An Introduction into the Usage of Personal Ancestral File Computer Software

An Introduction into the Usage of Personal Ancestral File Computer SoftwareOttawa Ontario Stake Family History Centrewww.ottawastakefhc.on.caBy Shirley-Ann Pyefinch, Director

The Church ofJESUS CHRISTof Latter-day Saints

1Personal Ancestral File (PAF)www.ottawastakefhc.on.ca

Download or view this presentation

http://paftutorial.byu.edu/

On-line tutorial

Down load PAF at www.familysearch.org

Benefits of using PAF: It is easy to use and best of all it is FREE!2

PAF Tutorial has an index of topics with demos and step-by-step instructions. TIP: Turn your speakers on for the Demos. http://paftutorial.byu.edu/

3What we will learn about PAF today:Creating a New File in PAFFilling in the Prepared by DefaultsViews Available in PAFRINs and MRINsNotesAttaching Media FilesSearchable ListsHelp FunctionPrinting OptionsGEDCOM FilesPAF Companion

Once you have downloaded the PAF software you will receive a message telling you that the file cannot be opened, click ok and the software will open and this window will appear. Then click on the New button to Create a new file.5

Go to Tools then click on Preferences from the drop down menu. Select the Prepared By tab. Enter your contact information and you can save this as a default. Then your contact information will automatically be on your printed pedigree charts and family group records.6Family View Primary Position

In this example Melissa Hancock is in the Primary Position in the Family view screen. When editing information about an ancestor, always have whomever you want to edit in the Primary Position. To Edit the information for Melissa we would choose Edit and then select Individual from the drop down menu which will take us to the Edit Individual screen. To add a spouse to Melissa we would click on the upward arrows and the primary position would be switched from Melissa to her spouse.7Family ViewShows the Primary PositionParents of the PrimarySpouse of the Primary Children of the Primary

Family View Moving the Primary

You can move the child or the parents to the Primary position by clicking on the arrow buttons. 9Child in the Primary Position

Martha the child of Melissa is now moved into the Primary Position. If we click on Robert Browns solid arrow we could move to Roberts Parents and then Robert would be in the Primary Position.10Solid Triangle Indicates Notes or Sources for that individual

The solid triangle in the upper right corner of an individual means that there are notes or source information inputted about this person.11Solid Square Family View

Solid Square in the upper right hand corner means that there are multi-media files for this individual. You can store photos, audio clips or video clips for each individual in PAF.12RINs and MRINs in PAFRINs are Record Identification Numbers which are assigned to each individual as you add your ancestors into PAFMRINs are Marriage Record Identification Numbers which are assigned to each marriage record that is added into PAFThese numbers help to identify individuals and marriages and provide another way of searching and retrieving records in PAF In the next slide you will see the Edit Individual screen and where to find the RIN number of an individual.13 RINs in PAF

To get to this screen you can click Edit, then Individual or double click on the Primary Position under Family View and this will open the Edit Individual screen. Remember that these numbers are automatically assigned as you enter in individuals and the numbers can not be changed. This Edit Individual screen is where you enter information about an individual.14 MRINs in PAF

You can also access this screen two ways, either by clicking on the Edit and then Marriage or double click on the Marriage Record and the Edit Marriage screen will appear and you can see the MRIN number in the lower left hand corner. This Edit Marriage screen is for inputting information about marriages. When you print out pedigree charts and family group records you can have the RIN numbers and the MRIN numbers print on the your forms if that is your preference.15Edit Tab in PAF

From the Edit tab you can choose to edit Individuals, Notes, Multimedia, Marriage, Parents and Parents Marriage.16Edit Individual Screen- Adding Notes

Simply click on the notepad icon to add notes.17Edit Screen - Notes

Type in your notes for the individual. 18Edit Individual Screen- Add Multi Media

Simply click on the camera icon to add notes.19Edit - Add Multimedia

This is the Multimedia Collection screen. Click on the Add button and then you choose the item type: photo, sound clip or video clip and browse and select from your computers c drive what you want to store in the multimedia collection. 20 Add tab in PAF Drop Down Menu

From the Add tab click on Add then go to the drop down menu you can add individuals, a family, spouse child, father, mother and other parents. In this sample you will notice that Melissas parents are shaded grey because they are already added into the Family view screen. 21Add Tab in PAF- Adding A Child

In this example from the Add tab you can add a child.22Adding Individuals

After selecting to add a child another screen will pop up and you will be asked if the individual is new or if you want to select existing individual. Then this will take you to the Edit Individual screen.23View TabFrom the View Tab button you can choose what view you would like to see

Family Pedigree IndividualSince we have already discussed Family View we will take a look at the Pedigree and Individual view screens.24Pedigree View

You can move around on the tree with your cursor and by double clicking on an individual you can open up the edit individual screen. You can also move through more generations on the tree by clicking on the arrrows.25Individual View

The Individual View is a list of each individual in PAF. You can sort the list by double clicking on the RIN column header and the list can sort in ascending or descending order. The same applies to the Full Name column. It would be sorted in alphabetical order.26Search Tab Searchable Lists in PAF You can search through a variety of listsIndividual ListMarriage ListDescendancy ListFind by RIN/MRINAdvanced Focus/FilterHome PersonOn FamilySearch Internet

Search Tab Individual List

From this list I can scroll through names ordered in Alphabetical order or by RIN order to retrieve an individual. Other search lists are similar to this example.28Individual View Choosing Search Tab then On FamilySearch from the drop down menu, double click to perform a search on the Primary Position at familysearch.org website

Searching at FamilySearch.org

Search Results on FamilySearch.org

Help Button Look for the ? icon

Content tab features the PAF manual. You can click on the Index tab for an list of topics and use the Search tab to help you find a response to your question.32Index Tab Decimal numbers for Diacritics

Index tab search results for accent marks.33Search Tab - How to Print Books

This example shows that by using the Search tab I can input an item to look for, which in this case was How to print books the search confirms that from PAF you can print narrative books automatically generated by the PAF program.34Printing Options

Go to the printer icon and the Reports and Charts menu will pop up on your screen. You can chose a variety of reports. Pedigree charts, calendars, family group records, scrapbooks, etc. You can select printing to be sequential, fixed with or without indexes, how many generations you would like to print on a page, etc. You can preview your reports, set preferences, do page setup and of print hardcopies or print to file.35GEDCOM FilesGenealogical Data Communication FileGEDCOM files are computer data format files that were created by the LDS church in order to facilitate sharing and transfer of genealogical dataIt is now a standard type of file used throughout the globe in data sharing for genealogical researchersGEDCOM files are used to import and export data into PAF

File- Import or Export

Go to the File tab and from the File drop down menu click on Import or Export. This example shows the Import GEDCOM File screen where you can browse through your computer, select what file you want to import into PAF and then click on the IMPORT button.37Importing GEDCOM Files

Then click if you would like to import notes and other preferences, then click ok.38Completing the Import Process

Click the close button and check your individual list for new names to verify that your import was successful.39PAF CompanionAdd on software which allows you to manipulate your data in a more sophisticated manner Fan ChartsColour Ancestor and Descendant Charts

It is a whole other presentation!

Free basic version can be downloaded at www.familysearch.org Full version costs $6.75 US and can be purchased on-line.

Personal Ancestral File (PAF)Questions??

Ottawa Stake Family History Centre1017 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, ONwww.ottawastakefhc.on.ca

Shirley-Ann PyefinchEmail: On_Ottawa@ldsmail.net