If there is currently no data entry assistant for a particular type of source that you believe would benefit from having one, would you be interested in helping to create one? If so, we recommend posting a question about it in the Plugin Discussions forum in the Family Historian User Group website. Be aware that data entry assistants are Family Historian plugins, and a degree of technical skill is need to write them. However, even if you are not technical yourself, it is possible that you might be able to team up with someone else who is. At any rate, it can’t hurt to ask and it can’t hurt to register an interest.
If you do have a technical background and fancy the idea of writing a data entry assistant yourself, the Plugins forum is a good place to ask for help. Bear in mind that all the tools and documentation you need, to write a Family Historian plugin, are included with every copy of Family Historian, including an editor and debugger. The scripting language used is called ‘Lua’. To learn more about it, start Family Historian and click Plugins on the Tools menu. Then press the ‘More >>’ button, and finally click the “How to Write Plugins” button. Most of the Help relates to writing ordinary plugins. Data entry assistants are a special kind of plugin. To learn more specifically about them, expand the top-level topic “Special Plugin Types” in the Plugin Help, and then view “Source-Driven Data Entry Plugins” topic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How can I get help if I’m confused about something or have a problem?
A. You can contact Family Historian support via the support centre. If you prefer, you can also post questions in the Plugin Discussions forum on the Family Historian User Group website (www.fhug.org.uk).
Q. Does Calico Pie ever organise seminars or events for plugin authors?
A. We may do, if there is a demand for that. In any case, we encourage everyone who is interested in creating or updating plugins, to contact us via the support centre to register an interest. That way we can notify you of any events or opportunities that may be of interest to you. We might also be able to put you in touch with others who have similar interests. Let us know if that would be of interest to you.