This is simply a request to allow the Family View area to present additional useful information. Oftentimes a child has no spouse, but the space always remains as + Add Spouse. My suggestion is that a 3-dot menu be in the block if no spouse has been added. The menu dropdown could include Died Young, Never Married, and Cohabitating/ Living Together as suggestions. The Died Young and Never Married are especially useful to me so I will know at a glance that no further research is needed for that person. [I have already set up a Fact of ‘Never Married’ and I understand that I can calculate their age at death as being too young to marry.] This drop down menu addition would not add a Fact or note to a person, it would simply help me to quickly evaluate people as I go through my family groups. The + Add Spouse would still be a fuctional link to add a spouse, i.e. if a cohabitating couple married. The new choices would just show up to the right of the existing words.
Yes, I always have that open. I’m just looking for a quicker at-a-glance method that doesn’t require me to click on the individual children to see why a child doesn’t have a spouse entered.
if I understand you correctly there is not good solution for what you want /need.
(Meaning does not exist currently)
Maybe and extended view of Family or Life Summary ? that would be an enhacncement request
Give those people who didn’t marry a color.
I am already using colors to show all of my levels of grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins so my family pages are pretty well colored in. Only one color can be used per person.
My hope is to have the information available on the Family view where the kids are listed with their spouses.
not quite accurate – you have 10 color sets one color set per person at a time.
RootsMagic provides up to 10 different color sets, with each set containing up to 14 distinct colors(depending how you qualitfy them). Because you can name both the color sets and the individual colors within them, this feature goes far beyond simple tree decoration. It allows you to toggle between completely different analytical frameworks of your database with a single click.
1. Understanding How Color Sets Work
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The “Paint Roller” Tool: You can quickly switch which color set is actively displayed across your pedigree, family views, search lists, and reports by using the Color Code button (which looks like a paint roller) in the program header.
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Custom Labeling: When editing a color set, you can give the set a descriptive title (e.g., “DNA Lines” or “Research Status”) and label each individual color (e.g., making red mean “Needs Birth Cert” and green mean “Verified”). Hovering over a color patch on a person’s profile will display these custom labels.
2. Strategic Ways to Use Your 10 Color Sets
You can dedicate each of your 10 color sets to a totally different research angle. Here are the most effective ways genealogists take advantage of them:
Set A: The Four Grandparent Lines (Traditional Ancestry)
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Concept: Track your four main ancestral quadrants back through generations.
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Colors: Assign a specific color to each of your four grandparents and paint all of their respective descendants/ancestor lines accordingly.
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Benefit: Instantly tells you on sight which side of the family any given ancestor belongs to.
Set B: Research Status & Progress Tracking
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Concept: Use colors as a project management tool to see what needs work.
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Colors:
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Red: Brick wall / Dead end (Needs intensive research).
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Yellow: Missing vital records (Birth, marriage, or death missing).
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Green: Fully sourced and proven.
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Blue: Biographical data complete (includes stories, photos, and census checks).
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Benefit: Allows you to open your database and immediately spot areas that are stalling your progress.
Set C: DNA Match Clustering (Genetic Genealogy)
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Concept: Map out DNA inheritance or match groups to coincide with Leeds Method sorting.
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Colors: Match your color blocks to the four grandparent lines of a tested kit (e.g., yourself or a parent) to see which genetic pools your matches fall into.
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Benefit: Helps trace unknown parentage or place DNA matches into distinct paternal and maternal branches.
Set D: Geographic Migration & Immigrant Tracking
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Concept: Keep track of geographic origins or specific “first immigrant” ancestors .
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Colors: Assign colors based on country of origin (e.g., Ireland = Emerald Green, Germany = Gold, England = Blue) or specific ports of entry.
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Benefit: Highlights immigration patterns and lets you isolate who arrived and whe n.
Set E: Direct-Line “Breadcrumbs”
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Concept: Never get lost in sprawling family lin es.
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Color: Choose a bright, highly visible color for your direct pedigree ancestors starting from yourself.
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Benefit: If you drill deep into a collateral or side-branch family and lose your bearings, the bright color flags which children are your direct-line ancestors to guide you back.
Set F: Military Service & Historical Eras
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Concept: Categorize ancestors who participated in specific historical events using RootsMagic’s named gro ups.
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Colors:
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Color 1: Revolutionary War
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Color 2: Civil War (Union / Confederate)
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Color 3: World War I / II veterans
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Benefit: Gives you an instant demographic breakdown of who served in military conflicts across your tree.
Set G: Surname Studies (One-Name Studies)
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Concept: If you are researching a heavy concentration of a specific surname in a localized county, track allied families.
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Colors: Use one color for your primary target surname and another for associated intermarrying fami lies.
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Benefit: Helps eliminate or confirm whether a random historical record belongs to your core project family
Only 1 color can be DISPLAYED at a time. You can switch.
See kevync1985 response.
I notice you capitalize the surnames. If you are doing that manually you could try using lowercase on the surname with they died young or never married. That wouldn’t interfer with the search results.
Thank you so much for this detailed post on color-coding. I use a couple of ways you list (Set A and B like you mentioned,) but I really love the other “sets” you describe. I printed your reply out so I can refer to it while I set these up. Thanks again!