Family Tree Detective's Genealogy Site: Troubleshooting -- FTD for Windows

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In Family Tree Detective, you can enter an unlimited number of facts for both individuals and marriages. In addition to the pre-defined fact names built into Family Tree Detective, you can create your own facts for things like special events, personal characteristics, or favorite activities -- it's as simple as typing the fact name in the appropriate field. See the instructions for Entering Facts for more information.

As you add facts to your Family File from varying sources, there is a good chance that you will find conflicting information regarding the same event or fact. Depending on the source, there may be a disagreement about the date, location, or some other detail. Family Tree Detective allows you to record and display conflicting information as alternate facts until you can confirm which is correct by later research. For example, suppose there are two possible birth dates for one of the individuals in your file, and you won't know which one is correct until you verify the sources. In Family Tree Detective, you can record both birth dates until you have time to do more research. Notice the two birth dates listed on the Facts page below.

Figure 1: The Facts dialog box

When you enter an alternate fact, you need to tell Family Tree Detective which one to display in your tree. To specify the preferred fact, click the check box to the right of the fact field. Family Tree Detective moves the preferred fact to the top of that fact category. Any time you generate a tree, Family Tree Detective displays the preferred fact by default.

Note: Some views let you choose whether to display all alternates or just the preferred fact.

If one of the alternate facts also appears on the Family Page, as do birth, death, and marriage dates, switching the preferred fact in the Facts dialog box will switch the fact that's displayed on the Family Page. When you display a view containing facts that have alternates, a small "a" is placed next to that field indicating that you have recorded alternate information for this field. Notice the small "a" to the right of the birth location field below.

Figure 2: The Family Page showing alternate information