Please allow searching within the Source Box.

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Anders Stefan Evensen said: I have 497 sources in my Source Box. I am trying to find one I created in 2017 so I can attach another person to it. This is basically impossible without any way to search.

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Roger Moritz said: The way this could be simply fixed is to make one giant scrolling page of the sources and then use your BROWSER'S FIND feature.

It's only text so why not?

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Jeniann Nielsen said: Yes please give us a way to search the Source Box. I have many thousands of sources. Sometimes people detach the sources I have added and it takes a very long time to find and add them again.

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Juli said: Go to the profile's Change Log and reattach the sources from there.

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Jeniann Nielsen said: You can change everything else from the change log. But when someone detaches a source that's from your source box, you have to find it in the Source Box again to reattach it.

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Juli said: I just tested it on my grandfather's Find A Grave record: I detached the source, then chose that change from the change log, and clicked the blue Restore button. Ta-dah, the source is back, no Source Box involved.

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Jeniann Nielsen said: Yes, you are correct that you can do this for indexed records such as FindaGrave. However, records that are not indexed that you yourself created where you added images and text and put them in the Source Box do not have a blue restore button. You have to go back to the Source Box to find them.

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Juli said: I just tested it with a totally-unindexed Lutheran marriage record, and the Restore button was right there.

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Brett said: Jeniann

'Yes'; and, what most DO NOT understand that; IF; the "Source" is "Detached" from an individual/person; and, you CANNOT find that "Source" in you "Source Box" (due to limited, I should say non-existent, "Source Box" Options), the version of the "Source" is NOT the SAME as that that was originally attached (and, is in one's "Source Box").

The aforementioned is particularly true when you have added some detail to the "Source" originally attached (and, is in one's "Source Box") - such as, adding a 'Rider' to the "Title"; where, that "Source" was attached to others.

The version of the "Source" that is "Reattached" as in 'Juli's' example above, will NOT be the SAME as that that was originally attached (and, is in one's "Source Box") - I know, I have experienced; and, "Tested", such. 'Yes', it is the same as that that resides in the "System"; but, it is NOT the same if one had added some detail to the "Source" originally attached (and, is in one's "Source Box").

If you do not believe me, try it - you will be surprised.

Hence, WHY a keep the "Sources" that I attached in my "Source Box" - thus, my "Source Box" is a PERMANENT "Storage" Facility; as opposed to, a TEMPORARY "Storage" Facility.

Brett

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Roger Moritz said: I repeat, make one long scrolling page of the source box so that we can search the page with any web-browsers FIND command

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Brett said: Roger

I am certainly not expert, far from it; but, I would suggest that the problem/issue with what you suggest may be that such would, require; and, 'tie up', too much "Server" Resources; and, hence, the "System" would slow to a 'crawl'.

I have over 22350 "Sources" in my "Source Box" which equates to 880 pages/screens.

Just imagine if just some Users/Patrons had such (like me) ... with regard to your suggestion ... the "Server(s)" would really be 'pushed to breaking point'.

Just my thoughts.

Brett

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brentsweeny said: yes, that works on the viewable screen, but since only 25 sources (a pageful) appear at a time, you'd have to do that search for each page, one at a time. If you have >20000 sources as Brett (and I) do, and your item is near the end, that's doing that search up to 800 times! Presumably you can see that a more global search function just of source titles would be helpful to us as a short-term help and hopefully not too onerous to implement. Ultimately, some AI functions would be wonderful, perhaps automagically sorting the box sources into bins that are, perhaps, geographic, or chronological, or by type (e.g. birth, chr, marr, death, findagrave, etc etc). But that's another topic and evidently not much in demand, as it's getting no response, though I'm sure the FSfolk are aware of our predicament. brent

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brentsweeny said: ...and changing the layout of the source box to 'one giant screen' would actually bring in all of the resource problems Brett suggests (probably not bringing the system to a crawl, esp since so few people use the SB at all, but certainly a huge memory hog both for FS *and* for your own computer, who'd have to buffer that very very long page of text, and result in huge slowdowns to view it) EVERY time anyone opened the source box at all for any reason, even if just to look at a recent source that would be on the first 'page' now. So yes, if it were all one long string of text, making the browser do the search work, it'd be possible. But I think that fix makes things generally worse rather than better, once you understand some of its side-effects.