New Live Training by Evidentia

Evidentia is holding another  live online training session this week! Please register if you plan to attend: https://evidentiasoftware.com/events/creating-custom-citation-templates-in-evidentia-aug-29/ On August 29, 2019 at 9PM Eastern (7PM Mountain) we will focus on when, why, and how to create custom citation templates in Evidentia As last time, student examples are welcome. There is only room for 100 active participants, but the class will be recorded and shared on our website as well as youtube. A link will be sent out prior to the class. You can register at https://evidentiasoftware.com/events/creating-custom-citation-templates-in-evidentia-aug-29/ There is only room for 100 active participants, but the class will be recorded and shared on our website as well as youtube. If all goes well, expect to see more frequent mini classes on a single topic.

See you Thursday!?

Evidentia Offers Class on July 25th

Ed Thompson of Evidentia has announced a new live class about the popular software program.

On July 25, 2019 at 9PM Eastern (7PM Mountain) we will focus on what it means to catalog a claim in Evidentia, and what it means to tag a claim in Evidentia. We will explore the benefits of each, and see how cataloging claims is at the core of Evidentia.  Topic: Evidentia - Creating a Catalog of Claims in Evidentia Time: Jul 25, 2019 09:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register for Meeting (on the 25th): https://evidentiasoftware.com/events/creating-a-catalog-of-claims-in-evidentia-july-25/ There is only room for 100 active participants, but the class will be recorded and shared on our website as well as YouTube. If all goes well, expect to see more frequent mini classes on a single topic.

See you Thursday!?

Is There Room for an Alternate Genealogical Proof Standard?

[The following is a guest post by Ed Thompson, the man behind our podcast sponsor, Evidentia Software.]

“He speaks blasphemy!  Unbeliever! Shame on the heretic!” 





OK, I know, but just hear me out.

We all know that the Genealogical Proof Standard developed by the Board for Certification of Genealogists is the gold standard.  I absolutely believe this standard is the ideal goal for top-quality research.  If I hired a professional I expect them to follow this standard.

“Then what are you talking about?”

I have had multiple conversations over the years with amateur genealogists like myself who find the GPS overwhelming. I usually try to defend it as a goal to be strived for, but that doesn’t seem to alleviate the eye glazing.

     “I’ll never get anything done.”
     “It’s too academic.”
     “I just want to build my family tree.”

What I think these people are really saying is “I just want reasonable assurance that my research is valid”.  They have one or two documents that provide corroborating evidence for their conclusion, and they want to move on to the next person.





“I don’t like this, but what are you proposing?”

A conclusion reached under the GPS can be summarized as “a reasonably exhaustive search of the evidence supports the conclusion that John Doe is the son of Jacob Doe”.

A possible alternative might be “current evidence supports the conclusion that John Doe is the son of Jacob Doe”.

What is current evidence?  It is evidence I have gathered from cited sources available to me at the present time. I acknowledge the evidence may be incomplete. I know there could be conflicting evidence out there I haven’t found yet.  However,  in most cases I am not solving a deep complex genealogical problem, I am just trying to provide reasonable evidence that Jacob sired John.

Maybe what I am suggesting is not an alternate standard, but a stepping stone standard. On my journey to “a reasonably exhaustive search”, I may pass through “current evidence supports”, and decide to dally, or take a detour, or pass the baton to another runner.

What do you think?

Ed Thompson is the designer behind Evidentia. He loves researching ancestors, spending time with his two boys and his wife of 30+ years.  He especially likes spending time with his new grandson. Feel free to drop Ed a line on the Evidentia website.

Evidentia Portability

[A guest post from one of our sponsors, Evidentia Software]

Evidentia Software is the software program that makes it easy to collect information, analyze evidence, highlight missed connections and feel confident with your conclusions. It is also a proud sponsor of the podcast.

A frequent question that Ed Thompson, the designer behind Evidentia, gets in the Evidentia support forums is “Where is my file?”

This is usually submitted by someone who needs to move their data from one device to another. The assumption is that there is a single database file that has all their Evidentia data. While some genealogy software is designed that way, in Evidentia the data is stored in one or more hidden files. The reason is simple: that’s the way the software that Evidentia is built on works.

However, that doesn’t answer the user's real question, which is “how do I move my Evidentia data from device A to device B?”

For that, there is a simple process - Backup/Restore.  

1.   Navigate to the Database screen at Settings>Database.

2.   Make sure the database you want to copy is selected.

3.   Select Backup and note the location you choose to save the file.

At this point you have a portable file. This file can be transferred to another device and then the reverse process can be used to restore it.

1.   Navigate to the Database screen on the new device.

2.   Select an existing database or create a new one.

3.   Select Restore and browse to the file you previously created.

You can also restore the backup to a new database on the same device. You might want to do this to share citations, or to experiment with reorganizing your data.

"What if I want to use a laptop and a desktop and keep the data in sync?"

For this Ed recommends using a Dropbox account. You can get one for free, and the process of using Evidentia and Dropbox together is documented in the help guide here. Just open the guide and search for Dropbox.

Ed Thompson is the designer behind Evidentia. He loves researching ancestors, spending time with his two boys and his wife of 30+ years.  He especially likes spending time with his new grandson. Feel free to drop Ed a line on the Evidentia website