Hint/suggestion: highlight "ref" for easier editing

+14 votes
274 views

This post is purely a suggestion of a hint that I started using and I've found it quite useful.  I hope that some may find it of use.

When editing a profile that has many inline references, I often find my eyes searching for the <ref> and </ref> marks to find the text between them.  This can tire the eyes quickly and is sometimes frustrating.  What I've started doing is this:

Click Control plus F (CTRL + F) and in the box, enter "ref"

All of the text "ref" on the page will now be in highlights.  Go back to your raw text and you'll see where all the inline citations begin and end.  Now it is much easier to find the text of your bio and when/where the inline citations start and stop.

What looked like this:

Izzibiah was born in 1824  in Tennessee,<ref>Division of Archives, Land Office, and Museum. Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records, 1783–1927, Record Group 50. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tenn. Accessed at Ancestry on 12 April 2018 at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2882&h=166069&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tym74&_phstart=successSou.</ref> and was married to Thomas R. Mullins in 1846.<ref>Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780-2002 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.  Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.  Accessed 12 April 2018 at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1169&h=4648307&ssrc=pt&tid=5813834&pid=894860529&usePUB=true.</ref>

now looks like this:

Izzibiah was born in 1824  in Tennessee,<ref>Division of Archives, Land Office, and Museum. Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records, 1783–1927, Record Group 50. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tenn. Accessed at Ancestry on 12 April 2018 at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2882&h=166069&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tym74&_phstart=successSou.</ref> and was married to Thomas R. Mullins in 1846.<ref>Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780-2002 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.  Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.  Accessed 12 April 2018 at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1169&h=4648307&ssrc=pt&tid=5813834&pid=894860529&usePUB=true.</ref>

Edit to add: If you find that you have the word "reference" or something else with "ref" in it, changing the search parameter to ref> will isolate most reference links.

2nd edit: looks like this doesn't work on Firefox.  They do however (of course) have an add on that will allow you to do this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/context-highlight/?src=search

in WikiTree Help by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
edited by SJ Baty
This is browser-dependent. Firefox only highlights one "find" (ctrl-F) item at a time.

But yeah, syntax highlighting would be Highly Useful.
That add-on has not been updated and is incompatible with current versions of Firefox.
Brilliant! I've been working on one bio for two days and was flummoxed at all the text. I just started separating as I worked figuring I could go back later and put things back together. This makes it much easier. Thank you!
It works beautifully and I almost didn't try it because I have the latest version of Firefox for my browser.

I wish everyone on WikiTree knew of this. So many times I've struggled to find an open ref in a footnote!

Thank you Thank you Thank you SJ Baty!!!
I'm still waiting for a link of folder for n00bs with these kinds of tricks and tutorials of all sorts. I just added a folder to my Genealogy Folder on my Bookmarks bar. That's the best I can do for now.

Lisa, here's a link to my 'useful formats' collection. It is public, so anyone can use it. It is not exactly what you are waiting for but might be helpful in the meantime.

A 'shortcut' I use often is my Free Page collection of sources that I use frequently, so I can copy/paste them instead of typing out the same source each time. It is highly personalized (I work most often with Puritan Great Migration profiles) but you are welcome to use any you need. It is also a public page. You may want to start your own Free Page collection of sources you use often so it would be tailored to your needs.

You're welcome!
That's a great idea Lisa; I've been writing an advice for new genealogists, maybe I'll work on this too.

Thank you  April Dauenhauer Just added to my folder within the folder!

SJ Baty That would be great!!! All the helpful stuff here seems to come for specific challenges or items in dribs and drabs, so sometimes they're hard to get back to -ergo my new folder! 

1 Answer

+7 votes
 
Best answer
great suggestion, I tried it, it works
by Rodney Long G2G6 Pilot (869k points)
selected by SJ Baty

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