Personal Research Notes only seen by me on each person page
I would like it if on each person page, I can add research notes which only I can see, which I can add to each time I work on the person, so that over time I have 1) a record of what I did and why; and 2) what my next research goals/steps are (ie. search this microfilm in SLC familysearch when I go there).
I would like the notes to be only for me to see so that nobody can argue with them, delete them, or have to see them when they have no desire to.
I also would like it because I just saw an "alert note" which was just a note to self for a researcher about where that person will look next. I didn't need to read that.
Please make it so not all public notes are alert notes and so that people can comment on the public notes of others. Please make it so that the alert notes can have threads and conversations.
Comments
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Alert Note is an option, not the default; all notes are not Alert Notes.
A note only becomes an Alert Note only if you check the Alert Note box. If you don't check it, no Alert message displays.
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What do you mean by "public notes"?
Everything on the Collaborate tab is equally "public": it's all visible to anyone who is logged in to FS. There are two types of entries on that tab: notes and discussions. Notes are open-edit; discussions are not. (A discussion entry is only editable by the account that entered it.) One note can be set as an alert note, which creates a banner across the top of the detail page, enjoining users to read the note. The default is for the alert note checkbox to be off.
I don't think it makes much sense for an alert to contain a discussion or conversation. If the alert is there because there is some argument about the profile, then I think the alert should mention or point out the existence of the discussion, but the actual back-and-forth doesn't belong in the alert. That would be like a warning label in the form of a dialogue. ("What is this?" "It's a plastic bag." "Is it a type of toy?" "No, it is not a toy." "Why not?" "It poses a risk of suffocation.")
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If you keep a research log -- which can be just a text document in your favorite text editor, or a full-fledged journaling app, or anything in between -- then you can record those kinds of things for yourself, and nobody else will ever see it.
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Up till now (although there's no guarantee this will always remain the case) it has been impossible for anyone other than oneself to delete Discussion items in the Collaboration section. True, others will still be able to read your comments, but that is what Family Tree is supposed to be all about: a collaborative project whereby we can see what work has been carried out by others, and they by you. Surely you would want to know if another researcher has undertaken detailed searches on your ancestors / relatives? Okay, you still might want to carry out double-checks, but at least you would know what has already been researched on them (parish register and census checks, etc.).
Otherwise, if you don't want to collaborate with others (share notes, etc.), take Julia's advice and keep such details in your personal software.
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Personal research notes are just that, personal. The FSFT is a single collaborative tree for all. Given the size of the FSFT and the number of users, according to the latest numbers, it would be an impossible server load to have private notes for everyone.
I keep a research log in the free program iDailyDiary as well as keeping trees on other platforms.
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