And try searching the Internet using terms like "Unknown", "Unk", "???" and "---" entered into a Surname or other field. I guarantee Ancestry, FamilySearch and other genealogy websites will be confused by them and won't return any useful information.
-------- Original Message -------- > From: "Sherry/Support" <she...@legacyfamilytree.com> > Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 9:08 AM > To: legacyusergroup@LegacyUsers.com > Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Sourcing a blank first name in SourceWriter? > > However, the drawback to entering something in a field where you don't > have information (question marks, dashes, unknown, etc) are: > > 1. If you use the "Missing Information" search tab in the Search > window, you won't find the missing information - it's looking for > blank fields. > > 2. If you use the "not equal to" or "equal to" in a Detailed Search > and leave the field blank, (find everyone who doesn't have this field > blank or find everyone who has this field blank - good search for > missing data) the search won't give you what you're looking for > > 3. If you want to use "Insert underlines for missing" in the book > reports, those fields will not be included since again it's looking > for empty fields. > > 4. Blank fields draw attention to the reader in the chart reports. > > So entering anything in the fields that you don't have information for > can impeded your research. > > I know a lot of people insert a lot of different things but I really > don't recommend it. In my early days I did and now I'm sorry (easy to > remove for everything but Surname) > > Mr and Mrs should only be used as a surname prefix.... Legacy will > complain if you put that in a given name field > > > Sincerely, > Sherry > Technical Support > Legacy Family Tree > > > On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 8:54 AM, singhals <singh...@erols.com> wrote: > > Or for absolute certainty while scanning a list of name : Mr > > Ms as appropriate to the known gender. > > > > MOST folks are clever enough to realize no one uses Mr or Ms > > as a given name, it is a blinking flag that more research > > needs doing, but it pops off the printed page so when I'm > > going down a printed alpha list that isn't color-coded. > > Then too -- some newspaper announcements of marriages do > > refer to the out-of-town party as "Mr. Smith" or "Miss Jones". > > > > May not be a "best practice" but it tells me what I want to > > know and at first glance. > > > > Cheryl > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
