Question Easy way to copy sources

After I started using webtrees for some months, I now find myself repeatedly doing the following workflow.

1. Enter birthday and add source(s) to it
2. Enter day of baptism and add source(s) to it

Usually (for me), the sources for birthday and baptism are the same. In my system, the source is the church book. Then, I add information about the page etc. to the details field and add a scan or picture of the page to the source -> media object. And then I repeat the very same steps for baptism, which is a lot of unnecessary repetition.

So, I wondered, if it were possible to add a functionality to all event editors that says something like "copy sources from...". When the user clicks on it, all registered events for that person are shown. When the user clicks on an event, all sources of the chosen event are copied to the current event.

The workflow could then be as following.
1. Enter birthday with all sources
2. Enter baptism, copy sources from birthday
3. Enter day of death with all sources
4. Enter day of funeral, copy sources from day of death
5. Enter Wedding with sources
6. Enter occupation, copy sources from wedding and death (choosing "copy sources from..." twice)

If this were to be implemented, I would go for copying all sources from an event. The alternative would be to allow the user to choose from multiple possible sources for a single event, but that makes it more clicks to add and a more complicated UI, since the user might want to add source 1 and 3, but not 2. If all sources were added, deleting an unrelated source is much easier (just click the "x").

I am aware that I could go into the gedcom source and copy the source block from one event to another, but this is error prone and kind of hacky.

Once a “Source Record” has been added you don’t have to add it again! Rather than adding it using the “plus sign”, search for it using the Title of the source in the list box.

Thank you! Yes, I am aware of that. But that only chooses the source itself. I tend to write more information to that particular source citation, like:

Source citation: Ministerialbok for Hadsel prestegjeld 1849-1869
Citation details: Side 123, løpenr 120
Text: Some more details...
Media object: Ministerialbok for Hadsel prestegjeld 1849-1869 page 123

The first element, the source citation itself, I can quickly get from the drop-down. But the details, like page and running number, comments, or media objects (in this case a scan of the page) have to be copied manually (or chosen, in case of the media object).

My feature request is more a "quality of life" improvement that would save me a few seconds (or minutes) for each entry.

Ok, so what you really want is to copy the detail of the “Source Citation” not the “Source” itself.

I agree that it would be nice, I’m not sure how that would be accomplished with the current page layout when the fact has more than one source citation.

I don’t run into this very often and I usually do large “same citation and fact” by copying the fact and if the fact is different (birth and death) I just copy the fact and change the “fact type” in GEDCOM.

By the way…. I think of the Source Record to include the Book Name that you have under the term “Source Citation”, but I would include the PAGE, TEXT and OBJE image of the page in the citation detail.

I am using sources very intensively and I am facing the same challenges like you described. I would also appreciate to have a better support in webtrees.

Frunit wrote:

I am aware that I could go into the gedcom source and copy the source block from one event to another, but this is error prone and kind of hacky.

That's what I am using a lot at the moment. After some time, I got quite used to it. However, I agree that it is a "hacking" approach that sometimes causes errors (which I detect with validation of my Gedcom exports).

norwegian_sardines wrote:

if the fact is different (birth and death) I just copy the fact and change the “fact type” in GEDCOM.

I am also using the same workaround a lot. However, it also needs "hacking" in the Gedcom code of the facts.

One idea, which just came to my mind for a solution, would be to provide an advanced editor for "Edit the raw GEDCOM" with a view simular to the "Merge records" editor from the control panel (Control panel, Manage family trees, Merge records). In this editor, the GEDCOM code of an individual could be shown twice in 2 columns and certain blocks of GEDCOM data could be selected in one column and dropped to the other column.

Maybe, the existing "Merge records" editor could even be reused and extended with more features. These features could also be useful for the "Merge records" view itself.

Jefferson49 wrote:

Frunit wrote:

I am aware that I could go into the gedcom source and copy the source block from one event to another, but this is error prone and kind of hacky.

That's what I am using a lot at the moment. After some time, I got quite used to it. However, I agree that it is a "hacking" approach that sometimes causes errors (which I detect with validation of my Gedcom exports).

I haven't found it very error-prone.  I select all the lines for 2 SOUR to (not including the next 2 or less, copy, and past in the other block.  Seems simple, though it might be simpler if there were a "copy" icon next to each source in the details page.

I'm absolutely not a UI designer (or any designer at all, really), but the attached image could be an option. An extra line that says "Copy source from" and a drop-down menu. When clicking on the drop-down menu, a list of available events with source citations (and the number of source citations) is shown. When clicked on one of them, all source citations with all details are copied to the currently edited event.
This could be a line that needs to be actively activated in the admin panel first.

If this is too much work for too little outcome, I'm fine with that. I can enter stuff twice or edit GEDCOM directly. (Although I really don't want to think about GEDCOM when working with trees. I want to work with people, relations, sources, etc. but not with (obscure) data formats). This is just a suggestion

After further thoughts about a mechanism to copy source citations, I included a new feature to my RepositoryHierarchy custom module, version v1.3.2 :

If a related setting in the control panel is activated, a copy icon is shown on the right hand side of each source citation. By clicking on the icon, the source citation can be copied to an internal clipboard. If a source citation is available in the clipboard, a source icon is shown in the edit area of all facts/events, which allow to use source citations. By clicking on the source icon, the source citation can be copied from the clipboard to the fact/event.




If this feature is used in parallel with the vesta modules, the lastest vesta version 2.1.17.0.4 needs to be installed. Many thanks to Richard as the module author to support this.


Additional note:
Already in earlier versions of the module, 2 further features were included, which can also support the handling of sources:

• Show additional source and repository information in source citations
• Directly show media objects of source citations in individual facts

That looks like a good plugin. I will check it out!

Copying source citations has been a nuisance to me for years. To tackle the root cause I have just created a GitHub issue to implement "reusable citations" at github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/issues/348

Sir Peter wrote:

Copying source citations has been a nuisance to me for years. To tackle the root cause I have just created a GitHub issue to implement "reusable citations" at github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/issues/348

Like!

Sir Peter wrote:

Copying source citations has been a nuisance to me for years. To tackle the root cause I have just created a GitHub issue to implement "reusable citations" at github.com/FamilySearch/GEDCOM/issues/348

I think it’s a good idea, though I’m not likely to use it myself.  I already use shared notes for repeating data, but if this were implemented, I’d likely convert some of those.