General Topics

Floating Windows

A floating window is a window that floats above its parent window, and you don’t have to close it before doing other tasks (unlike modal dialogs which have to be actioned, cancelled, or otherwise closed before you can do anything else).  There are numerous benefits to floating windows.  Some of them automatically update if you change the selection elsewhere.  For example, if you change the selected fact in the Facts tab of the Property Box, the Witnesses window will automatically show the witnesses for the selected fact.  This is a quick, easy and convenient way of exploring witness details.  To make them easy to identify, floating windows have a little icon consisting of 2 overlapping clouds, at the right end of their title bar, making them easy to spot:    Do not confuse these little clouds with ‘the Cloud’.  There is no Internet-related aspect to floating windows. 

The Property Box is of course unusual in that it can float in front of other windows, but it can also be docked at the side of the window.

These are just some of Family Historian's floating windows: