Sources¶
In PastPaths, sources are references to websites, documents, archives, and other places where you obtained your information. Archival material can include parish registers of various kinds, court records, old newspaper articles, and more.
Sort and filter¶
- Search title, author, or archive — free-text search to find a specific source
- Source type — there are a number of preset source types; if you know you're looking for a book, for example, you can filter them out
- Sort — you can also sort by title, type, author, or number of citations (useful if you know it's a source you use often)
Add sources¶
There are several ways to add a source:
+ New source gives you an upload form where you can fill in information about the source.
While viewing a person, you can upload a source from there — it's automatically linked to that person.
Source citations for events work the same way as for persons — link sources directly while editing an event.
Metadata you can fill in¶
For each source, you can specify:
- Type of source
- Source name
- Author / originator
- Publication details
- Archive / repository — besides public archives, this can be your own or another private archive
- Main link
- General notes — make notes about the source that you consider important
You don't need to fill in everything
The most important thing is that you add the source — you can always fill in more later. It's better to have 200 sources with just a title than 5 perfectly catalogued sources and the rest in a dusty box.
Merge duplicates¶
Check at least two sources in the list using the checkboxes, click Merge selected, and choose which one to keep (default: the one with the most citations). Citations (persons, events) are automatically moved to the kept source; author, repository, link, and notes are filled in from the removed sources if the kept one is missing them.
→ Read more on the Maintenance page
Delete a source¶
When you delete a source, it's also removed from every place it was linked to — persons, events.
Cannot be undone
Deleting a source cannot be undone. If you think you might want to use the source again — export it first.
Imported sources from GEDCOM¶
When you import a GEDCOM file with associated sources, PastPaths tries to find and import them automatically. The program searches the same folder the GEDCOM file is in, and any subfolders.