Source-Driven Data Entry
For an introduction to source-driven data entry, please read Introduction to Source-Driven Data Entry. This page describe the process in more detail.
The Source-Driven Data Entry Menu
As described in the Introduction, the starting-point for source-driven
data entry is a new source of information that you acquire, by whatever
means. You click on the Source button 
on the main application toolbar,
and the following menu appears:
- Create Source from Template / Prepare Citation...
- Create Generic Source Record / Prepare Citation
- Prepare Citation to Existing Source
These menu commands immediately raise at least two questions:
- Do you want to use a 'Source from Template', and if if so, which template? Or should you use a generic Source record?
- Should you use an existing Source record or create a new one?
Many genealogists will have their own approach and their own answers, and that's fine. Family Historian is designed to let you work the way you want to work. But for those don't already have their own ideas and who are looking for guidance, this is our advice...
Do you want to use a 'Source from Template', and if if so, which template? Or should you use a generic Source record?
Use templated sources ('Source from Template') in preference to generic sources wherever possible (see Getting Started with Source Templates for reasons). The templates that we recommend that most people should use are the ones in the Essentials collection. Pick the template that seems to fit the kind of source that you have. When you are prompted to select a source template, a description field below the list of source templates, describes, for each selected template, what it is for and how it should be used. Be sure to read these descriptions.
Should you use an existing Source record or create a new one?
The answer to that question is also given in the description field, for each template (see previous question). A couple of examples may help:
Example 1: Article in a newspaper
Your source is an article in a newspaper that you find in a library. You photocopy the article and bring home the copy. You use source templates from the Essentials collection. The obvious source template is 'Newspaper Item'. But you already have a Source record for the same newspaper (another article you came across months ago). Should you create another Source record or re-use that other one? If you look at the description for the 'Newspaper Item' source template it says:
"One source record per newspaper item (e.g. one for an obituary). One newspaper may have multiple source records associated with it."
In other words, that source template is designed on the assumption that you will create one Source record for each newspaper item you find - even if that means that you have multiple source records for the same newspaper. So in this case you click on Create Source from Template / Prepare Citation and choose 'Newspaper Item' from the list of source templates.
Example 2: Information from
the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index,
found online
This time you found some information online in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index. You already have a Source record for this Birth Index. You created it using the source template in the Essentials collection, called "Civil Registration Index". Should you re-use it, or create a new Source record using the same source template? The description for the Civil Registration Index says the following:
"One source record per index (e.g. Birth Index, Marriage Index, Death Index or Divorce Index) for any region of the world. Add your country to the region list, if not already there."
That's to say, if you already have a Source record for a given index, don't create another one. So in this case, you should click on Prepare Citation to Existing Source... and select the existing Source record for the Birth Index.
The Citation Window With a Prepared Citation
Whatever approach you took above, if you took any of the first three menu commands on the Start menu, you should now be looking at the Citation Window. A common role for the Citation Window is for viewing and editing details of source citations that have already been created. When it is used, as part of the source-driven data entry workflow however, it is used slightly differently: to prepare a new source citation (in advance of use). When the Citation Window is used to do that, it has a slightly different appearance: see Citation Window with a Prepared Citation for details. The most distinctive feature of the Citation Window when used in this mode, is the presence of these three buttons at the bottom of the window:
These three buttons were discussed briefly in Introduction to Source-Driven Data Entry. They behave as follows:
| Enable Automatic/ Disable Automatic |
If the text shows as "Enable Automatic", clicking on this button will open the Automatic Source Citation Pane (if not already open), and will enable automatic source citations. The text of the button will change to "Disable Automatic" (clicking on the button again will disable automatic source citations). For more details, see Automatic Source Citation Pane. |
| Copy Citation | Copies the prepared citation to the
Source Clipboard. When a citation has been copied to the
Source Clipboard, you can add it to any item by viewing the
(possibly empty) list of source citations for the item in the Citation List pane
of the Property Box, and clicking on the Paste Citation button  . |
| Data Entry Assistant | See discussion of "Data Entry Assistants" below. |
To learn more about prepared citations, see Prepared Citation.
