Options - Baptism Settings
Recording Method 1 or Recording Method 2
Method 1 is the default method in Ancestral Sources. With this method a separate source is created for each baptism or christening record.
A source title might be:
Baptism 1871 Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire Jane Smith
This is probably the best method to choose if you want to keep a transcript of each baptism entry within your GEDCOM file as the source text can be used for this purpose. This is also probably the best method if you want to link an image of the original baptism entry to the entry.
Ancestral Sources will automatically create the source based on details entered by you. For the baptised individual it will create baptism event and perhaps residence and birth events. For parents it may create occupation attributes and residence details. All of these facts will be linked back to the source using citations.
This method will result in you potentially having hundreds of sources in your GEDCOM file, one for each baptism entry you find.
Using method 2 a source usually refers to a baptismal location. A source title might be:
Baptisms Preston, Lancashire, UK
This is probably the best method if you don't want to record a transcript of each baptism entry within your GEDCOM file. If you do want to do this then this method can still be used but will result in larger files as the transcript will appear multiple times within citations.
For the baptised individual Ancestral Sources will create baptism event and perhaps residence and birth events. For parents it may create occupation attributes and residence details. All of these facts will be linked back to the source using citations.
This method will usually result in you having very few sources in your GEDCOM file but a lot of repeated information in citations.
In the author's opinion if you want to record a transcript of each baptism record and/or include links to images of the original baptism pages then Method 1 is probably the best choice. If however you just wish to record the baptism details without going to the trouble of including a transcription then use Method 2.
Please note that some users refer to Method 1 as 'Splitter Sources' and Method 2 as 'Lumper Sources'. This is because Method 1 users split their data across multiple sources, whereas Method 2 users lump lots of entries together under a single source.
Use Christening Fact Instead: If you would prefer to use a Christening fact rather than the more commonly used Baptism then use this option.
Occupation and Residence Facts: When creating an occupation fact for parents, the address is not filled in as it is unlikely that the place where the individual lived was also the address of their work-place. However, there is a good chance that they worked in the same town/village. If the Record residence place in occupation option is selected then the place recorded as residence for the father or mother will be recorded in the occupation place too. Age given in a baptism is frequently not accurate and in the author's opinion, the age given is not really relevant to the residence and therefore should be recorded in the baptism fact and not in the residence fact. However, there is an option to Record individual age in residence for those who wish to do this. If Suggest Occupation is ticked then Ancestral Sources will attempt to suggest the occupation of the father and/or mother. If most of your baptism records don't mention occupations then you may prefer not to use this option and just enter the occupation yourself. If either of the parents are deceased but have an occupation recorded in the baptism record, then it may not make sense to record the date of the baptism in the occupation fact. If Deceased: do not record date is ticked then the occupation date will be left blank in these circumstances. If this is unticked then the date will be recorded as being before the event date.
By default, the list of occupations will include those specified in the Occupation list defined on the Edit Lists screen. You can edit that list yourself or even specify a list of occupations that can differ from source to source by creating a new list and choosing the name of the list on this options page.
Source Types: The text entered here will be recorded in the Source Type tag for any baptism sources created. The source type is a Family Historian extension to GEDCOM. By default the source type is Baptism.
Citation Certainty: If this option is selected then the reliability assessment will be recorded with each citation created. See also the Assessment (FH7+) option below.
Use Citation Entry Date: If this option is selected then the baptism date will be recorded in the GEDCOM entry date field in every baptism citation. Some users prefer to use this field to record the date that they entered the information into Ancestral Sources. This is not the intended use of this field as specified in the GEDCOM standard but the option is there for those users who choose to use it for this purpose.
Assessment (FH7+): Family Historian 7 introduced new citation assessment/certainty options. If your file is a Family Historian 7 (or later) file and any of these options are selected then these will be added to all citations created for baptism sources. This will override the Citation Certainty option (see above). If none of the assessment options are ticked then the Citation Certainty option will apply instead.
Birth Facts: With the default settings, when saving a baptism entry Ancestral Sources will give you the option to create or modify a GEDCOM birth fact for the baptised individual. The create citation for existing births is default setting dictates whether the create citation for birth tickbox is ticked by default on the birth screen when opting to not change an existing birth event. See the help page for the Birth Events from Entry screen for more details.
Suggest Estimated Birthdate: Baptisms traditionally used to take place within days or weeks of a birth. If you select this option then Ancestral Sources will suggest an estimated birth date when the Birth Events from Entry screen is shown when the record is being saved. Note that having this option ticked doesn't force you to accept the suggested birth date. By default Ancestral Sources will estimate the birth as one month before the baptism, but this time period can be changed to suit your preference.
Death Facts: With the default settings, when saving a baptism entry where either of the parents are recorded as being deceased, you will be given the option to create or modify a GEDCOM death fact for the relevant parent or parents using the Death Events from Entry screen. The create citation for existing deaths is default setting dictates whether the create citation for deaths tickbox is ticked by default on the death screen when opting to not change an existing death event. See the help page for the Death Events from Entry screen for more details.
Associated Individuals: This will display the Associated Individual Types screen which will allow you to specify how other related individuals such as god-parents and witnesses are recorded in your file.
Warnings when saving entries: It is possible to forget to enter all of the baptism data. You can opt to have Ancestral Sources warn you if you forget to enter source text, select images, enter a reference ID, or select a repository.
Offer to retain settings: If this is ticked the Retain Data screen will be shown after an entry is saved.
Always require age qualifier: Usually an age entered as just a number is assumed to be an age in years. If this setting is ticked then baptisms will require an age in years to be followed by a y. Although not set by default this helps to validate the age entered as it is less common for a baptism age to be in years.
