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Super Big Family Tree app SJA

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This is the help page for the Super Big Family Tree (SJA) app which is available as part of the Tree Apps suite. The app was originally developed during Hacktoberfest 2023 by Greg Clarke with assistance from Steve Adey. It is intended to provide a visual summary of a number of generations of an "extended family", that can optionally be printed for a family genealogy meeting. This "_SJA" copy of Greg's original help (Space) page is intended to be marked up (edited), to assist Steve in testing the user settings dialog code

The Super Big Family Tree app can be used to create a customized chart showing a selected number of generations of direct ancestors and descendants for any individual listed on WikiTree, as well as their cousins and in-laws. A settings dialog controls the presentation of personal metadata (names, dates, places), inclusion of thumbnail photos, and how colours are used to highlight characteristics such as gender, generation, grandparents' lines, DNA inheritance paths, DNA confirmations, and birth/death locations. The Super Big Family Tree lets you examine a person's vital statistics, jump to any person's profile, or jump to a new Super Big Family Tree chart for any person in the tree.

New — features added within the last six months — are marked by NEW !
Pending — features to expect soon. The documentation got ahead of the software.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or bug reports about the app, please send Greg a message on WikiTree.

IntroductionSettingsSubjectsPrinting SourcesBrowsersNew

Contents

Introduction

This guide will show you how to use the various features of the app.

We recommend that you enable the WikiTree Browser Extension (WBE) feature — Image Zoom. Some of the images presented in this document are purposely smaller than full size so that we can present them side-by-side or as a group, rather than scrolling through a long series of full-size screenshots.. With WBE's Image Zoom enabled, you can just click in the bottom right corner of any screenshot and you'll get an enlarged version of the same image. If you haven't been using it already, this is a good time to get started — WikiTree Browser Extension.

Starting the Super Big Family Tree app

To use the Super Big Family Tree app, there are three actions you need to take

  1. Select Tree Apps from the horizontal tabs on any WikiTree person profile
  2. Select Super Big Family Tree from the pulldown menu
  3. Customize the display to suit your purpose
  • On any WikiTree person profile, click on the Tree Apps tab.
  • The WikiTree ID of the profile is carried over.
  • Choose Super Big Family Tree. It will automatically load up, without you having to enter anything.
  • Initially, you may see a message asking you please wait— typically only a few seconds.
  • Then the tree is displayed and you can adjust the size and settings to suit your purpose.

The Super Big Family Tree

Tree Apps Header — Super Big Family Tree app.
Six Generation or Pauline Denise Marcoux and Family. Privatize is enabled. IN-LAWS is enabled.
Six Generation or Pauline Denise Marcoux and Family.

This example tree presents six generations of the family of Pauline Denise Marcoux, mother of the creator of the Super Big Family Tree. Because there are Living People listed in this tree, we have enabled the Privatize feature. We have also enabled IN-LAWS.

Profile Detail Popup

Profile Detail Popup.

Click on any person in the tree to reveal their details in a pop-up — birth and death dates and places; a link to their WikiTree profile; and, a quick link to their Fan Chart, Super Big Family Tree, the Descendants app, and the Bio Check app.

As you increase the number of generations, the relative size of the overall tree will increase vertically, and it is likely to expand horizontally. As SBFT attempts to fit the whole tree into your viewport, the reduced size of the individual leaves on the tree could make it difficult to discern who anybody is, in which case you can just click on a leaf and a popup will fill you in.

Button Bar

Super Big Family Tree Button Bar.
Super Big Family Tree Button Bar.
  • ANCESTORS — Press the + and – buttons to add/subtract generations showing. (Max 7)
  • DESCENDANTS — Press the + and – buttons to add/subtract generations showing. (Max 7.)

Generations Displayed

Generations Displayed
Generations Displayed

The number of generations of Ancestors and Descendants being displayed is indicated, and you may choose to increase or decrease that number by selecting + or . (Minimum=0, Maximum=7). You may detect a slight pause as the app retrieves additional ancestors from WikiTree, especially at more distant generations. A message may appear below the toolbar. When it completes, you may want to click on the resize button (see below) to adjust your viewport.

BRANCHES: aunts/uncles. First level branch. Siblings and siblings of direct ancestors. Up to 1-5x great-aunts/uncles.

— Siblings and siblings of direct ancestors.(aunts/uncles, great aunts/uncles, ...)

