(Associated Feature Request 14103 Citations - a simpler way to enter them wanted.)
In regards to citation entries: To simplify and maintain organization, I propose entering all citation data in one window. Repository, Source, and citation is all in one window. Images of citation evidence and notes, all in the same place. I’ve put together a rough idea:
Hi @BiggyD thanks for posting that idea. I’m not a UI designer but I would welcome a solution that does something like that, not just to reduce the number of clicks, but also to encourage me to enter sources and citations before creating the people and events that I attach them to.
All ideas are good. I guess it all depends on your work flow.
I haven’t added a repository for months and might now add a new source once a month. New or shared citations are added with each event.
I find the source with a search which is pasted from the source I have in my web browser. I hardly ever use the drop down list because it is just too long. I also create a citation note with the transcription of the record, by practice I do not make image copies.
I would also like to reduce mouse clicks, but, I can’t vision how to do this that would improve my work flow. I would guess there are as many ways to enter data as there are Gramps users.
I would love to see the Volume/Page area expanded to just a free form text area. Almost none of my citations come from books, or if they do, they are digital images of books so that needs to be cited differently.
I’m new to Gramps and I found that trying to enter a citation is unnecessarily complex and prone to disorganization. Simplification should encourage a person to be consistent and make it easier to keep everything organized.
I was thinking of choosing a source or repository from a pull-down, and also, within the pull-down, have the option to create a new entry. Or just leave it blank if you want.
I don’t see why you’d want to share a citation. But if you have a need to , I suppose you could maybe cut and paste citation information to another person.
I agree, a drop-down for citations would be too long. But repositories and even sources should be much shorter.
I will use a transcript in a note, also. But I really like to see old documents, so I like to save them too. I feel more of a connection when I see an old document.
I’m knew to Gramps, and I just don’t like all the windows that pop up when I want to enter some piece of information
Thanks for your reply, 
I deal almost exclusively with the Family Search Library which is mostly microfiche. I usually enter the roll number, or refernce to a roll, and page number and leave the any citation images in the image section of the citation. It’s easy enough to create an editable text box. Expand the box you see to maybe 4 rows and add a scroll bar on the right and there you have it.
How do you manage big number of repositories, sources and citations ?
I have 60 repositories, 4800 sources and 30000 citations.
For me this kind of design is totaly useless for me.
The mouse click is not a problem for me. This is due to the object design of gramps: One thing at a time.
When I find a baptism date in a church book, there’s typically also birth date. So I create one citation and share it both for a birth event and a baptism event. Same for death and funeral.
I always question why a user wants to create a new app to ‘simplify’ things. Often I think the user is actually having a problem with their workflow and trying to mimic something from another program.
I offer my workflow that I already find simple.
I always start by entering the Event.Type, Date, Place, maybe an attribute. Then I add the Citation.
It took me a little while after migrating to Gramps to understand that even though I am adding a new citation, I probably already have the Source record I need. Instead of using the plus sign (+) “Create and add a new citation and a new source” use the Share icon “Add an existing citation or source”. This allows me to do a search, but here’s the key, a search for the Source. Once selected it creates a new citation for that source.
Like @SNoiraud, as of today, I have 49 repositories, 2477 sources and 84004 citations.
A Census citation is a good example of an event that may be shared among all the persons listed as long as they are on the same page. In such a case, copy the event to the clipboard and drop it on each person as you enter them.
My thoughts precisely if you are not using Forms
Also why create a citation if it is not necessary so if I get baptism
from a church record which includes a birth date, then by all means
create a citation for the baptism but just put DOB from Baptism in
Birth Event Description, same with burial information which includes
death date and place DOD from Burial Register in Event Description.
phil
It’s apparently not that “useless”, as you say. As it is now, Gramps already presents you with a list for Repositories and Sources. Don’t you use them? Perhaps you don’t like the idea of a dropdown list. A dropdown list can be presented in a window that can be as wide and tall as you like. Or, at the press of a button, a new window can open. Personally, I don’t find the concept of Repositories and Sources very useful. I put everything I need in the citation. To each his own.
I think you’re missing the point. Gramps tries to accommodate all types organization. Enter as much or as little data as you like. Of course you can’t please all the people all the time, but I do appreciate that, even though I may not take advantage of all the features.
First of all, if i wanted to create a “new app”, I’d do it. I don’t want to. Gramps is fine. I ‘d like to have Gramps tweeked by the people who are thoroughly familiar with the code.
Second: I’m not proposing to change the way data is stored. None of your carefully entered data will change. The way it’s presented in the Repository, Source, Citatation tabs would remain the same. What I propose is that when you click on a Person, then Event. an editable window appears where you can enter. edit and/or choose all data for just that event.
Third: And perhaps I don’t understand, but why would you want to create a citation from a source? I always create a person, then an event, then a citation for that event. While creating a citation, I can associate it to, or create a new source. If a source exists already, just associate the citation to it.
Got it. That’s actually a good example. I think I’ve done that myself. And yes, I probably copied and pasted.
Gramps does not save just a citation without an attached source. They are a pair that work together. I find it easier to select the sourse from the search which then automatically presents the citation for its information. You can drag-and-drop a source from the clipboard onto the event’s citation tab and a blank citation with the attaced source will appear.
You do not need to attach a repository to a source.
That’s OK, but birth and baptism are technically 2 different events. A baptism usually mentions a birth date, however. I understand that sometimes a baptism is all you got, but I would list it as a baptism and add a birth date as a separate event with no citation or a note mentioning the baptism. Same for death and funeral. Sometimes a death notice will include birth information, but most times it will include age. You might subtract age from the date of the record to extrapolate year of birth, but I don’t trust that much.
Oh, I didn’t know that. That’s unfortunate. Suppose I want to create a simple citation without a source? In fact, most of my citations already mention the source. No matter. I think your method can easily be accommodated.
The problem with these drop down list is:
Effectively I don’t use the form addon. The problem is certainly here.
In a repository (archives départementale in french), I have a lot of sources related to each city. For each source which is a document between a few pages and severel hundred of pages, I need to add a citation which say the found event is at the page N of this source.
