Interesting solution/idea. I'll have a play around. Thanks Jane Regards Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What would George Smiley do...? ------------------------------- What not create a custom attribute for Additional Notes, you can add notes to attributes and easily exclude specific attributes from reports and build custom reports only containing a single attribute for example. Then you can build your custom tab with the Note for the Additional Note Attribute and using the variable height option to get a "big" note box. On 12 October 2011 15:04, Ed Thomas <cavasta@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > give them the heading 'additional notes' -- Jane. Jane Taubman | www.rjt.org.uk | www.taubman.org.uk |www.fhug.org.uk ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FAMILY-HISTORIAN-USERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I've now had a play around with Jane's idea and am very pleased with the results. For the benefit of others who may be interested in adapting this for their own requirements here's what I'll use it for and how I've got it configured (apologies for the length): Essentially the new custom tab is a 'To Do' list for individuals. I've never really liked the idea of using a named list for itemising work in progress (a To Do list). I much prefer the idea of having such notes 'attached' to the individual's properties/details rather than having them appear in a 'separate' feature. That's just my personal preferance. However, as mentioned in my original post, I've never been quite able to set up such a feature. I've known what I wanted but not been able to get it (not even sure if it was possible). Following Jane's advice, I created a custom attribute, called it 'To Do' and gave it the imaginative label 'To Do'. It appears that, when creating custom events/attributes, you have to provide a template (for narrative reports), so I added any old template (in this case {abbr}). It doesn't matter to me what template I use as it won't appear in any individual or family reports (more of which later). Next I created a custom tab and called it 'To Do'. The only item that I've selected to appear in the new tab are the notes from the newly-created 'To Do' attribute. I've configured the 'To Do' item thus: Custom Item Name: To Do Part 1 ticked Label: blank (I entered a space using the space bar, as entering something is mandatory - I didn't particularly want anything to appear at the side of or above the item in the tab, hence the blank space). Data Reference: INDI._ATTR-TO_DO[1].NOTE2[1] Variable Height: ticked To enter notes, details of things to do, etc that relate specifically to the selected individual, enter a fact in the usual way, selecting, of course, the newly-created 'To Do' attribute. In the note section enter whatever's relevant to your requirements - this is what will appear in the 'To Do' tab. Next, I experimented with where I wanted the new attribute to appear in the list of facts (which, like most people, I have sorted in date order). Where it appears depends on what is entered in the date box. If it's left blank, it will appear just before the person's death (if you have recorded one). If you enter something like 2075 (to force it to appear after all the recorded facts), it just looks a little odd and will appear at the bottom of the list of facts, which could be out of sight, depending on how many facts you have recorded for an individual. I settled on using the equally odd but much more pragmatic date of 0000. This forces the To Do attribute to appear at the top of the list of facts, above the birth event. Thus no matter how many facts are recorded, the To Do attribute always appears at the top of the pile and is immediately visible whenever the Facts tab of the property dialogue box is opened. I intend to have just one 'To Do' attribute for each individual (but only if one's required). In the note box of the attribute I anticipate beginning each new note entry with the date of writing (eg, 13/10/2011) followed by a description of what's required. Each new entry will start on a new line - possibly separated from the last entry by a space, just to make it easier to read (I haven't decided yet, but it's not important from the point of view of how the setup actually works). I don't see any reason for having a separate To Do attribute for each and every item of work in progress/things to do. That would just bloat the facts list and clutter it up. However, there's nothing to stop you from doing that if that's what you want. You'll just have to remember to add a new custom To Do notes item in the To Do tab, with each one given a corresponding data reference (INDI._ATTR-TO_DO[1], INDI._ATTR-TO_DO[2], INDI._ATTR-TO_DO[3], etc). Again, this could lead to a cluttered/bloated appearance. I think one attribute and one large notes box looks better and is easier to use. You can enter a note directly into the note box as it appears on the To Do tab. This will automatically create a new To Do attribute without you having to manually select it. However, you will have to go to the new attribute and enter a date of 0000 for it to appear at the top of the list of facts. To ensure the 'To Do' attibute does not appear in standard reports (individuals, family group sheets, etc) you need to configute the report options. In the report window, click on the 'Options' button on the right. On the Contents tab, under 'Individual Events/ Attributes', select 'Exclude List' and then click on the 'Edit List' button. From the list of attributes, select the 'To Do' attribute, send it to the list box on the right and click ok. This will exclude the To Do attribute from appearing in any future reports. All this may seem seem a bit long winded and perhaps even cumbersome. But it works for me and I thought other users would find it interesting - even if it's not really for them. Thanks to Jane for her creative suggestion and Simon for developing such a flexible and configurable program. Regards Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What would George Smiley do...? What not create a custom attribute for Additional Notes, you can add notes to attributes and easily exclude specific attributes from reports and build custom reports only containing a single attribute for example. Then you can build your custom tab with the Note for the Additional Note Attribute and using the variable height option to get a "big" note box. On 12 October 2011 15:04, Ed Thomas <cavasta@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > give them the heading 'additional notes' -- Jane.