Is there a way to have each RM database file look to its own media folder instead of all files only going to one folder? (mac OS; RM 11 all current).
FTM 2024 has no problem with this and it is a serious limitation in RM if there is not a simple way to fix it.
There is no way to fix it.
This has been a requested feature many times before but it still hasn’t happened.
I agree it’s a limitation that should be fixed. But do remember that with the exception of media files downloaded via TreeShare, media files in RM don’t “go to” anywhere. Rather, media files in RM “come from” somewhere. You can certainly have separate media folders for each of your RM databases if you wish.
So what does that media folder option in RM actually mean? It’s not as much as you might think. For example, you could just leave that option blank and RM would function correctly. And that would be one way to “have separate media folders for each database”.
Do you lose anything by leaving the media folder option blank? Yes. One thing. Namely, when you do an Add New Media, that option is the place where navigation starts. If instead you do a Drop New media, then that option doesn’t matter. So for example, if you had five databases with separate media folders for each one, you can make a master media folder with five subfolders, one for each database. Then you can set the media folder option to that master media folder and that’s where your navigation to the new media file would start. Or you can leave the media folder option blank.
Having said all that, RM does secretly use the media folder option to establish relative media paths to your media files rather than absolute file paths. This activity is almost completely transparent to the user. It would primarily affect a user using RM on two computers where the media folder was at a different place on each computer. For that use case, RM’s media folder option can be extremely helpful because it could be set differently on each computer. In most other cases, the media folder option typically is not all that significant. And it’s not all that significant because it only affects the start location for navigating your media folders during an Add New Media operation.
Historically, the request for a different media folder option for each database goes back decades. The request was answered in RM8 by what we have now where the folder paths are really relative behind this scenes. But this really only addresses the problem of the user with two computers running RM. It doesn’t address the more common problem of different databases needing different media folders.
Well that worked if I copy each FTM media folder into a RM All Media folder and import new gedcoms to RM. This is clumsy and doubled my media storage unless I change how FTM media is arranged but does work.
Thank You.
yes – I agree most setting should be by database not program.
If one moves to a different computer even if the subfolders are all the same but the parent folder is /user/steve/media/.. vs /user/jane/media/.. that can cause program and my past experience with a previous version – the tool broke about 700 media (I replicated that 3 times) – that was previous version. Never was able to determine the root case – other than the program didn’t exist before hand and did after. I got a new computer and changed the subfolder structure – I was able to fix the issue via Sqlite scripts and the technician who assign my ticket told me several wrong I reported them to Renee. The were no sign of issues before I moved to new computer so either there was a hidden database issue or the fix tool caused it – since basically all of the media moved to subfolder and was not before – it could not fix everything. (just a warning as I do not know the root cause but this was about a year go)
You are correct that moving to a new computer can cause problems similar to running RM on two computers at the same time if the Windows userid is not the same on the old computer and on the new computer.
Previous to RM8, that would always cause a problem. Even if you set up all your folders on the new computer exactly the same as on the old computer not having the Windows userid the same on the new computer the same as on the old computer would break all your RM media links.
From RM8 through RM11, the new relative media path support does fix that problem if you use it correctly. But there best I can tell, there is no documentation of how to use this feature properly. This is a case where you really do need to set a media path on both the old computer and the new computer and set them both the same. And on the new computer, set it before you copy RM from the old computer to the new computer.
It’s hard to write a good description of exactly ow this feature works and how to use it to your best advantage without writing a 10 page document. There are just too many combinations and permutations of how your old computer was set up and how your new computer is set up.
When your tree is on Ancestry, using TreeShare will download the media into a separate folder (database name.media).
Each database will be a subfolder of where you setup the Media Folder in Settings.
Just agreeing. Media downloaded via TreeShare uses a totally different system and doesn’t use your media folder option at all. Each database has its own media folder called filename_media. The files downloaded by TreeShare are all downloaded into this one large folder (no subfolders), and the file names are meaningless. But there is a a separate folder for each database.
Yes the subfolders are created wherever your Data Folder is (not Media Folder)
Since the OP said he uses FTM, I wanted to give another option of how he could have each database use it’s own media folder. Not what he asked but …
as far as the media links go – all program could point to one folder or subfolders.
I have most of my datbases(RM, FH, FTM etc) all point to the same Main folder and the subfolder by Fact Type. You might have to be careful to make sure you do links correctly. And noting that of course not all files or links would be in all databases or programs (this is expected if done correctly) the Media folders is the Master of all if you will.
ancestry tree download gives you a media file mess of meaningless names with no subfolder organization. I go the opposite way since I use family subfolders to be able to keep things understandable and reviewable.
Whatever sub-folder and naming system works for one is what is important – as long as you are consistent in placement and naming
This was the original question and using TreeShare is currently the only way to get different media folders.