "Add" button, and the "Edit WebTag" screen opened:


The "Edit Web Tag" screen has five fields (shown above):

*  "Link from:"  Select from Person, Source, Citation, Place, or Research Log.
*  Person (if Person was chosen): the subject person is already entered (if Person was chosen)
*  Name:  A descriptive name for the web page
*  URL:  the web address for the record
*  Note:  any text desired.  Perhaps how a person searched for the record.

On the screen above, I entered information for my father for his entry in the 1920 U.s. Census.

4)  I added several other Census records, and then added the Find A Grave memorial web tag:


5)  After entering five of the web tags (all of the ones I found on Ancestry.com), I went back to the "Edit Person" screen in RootsMagic 6:


The "WebTags" button indicates that I have entered 7 WebTags for my father.

6)  I was interested in the Source and Citation WebTag feature.  I created a WebTag for the 1920 U.S. Census source citation:


After selecting "Citation" in the "Link from" dropdown menu, I added the Source (selected from the Master Source list) and the Citation (selected from the Citation list for that Master Source), typed in the Name of the item, and copied the URL from Ancestry.com.  The result is shown above.

7)  When I clicked "OK" and went back to the "Edit Person" screen and the "WebTags" still said there were 7;  I think that's because I did it for a Citation instead of a Person.  I clicked on the 1920 Census Event, and then on the "Sources" button, then on the "Edit" button, and then on the "Detail Text" button:


The screen above indicates that there is one WebTag for this source citation.  That process is fairly burdensome - a lot of clicks for a WebTag entry and then it may not be found by a user or reader.

8)  Conclusions:  I have some conclusions from this trial run of WebTags:

*  The input process to the WebTag screen is self-explanatory and fairly easy to do.  The user has to type (or copy/paste) the "Name" of the WebTag, and then Copy/Paste the URL of the source.

*  I chose to use the Record Summary URL for the WebTag item rather than the image URL.  I think that puts the record into some context, especially for users or readers that are not overly familiar with the records.  I try to attach the downloaded record image to the Person using the Media button and attach it to the Event by Tagging it.

*  I decided to add the year of the event to the WebTag Name so that the WebTag list for the Person was in chronological order.  Otherwise, it is in alphabetical order.

*  I struggled to find the WebTag for the Source Citation I entered the first time, and really never found it.  I added the WebTag for the 1920 Census source citation using the WebTag button on the Sources > Edit > Detail Text screen.

*  I haven't tried adding a WebTag to a Place Name - perhaps it could link to a USGenWeb page or or WikiPedia page for the State, County or City/Town.

*  I wonder if the WebTags are transferred through a GEDCOM file to another program or an online family tree?  My guess is that RootsMagic has a custom GEDCOM tag and puts it in the GEDCOM file, but other platforms may not read it.

Have you used the WebTags feature in RootsMagic or another software program?  If so, what are your thoughts and conclusions about it?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/08/using-web-tags-feature-in-rootsmagic-6.html

Copyright (c) 2013), Randall J. Seaver

5 comments:

Ben said...

Web Tags are also synchronized with URLs on FamilySearch Family Tree sources if you're synchronizing RootsMagic with Family Tree.

Here's a post that at least talks a little about this

http://support.rootsmagic.com/entries/21866595-Transferring-sources-between-RootsMagic-and-FamilySearch-Family-Tree

Robbhaas said...

I use Web Tags for people and sources - What I like mainly is that fact that these tags are uploaded as part of the data in the "Publish Online" feature.

According to Bruce they intend to make web tags available for more areas of RM in the future.

I do agree that it takes a lot of clicks to get to and from some of the Web Tags especially the source citation ones and hopefully that will be fixed at some point.

Robbhaas said...

Randy,

There is a webinar about Web Tags - Webinar #44 on the RM webinar page

Unknown said...

I do use Web Tags and find them quite useful. I prefer to keep links to online pages about the person there, rather then my browser bookmarks menu.
I do hope that it becomes possible to enter a Web Tag once then link it to the person, source, and research log instead of having to copy it to each.
I did find that you can enter a link to a file on your pc hard drive and it will open it as well.
Family Tree Maker has a web tag feature, but my RM tags do not import into it properly. I end up with a number of empty web tag events/facts.

Tom Holden said...

I worked on getting URLs to sources from Ancestry.com GEDCOMs to marry up with sources and their respective images downloaded by FamilyTreeMaker and then get those URLs into the WebTags of the Citations imported into RootsMagic. That is described at WebTags - from Ancestry.com and FTM. Then, given that Citation WebTags are so hard to get to, I developed
WebTags - Consolidate to create Person WebTags from Citation WebTags to help consolidate all WebTags pertaining to a person to the WebTags button on the Edit Person Screen.