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Fact Types Dialog

The Fact Types Dialog displays lists of types of events and attributes. It can be accessed in two different ways, and will look slightly different depending on the context of use. You can open it by clicking on the Add Fact button on the toolbar in the Facts tab of the Property Box, and then choosing More Fact Types... from the dropdown menu that appears.  Or you can click on Fact Types on the Tools Menu.

When you access this dialog by clicking on Fact Types on the Tool menu, the assumption is that you are primarily interested in creating new facts, or in modifying or deleting existing fact types or fact sets.

When you access this dialog box by clicking on the Add Fact button on the Facts tab of the Property Box, the assumption is that you are primarily interested in adding facts to the record you are currently viewing. However, even in this case, you can still access all the features that you need to work with fact types, by clicking on the More >> button within the Fact Types dialog.

This page discusses the use of this dialog to add events or attributes to the current record. To find out about working with fact types and fact sets, see Work with Fact Sets.

Techniques for Quickly Adding Events and Attributes to a Record

The simplest way to add an event or attribute to the current record is to select it (click on its name in the left column) and press the Add button. Alternatively, simply double-clicking on the event or attribute will also add it.

Over time you are likely to add a great many events or attributes; so it is worth learning techniques to make this as quick and easy and convenient as possible.

• Hide all events or attributes that you never use. This will make it much quicker and easier to find the ones you regularly use. Remember that hiding an event or attribute makes no change to the data in any of your records, and you can always unhide an event or attribute again, whenever you want to. See Work with Fact Sets for how to hide events or attributes.
• Use multiple selection to add multiple facts in one go. If you know that you are going to record a person’s birth, marriage and death select all three and click on the Add button to add them all in one go.
• The easiest way to select multiple items is to click on the first one to select it, and then press-and-hold the Ctrl key while clicking on other items. This is a standard technique for selecting multiple items in a list.
• Remember to make use of the Close Dialog After Adding tick box. If you untick this box, the dialog box will not close after adding - which may be convenient if you want to add several items one at-a-time.
• Already mentioned, but worth remembering: double-clicking on an event or attribute is a quick alternative to selecting it and clicking on the Add button.
• The Fact Types dialog is resizable. Click-and-drag on any corner to get it the most convenient size for you. It will remember its size and position throughout the current session.