BRANCHES: 1st cousins. Second level branch. Children (and spouses) of the siblings of direct ancestors. We normally think of 1st cousins as the children of one's aunts and uncles.  The children of one's 4th great-grand-aunts and -uncles are also one's 1st cousins—our 1st cousins five times removed.

— Children and spouses of siblings of direct ancestors.[1][2]

BRANCHES: 2nd cousins. Third level branch. Grandchildren of siblings of direct ancestors.

— Grandchildren of the siblings of direct ancestors.[1][2]

BRANCHES: 3rd cousins. Fourth level branch. Great-grandchildren of siblings of direct ancestors.

— Great-grandchildren of the siblings of direct ancestors.[1][2]

SIBLINGS

SIBLINGS. Enable to add all siblings (brothers/sisters) of the subject.

Enable or disable. Adds all siblings (brothers/sisters) of the subject.

IN-LAWS

IN-LAWS toggle.Enable to add parents of the subject's spouse(s).

Enable or disable. Adds the parents of the subject's spouse(s).

Pedigree Only

Pedigree Only toggle. Enable to eliminate branches from the tree. When Pedigree Only is enabled, the tree will not include siblings, aunts and uncles, or cousins.

Enable to eliminate branches from the tree. When enabled, the tree will not include siblings, aunts and uncles, or cousins.

Privatize

Privatize. Hides personal identification information of every Living Person in the tree.

Enable Privatize to hide personal identification information of every Living Person in the tree. Use this feature when giving a genealogy or technology presentation in public, leave it off for private consultations.

Zoom to Fit Button

Resize.
Resize.

Cycles through 3 settings — one of which is a custom zoom that remembers the last zoom factor the user used by pinch to zoom gestures.

Info Button

Info Button.
Info Button.
About the Super Big Family Tree app
About the Super Big Family Tree tree app

Click on the (i) icon to open the Info box.

Help Button

Help Button.
Help Button.

Click on the (?) icon to open the Super Big Family Tree app space page.

Click on the (?) icon on any Settings tab to access the Fan Chart app space page in a new browser tab, at the specific section that describes that Settings tab.

Settings Button

Settings Button.
Settings Button.
Settings Dialog
Settings Dialog

Click on the gear-shaped Settings icon to open the Settings dialog.

Legend

Legend Button.
Legend Button.

When a Highlights option has been chosen, a popup box will appear in the top-left corner of the window view, containing details. The Legend button will also appear in the toolbar so that you can show/hide the popup legend. This Legend button will alternatively hide or show the pop-up box.

IntroductionSettingsSubjectsPrinting SourcesBrowsersNew

Settings

The Settings (gear icon) provides you with content options... what to include on the Super Big Family Tree and how to format it.

In the Settings menu, you will find options to customize the look and content of your Super Big Family Tree. There are seven tabs:

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

General

Settings Dialog
Settings — General

Font for Names: — Select your preference [Arial|Courier|Times|Fantasy|Script]
Font for Info: — Select your preference [Arial|Courier|Times|Fantasy|Script]
Box Width: — Select your preference [narrow|default|large|extra large]
Vertical Spacing (from 1 to 10) — Select your preference (default 7)
Extras on top: — Select your preference [Leaf Cpde|WikiTree ID|WikiTree #]
Show Coloured boxes around Ancestor Families Tick box

In the first example, the tree of Tommy Douglas is displayed using the default settings.

General tab: Defult Settings. In this example, the tree of Tommy Douglas is displayed using the default settings.
General tab: Defult Settings. (Subject: Douglas-2805)

In the second example, the tree is displayed using the custom settings. The name and info font is Times; the box width is now "narrow"; the vertical spacing has been reduced to "5"; only the WikiTree ID is displayed above the image space; and, his ancestors (his parents) are highlighted with coloured boxes.

General tab: Custom Settings. In this example, the tree is displayed using the custom settings. The name and info font is Times; the box width is now "narrow"; the vertical spacing has been reduced to "5"; only the WikiTree ID is displayed above the image space; and, his ancestors (his parents) are highlighted with coloured boxes.
General tab: Custom Settings. (Subject: Douglas-2805)

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Names

Settings Dialog — Names tab
Settings Dialog — Names tab

These options determine how names are displayed in the tree. By default, the First Name at Birth (FNAB) and Last Name at Birth are selected; you can opt to display the Preferred Name and the Current Last name (CLN) instead. There are numerous other options to fine tune the display of names to suit the application.

