XPost: alt.genealogy   
   From: G6JPG@255soft.uk   
      
   On 2026/2/8 22:42:45, Tahiri wrote:   
   > On 06/02/2026 21:59, J. P. Gilliver wrote:   
   >> I wish genealogy software and databases would actually acknowledge year   
   >> quarters   
   > snip   
   >>   
   >> 2. Once an event recorded in that way has been   
   >> cited/quoted/copied/whatever once or twice, the fact that it was   
   >> originally known to be a quarter will get lost, and it will be assumed   
   >> that it is accurate to the month.   
   >>   
   >> FWIW I record such events, if in plain text, as e. g. 1960Q2; in the   
   >> software I use (Brother's Keeper), which doesn't "know about" quarters,   
   >> I enter just the year, with Q2 in the comment field for that event.   
   >   
   > This used to be a common problem since most software is made in the US,   
   > but I believe they are more adaptable nowadays. I remember Ancestry   
   > changing from using the last month for a quarter, to using the first   
   > month, which is less likely to have people appearing to be baptised   
      
   It's still only one of three possibles, though (so only a 1 in 3 chance   
   of being correct). I've seen all three used - FreeBMD and the GRO   
   themselves use the third (last) month, as do _I think_ Ancestry and   
   FindMyPast; I think familysearch (the LDS) use the _middle_ one; and   
   I've seen at least one place which uses the first one (might have been   
   MyHeritage, I can't remember).   
      
   > before they were born. I was always told to put eg 1 Jan 1900 - 31 Mar   
      
   That's best, it's just tedious ...   
      
   > 1900, which still isn't always accurate since it might be a December   
   > event that was registered in January. In any case Brother's Keeper has a   
      
   ... and there's always that. (Q1 ones are the worst because they can be   
   the wrong _year_, but even Q2/3/4 ones can be _registered_ in the   
   quarter after they happened.)   
      
   > maximum of 20 spaces in the date field so the format of my example   
   > becomes a problem.   
      
   I was going to say that, if you double-click the date field in BK, it   
   lets you enter two dates, and indicate whether they're starting date and   
   ending date (as could be the case for anything that lasted a long time,   
   such as living somewhere, or an occupation), or that the event happened   
   between them (such as a BMD, qualification, etcetera). But you say that ...   
      
   > I now use Family Historian sold by Calico Pie which is British software   
      
   ... so you're no longer interested in BK.   
      
   I'm very interested, as - seeing the writing on the wall for BK - Family   
   Historian looks the best (for me) one to switch to; I'm interested to hear:   
      
   what you found in moving from BK to FH - what went wrong (especially   
   things you only discovered long after the change), what to look out for   
   (including how to prevent the things that went wrong), and similar   
   questions; (date formats especially)   
      
   how you think the _support_ compares. In BK, there's a user group   
   (mailing list), with lots of helpful people, and occasionally JS   
   himself; he also provides minor upgrades free. As far as I can see, FH   
   has just a support group (a forum) - no pariticipation from the authors,   
   and no upgrades other than major paid. (But it is more in line with   
   modern Windows conventions.)   
      
   > and accepts quarter years as Q1 1900. All mine were as 1Q1900 which it   
   > put in inverted commas and called a 'date phrase'! I have gradually   
      
   Mine are mostly just year, with Q1 etc. among the comments for that   
   event. (If I do have any in the date field, they'll be e. g. 1960Q2,   
   which BK will just store as text.)   
      
   I _may_ be able to get ChatGPT (or similar) to create something to   
   extract those, though I suspect not as "Q2" etc. is often not the _only_   
   thing I have in the comments (for example, I might have further address   
   details for e. g. BMDs - I tend only to record the town/village in the   
   location box, with house number and street name, or church, in the   
   comment box - so my list of "locations with events" remains usable).   
      
   > swapped them around so that it is now happy and the age calculations   
   > work. I am still running Brother's Keeper as well because I am   
   > continuing using it's reference numbers. Family Historian has many more   
   > features but you don't have to use them.   
      
   Hmm. (Have you ever gone from FH _to_ BK? If so, what problems?)   
      
   --   
   J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)