Use this tab to configure custom features for the families in your GEDCOM file.
If you have separate web pages containing family narratives, you can include a link to one of those pages on each family page. Your web pages can be family histories with formatted text, pictures, maps and links to other websites. The link to your web page will appear after the family group sheet area on a family page:
. . . |
03 (M): John Doe |
04 (F): Jane Doe |
| View family narrative. |
| Option | Meaning | |||||||||||||||
 Include links to narrative web pages |
Place a check here to enable links to your narrative web pages. While processing your GEDCOM file, GED-GEN will insert the appropriate links on the family pages it generates. | |||||||||||||||
| Link Text | Specify a sentence or phrase to use with the links to your narrative web pages. Include the special term %LINK% at the place in the link text where the link label should appear. This is the word LINK enclosed within two percent signs. If you do not include %LINK%, the link label is simply appended to the end of the link text. Here are some sample link text and link label combinations:
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| Link Label | Specify the word or phrase that will appear as the actual link to a narrative web page. This label will replace the term %LINK% where it appears in the link text. If a visitor to your website clicks on the link label, your web page about that family appears. | |||||||||||||||
| Link Prompt | Specify the text that will appear when a visitor holds the mouse over a link to your narrative web page. This indicates to your visitor the purpose of the link. | |||||||||||||||
| Frame Target | Leave this option empty for normal operation. When a visitor clicks a narrative link, that page displays in place of your family page. If you want the narrative page to display in a new Internet browser window, enter the reserved name _blank (i.e., an underscore character followed by the word blank).
Advanced Users
If your website uses HTML frames, you can specify the frame in which to display a narrative page. This option controls the target attribute in the link. Enter the name of a frame window, or use the reserved name _top to replace your frameset page. |
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| Relative folder path for narrative files |
Specify the folder path where your narrative web pages reside. This must be a relative folder path. To automatically determine a relative folder path, click . Leave this option blank if your narrative web pages are in the same folder as your family pages, that is, they are in the destination folder. |
= Feature is available only in the registered version.
The marriage notes field in many genealogy programs is generally not sufficient to integrate text, pictures and diagrams into a pleasing website presentation. The narrative links custom feature enhances your genealogy website by integrating your own web pages with the family pages generated.
Although family history pages were intended, you can use this feature to link any type of web page. You may have a gallery of family pictures, a graphical family tree, or a report generated by your favorite genealogy program. If you do not want to call it a narrative, simply change the Link Label text above.
Narrative web pages can be used in combination with biography web pages. Narrative pages are specified per family while biography pages are specified per individual. You could have a narrative page that describes a family and then separate biography pages for certain family members. Or, you could include biographies of all family members in one family narrative page and avoid using individual biography pages.
Use this feature to import the contents of external text files and web pages. Rather than linking to another web page, you can include that file's contents directly on your family group sheet.
Suppose you have a web page telling a family's story, complete with formatted text and pictures. GED-GEN copies the contents of that page so it appears on the family group sheet. This integrates the family group sheet with your family narrative on the same web page.
. . . | |
03 (M): John Doe | |
04 (F): Jane Doe | |
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Or, suppose the research notes you keep with your favorite genealogy program are not suitable for presentation on your website. You could keep separate text files about each family. Each could be an essay summarizing your research, suitable for presentation. When you generate your web pages, GED-GEN will import and display your essays directly on the family group sheets.
| Option | Meaning |
| Include imported text |
Place a check here to enable imported text processing. When generating family pages, GED-GEN will insert the contents of the appropriate external files. |
| Position | Specify where the imported text should appear on the family page, either above or below the family group sheet area. |
| External File Content | Specify the format of the external files to be imported. All files must have the same format. Plain text files contain no special formatting. They are created with a simple text editor like the Windows Notepad program. GED-GEN will automatically convert plain text to HTML as it imports your file. It does not modify the original file. HTML text files contain text formatted with HTML. Use an HTML editor to create your external web pages. Or, create a plain text file and add your own HTML markup using Windows Notepad. See Importing HTML Text Files below. GED-GEN imports only text and HTML files, not word processor files, such as those created with Microsoft Word. If you use a word processor, use its Save As... command to save your files either as text files or as web pages. |
| Full folder path for external files |
Enter the full folder path where your external files reside. All external files must be in the same folder. Unlike other options that require a relative folder path, this path should include the drive letter and all sub-folders. GED-GEN uses it to obtain the full name of the import file while generating your family pages. Click to more easily specify a path. |
= Feature is available only in the registered version.
When importing HTML text files, GED-GEN imports only the text between the <BODY> and </BODY> tags. It does not import scripts or internal style elements in the header of your HTML file, if any. Instead, you can include scripts using the Headers tab and you can include style elements using an external CSS file.
If it cannot find the body tags, GED-GEN assumes the file contains paragraphs of HTML-formatted text. In this case it imports the entire file content without converting the text to HTML. This allows you to import simple HTML-formatted text without creating a complete web page.
| File Content | <BODY> Block Present | Text Imported | Converted to HTML |
| Plain Text | Not Applicable | Whole File | Yes |
| HTML Text | Yes | Body Block Only | No |
| HTML Text | No | Whole File | No |
The contents of your HTML text file becomes part of a family page. If your file contains relative links to other web pages or images, those links must be relative to the destination folder, where the family page will reside. If you choose to display source citations in a frame window at the bottom of the browser, you may also need to include a target= attribute in each link. Specify target="_parent" if your HTML file is imported into a family page containing footnotes. Otherwise you can omit the target attribute, or specify target="_self". If your website is frames-based, specify one of your frame names, or target="_top" to replace your frameset.
When importing HTML files, GED-GEN does not rigorously parse the HTML. This should not cause problems for most HTML files. However if your files are complex, it may not find the body blocks. This may cause the final pages to display improperly. In these cases, please consider simplifying your HTML files.
You can include a family group picture on each family page. This could be a family portrait or a wedding picture.
 The John & Sally Doe Family |
Husband: John Doe |
Born: 04 JUL 1876 |
For best results, images should be a reasonable size to minimize download time for your website visitors. An image width of 300 to 400 pixels works well. You can use an image editing program to crop and re-scale your pictures. If you re-scale your images, remember to maintain the aspect ratio. This will keep the height in proportion to the width without stretching the image.
| Option | Meaning |
| Include group images | Place a check here to enable image processing. When generating family pages, GED-GEN will add the corresponding image to the family page. |
| Position | Select the place where the group image should appear, either above or below the family group sheet area. |
| Relative folder path for image files |
Specify the folder where your group image files reside. This must be a relative folder path. Click to automatically determine the relative path. This path may be the same path you specified for individual images. Leave this field blank if your image files are in the same folder as your family pages, that is, in the destination folder. |
