Tuesday’s Tip – Options: General Settings (Beginner)

Tuesday's Tips provide brief how-to's to help you learn to use the Legacy Family Tree software with new tricks and techniques.

Options: General Settings (Beginner)

In Customize Legacy we went over some general information about the Options menu. Today we are going to look at the specific options in Options > Customize > 1. General Settings.

1.1 Program Startup (gbl)

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This controls what happens when you start Legacy. The Splash Screen is simply the Legacy logo that displays until the file has been fully loaded. It lets you know that something is happening.

The Starting View is which view Legacy will open to. This is a simple drop down box where you can choose. Since I normally work off of the Family View that is how I have mine set.

1.2 Starting Family File
If you have more than one file you need to tell Legacy which one you want it to open when you start up the program. You have three choices. You can see that I have mine set so that it automatically opens the last file I was working with. You can tell Legacy to prompt you with a list of files to choose from each time you open the program. Or, you can tell Legacy to always open a specific file.

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If I click the down arrow next to Always open this file you can see that I have 3 files to choose from plus an "Other Files" folder that has a lot more. It will always open up to the folder that you have set as your default (another setting we will be getting to!)

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1.3 Starting Family (gbl)
So far I have told Legacy which file I want to automatically open and I have told it which View I prefer. Now I am going to tell Legacy which PERSON I want it to open to. You can see that I have it set so Legacy will go back to where I left off.

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Some people prefer to start off with a specific couple each time, usually yourself. If you choose to Display Preferred startup family you still need to tell Legacy who that startup family is.  You do this on the main ribbon at Options > Set Startup Family. When you click this icon you will be given two options. You can use the current couple on your screen or you can select from the Name List.

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1.4 Starting Ribbon Tab (gbl)
There might be one toolbar that you use more than the others so you will probably want it to be the default starting toolbar. You can see that I have chosen My Toolbar which I have customized to have the icons I use most. You can also select Start with ribbon minimized which will give you more screen space for the family information that is being displayed. I like having the ribbon displayed so I don't have this checked.

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1.5 Tagging Options (gbl)
This is where you turn Tagging on or off. Tagging is VERY important to me so you can see that I have Tagging turned on.

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You can specify which Tags you want to display on the Name/Search Lists. I have it set to show all 9 Tags. When you click Tags to Show on Name List you get this dialog box. You can show all 9 Tags or show only 3 tags. If you choose 3 you can tell Legacy which 3 you want to see.

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1.6 Show Popup ToolTips (gbl)

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There are two different kinds of popup tips. You will see these when you mouse over something. Tooltips popup on Legacy features to give you a hint about that feature and Quick Name Lists pop up when you hover over a person's name. Here is an example of each. The first is an example of a Tooltip and the second is an example of a Quick Name List.

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I have ToolTips turned off because I don't need them but I have Quick Name Lists turned on because this is a great shortcut so that you don't have to click on another screen for the information.

1.7 Popup Information Boxes (gbl)
This option goes along with Option 1.6. 1.7 controls HOW these boxes pop up. I have mine set to pop up simply by hovering the mouse cursor over the spot where I want more info and it will pop up after 1/2 of a second.

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1.8 FamilySearch (ff)
Checking this box turns on the syncing arrows that you see on the Family View and the Pedigree View.

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If you have this turned off you will still have access to all of the other FamilySearch tools. Here is what it looks like on the Family View. Since both of my arrows are green this person is in sync. For more information about how to work with FamilySearch please see our FamilySearch Training.

1.9 LDS (ff)

If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you do Ordinance work for your ancestors, you will want to turn this on. I am not a member of the LDS Church so I don't have it checked.

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If you click the Set LDS Options button you can customize how things are displayed on your screens.

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We have covered every option under 1. General Settings. Next time we will go through 2. Data Entry.

Find tech tips every day in the Facebook Legacy User Group. The group is free and is available to anyone with a Facebook account.

For video tech tips check out the Legacy Quick Tips page.  These short videos will make it easy for you to learn all sort of fun and interesting ways to look at your genealogy research.

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG^® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.