Family Sections

Overview

The Family Sections item in the Person Entry list controls the inclusion of family information in the person entry which shows spouses and children of the subject.

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page describes how Second Site determines the sequence of family sections when the subject has more than one family.

Properties

Spouses

The Spouses pull-down menu controls whether Second Site creates a family section on the person page for childless spouses. If Spouses is set to All Spouses, a family section is created for all spouses. If Spouses is set to Spouses with Children, a family section is created only for spouses with whom the subject had children. The default value is All Spouses.

Heading Format

The Heading Format pull-down menu influences how the Format constructs the title and contents of the Family Section. The choices are:

The exact format of the heading may vary based on the Format. In some Formats, the structure of the list of children varies based on the Heading Format.

Heading Sentence

If Use Heading Sentence is unchecked, the Heading Format determines the Family Section heading text.

If Use Heading Sentence is checked, the Heading Sentence determines the Family Section heading text. An example Heading Sentence is Family of [P]< and [PO]>, but you may use a sentence structure of your own design. You may use TMG event variables to refer to the two principals, including [P], [PO], [P+], etc. You may also use the Second Site-only variables that produce a lifespan. [LSPO] will produce the lifespan of the spouse.

The Heading Sentence supports a special code, CHILDREN, you can use to alter the text based on the number of children for the given family. The CHILDREN code is only valid in the Heading Sentence property of the Family Section Item. The CHILDREN code has the following syntax:

[CHILDREN:]none; one; multiple[:CHILDREN]

So, for example, you might enter it as follows:

[CHILDREN:]Family; Child; Children[:CHILDREN] of [P]< and [PO]>

The Heading Sentence operates on a dummy event, and when the couple has at least one child, the memo of the event is set to the number of children ("1", "2", etc.). You may use <[M]> to insert that number into the heading.

Note Event

The Note Event pull-down menu controls whether Second Site searches for special events to add to the start of a Family Section. If Note Event is set to FamilySectionNote, Second Site will insert the output of a FamilySectionNote event at the start of the Family Section if such a tag exists for the two parents whose children are listed in that Family Section. If Note Event is set to NarrativeChildren, Second Site will use that event instead. If Note Event is set to Ignore, which is the default, Second Site will not search for a qualifying event and no note will appear in the Family Section.

For an event to qualify, it must be primary for the current subject and the two principals must be the current subject and the co-parent. In practice, it's best to make the event primary for both parents but Second Site only checks the primary status of the current subject.

If there is a qualifying event, but the given couple had no children, or if all their children are excluded and not shown, the event will be shown in the Family Section. Thus, you can use the event to describe special circumstances such as:

• Insufficient research on the couple's children
• Some children are excluded and not shown
• etc.

Second Site's Note Event capability is similar to the NarrativeChildren event processing in TMG's Journal report, but not exactly the same. For that reason, Second Site allows you to choose either its designated event (FamilySectionNote) or TMG's designated event (NarrativeChildren). Neither event has to be included in the Database.Tags list, and if checked, it will not appear in the regular tag output section of the person page entry.

A primary Family Section Note event will always appear, even if the person's partner is not eligible to be shown on the site. If the partner's name cannot be shown, Second Site will omit the partner from the tag before constructing the output. A conditional reference to the other principal will yield no output. An unconditional reference to the other principal will yield "an unknown person". For that reason, it's best to make all references to principals conditional in Family Section Note events.

A Family Section Note event with one principal may be used to describe a family where only one parent is known. Second Site adds a single family for all children with the subject as one parent and no other parent identified.

Using the Note Event to Set the Heading

You may customize the Family Section heading for a particular couple via the FamilySectionNote or NarrativeChildren event. If the sentence structure for the event includes the string \|\|, the text before \|\| is used to construct the heading, and the text after \|\| is used to construct the note.

If the FamilySectionNote or NarrativeChildren event provides heading text, that text will override the heading text associated with the Heading Format and Heading Sentence properties.

Here is an example sentence structure:

Offspring of [P]< and [PO]>\|\|[P] <|and [PO]> <[M]> <[D]> <[L]>

The result is two sentences, one for the heading, and one for the note:

Second Site will append the [:NP:] code to the Heading portion of the sentence, and will not add a period to the sentence output. Punctuation is not usually necessary at the end of a heading, but if you want punctuation, you must add it yourself.

If you want to use the same event with Second Site and with TMG's Journal report, you can use the HID code to hide text from TMG, but leave it visible in Second Site.

This example will hide the heading portion from TMG:

[HID:][SS:]Offspring of [P]< and [PO]>\|\|[:SS][:HID][P] <|and [PO]> <[M]> <[D]> <[L]>

This example will create a heading in both TMG and Second Site, with no "Note" section in Second Site:

[P] <|and [PO]> <[M]>[HID:][SS:]\|\|[:SS][:HID]

Repeat Marriage Tags

The Repeat Marriage Tags pull-down menu controls whether Second Site shows marriage and divorce tags in the family section. The choices are:

The default value is Never. Some Formats may not honor the Repeat Marriage Tags property.