| PC Performance | Family Historian contains optimizations to take advantage of
today’s powerful processors, and to give better-looking results
when displaying diagrams. If you have an old PC, however, these
optimizations may have an adverse affect on the performance of
your PC.
You are usually strongly recommended to let Family Historian automatically detect what your PC is capable of (i.e. this setting should normally be left at the default, 'Auto-Detect’). However, exceptionally, you can experiment with alternative settings if you wish. |
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| Diagram/Report Image DPI (max) | By default, images within diagram boxes, and within reports or
books, are displayed at a maximum of 300 dots per inch. You are
not usually recommended to increase this figure. The minimum
allowed value is 75 dpi which will give less good image quality. You can also choose 'no max' in which case no maximum dpi value will be used. The advantage of this option is that pictures may load more quickly; however, more memory will be used. This could mean, if a diagram or report has many pictures, that some pictures will not load. In general, the larger the figure, the better the image quality (most noticeably when printing); but there is a point beyond which it will make no difference. A larger figure will however mean that more memory is used, so do not make the figure larger than you need. The figure you specify will in any case cease to have any effect when printing if it is larger than the printer dpi setting. |
| Includes printing | If this option is ticked (the default) the Diagram/Report Image DPI (max) figure applies when printing a report or book, or when generating a PDF for a report or book. Unticking this option could result in errors when printing large reports or books, and is consequently not recommended. |
| Enhanced print/PDF (Windows 7 only) |
This options is normally only visible when running Family Historian under Windows 7. This option enables an improved method for handling printing reports and books and also for the generation of PDFs from reports and books. This method is used for Windows 10 and Windows 8 users by default. It is not automatically used for Windows 7 users. By default, when Family Historian is run under Windows 7, it will continue to use an inferior method. If you are a Windows 7 user and you wish to benefit from the enhanced printing and PDF generation, you need to do two things: first, you need to install a Microsoft update called Platform Update for Windows 7. To install this update you must be on Windows 7 SP1 (Service Pack 1). The update is available for download at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36805. Once you have installed the upgrade, you then need to open Family Historian and tick this option (i.e. “Enhanced Print/PDF”). Ticking this option if you do not have the Platform Update for Windows 7 installed, will have the effect that the Report and Book windows will be blank if you try to display a report or book. However, if that happens, you can simply return here and untick “Enhanced Print/PDF” to correct the problem. An alternative to installing the Platform Update for Windows 7 (if you want the enhanced printing and PDF generation), is to upgrade to Windows 10. You could also upgrade to Windows 8, but if you are upgrading from Windows 7, Windows 10 is the recommended operating system upgrade. |
| Report/Book Image Caching | There are 3 options for images used
in reports and books:
'Cache on view' means that images are cached only when you first view them (again, memory permitting). Reports and books may open faster if you take this option, but you may find that scrolling through a report is (initially at least) slower and less smooth than with 'Cache on load'. 'Don't cache' means that images are not cached at all. You probably only want to choose this option if you are getting errors with either of the other two options. |
| Maximum Recently Used Items | Some dropdown record lists show recently-used records. The
maximum number of recently-used records that are displayed, is
determined by this figure. |
| Thumbnail Images | 'Auto-cache' means that thumbnail images for pictures in each project are automatically cached within the project. If you open a GEDCOM file that is not part of a project, the thumbnail images are not cached, but instead are loaded automatically when the GEDCOM file is opened. 'Load When Opening Project' means that thumbnail images for each project or GEDCOM file are loaded automatically whenever the project or file is opened. 'Load When Needed' means that thumbnail images are only loaded when they are needed. You are normally recommended to leave this setting at the default, which is 'Auto-cache', unless you have a particular reason not to. |
| Auto. Snapshot Cycles (fast/slow) |
If Automatic Snapshot Management is enabled (the default), Family Historian will automatically take and keep a snapshot of your project's data file periodically. At most one snapshot is taken per day, but only for data stored in projects, and only when changes are saved. So if no saves occur, no snapshot will be taken. And no snapshots are ever taken for standalone GEDCOM files. Snapshots provide an additional layer of security, in case of mistakes. You can revert to recent snapshots using the Snapshot Manager. But snapshots should not be viewed as a substitute for regular backups. To ensure that snapshots do not take up an excessive amount of disk space, they are not kept indefinitely. Two settings are used to determined which snapshots are kept. The first of these is called the 'Fast Cycle' setting, and the second is the 'Slow Cycle' setting. To understand how these work, let us first imagine that the Slow Cycle setting is set to 0 (zero), and the Fast Cycle setting is set to 5. In that case, Family Historian would keep a maximum of 5 snapshots for each project. Once you'd reached that maximum, if you used Family Historian every day and made changes to your project every day, you would always have one snapshot for the last 5 days. If you used Family Historian once a week and made changes to your project each time you did so, you would always have one snapshot for the last 5 weeks. Now imagine that we leave the Fast Cycle setting at 5 and set the Slow Cycle setting to 3. If the Slow Cycle setting is greater than zero, each time Family Historian starts a new cycle on the Fast Cycle (i.e. every 5 times, in this case), instead of simply deleting an old snapshot and replacing it with a new one, it will retain one old snapshot from the Fast Cycle - the first in the cycle. These retained snapshots are kept in a second cycle - the Slow Cycle. If the setting for the Slow Cycle was 3, Family Historian would keep a maximum of 3 snapshots in the Slow Cycle. That means that eventually when you have reached your maximum number of saved snapshots on both cycles, you would, at any given time, always have 8 saved snapshots. Of these, 5 would be snapshots of the last 5 times (if on different days) that you made changes to the project. The remaining 3 snapshots would be more spaced-out snapshots, each representing one of a previous group of 5 snapshots. Automatic snapshots can be disabled, if required, on the File Load/Save tab of Preferences. |
| Automatically Calculate Relationships | Family Historian can display relationship information in a
variety of contexts - in the Records Window, in diagrams, in
reports, in queries, in web pages, and so on. For example, you can
have a column showing how each individual listed in the Records
Window is related to the File Root (if there is one). Or you could
have a line in boxes in a diagram showing how each person shown in
the diagram is related to the File Root (or to the Diagram Root).
