Hello All,
I recently upgraded from RM7 to RM9 due entirely to the new color coding features. It’s been quite a learning curve, but I’m getting better.
I am working on a y-line descendant tree from an original ancestor (b. 1630s) and presently have a tree with about 3000 names. For various reasons, I’d like to be able to able to color code (and count) all members of each successive generation descending from the progenitor (including spouses–not just the y-line). I can’t figure out if this is possible. In researching, I did find one older thread that speaks to the issue (https://support.rootsmagic.com/hc/en-us/articles/224925987-Color-Code-People-By-Generation) but I can’t suss out how to mark the number of generations to include in RM9. Or perhaps there is now a simpler way?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide. I appreciate it!
It’s just the same as is described in the article except for descendants instead of ancestors. Start with John Doe. Mark 5 generations of his descendants plus spouses red, 4 generations green, 3 generations purple, etc. Of course you can use whichever colors you prefer for each generation.
The mechanical process right click John Doe => Color Code => pick your color => Choose People Selected From A List => Apply Highlighted Color To People Selected Above. This doesn’t look like it’s going to color code any descendants, but keep going.
You will now be in RootsMagic Explorer. Before you do anything else at this point, navigate to the same John Doe and highlight him with out clicking on his checkmark, The easiest way to navigate to him is usually to use the search box. Do not forget this step. It does not remember that you are working on John Doe at this point.
Click on the Mark box => Descendants Of Highlighted Person => Descendants and Spouses. Set the number of generations. That feature is available here but not on the original color coding screen. This is the Number of Generations feature that you couldn’t find. Click OK. Click Select.
Repeat for each generation with a different color as described in the first paragraph.
It is a convoluted process, but it worked in exactly the same way in RM7. The convolution is not new to RM9.
Hi Jerry,
Thanks so much for your clear and step-by-step explanation. It’s exactly what I needed. I’m grateful for your time and help!
Cheers,
Greg Martin (garaygen)
Jerry, I have a question about color coding, too, since you obvious know how this works. I need to color code a named group, and in RM8, I just right-clicked on a person (as you said), picked a color, then clicked on “Named Groups” at the bottom of the list, then clicked on “Apply Color…”. Then it gave me a list of my named groups, and I selected one, and that was it.
But in RM9, when I click on “Named Groups,” then click “Apply Color,” it just color-highlights that one single person on whom I had right-clicked at the beginning. And that’s it. Nothing else happens. How do I get it to show me the list of named groups?
My color coding screen in RM9 has a Named Group button. If I click the button to enable the option, then there is a box just below that which is blank and which has a down arrow. Clicking the box shows the list of groups. Well, the blank box with the down arrow is there anyway, even if I don’t enable the Named Group option. But the blank box with the down arrow has no effect until I enable the Named Group option.
The behavior of the Named Group option was exactly the same in RM8. If the Named Group button and the blank box with the down arrow are not on your color coding screen in RM9, then you probably need to post a screen shot here and post a trouble ticket to the RM HelpDesk.