Data Entry Assistants
What are Data Entry Assistants?
We saw in Introduction to Source-Driven Data Entry a list of tasks that genealogists may want to do, when they get a new source. Data Entry Assistants are tools that can do much of the work for you, so that data entry tasks can relate more directly to the information you have in front of you and become more intuitive, quicker and easier; and the results of your work can be better, more consistent and more professional. This is possible because the tools are tailored for specific types of source. And just as there is no theoretical limit to the number of source types you could have, there is also no limit to the number of Data Entry Assistants you can theoretically have. This is because Data Entry Assistants are extensions to Family Historian, that anyone (in principle) can create. So let's suppose that you are working with a new kind of source - maybe a special kind of record, that the authors of Family Historian had never heard of, or imagined, when they wrote Family Historian. It may nevertheless be that someone has written a Data Entry Assistant for precisely this type of source, and shared it in the Family Historian Plugin Store, so you can simply install it and use it. And if there is no Data Entry Assistant that covers your source type, you could write one yourself, or perhaps (if you're not technically-minded) link up with someone else who might be persuaded to do it for you (see Writing Data Entry Assistants below).
Running Data Entry Assistants from the Citation Window
The button displays a
menu with a list of installed Data Entry Assistants that are designed to
work with the type of Source record that is used in the current prepared
citation. Click on any of the listed names, to launch the
Data Entry Assistant. If it requires you to have done something
that you haven't already done, it will put out a message to say
so. Different Data Entry Assistants may do very different things,
so be sure to read each one's description before using it. Click
on the menu command Learn about Data Entry Assistants,
below the list of Data Entry Assistants (if any) that are relevant to
the current context, to view a description for each one.
Data Entry Assistants are not included with the Family Historian
installation, so when you first install Family Historian, the list of
installed Data Entry Assistants will be empty. Click the Browse/Install
Data Entry Assistants command on the same menu, to
view a list of available Data Entry Assistants in the Family Historian
Plugin Store, and optionally install them. They are free.
The same window also shows all the Data Entry Assistants you have
already installed, and lets you view a description for each one.
Bear in mind that this list is likely to change over time, and some Data
Entry Assistants may be improved and updated over time; so it is a good
idea to periodically check this list for updates and additions.
Data Entry Assistants may be designed to work with generic Source
records or templated Source records or both. If designed to work
with templated Source records, they may will typically only work with
specific templated Sources.
The Undo/Redo commands on the Edit menu work with changes made by Data Entry Assistants, as with any other changes to your data. Many Data Entry Assistants will display a list of changes made, on completion. If you are unhappy with the changes, click Undo on the Edit menu.
Autotext for Plugins
Some Data Entry Assistants generate Text from Source fields. Typically these will use a special form of autotext, called Autotext for Plugins. The first time you run one of these plugins, it will generate an autotext sample for you. Thereafter, if you want to change the layout of the generated Text from Source field, you can do so by modifying this autotext. To learn more about Autotext for Plugins, see the Manage Autotext Dialog.
Writing Data Entry Assistants
Data Entry Assistants (sometimes called DEAs) are implemented as a particular kind of Family Historian plugin - that is, extension to Family Historian that can be written by anyone. All the tools, and all the instructions you need for creating any kind of plugin, including Data Entry Assistants, are included within every copy of Family Historian. In practice, most plugin authors tend to be users who are relatively technically sophisticated. Some find it easy to write plugins, but it's not for everyone. Fortunately, the Family Historian community includes users who are willing and able to write plugins. Plugins can be made available for everyone to make use of, by sharing them in the Family Historian Plugin Store. Bear in mind, when you install any Family Historian plugin, including plugins in the Plugin Store, that it may have been written by a user, and not by Calico Pie.
To learn more about writing plugins generally, and Data Entry Assistants in particular, open the Plugins Dialog, click the button, and then click the button.
If the Data Entry Assistant you want is not available, see https://www.family-historian.co.uk/dea-help for advice and suggestions. Bear in mind that even if you are not the kind of person who would write a plugin, if you have ideas about a possible useful Data Entry Assistant, it may be possible to link up with others who like a challenge and might be persuaded to give your project a go.