Property Box
Customize Property Box
Customize Property Box
The Customize Property Box dialog is the same dialog that is used for Customize Citation Window. The only difference is that when customizing the Citation Window, the record type is always Source whereas when customizing the Property Box, any record type may be used. Also, the "Citation Details" fields (which appear when the Record Type is Source) are only relevant to the Citation Window, and not also to the Property Box. For convenience, the text will refer mainly to the Property Box, and only occasionally specifically to the Citation Window. But please be aware that in many cases, the text in fact applies to both. See also Special-Handling for Source Records below.
The Main tabs of the Property Box, and the Citation Window, can both
be customized to suit your requirements. You can add fields, remove
fields and change the order and layout of fields. If you wish you can
also add additional tabs to store extra fields. For this, you need the
Customize Property Box dialog. To open this dialog, click on the Menu
button 
on the Property Box main
toolbar, and then click Customize Data Entry on the
dropdown menu that appears. Alternatively, to customize the
Citation Window, click on the Menu button
on the Citation Window toolbar, and then click Customize
Citation Window. Any customizations that you make to
the Citation Window apply equally to the Property Box, when the Record
type is Source - and vice versa.
Fields that users often wish to add to the Main tab of the Property Box for Individuals, include:
- Baptism
- Burial
- Custom Id
- Record Flags
To add an item, simply select it from the list of available items and
click on the 
button. To remove
an item, select it from the list of selected items and click the 
button. If you want to add an item that isn't listed, or if you want
fine-grained control over layout, choose <Custom Item>
in the list of available items and click on the
button (you will first have to untick Show the most commonly-used
items only if that is ticked).
Bear in mind that the principle reason for customizing the Property Box is convenience. All fields can be added or edited in the All tab of the Property Box in any case (right-click on a field or record, to add a subfield to it). Also, all Individual and Family facts (that is, events and attributes) can be added or edited in the Facts tab, when viewing Individual or Family records (and, in fact, you can add more details in the Facts tab than you can in the Main tab).
Some of the fields, lists and buttons, on this dialog box, are described below:
| Record Type | The Property Box can be used to view record details for all record types. You can customize the Main page for all record types, and add additional custom tabs if you wish. |
|---|---|
| Tab | If you haven't added any new tabs, the only tab that will
usually be listed here is the Main tab. Not all tabs can be
customized. Tabs that cannot be customized are not listed here. The position of each custom tab is specified in a box immediately after the tab name. Custom tabs can be appear at any position within the Property Box (or Citation Window), except that they can't be first. You are not prevented from specifying a position which is greater than the number of tabs in the Property Box (for the given record type). If you do, the custom tab will be placed last (unless there are other custom tabs with even higher position values). |
| Enabled | You cannot disable standard tabs ('Main'), but you can disable any custom tabs you create. Disabled tabs do not appear in the Property Box. This is useful if you want certain custom tabs to be displayed only some of the time. Instead of having to re-create the custom tab each time you need it, you can create it once, and then simply disable it when you don't need it and re-enable it when you do. |
| More Tab Tasks |
When you click the
button, a dropdown menu appears. The commands on this menu
are listed separately below. |
| Available Items | This is the list on the left side that displays data item types you can choose to add to the current page. If Show the most commonly-used items only is ticked (Individual record type only) the most commonly-used data items only will be displayed. |
| Selected Items | These are the items that will appear in the selected property page of the Property Box, for the current record type. |
| Restore Defaults | Affects the current record type only. Deletes all custom tabs, and adjusts settings to revert to what they were when the program was first installed. |
| Version 3 Compatibility | Only affects the Individual record type. Adjusts settings so that the Property Box has one extra tab (a 'Details' tab) and shows the same fields that it showed in Version 3 of Family Historian. |
| View/Edit | Opens the Edit
Custom Item Dialog. Only custom items are editable.
Standard items can be viewed read-only. |
 |
Change the order of the Selected Items list. |
The dropdown menu that appears when you click on the button has the following commands:
| New Tab |
Create a new custom tab. Custom tabs always appear after the Main tab, and before all other tabs. There is no limit to the number of custom tabs you can have. |
|---|---|
| Rename Tab | Rename the current custom tab (if any). You can only
rename custom tabs. |
| Delete tab |
Delete the current custom tab if any. You can only delete
custom tabs. |
| Move Tab Up |
Move the current custom tab up in the list of custom tabs. |
| Move Tab Down |
Move the current custom tab down in the list of custom tabs. |
| Import Tab |
Import a tab from a file on your hard disk. The imported
tab can be a new custom tab, or can be the Main tab (in which
case, the fields in the imported tab will replace those in the
existing Main tab). |
| Export Tab |
Export a tab to a file on your hard disk. The exported tab can be a new custom tab, or can be the Main tab. |
Special-Handling for Source Records
When the record type is Source (which it always is if you are customizing the Citation Window), special considerations apply. Instead of just one standard tab, there are two. These are:
- Main (generic)
- Main (template)
The reason is (and this applies both to the Citation Window and the Property Box when displaying Source records), there are two alternative layouts for Source records. The first is used with all (and only) generic Source records. The second is used with all (and only) templated Source records. See Sources and Source Templates for more on the difference between generic and templated Source records.
With both the Main (generic) tab and the Main (template) tab, some of the Available Items, and some of the Selected Items, have the prefix "Citation Details: ". These are applicable to the Citation Window only (they configure the fields that will appear in the Citation-specific Details area of the Citation Window). Remember that the field configuration specified for Source records, is shared between the Citation Window and the Property Box (when the latter is displaying Source records). So do not simply delete the Citation Details fields, just because they have no relevance to the Property Box.