  • Show Prefix before full name, tick box (e.g. Sir, Lord, Dr., Rt. Hon. )
  • First Name at Birth, or Usual Name, radio buttons
  • Show Nickname, tick box [NEW] (e.g. "Lucky", "Radar", "Sparky")
  • Show Middle Name, tick box
  • Last Name at Birth, or the Current/Married Name, radio buttons
  • Show Suffix after full name, tick box (e.g. Sr., Jr., III )

Normally, using the First Name at Birth and the Last Name at Birth is all we need. But there are times when you want to create a display version of a tree. These options let you tune the tree presentation. In the examples that follow, although our subject was born as Thomas Douglas, son of Thomas Douglas, he was, and is, known most commonly as Tommy Douglas, a champion for every working Canadian. He is entitled to an Hon. prefix for his service, and he was never known to use the Jr or II suffix.

Thomas Douglas. Default Name settings. Show First Name at Birth. Places/dates hidden.
Thomas Douglas — FNAB LNAB.
Tommy Douglas. Show Usual Name. Places/dates hidden.
Tommy Douglas — Usual name LNAB.
Thomas Clement Douglas. Show Middle Name. Places/dates hidden.
Thomas Clement Douglas — FNAB Middle Name LNAB.
Thomas C. Douglas. Show Middle Initial. Places/dates hidden.
Thomas C. Douglas — FNAB Middle Initial LNAB.
Irma May Dempsey. FNAB Middle Name LNAB. Places/dates hidden.
Irma May Dempsey — FNAB Middle Name LNAB
Irma Douglas. FNAB and CLN. Places/dates hidden.
Irma Douglas — FNAB and CLN.

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Dates

Settings Dialog — Dates tab
Settings Dialog — Dates tab

These options determine how dates are displayed in the tree, radio buttons:

  • No dates
  • Show Lifespan only, in years
  • Show Full Date(s) for life events (e.g. b. 1746-01-31 / d. 1812-12-25 )
Only 1 of Lifespan or Exact Dates can be active - or neither option, not both.

Full Dates details, tick boxes:

  • Show Birth Date
  • Show Death Date

Date Format, radio buttons:

  • 1964 | 1964-01-16 | 16 Jan 1964 | Jan 16, 1964
Dates: Default settings.  Full dates in DD MM YYYY format.
Dates: DD MM YYYY. (Subject: Fraser-2541)
Dates: Lifespan years only.
Dates: Lifespan years only. (Subject: Fraser-2541)
Dates: Date Format is YYYY.
Dates: YYYY. (Subject: Fraser-2541)
Dates: Date Format is YYYY-MM-DD.
Dates: YYYY-MM-DD.. (Subject: Fraser-2541)
Dates: Date Format is Month DD, YYYY.
Dates: Month DD, YYYY. (Subject: Fraser-2541)

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Places

Settings Dialog — Places tab
Settings Dialog — Places tab

These options apply to the Places displayed for birth, marriages, & deaths.

  • No Locations — do not display locations, radio button
  • Show Locations for life events — display locations, radio button (as specified below)

Location details:

  • Show Birth Location — display data, tick box (if it is present in profile)
  • Show Death Location — display data, tick box (if it is present in profile)

Birth/Death Location Format, radio buttons: — what level of information is right for your application

  • Full Location as entered — verbose
  • Country only — close enough for many applications
  • Region only — a State, Province, Territory
  • Town only —
  • Town, Country —
  • Region, Country —
  • Town, Region —
Places. Default settings. Full place names.
Places. Default settings. Full place names.
Places. No place names.
Places. No place names.
Places. Country only. Close enough for many applications
Places. Country only.
Places. Region only. Typically a State, Province, or Territory.
Places. Region only.
Places. Town only.
Places. Town only.
Places. Town, Country.
Places. Town, Country.
Places. Region, Country .
Places. Region, Country
Places. Town, Region.
Places. Town, Region

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Photos

Settings Dialog — Photos tab
Settings Dialog — Photos tab

These options determine if photos are displayed or not.

  • Show Photos, tick box
  • Use Silhouette when no photo available, tick box — male or female silhouette

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Colours

Settings Dialog — Colours tab
Settings Dialog — Colours tab

The Colours tab offers a set of options to manage the colours used in the entire tree according to different organizational structures (by generation, family clusters, or places), and to select from among several the colour palettes with which to colour the Super Big Family Tree.

