Sourcer Set Up Help

Question

Sourcer updated and defaulted to settings that I don't like. I have the settings I like on a Free Space page, but things in the Sourcer Options box don't look the same anymore.

I only use Family Search and Find A Grave!

-------------------------------------

Search   ( both Family Search and Find A Grave!)

Priority of the search menu item for this site on the top-level popup menu 5  

Priority of the search menu item for this site on the search submenu: 5

Search exactness to use for birth year:    I have NO clue what to select in these boxes

 Do not specify a birth yearSet automatically based on sourceExact year only+/- 1 years+/- 2 years+/- 5 years+/- 10 years

Search exactness to use for death year: Do not specify a death yearSet automatically based on sourceExact year only+/- 1 years+/- 2 years+/- 5 years+/- 10 years

Search exactness to use for marriage year: Do not specify a marriage yearSet automatically based on sourceExact year only+/- 1 years+/- 2 years+/- 5 years+/- 10 years

Search exactness to use for residence year: Do not specify a residence yearSet automatically based on sourceExact year only+/- 1 years+/- 2 years+/- 5 years+/- 10 years

---------------------------------------------

Citation   I don't have a clue what to select

Family Search

Build source reference: From record dataReuse & abbreviate reference from citation on FamilySearch pageReuse full reference from citation on FamilySearch page

Include record data at end of citation as: Do not include dataSentence (fall back to list if no sentence)List of field names/valuesTable of field names/valuesReuse parts of the citation on the FamilySearch page

Find A Grave:  First 3 boxes checked, forth box unchecked

 Checked: Include an indication of whether there is an image or not

  Checked:  Include the burial plot details if available

  Checked: Include the maintainer in the citation

  Unchecked: Include the inscription in the citation if available

Next field: ?????? I don't have a clue what to select 

If the name has a part in italics (usually maiden name): Omit that part of name from citation Put that part of name in italics in citation Make that part of the name plain text in citation

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Narritave    I'm good in this one

-------------------------------------------------------------

Household Tables    I don't use this yet 

--------------------------------------------------------

Build All Citations   I Have no clue what to select here!

NOTE: Some FamilySearch profiles have many incorrect sources - please check the generated citations.
 

Type of citations to generate: 

*Narrative plus Sourcer style inline citation 

*Sourcer style inline citation 

*Sourcer style source citation Inline citation using text on FS Sources page 

*Source citation using text on FS Sources page

-----Then:

Group Sourcer inline citations by fact and merge narratives

 Include FS Source Notes when not using a full Sourcer citation

 Exclude sources that do not have a valid link to a FamilySearch record

 For Sourcer style citations, exclude sources where the source person is not a primary person for the event
Be careful with this option because sometimes the wrong person in a source is connected to the profile.

For Sourcer style citations, exclude sources that are marked as retired duplicate sources: NeverIf the current source is also in source listAlways

 Group Sourcer inline citations by fact and merge narratives

 Include FS Source Notes when not using a full Sourcer citation

 Exclude sources that do not have a valid link to a FamilySearch record

 For Sourcer style citations, exclude sources where the source person is not a primary person for the event
Be careful with this option because sometimes the wrong person in a source is connected to the profile.

For Sourcer style citations, exclude sources that are marked as retired duplicate sources: NeverIf the current source is also in source list: Always

---------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Hi David,

Sourcer should not be resetting the Sourcer options to default on an update. I haven't heard of it doing that before. What browser and device are you using?

I'm not sure what your list of all the options means. Are you listing the defaults that you don't like? Or the values that you do like?

This page documents the Build All Citations options.

I think some of the others are documented in the user guide. The user guide isn't perfect though. If you have questions about specific options I'm happy to answer them.

This part of the user guide talks about household tables and it has a link to a page with lots of examples.

In general, if you have no clue what an option is for, I would suggest leaving it at the default :P

Comments

There is a way to backup your options. So if you get them set just how you like them you can save them to a file on your device. That is documented here.

---

@ ROB: Browser is Microsoft Edge 

I ran Sourcer yesterday on a profile and it collected marriage certificates for the person's children and other documents on Family Search that had nothing to do with the person I was working on.  That is when I knew something was screwy.  When I checked my Free Spage page Sourcer set ups (given to me by my PIP mentor) everything had changed.  But the selections in each category are a little different in formatting.

 In SEARCH, I guess it really doesn't matter if it searches for exact year or +5 years. I can live with that. Skip this!

In Citation, the is a box with 5 options that can be chosen: The first is "Do Not Include Data"  next "Sentence ( fall back to list if no sentence: and so on 3 more...I don't know what any of the means!

In Build All Citations  I guess I need "Narrative plus Sourcer Style Inline Citation  (but not sure)

Check box: Include FS Source Notes when not using a full Sourcer citation ( I don't know what that means! Do I need that?

Then there is the field of options to select : Never; --or--  If the current source is also in source list --or-- Always   ( very confused what any of that means)

In the Add / Merge:  I have all the boxes unchecked

Is that right? Do I need to check a box? Can I leave all the boxes unchecked?  

Then there is this field with options: "Create a birth/parentage line in the biography  Options: No --or-- Yes with parent info based on the saved data only -- Yes with parent info based on all available information  (I don't understand what I need or don't need )

---

"Browser is Microsoft ". OK I assume that is Microsoft Edge running on a Windows PC. It is not something I can test locally but I haven't heard any reports about it resetting options. Did you uninstall Sourcer before updating? Or just let it update with auto-update? There is no need to uninstall.

On the option settings... there isn't a right way to set them - that is why they are options :P So I can't tell you what you need.

In the FS Citation "record data" option it depends what you want the data part of the citation to look like. You can experiment and see which you like best.

For example for this US 1940 census record:

• if you select "Do not include data" you get no data string.
• if you select "Sentence" you get:
  Florine Godwin (25), widowed stepdaughter, in household of Frank Wynn (59) in Election Precinct 15 Cottondale, Jackson, Florida, United States. Born in Florida.
• if you select "List" you get:
  Name: Florine Godwin; Marital Status: Widowed; Race: Negro; Census Date: 1940; Census Place: Election Precinct 15 Cottondale, Jackson, Florida, United States; Residence Date: 1935; Residence Place: Same House; Birth Date: 1915; Birth Place: Florida; Relationship To Head: Stepdaughter; Age: 25; Ims Ctl File Id: 679065; System Of Record: SLS.
• If you select "Table" you get something like list but formatted as a WikiTree table
• If you select "Reuse parts of the FS Citation" you get:
  Entry for Frank Wynn and Avylena Wynn, 1940.

---

It sounds like you did build all citations.

as Rob said, when in doubt use the defaults

And remember, you can change the settings, build citation (or citations) then see what you get, then change a setting and build again to see if that is what you prefer