Ordinarily Family Historian will do all calculations of relationships automatically - i.e. this option is enabled by default. The extra processing involved in such calculations is normally undetectable. However, if you have a low spec PC and you believe that calculating relationship information is adversely affecting the performance of your PC, you can if you wish switch this off. If you do switch off this feature, relationship information is not automatically updated whenever you simply add or delete relationships between people. Consequently, if you do this, the displayed relationship information can become out-of-date and wrong. However, even in this case, relationship information will still be automatically re-calculated whenever you open a file, and in some other circumstances – such as when you run a query that involves relationship information, or when you delete records. Tip: If you have disabled automatic calculation of relationships, you can always force relationship information to be updated whenever you want, by clicking on Refresh on the Windows menu. Tip: If you believe that the time taken to calculate relationship information is significantly slowing down the time it takes to open a file, try using the Configure Columns Dialog (right-click on any column heading) to configure columns for the Records Window, and remove any columns that show relationship information. Then re-open the same file and see whether performance has improved. |
| Auto-rotate Images | Phone cameras and digital cameras often record the orientation of the phone or camera when the photo was taken, in 'EXIF' metadata embedded within the image file. If Auto-rotate Images is enabled, Family Historian will use this EXIF metadata, if it exists, to ensure that images are rotated correctly. |
| Cache Printer Settings | Occasionally poorly-performing printer drivers can cause problems with the display of diagrams (e.g. making them appear sluggish). If so, enabling this option may solve the problem. If the option is enabled, however, and you are having problems displaying diagrams, try disabling it. With most users it is likely to have no effect, if enabled or disabled. But it is enabled by default. |
| Enhanced PDF Diagram Support | This feature only affects the way that Family Historian calculates the exact dimensions of a diagram, when trying to fit the diagram onto a single page of a PDF file. You are usually recommended to leave this option enabled. |
| Load Diagram Pictures Asynchronously | When enabled, diagrams will display immediately without waiting for pictures to be loaded. The pictures will be loaded 'in the background' and will be added when ready. You are usually recommended to leave this option enabled, unless you have some particular reason not to. |
| Refresh Internet Services | This option is always unticked when the diagram is displayed. There is normally no need to use it. However, if an Internet service used by Family Historian does not appear to be functioning correctly, try ticking this option. If ticked, Family Historian will perform checks on the currently available services when you press the OK button. |
| Emulator Compatibility Mode | This option should only be used if you are running Family Historian under a Windows emulator, on some other operating system, and reports do not display correctly on-screen. In that case, ticking this option may fix the problem. Ordinary users, running Family Historian under Windows should never tick this option. |
| Auto-cleanup Unused Family Records | If checked (the default), Family Historian will automatically delete family records when you delete (or unlink) all the members of the family. You are recommended to leave this checked. |
| Enable Auto-complete |
If enabled, Family Historian will auto-complete the values for certain fields, using previously entered values for the same field type. For example, if you type “I” as a place, and had previously used “Ireland” as a place, Family Historian might auto-complete the field as “Ireland”. When Family Historian auto-completes a field, the 'guessed’ portion (in the example this would be “reland”) is shown selected. So, if the ‘guess’ is wrong, you should simply keep typing and ignore the auto- completion. If you have finished typing the value you want, and Family Historian is still trying to auto-complete it, press the Delete or Backspace key to cancel the ‘guessed’ portion. To accept an auto-completion at any time, press the Tab key or click elsewhere. Family Historian supports auto-completion for the following field types:
With all fields that support auto-completion, you can double-click on the field, or click on the little button with 3 dots to the right of it, to see a list of values previously entered for that field type. This will work even if auto-completion is not enabled. |
| Prefer Full Row Selection |
If checked (the default), you will be able to click on any text in any column to select a row in multi-column lists. |
| Enable Automatic Ordering of Events/ Attributes by Date | If this option is checked (the default) Family Historian will
ensure that all events and attributes are kept in chronological
order if you enter and edit them using the Property Box (or if you
copy and paste them). The only exception to this is that if you
wish to add or edit events using ‘low-level editing’ in the ‘All’
tab of the Property Box or in the Records Window, events and
attributes will not automatically be kept in chronological order.
But even in this case, you can still easily keep them in order by
selecting the record and clicking on on the Edit menu.
Tip If you want to be sure that all events and attributes in your file are in chronological order, use the command on the Tools menu. Tip Pressing F9 when a record is selected is a quick of activating the Re-order Events by Date command. |