Subtype List: All source types other than Census have the option to display the subtype list on the main screen. For example this allows you to specify if a baptism record is a parish record or bishop's transcript, etc. The contents of these lists can be modified on the Edit Lists screen. There are options to specify the default value to show and whether to retain the previously selected list item each time.
Image Title Template: When linking images to a baptism entry using the Image Viewer there are options to name the multimedia record and optionally rename the image file to match. One of the options is to create a title based on the Image Title Template. You can type the title template into the box and select tags from the list to include within the template. So, for example, If the template was: {SOURCETYPE} {PLACE} {DATE} {KEYPERSON} ({IMAGEINFO}) then the {SOURCETYPE} would be replaced by either Baptism or Christening, {PLACE} and {DATE} will be replaced by the values entered into the baptism date and place text boxes. {KEYPERSON} would be the name of the baptised individual. When you add a new image there is an additional information box to optionally enter text to add to the image title replacing the {IMAGEINFO} tag. When adding multiple images to a source this could be used to distinguish between them. In the example above if the additional information textbox was left blank then Ancestral Sources will automatically remove the () brackets as they are unnecessary.Therefore the image might be given the name: Baptism Preston, Lancashire 1 Jan 1800 Jane Smith. Note that having a template specified here does not imply that the template will definitely be used. It will only apply if the appropriate option is chosen when linking an image on the Image Viewer screen. The main tags: {ADDR} - Address field, {OTHER} - Other Information field, {DATE} - baptism date, {YEAR} - baptism year, {PLACE} - Place field, {SOURCETYPE} - Baptism or Christening, {KEYPERSON} - the name of the baptised individual in Forenames Surname format. There are other KEYPERSON sub-tags available to control the format in which the key person's name is displayed. See Template Keywords and Functions for further information.
These settings are available if baptism recording method 1 has been chosen on the Baptism Settings page.
Baptism Method 1 Title Template: When using method 1 a source is created for each baptism entry, the name of this source is based on the template. You can type text into this template and select tags from the list to include within the template. These tags are then replaced with the appropriate values when the source is created. So, for example, If the template was: {SOURCETYPE} {PLACE} {DATE} {KEYPERSON} then the {SOURCETYPE} would be replaced by either Baptism or Christening, {PLACE} and {DATE} will be replaced by the values entered into the baptism date and place text boxes. {KEYPERSON} would be the name of the baptised individual. Therefore the source might be given the title: Baptism Preston, Lancashire 1 Jan 1800 Jane Smith. The main tags: {ADDR} - Address field, {OTHER} - Other Information field, {DATE} - baptism date, {YEAR} - baptism year, {PLACE} - Place field, {SOURCETYPE} - Baptism or Christening, {KEYPERSON} - the name of the baptised individual in Forenames Surname format. There are other KEYPERSON sub-tags available to control the format in which the key person's name is displayed. See Template Keywords and Functions for further information.
Record baptism reference: You can opt to record the reference id in the publication information field which is part of the source, or in the where in source field in every citation. Using the where in source option will result in the baptism reference appearing in multiple places in the file which is not really recommended for method 1. So instead either use the publication information field or make sure you include the reference in the title template.
Record baptism event details in source data: There is a feature of GEDCOM which even many experienced users of Family Historian will not be aware and it is unlikely that this option will be used often. It is possible to record the types of event that are recorded within the source, together with the date and place. If this option is selected then a baptism event, together with date and place will be attached to the source when it is created.
Source Short Title: If this option is ticked, the main screen will allow you to create a short title for a source as well as the usual long title. Although not selected by default, some users like to record a different short title for their sources and you can specify a title template for this. If this option is ticked the Title label on the main screen will become a link which allows you to toggle between viewing or editing the long title or the short title.
These settings are available if baptism recording method 2 has been chosen on the Baptism Settings page.
Baptism Method 2 Title Template: Usually method 2 entries link to an existing source which might be called Baptisms St John's Church, Preston, Lancashire. However, if this source doesn't exist the main screen provides the option to create a new source, the title of which is based on this template. You can type text into this template and select tags from the list to include within the template. These tags are then replaced with the appropriate values when the source is created. For example if the template was: {SOURCETYPE}s {PLACE} then the source created might be Baptisms Preston, Lancashire. Useful tags include: {ADDR} - Address field, {OTHER} - Other Information field, {PLACE} - Place field, {SOURCETYPE}. See Template Keywords and Functions for further information. It should be noted that it is unlikely that the {REF} or {KEYPERSON} keywords will be used in method 2 templates.
Images: If the option to link images to baptism entries is ticked then the user can choose whether these images will be linked to the citation or to the fact itself. Technically there isn't really much difference between these two options. The user can also decide whether they want the multimedia image record to be just linked to the baptism fact/citation or to every fact/citation that is created for the entry (e.g. Births, Occupations, etc.).
Source Text: It is always recommended that method 1 should be used if transcriptions of the baptism entries will be made. However, if a method 2 user wishes to record data in the source text field on the main screen then they can. The obvious option here might seem to be to record the data in the citation text field. However, an average baptism entry will probably lead to several citations being created (for baptism, occupation, birth, residence, etc.) which would mean several separate copies of the source text being saved. Another option therefore is to create the source text within a note record and have a link to this note from each citation. This avoids the duplication of the source text. If the source text ever needed to be edited in the future it would only need to be edited in one place rather than in each of the citations.
Source Short Title: If this option is ticked, the main screen will allow you to create a short title for a source as well as the usual long title. Although not selected by default, some users like to record a different short title for their sources and you can specify a title template for this. If this option is ticked the Title label on the main screen will become a link which allows you to toggle between viewing or editing the long title or the short title. Please note that this option does not apply if templated sources are used (Family Historian v7 or later).