  • Colour Primary's Siblings as Primaries, tick box
  • Background Colour cells by, pulldown menu:
    • OFF - All White
    • Distance from Primary
    • Generation
    • Gender (male / female)
    • Ancestor Family
    • Family Stats [NEW]
    • Random Chaos
  • Colour Palette, pulldown menu (there are 11 different colour palettes):
    • Pastel colours (default)
    • Shades of Grey
    • Shades of Red
    • Shades of Green
    • Shades of Blue
    • Alternating Greys
    • Alternating Reds
    • Alternating Blues
    • Alternating Greens
    • Rainbow colours
    • Psychadelic

NOTE: Many of the examples in this document have used the Pastel Colours palette.

  • Text min cells, radio buttons:
    • Always Black
    • Black or White
    • Alternating Colours

Examples of Colour Usage

=Colour by Distance from Primary =

In this example, we can see that the subject, Simon Fraser is presented with a white background. At one step away, his parents and siblings, along with his wife and children are presented in yellow. At two steps away, his siblings' spouses and children are presented in pink, as are his grandparents.

Colour by Distance from Primary. In this example, we can see that the subject, Simon Fraser is presented with a white background. At one step away, his parents and siblings, along with his wife and children are presented in yellow. At two steps away, his siblings' spouses and children are presented in pink, as are his grandparents.
Colour by Distance from Primary. (Subject: Fraser-2541)
Colour by Generation

In this example, the subject's generation and that generations descendants are a uniform colour, representing the subjects more immediate family; the people who are more likely to be at a family picnic or a wedding. The subject's parents and their parents, and so on, shift colour at each generation. We have chosen the "Pastel colours" pallette.

Colour by Generations. In this example, the subject's generation and that generations descendants are a uniform colour, representing the subjects more immediate family; the people who are more likely to be at a family picnic or a wedding. The subject's ancestors, his parents and their parents, and so on, shift colour at each generation. We have chosen the "Pastel colours" pallette.
Colour by Generations. (Subject: Leblanc-7049)

In the following example, we have eliminated descendants from the tree and are only looking at ancestors. We have chosen the "Pastel colours" pallette.

Colour by Generation with 4 Generations of Ancestors. In this example, we have eliminated descendants from the tree and are only looking at ancestors. We have chosen the "Pastel colours" pallette.
Colour by Generation with 4 Generations of Ancestors.

In the following example, we have eliminated ancestors from the view and are only looking at the descendants. We have chosen the "Psychedelic" colour pallette. Names are in Times and info is in Arial. PLacenames are limited to town/region and dates are limited to date range.

Colour by Generations with 5 Generations of Descendants
Colour by Gender
Louis Riel with his wife and children. In this example, We have chosen the Psychedelic colour pallette to indicate Gender. The names are in Fantasy and the text is in Script. Full dates are shown, but the locations are limited to region and country. By setting ANCESTORS=0, we have removed his parents, siblings, and nephews and nieces from the tree.
Louis Riel with his wife and children. (Subject: Riel-5)

In this example, We have chosen the Psychedelic colour pallette to indicate Gender. The names are in Fantasy and the text is in Script. Full dates are shown, but the locations are limited to region and country. By setting ANCESTORS=0, we have removed his parents, siblings, and nephews and nieces from the tree.

Colour by Ancestor Family
  • I need to see an example of this one. Please tell me...
    • WikiTree ID
    • ANCESTORS=?
    • DESCENDANTS=?
    • COUSINS=?

GeneralNamesDatesPlacesPhotosColours Highlights

Highlights

Settings Dialog — Highlights tab
Settings Dialog — Highlights tab

Highlight cells based on option chosen below, pulldown menu:

  • Alive on this day — Select any date in history to highlight everyone in the tree who was alive on that date.
  • Biography text search — Enter any text string to highlight everyone in the tree who has that text string in their profile.
Highlights: Alive on this day. Select any date in history to highlight everyone in the tree who was alive on that date.
Highlights: Alive on this day.
Highlights: Biography text. Enter any text string to highlight everyone in the tree who has that text string in their profile.
Highlights: Biography text search.

IntroductionSettingsSubjectsPrinting SourcesBrowsersNew

Subjects

Given that the creator of the Super Big Family Tree is Canadian, and so is the document author, they decided to carry on their Canadian subject theme. Among the subjects we have chosen are some notable and historical figures from across Canada. Of course, there are many subjects that we could have chosen to demonstrate their family trees, but we wanted to highlight people who have enough ancestors and descendants to really show off the usefulness of Super Big Family Tree charts.

