I am currently considering replacing Heredis with a genealogy software that supports multi-user editing in a collaborative environment. My key requirements are:
Ability for multiple users to work simultaneously on the same database (multi-user or multi-workstation setup).
Detailed and flexible management of sources and citations, including full metadata and the possibility to link sources to various events or individuals.
Ability to add individuals who are not linked to the main family tree yet (i.e., isolated or unattached persons).
Robust synchronization between desktop and web versions, if available, with minimal loss of data or metadata during sync.
Overall, I am looking for a solution that supports complex data input and offers good collaboration features.
I have been exploring Gramps Desktop and Gramps Web, and I understand that:
Gramps Web can serve as a central “master” database for collaboration.
Gramps Desktop offers more detailed data entry features, especially for sources and repositories (deposits).
However, synchronization between Desktop and Web might lead to loss of some detailed information, especially on complex objects like repositories/deposits.
Given these considerations, I would appreciate advice from the community on:
Best practices for using Gramps (or any other software) in a multi-user environment with detailed source management.
Recommendations on how to organize data entry and synchronization workflows to avoid data loss.
Whether there are other genealogy programs better suited for my needs that support multi-user collaboration and detailed source handling.
Any pitfalls to watch out for when migrating from Heredis to an open-source or multi-user solution.
Thank you in advance for your insights!
Best regards,
Bertrand
PS : English is not my native language, so this request was formatted by ChatGPT
Hello,
Thanks for the advice!
I’ve already looked at Webtrees, which is very interesting, easy to install, but very tree-oriented (without a hack, it’s difficult to add an unrelated person, the complete opposite of grampsweb).
Actually, I mainly wanted confirmation (or not) that syncs between Gramps and Gramps Web are lossless, even for information not visible in Gramps Web (repository details, for example).
Have a great day
of course I’m totally biased (Gramps Desktop user and Gramps Web maintainer), but I don’t think you expected an unbiased answer in this forum
What I can say with certainty is that the use case you describe is precisely the motivation for starting Gramps Web in the first place. Of course not everything is perfect (yet?) but at least the goal is very much that.
I mainly wanted confirmation (or not) that syncs between Gramps and Gramps Web are lossless, even for information not visible in Gramps Web (repository details, for example).
Yes, 100%.
Any pitfalls to watch out for when migrating from Heredis to an open-source or multi-user solution.
What format will the export be in? Gedcom 5? That will for sure be the most painful part, you can check the Gramps Wiki for details (the Gramps Web and Gramps Desktop Gedcom imports work in exactly the same way).
Hello,
Thank you for your unbiased answer
That’s the only percentage I wanted to confirm before starting to play!!
And as for the rest, Paris wasn’t built in a day!
Thanks again
Bertrand
Reason I suggested those two was because I read it as you needed something that a group of people could edit or add information at the same time in real time…
Gramps is 95% ready for any type of “not only linkage-linked” research… and I personally have not found any other genealog software that is as flexible… only solution I find have more freedom is actually a network graph solution or working with markdown notes in Foam for VSC or Obsidian…
Hi,
Is there some limitation for sync fonction ?
Does it works well (and quickly) with 30k peoples or more (For each sync few number of peoples would be modified) ?
Did someone test it on big databases ?
Thanks in advance
Bertrand
Thanks for your message !
Yes, it’s a real shame, because it’s actually very powerful.
But the fact that you can’t easily add characters who aren’t (yet) linked is really detrimental, for example, when managing witnesses and godparents.
Have a great day
Bertrand
So - the workflow is to first import a Gramps XML into the empty Web instance (see Import data - Gramps Web for important caveats). Once you have this web mirror of your desktop instance, you can start using sync, and it will never have to sync more than a couple of objects (the ones you modified or added), so tree size shouldn’t be an issue.
Hello,
Thank you very much for this clarification.
Having found online, “Importing the XML file created with the desktop version, with approximately 10,000 people, into Gramps Web took over 10 hours.”
I admit I was a little worried.
But perhaps this test was done with older versions ?
I’m reassured!
Thank you and have a great day !
The actual import is fast, it’s rhe generation of the search index that can take longer, especially when using semantic search (which is not the case by default), but these processes run in the background.
