Here are some explanations of terms used in this Help text:
GEDCOM FILEA quote from the Introduction to the GEDCOM 5.5.1 Standard:
GEDCOM was developed by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to provide a flexible, uniform format for exchanging computerized genealogical data. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data Communication. Its purpose is to foster the sharing of genealogical information and the development of a wide range of inter-operable software products to assist genealogists, historians, and other researchers.
A copy of the GEDCOM 5.5.1 draft Standard, to which PhpGedView adheres, can be downloaded in PDF format here: GEDCOM 5.5.1 Standard This Standard is only available in English.
The GEDCOM file contains all the information about the family. All facts, dates, events, etc. are stored here. GEDCOM files have to follow strict rules because they must be exchangeable between many programs, independent of platforms or operating systems.
DATES IN A GEDCOM FILEAlthough the date field allows for free-form entry (meaning you can type in whatever you want), there are some rules about how dates should be entered according to the GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard.
- A full date is entered in the form DD MMM YYYY. For example, 01 MAR 1801 or 14 DEC 1950.
- If you are missing a part of the date, you can omit that part. E.g. MAR 1801 or 14 DEC.
- If you are not sure or the date is not confirmed, you could enter ABT MAR 1801 (abt = about), BEF 20 DEC 1950 (bef = before), AFT 1949 (aft = after)
- Date ranges are entered as FROM MAR 1801 TO 20 DEC 1810 or as BET MAR 1801 AND 20 DEC 1810 (bet = between)
The FROM form indicates that the event being described happened continuously between the stated dates and is used with events such as employment. The BET form indicates a single occurrence of the event, sometime between the stated dates and is used with events such as birth.
Imprecise dates, where the day of the month or the month is missing, are always interpreted as the first or last possible date, depending on whether that imprecise date occurs before or after the separating keyword. For example, FEB 1804 is interpreted as 01 FEB 1804 when it occurs before the TO or AND, and as 29 FEB 1804 when it occurs after the TO or AND.
You can click on the Calendar icon for help selecting a date.
PDF FILE FORMATThe PhpGedView Reporting Engine produces downloadable reports in Adobe® PDF format. The GEDCOM 5.5.1 Standard specification, mentioned elsewhere in this Help file, is also downloadable as a PDF file. PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format.
PDF files are not viewable or printable by the standard software on your PC. If you already have Acrobat Reader installed (it's often packaged with other softwares), you do not need to replace or upgrade it to deal with report files produced by PhpGedView.
Acrobat Reader, the viewing and printing program for these files, is available free of charge from Adobe Systems Inc. The free Adobe® Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe Systems Inc. web site. You may find copies of "Acrobat Reader" available for download from other Internet sites, but we strongly advise you to trust only the Adobe Systems Inc. site.
Acrobat Reader is available for many different systems, including Microsoft® Windows and Apple® Macintosh, in many languages other than English. If you have a Windows 95 system, be sure to download Acrobat Reader version 5.0.5. Versions more recent than this will not install correctly on Windows 95 systems.
Download Adobe Reader here
PHPGEDVIEWPhpGedView (or PGV) does not just put static pages on the Web; it is dynamic and can be customized in many ways.
PhpGedView was created by John Finlay to view GEDCOM files online. John started developing the program on his own. An international team of developers and translators has since joined him and is working to improve the program. Among the more significant features that have been added or improved in the program are its extensive support of languages other than English, and the ability to add and edit events online.
PORTALThis site's Portal is like the lobby of a restaurant or a public library. It is the place where you enter, but you can also find important information like explanations, menus etc.
THEMEThis site can have different "appearances", called Themes.
The site administrator chooses a default Theme, which everybody who enters this site will initially see. When the administrator has enabled this feature, all users can select their own Themes. PhpGedView remembers the last selected Theme for each logged-in user, so that that user will automatically see that Theme the next time he logs in. Themes can be used as a way to distinguish between different databases on the same site. Each database can have a different default Theme.