Pauline Denise Marcoux (Québec)

Pauline Denise Marcoux.
Pauline Denise Marcoux.

Pauline Denise (Marcoux) Douglas (1947-2012) is the birth mother of Greg Clarke, the creator of the Super Big Family Tree app.

Pauline Denise Marcoux  in Super Big Family Tree
Pauline Denise Marcoux in Super Big Family Tree (Privatized)

Marie Blanche Leblanc (Acadia)

Marie Blanche Leblanc. Leblanc-7049
Marie Blanche Leblanc.

Marie Blanche LeBlanc (abt.1751-1827) is a notable Acadian. She has the distinction of being the person who was deported from Acadia most times, at four.

This subject was suggested by the leaders of the Acadians Project.

Marie Blanche Leblanc in Super Big Family Tree.
Marie Blanche Leblanc in Super Big Family Tree.

Louis Riel (Manitoba)

Louis Riel.
Louis Riel.

Louis Riel (1844-1885) is a notable Canadian, a founder of the Province of Manitoba, and a leader of the Métis people.

Louis Riel in Super Big Family Tree.
Louis Riel in Super Big Family Tree.

Hon. Thomas "Tommy" Clement Douglas (Saskatchewan)

Thomas Clement Douglas.
Thomas Clement Douglas.

Thomas Clement Douglas (1904-1986) is a Canadian notable and National Historic Person, and considered by some to be the Greatest Canadian of all time, for his role in the establishment of Canada's central banking, old age pensions, unemployment insurance, and universal Medicare systems.

He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1930. He was Premier of the Province of Sasketchewan. In 1935 he was elected as a federal MP representing the CCF party. He was the 7th Premier of Saskatchewan, from 1944 to 1961. He is known as the "Father of Medicare" for his role in introducing universal health care to Canada. He later became leader of the New Democratic Party, and was an MP until 1979.

Hon. Thomas "Tommy" Clement Douglas.
Hon. Thomas "Tommy" Clement Douglas.

Simon Fraser (British Columbia)

Simon Fraser.

Simon Fraser (1776-1862) is a notable Canadian. As an employee of the North West Company in charge of the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He was an explorer and fur trader who mapped out much of what would become the modern Province of British Columbia. Being the first European to create settlements in the territory, his efforts later helped establish the 49th parallel as the southern border with the United States. A river, a mountain, a lake, a bridge, and a university in British Columbia bear his name. He and his wife, Catherine, had nine children.

Simon Fraser in Super Big Family Tree.
Simon Fraser in Super Big Family Tree.

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Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 WikiTree contributors. "Family Relationships". https://www.wikitree.com/articles/relationships.html
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jessica Grimaud. FamilySearch. "Cousin Chart—How to Calculate Family Relationships" July 23, 2019. (Accessed 19 Nov 2023) https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/cousin-chart

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Browsers

We have tested the Super Big Family Tree in:

  • Google Chrome: Version 115.0.5790.114 (Official Build) (x86_64)
  • Firefox: 115.0.3 (64-bit)
  • Safari: Version 16.6 (17615.3.12.11.3, 17615)

IntroductionSettingsSubjectsPrinting SourcesBrowsersNew

New

New features will be listed here as they are added.

IntroductionSettingsSubjectsPrinting SourcesBrowsersNew

Acknowledgements

Murray Maloney started developing the documentation for Super Big Family Tree on 18 Oct 2023, organizing, adding screenshots, and writing descriptive prose. Working in coordination with Greg, he tested the app behaviour, and helped with debugging.

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Editor's Notes

Here's what I mentioned about the Colour tab settings, and a subtlety that makes it act slightly different than from the Fan Chart colourizing options.

In terms of the COLOUR options - I have chosen in THIS app to treat (by default) ALL siblings of the Primary Person as equals. (The Primary Person is the one whose WikiTree ID is entered in the textbox up top that generates the chart).

If you choose the COLOUR BY == DISTANCE FROM PRIMARY .. —you'll see all sons and daughters of the Primary person in the same colour as the Primary —you'll see all siblings of the Primary person in the same colour as the Primary —you'll see all nieces and nephews of the Primary person in the same colour as the Primary

This behaviour is controlled by the checkbox labelled "Colour Primary's Siblings as Primaries" which is checked, by default.

The REASONING for this as the default is that for a LARGE chart like this, you're more likely to be thinking of "family" in a larger / more global sense ... so, though you need an individual ID to start the charting process from WikiTree, you're probably thinking in family terms.





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