Approved software list

RobertLeighPritchett

The approved software list link for North America (https://www.familysearch.org/en/fieldops/article/fsc-operations-guide-appendix-g-northamerica-specific-guidelines) goes to

https://www.familysearch.org/innovate/solutionsgallery/s/

and does not show a list of approved software.

I'm specifically looking for Adobe Acrobat, since we are needing it to copy/paste data from the "Honor Roll of Yakima County" Book (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/582455-an-honor-roll-containing-a-pictorial-record-of-the-gallant-and-courageous-men-from-yakima-county-washington-u-s-a-who-served-in-the-great-war-1917-1918-1819-i-e-1919?offset=1)

We are extracting photo (original publisher and newspaper are no longer around and the book was published in 1921 with no copyright) and military data for around 3,000 individuals listed in the book and have Service Missionaries helping with this endeavor using the computers at our FamilySearch Center (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Richland_Washington_FamilySearch_Center) and we've discovered that we are in fact related to many of the individuals in the book, so we do have a vested interest in extracting the data. Adobe Reader does not allow us to copy/paste. Adobe Acrobat does. Are there any other software solutions that we can add to FamilySearch computers to allow us to copy/paste instead of retyping every letter?

Is there a similar product like Preview on the Mac for the PC that is recommended?

And yes, I have looked at alternatives for the PC

https://www.techradar.com/best/adobe-acrobat-alternatives

And I did locate this

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/using-fhc-application-finder

RobertLeighPritchett

I've updated Ancestry Quest, Legacy and RootsMagic on all but 4 of the slowest computers so far (18 total units at this location). I also added the screensaver on all units that allowed screensavers. A few have that option grayed out and set to "none". I have not learned how to resolve that yet.

The filter.churchofJesuschrist.org comes up as a missing page on all browsers. Why?

I have yet to try Microsoft's Intune function.

RobertLeighPritchett

is it okay to remove older shortcuts to previous versions of Ancestral Quest, Legacy and RootsMagic on units?

RobertLeighPritchett

All computers at this location (Richland FamilySearch Center) have been updated and the older shortcuts removed.

RobertLeighPritchett

I have been receiving awesome remote assistance from Elder Fields, Senior Service Missionary IT in the Hillsboro Oregon area.

He said before I could add any Adobe Acrobat-like software, the 18 units needed to be brought up to snuff. (Meaning they need to be in compliance with the FamilySearch computer standard.) He uses the FamilySearch SOS (remote.familysearch.org) to access and we spend a lot of time on the cellphones walking through the units and getting the 'i's dotted, the 't's crossed and tying up all the loose threads.

The tools function is a script with verbal notifications as it advances through its routine. After it is done, we go through the browsers and add the FamilySearch Portal and FamilySearch.org as tabs for both Chrome and Edge.

The Lexmark printer had been updating its firmware for months and taking its sweet time doing so. Elder Shields saw that it was extremely out of date with its firmware and he successfully corrected that. The Lexmark auto attempts were obviously not working. We here at our Center didn't know.

There are still a lot of issues to resolve on various computers, but we are working through them one at a time and it is taking about 1.5 hours each to get them "correct" as far as FamilySearch is concerned. We have spent the equivalent of 1 full day of his time and still have half the computers to go through (I have spent a lot more than that) as of 13 November 2023.

Elder Fields has been given a checklist to follow - and he follows it to the letter. He also shared the following:

________________

"The following wording has proven useful in centers around the country:

"Thank You for using this church owned, operated, and maintained computer. It exists because of generous time and money donations.

This computer exists so that you may have a great way to do FamilySearch activities. The settings are for the benefit of all Patrons equally.

Please do not change any settings, create, or modify profiles, or accounts."

You may want to print enough copies of the attached file to provide enough strips of paper with the 3 lines of text that you can tape one to the front of each of the computers. "

_______________

And I was sent an attachment with a full page of the 3-line text paragraphs to print, cut and attach.

Elder Shields also suggested that I "experiment" with an Adobe Acrobat-like app to see if, after it was installed on FamilySearch standardized up-to-snuff computers, that the "tools" function did not reject it. I found the always free "PDF24" worked for my function using the "reader" tool it provides. It actually exceeds my expectations and works as almost as well as "Preview" on a Mac for the Dell boxen we use. And the tools function did in fact not reject it.

I would suggest that the "tools" script include removing all old versions of Ancestral Quest, Legacy and RootsMagic after it sees or needs to update to the most recent versions authorized for use by FamilySearch. So for the scripting programmers, this means adding the latest versions first, of those three programs and then uninstalling the older versions if they are still on the computers.

Oh, and Microsoft Intune Registration was begun on all units prior to. I will need to get more educated on its purpose.

RobertLeighPritchett

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/fundamentals/what-is-intune