www.youtube.com
Keeping track of Community Posts (and this actually applies to just about anything)
[ be sure and "expand post" ]
Just recently after I had posted an article about a specific subject - another community user asked me
"How they could save a copy of what I posted".
Here in the community we have a very diverse group of users - some with great computer skills and others who are just learning. They are all a valued asset to our group as a whole. There are often many who really enjoy an article that is posted - but may not be real clear what means and ways they have to keep such information close at hand and in a format/method that is most efficient for their use - knowing their own limitations and work preferences.
What follows are ten items to be aware of that may apply in a variety of situations to allow for users to keep or reference a copy of something they find on line (whether it is here in the community or elsewhere).
Note with many of them is a corresponding video link - which makes it very nice to be able to see a training video on the subject.
These are "Food for thought" - not all items will work for all people.
Use what you feel works best for you. We are all different.
1) Keep in mind just about anything (in text) that you can read online - can be selected with a mouse cursor and then copied and ultimately pasted somewhere else that is useful. That "somewhere else" could be just about anything . . . a "sent to self" email, a word processing document, an excel chart, a "notepad" document etc. You could in turn organize an email folder for items like this if you had copied it to email, or if you saved it as a file - you could store it in an computer folder specifically created to keep files of this nature. You could even create a document that is some sort of "Research Log" or "Family History Journal" where you have a section where you keep information that you find useful to keep on hand. The ideas are limitless and there is no single one way to do it - just whatever works for you.
Here are some youtube videos you may wish to watch on the subject. (note that you can
click on "skip add" for any ads that show up)
a) How to copy and paste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhXg4tvIft4
b) How to create files and folders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4eCwYnJd8
c) How to save files to a flash drive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HINrJ9bN-vY
2) Images that are intermingled with text - can often be copied - by following the instructions above that are for text.
here are some additional instructions
a) Specifically for copying image files
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rf01wfbQLk
b) How to do screen shots when "right click save" doesnt work
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-take-a-screenshot-on-pc/
3) Also keep in mind that you can always "BOOKMARK" a link you find on line when using your browser.
Bookmarking will allow you to go back to a specific web page in the future - directly to the page without having to go on a "painful" search for it again
see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BDnSPdpXYU
4) Also note that independent of your web browser - FamilySearch community has its own "bookmark" option.
on any posted item - if you click on the right side "down arrow" you will see various options including a "book mark" option
5) You will also notice on community options - a little icon next to each post that say "Share". This can be used to share with others - but can also be used by yourself - to COPY the link and you can then save it to a reference document of your own. (such as a research log/journal where you keep a list of handy links)
6) Also note the very handy (but often poorly known) option of creating a copy of a web page in PDF format and then saving to a folder on your local computer - where you keep copies of various useful instructions and tips.
It can be slightly different from one computer/browser to another - but in most cases you will simply "right click" somewhere in the page and select the "print" option and then instead of printing to a real printer - you select the "print to pdf" option (might have slightly different name) and instead of a paper print - the computer will actually create a pdf version of the page that you can store for later reference. Most computers these days now come with print to pdf options.
7) If there is any specific document, link, page etc that you feel is of common interest to most people in your community group - make a suggestion to your group leader/admin to create a link to the item on the home page - thus allowing you all to quickly access it from just a click from the main page.
8) Consider creating a word processing document - where you keep track of important sites, helpful tips and tricks and instructional pages.
these documents can, as needed, also be saved in pdf format.
9) If you are of the "old school" - where everything had to be printed and stored in a binder - realize in our digital world - that really is no longer a must. But if you feel that is the best way for you - so be it. But documents with web links - just wont be the same when the link is on a piece of paper.
10) Learning basic computer skills, such as copying and pasting, copying web links, knowing computer short cut keys, saving and creating files and folders
can really be a huge leap in becoming more proficient on the computer. Look for a mentor who can help you learn some of these basics.
and as a bonus
here is an article about "Creating a Digital Library" - which maybe sounds complicated
but is nothing much more than what many of you are already doing in saving computer files to your hard drive
But doing it in a way that is thoughtful, efficient, organized and well planned.
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/digital_library.htm
What feedback do each of you have as to how YOU - keep track of useful information you find on line.
often the nice article you found - will work its way down in the log and if you aren't proactively finding a way to keep track of it. It may be hard to find later.
@FamilySearch Tips and Tricks
@How to Use FamilySearch Community
@Family History Research
Comments
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Great ideas!!
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Thank you so much! I did not know about the FamilySearch bookmark.
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. . . well - Im the one who brought it up . . . but maybe I'm missing something - but I dont see much value in this bookmark option - all it does it mark it with a yellow tab - but you still have to go hunting for it - if it was a while ago and not in your first page of displayed entries. . . .
it looks like there is some grouping item on the right hand side - but even after making bookmarks - it is still empty.
so I dont get it . . .
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I agree @Dennis J Yancey, it is a good idea poorly implemented. I think that it would be much better when you wanted to access something that you had bookmarked to open a page that contained just the titles and maybe the topics of the items bookmarked. The current implementation is too cumbersome when you have bookmarked many items.
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I take back my comment - the book mark items show on the right hand side of the "my feed page"
BUT - I wasn't seeing it - because I had a filter option set that was not allowing anything to be displayed - once I changed that - then I started seeing the bookmarked items.
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I did not discover the bookmarks when I first started using the community. I also find them difficult to access, because I have no way to organize the bookmarks. I agree that a list of items, that I could put into categories, would seem more effective.
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