Hi. I wonder if anyone can help. I am new to RootsMagic 8 and just discovered the create Groups feature that can be used to filter the People list. However when I select a person and choose to mark all descendants or ancestors of that person I get very little results although I know the person has many ancestors (me for example) or descendants (one of my 4th great grandfathers for example). What might I be doing wrong?
It’s hard to know without being able to watch over your screen over your shoulder, but here are a couple of possibilities.
One possibility is that you might have already been on the person in one of the main views when you went into the dialog to make a group. At some point in that dialog, you would have a Mark button available to you. So you probably chose the Mark button and then selected either the Ancestors or Descendants option. If that’s exactly what you did then you are missing a step.
Namely, it is not sufficient already to be on the person when you initiate the dialog. After you get into the dialog and before you click the Mark button you will be looking a list of people. You need to navigate to your person in that list even though you were already on the correct person when you started the process. The easiest way to do so is usually with the search box that’s below the Mark button.
Another possibility is that after the marking is completed successfully, you fail to click the Select button. But my money is on the first possibility.
If one of these is not it, then I’m all out of ideas.
Hi @thejerrybryan and thanks for taking the time to reply. I think I did exactly what I should have done but I’ll run through my steps to see if you spot something wrong. I am using RootsMagic 8 on a MacBook.
So on the main page I click the Groups icon. Then I click the big + symbol to add one. It asks me to name the new group so I do and then click ok. I then seem to have to click on the pencil symbol to edit groups, choose my new group, and click edit. I then get a list of names and I find the one I want to start with (my 4th great grandfather on my mother’s side), then when selected then I hit Mark. I then choose Descendants of highlighted person, and try Descendants only and click ok (set at 5 generations). Then I click Select, and then Ok to go out of the edit dialogue.
However now when I go to the People List on the main screen and use this group to filter I actually only have him in the list! It’s not showing any descendants at all.
I should say I have created some groups using the filter by data method and they work perfectly.
Any ideas?
Ideally, your troubleshooting should go back to the Group selection screen. Unmark everyone in the database. Search for GGGGGrandfather’s name. Checkmark the box next to his name. Now use Mark button and select your filter(s) then before OK… scroll the list upwards and downwards observing all NOW-checkmarked individuals seem to be the grouping that you were hoping for on the People View screen. THEN, OK should deliver those checkmarked.
You procedure sounds ok. I think I still need to look over your shoulder. 
The procedure you describe does expose what I think is an awkwardness in RM8’s workflow for making groups. Namely, I don’t think the big + sign to make any group makes any sense at all. All it does is make an empty group. Why can’t you go ahead and add the people at the same time? Let’s come back to that question later.
Because of that awkwardness, I create a group not by clicking the big + sign but instead by clicking the Edit icon (the pencil). From there, I click the New button and proceed to make my group. I have never had it fail.
The procedure you described should work, but try it going through Edit ad New that I just described and see if that helps.
I don’t have time for a full explanation right this second and I will be away from the computer all day. But I think the RM8 design for groups conflates two rather different process for managing groups that really shouldn’t be conflated. Namely, there is a process that RM7 called Quick Groups where you can add individuals to groups and delete them from groups without going into the full blown groups dialog. And there is a process of using the full blown groups dialog. I’m sure that other users are happy with the way the two processes are combined, but I think the way the two processes are combined in RM8 creates problems.
I don’t think that the way the two process are combined is your problem, and I will look at the problem a little further when I have more time. I just know that going through the Edit and then New process always works for me.
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Thanks @kbens0n but I did do as you say. No one else was ticked after the Marked action but I was hoping they would appear when I completed the whole procedure, but no luck. The filter does not seem to be selecting anyone at all.
And thanks again @thejerrybryan - I’m not hopeful but I will try as you suggest and report back.
This should be “select your filter(s) then before SELECT”…
OK is for finishing the Edit of named Group
This is “obviously” the hitch in your git-along. Sounds like time to dabble with the “other” MARK filtering options to determine if any of them select (tick) additional “peeps”. (ie. start “simpler” with only a checkmark in front of yourself and only a couple generations, etc.)
Ok folks. Real head scratcher this. I spent all of last night trying to get this to work, and initially tonight trying some of your suggestions it still didn’t work. So, I tried again and now I am getting results, both with ancestors and descendants and they look correct I think (will keep running and checking). I didn’t do or change anything - it just seemed to start working! There is a RM8 update waiting to be downloaded but I haven’t done it yet so it’s not that. Really weird.