New RM user here. Just started using RM8 coming from another program. Having spent some time with it I do have some things I like and some things I feel could be improved. I definitely like being able to merge all citations, create groups, and the large list of source templates. However, there are a few things I find that makes navigation difficult so these would be my top feature requests that would improve the experience, at least for me. But since I’m still fairly new to the software I’m curious how others work with their tree, or if the ability is there and I just haven’t found it.
Ability to pin person edit panel:
I use a widescreen monitor so I prefer to have multiple panels open since I have the real estate. I can appreciate being able to open multiple person edit panels at once. However, every time one is opened it pops up right over the center of the main window and I have to drag over to the right side. Being able to pin this panel to the right side and having it update with the new person every time I click on that person would be very helpful. Alternately, perhaps this could be added to the existing person summary panel that’s always displayed if there’s room for it.
Easier access to person notes:
I use person notes a lot, it’s where I’ve transcribed a lot of data. It would be nice if notes panel stayed open in the edit person panel without having to click the notes icon every time. Ultimately, combined with above request to pin the panel would result in a single click on a person in the tree that shows a person’s notes on the right panel.
Improved notes:
Currently the person notes panel does not seem to support tab function, really hoping this can be added. Also colored text would be useful. The pop out panel for person notes is also not modeless so I can’t do anything else until I close it.
Customize profile picture:
A lot of my profile pictures are from group photos so I’d like to be able to zoom in on that individual without having to save a new picture for separating out just that person.
Show source media icon for facts:
Nearly all my media is tied to citations not the facts so it doesn’t look like any of my facts have associated media. This means it takes a lot steps for me to open the associated media when in the person edit panel since I need to select sources > citation > media > media > then finally the image to bring it up.
I really would not hold my breath on this ask. There seems to have been considerable effort to do just the opposite in regards to changing the information as you click through people. The easiest example if to click through your tree in family view and watch the index. It would only make sense that as you clicked different people in Family View, then that person would highlight in the index. This change in functionality was apparently planned, and there are some people not quite so happy about it. It is my opinion that this change doesn’t bode well for for being able to pin the person panel and have it update as you move through the persons.
I am going to guess from your requests/suggestions that you have spent at least a little time with Family Historian.
Actually I’ve never used Family Historian, I use FTM19. I would say I much prefer the extended family view (similar to Ancestry tree) and person edit view in FTM. The navigation is easier with less clicks. But there are a few things it lacks which RM has such as the ability to share facts.
Be careful about committing your master database to RM8 rather than FTM 2019. Test the waters for 6 months to let Bruce shake out more of the bugs. I tried RM8 for a while and it has some features that make it a mildly useful helper app but bad design choices and poor porting to the mac keep me happily in FTM 2019 (free update coming too).
Welcome to RM. I too have not been satisfied with RM8, especially as I have a lot of data in the Notes field, and once you get a few hundred words in there, it slows to a crawl. I reported this long ago, but it has not yet been fixed. I loved RM7, and am still using it, until RM8 is more solid. I feel for the folks creating RM8 from scratch, but cannot yet recommend it to anyone. Bill B.
For many, many years I have transcribed into Notepad instead of into RM’s note windows. Obviously, that makes me a Windows user but I’m confident that Macs must have a Notepad equivalent. Many users transcribe into other tools than Notepad and there are a lot of good choices. I then copy and paste from Notepad into RM’s notes. Problems in transcribing into RM’s notes are not new in RM8.
Mac equivalents would be Textedit, Quick Notes, Pages (~Word) and Bear (simple writing app). RM7 has a problem with pasting text into notes from Safari (Firefox works) but I have not tried this in RM8 (uninstalled it and Firefox for Brave).