ONEPAGE GENEALOGY

• What is OnePage Genealogy?
• The Reason Why
• Filling the Holes
• Customizing Your Tree
•    Root and Generations
•    Font
•    Chart Style
•    Page Format
•    Finish
• Find Out More
  
  

OnePage Genealogy will put your entire family tree onto a single page in a custom, space-efficient format [see Figure 1(a)]. The program uses your own GEDCOM file as input and computes an optimal layout for each tree based on user-selected paper size and font preferences. The chart is created in PDF format for easy browsing and sharing.

The pedigree chart is the most commonly used format for displaying a family tree. Normally, pedigree charts are available as a fixed form, meaning the tree is already laid out and the user can enter their data. However, space constraints immediately become a limitation for any researcher with more than 6 or 7 generations of recorded family history. Supposing a normal 8½" x 11" sheet of paper offers space for about 6 generations, the height of the page would need to be doubled to allow enough space for just one more. The height is again doubled for each additional generation.

The example in Figure 1(b) shows 9 generations of ancestry on a 24" x 36" chart, achieved by overlapping the first few generations and by splitting generation 9 between the last two columns.

So, can a fixed form accommodate a family tree that has more than 9 generations of ancestors? The answer is yes, as long as you have a large enough sheet of paper. To give an idea of just how large the paper needs to be, suppose we have a family tree with 15 generations. Using an 8 point font size--slightly smaller than the font size of this text--we can fit 9 names per inch. To have enough space for the names of a 15 generation tree, the paper would have to be as long as a football field! For a tree with 20 generations, the paper would be over 1.8 miles long--almost twice the length of BYU campus!

For every researcher, there are many ancestors whose information hasn't been found yet. In fact, for each ancestor that is discovered, there's always another two to be found. The example in Figure 1(b) shows that the majority of the lines are blank over most of the chart. Even in some of the early generations, several names are missing. Each unknown ancestor in a family tree represents an entire missing sub-tree that goes back to the deepest generation of the tree. Reserving room for these blank sub-trees amounts to large portions of unused paper space.

OnePage Genealogy takes advantage of the fact that family trees have incomplete sub-trees. It only requires space for the names that are found in the GEDCOM file. The chart in Figure 1(a) displays 16 generations of ancestors on a 24" x 36" sheet of paper. The tree was created by forcing every pair of sub-trees as close to each other as possible.

In Figure 2, we see an example of how two sub-trees would be laid out in a chart created with OnePage Genealogy. Notice in the second column that John Mack's parents are unknown. The space is instead used by the sub-tree of the ancestor directly above, Mary Stickney. The algorithm used to achieve the results shown above is adaptive to each unique set of records and to each user's preferences.

The Root box also has a 'type-ahead' feature. You can also begin typing in the name of the root individual (last name first with a comma between the last and first name). The closest match to what you have entered will automatically be displayed as you type:

Ancestor Generations: This is an option to show the root individual's entire ancestry, or to specify the number of ancestor generations to be displayed. To specify the number of generations, both the box labeled All and the box labelled None should be unchecked.

Descendant Generations: This is an option to show all descendants of the root individual, or to specify the number of descendant generations to be displayed. To specify the number of descendant generations, both the box labeled All and the box labelled None should be unchecked.

Minimum Size: This setting controls the minimum font size that will appear in the chart. The program will try to display information using a larger font size when possible. If information does not fit even at the minimum font size, it will not be displayed in the chart.

Maximum Size: This setting controls the maximum font size that will appear in the chart. The program will try to display information using this size, but may use a smaller font size when the information does not fit.

Pedigree: This specifies a Pedigree layout [see Figure 1(a)].

Timeline: This specifies a Timeline layout (see Figure 5). The Timeline chart represents each individual as a line that spans from the year of birth to the year of death. The line is black from the birth year to the year a (visible) descendant was born, and then appears green until the death year. When a birth date has not been recorded for an individual, the program will make a guess based on the birth dates of other ancestors or descendants in the tree. Vertical blue lines represent the marriage year for a couple.

Include Spouse: When this box is checked, the chart will include the spouse of the root individual. The ancestors of the spouse will also be displayed up to the generation specified in Ancestor generations.

Advanced: This button does different things depending on the style of the chart currently selected. If Pedigree is the selected chart style, then the advanced button will pull up a small window showing you the current color settings for the various lines of the chart. Clicking on the color will allow you to change it.

Width, Height, Margins: This controls the width, height and margin sizes of the page.

Create: This button will create the chart. The user is prompted to choose a name and destination for the output file. The output is created as a pdf file.