Sections of the Class Notes

• Introduction
• Forming Web Pages from PAF Databases
• Locations in PAF for Internet Links 
• Putting Internet Links in Notes
• Putting Internet Links in Sources
• Putting Internet Links in Events
• Conclusions
• Assignment

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .  This page was last updated 7 Feb 2007.

• Instructors are Donald R. and Diane M. Snow, 801-225-7123 in Provo, Utah and 435-673-1932 in St. George, Utah (snowd@math.byu.edu, dms34@juno.com)
• These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class Outlines, Don's Listings.
• These notes are written for PAF (Personal Ancestral File), but the ideas are useful for other genealogy programs too, and active Internet links may work directly when geneating web pages in other programs.

• PAF itself will generate web pages
• These reports are useful ways to view your data in new ways, even if you don't want to post it online
• Pages on your computer are viewed with a web browser, e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Opera and things like the back arrow work
• To generate a web page in PAF click on Tools/Create-Web-Page or just click on the World icon (3rd from the right end)
• Opens the Create Web Page menu
• Select the options you want
• Type of web page (Ancestors, Descendants, or Selected Persons)
• To show everyone in your database use the Selected Persons option and select All
• Most options are self-explanatory
• Notes can be Embedded (in with the text) or Linked (click on the link to take you to the notes) -- each method has its uses
• Web pages generated with PAF will not have active Internet links, even if entered correctly
• Other programs, including Ancestral Quest and The Next Generation, will read PAF databases or GEDCOM's from PAF and generate web pages with active Internet links, i.e. you can click on them and go to those web pages
• Ancestral Quest is free for use in Family History Centers -- contact the author at http://www.ancquest.com/
• Examples of active links of each of the types discussed below will be shown from (1)  Ancestral Quest-generated web pages and  (2)  from our online Early LDS database on http://earlylds.com which is generated with The Next Generation software.

• Internet links can be placed in PAF databases in the following locations:
• NOTES
• SOURCES
• EVENTS
• In a person's Notes the link could be to a biography posted on the Internet or an explanation of something about the person.
• In a Source the link could be to an online database that shows the source or gives information about it.
• In Events the link could be to a website that explains details about that event in the person's life.
• Note:  since URL's (Internet website addresses) change frequently, it is helpful to explain enough about the site or database so that someone could find it later, even if the URL has changed.

• Open the notes of the person where you want to include an Internet link, e.g. for a biographical or explanatory link for that person
• Type the following html text (hypertext markup language):   "Click here for link <a href=http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi " Target=_blank">http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi</a>." (without the quotes at the start and end)
• For a link to a different web address put the address in both places where the http://... occurs.
• After you have experimented with this a little you will see what you can modify.
• You can have this format set up in a text file and copy and paste it when you need it.
• In a PAF-generated web page this shows up as meaningless text, but in an Ancestral Quest-generated web page from this PAF database, it will be an active Internet link.
• Examples from an Ancestral Quest-generated web page using a PAF database
• Example from http://earlylds.com (generated by The Next Generation software from a PAF GEDCOM) -- see Lyman Wight, born 1796

• To put an active link in an individual's source, open the source from the Individual Edit screen, and in the Comments field, NOT the text field, type the following html text (hypertext markup language):  "Click here for link <a href=http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi " Target=_blank">http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi</a>." (without the quotes at the start and end)
• To put an active link in a source that will be in the records of all inviduals citing that source, go to the Edit/Sources List screen, and select the source and entering these words in the Comments for that source: "Click here for link <a href=http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/hist-mormonsettlements.htm " Target=_blank">http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/hist-mormonsettlements.htm</a>." (without the quotes at the start and end)
• In a PAF-generated web page these words show up as meaningless text, but in an Ancestral Quest-generated web page from this PAF database, they will form an active Internet link.
• Examples from an Ancestral Quest-generated web page using a PAF database
• Example from http://earlylds.com -- see Jane Lewis, born 1853

• ENTERING EVENTS IN PAF
• To enter a new Event, from someone's Edit Individual screen, click on Options/New Event-Attribute, and select an Event already in PAF or else enter a new one.
• This event will now be available to select for anyone in the database and will show up under Other Events to enter the details for that person.


• INCLUDING INTERNET LINKS IN EVENTS
• The following example will form an Event with a web link leading to more information about the death or burial of an individual.
• From an Edit Individual screen select Options/New Event-Attribute, and type in the title "html Death"; type in a short title such as "DH-html"; and Abbreviation "DH"; check Use Description and for Male enter "Further information about the death or burial of %1 may be found at <a href="%6"> %6</a>." (without the quotes) in the No Date or Place box.  For Female change the %1 to %2 and for Unknown sex to %7.
• To include this event in someone's record, select it and enter the web address, http://..., you want in the Description field of the event.
• When this Event is generated in a report it will put the appropriate html words around the web address to form a valid Internet link.
• Since PAF automatically writes certain words around Events when generating web pages, the trick is to write this so PAF writes the html code needed when it writes the Event -- that's what the words you entered in the Use Description field do.
• Examples from an Ancestral Quest-generated web page using a PAF database
• Example from http://earlylds.com -- see Jane Maria Shearer, born 1819

• Including Internet links in the database helps record where the data came from and allows others to go to those web sites easily.
• You can copy and paste the basic link structure where it needs to go and then just enter the web address you want.
• The html text you write has to be in the right place and in the right format, so you may need to experiment and generate trial web pages using Ancestral Quest or some other program to be sure you have the format right.

1. Generate the web pages for a database using PAF.  Experiment with the various options in forming the web pages.
2. Enter an Internet link into the notes for someone in a PAF database and form the web pages using a program such as Ancestral Quest to read the PAF database directly and see if the Internet link is active.
3. Enter an Internet link into a source in a PAF database and form the web pages using a program such as Ancestral Quest to read the PAF database directly and see if the Internet link is active..
4. Enter an Event and an Internet link into it in a PAF database and form the web pages using some other program such as Ancestral Quest that will read the PAF database directly and see if the Internet link is active..

Return to Don's Class Listings page or to the home page of Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group .