New in The Master Genealogist v8 - December 2011In addition to a variety of bug fixes, TMG v8 includes a long list of new features that were
suggested by researchers. The screen shots were made of TMG v8 running in Windows 7 64-bit with a variety of screen
layouts and color schemes. Your mileage may vary. Table of ContentsNew Features / Enhancementsby category | Bug Fixesby category | In Development / Known Issues |
New Features / Enhancements The right-click menu on the Master Tag Type List. Click on the image to zoom.  Add a new role on-the-fly.  With the user-defined colors, the most important data types are easy to see in a long list. Click on the image to zoom. Tag Types and RolesA "tag" is an independent piece of data: a name, event, or relationship. Some programs call them "facts" but TMG encourages you to view your data as evidence and not historical facts. - Share your tag types, roles, and sentences with friends and fellow researchers or copy them between your own projects using the new Import and Export features.
- Tags may be deactivated with a right-click menu on a selected tag in the list of tag types.
- Many new default roles and sentences have been added, including translations to Dutch, German and Norwegian.
- Individual roles can be disabled/enabled to control whether you'll see them on the data entry screens.
- New projects include expanded tag labels ("Immigratn"->"Immigration") for easier readability.
- Specify a background and foreground color for each tag type label. The label will be shown in those colors on the Tag Box, Associates Window, and other contexts.
- On the Tag Entry Screens the list of roles includes "<New>" which will let you add a new role on-the-fly. The same option is available on the Witness Entry Screen.
Add Multiple People Add Multiple People at One Time. Click on the image to zoom.  Add a New Family. Click on the image to zoom.  New Printer Setup. Click on the image to zoom. - A new screen allows you to add multiple people at the same time in a spreadsheet-like environment. Now it is much easier and faster to enter a list of siblings or children, e.g., from a will. Just down-arrow or click to get a blank row for another person. Cite a source and it is automatically linked to all of the new names and events.
- A variation on this screen allows you to add a new family to the project. A special column allows you to specify the relationship of each person in the family.
- A <Setup> button allows you to specify the data types (i.e., columns) to enter for each person.
- An <Import> button allows you to import multiple people at once from a Comma Separated Value file (*.csv) as produced by a spreadsheet.
The Report WriterTMG v8's reporting engine has been completely re-written with the principal purpose of supporting the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Vista (as well as continuing support for Windows 7 32-bit, Vista 32-bit, Windows XP, and Windows 2000). The revision process has allowed us to lift some previous restrictions while adding some great new features. - Output to word processor formats (as well as screen/printer) now support all Windows fonts.
- A variety of new page sizes (ledger, A4, A5, etc.) are now supported.
- The user has full control over top, bottom, left and right margins (0.0" - 4.0").
- ANSI Text file output (as well as ASCII) is now supported.
- A new button on the Report Definition Screen resets the default options on a report.
- Many fixes/enhancements have been made to the HTML output.
- The Printer Setup screen (accessed from Report Configuration > Properties) includes a new "Preferences" button.
- The Report menu now (optionally) shows a list of the specific report configurations for each report type.
- Maximum image size - Narrative reports that support images now have an option that will reduce the size of an image to a "Maximum output size".
- The choices for report output types have been greatly simplified and reduced.
- CENTER/LIND (Left Indent) codes now work in all narrative reports.
- [CENTER:][:CENTER] and [LIND:][:LIND] codes can now encompasses one paragraph or a group of paragraphs.
- If text that is formatted with CENTER/LIND is the last text output by a tag, or if a CR code is the last text of the tag, source citation reference numbers will now output at the end of the formatted text rather than on a new line by themselves.
- Citation and Source Exhibits can now be output in narrative reports and controlled by several new output options.
Output to Screen and Printer Photos and footnotes in output to the screen. Click on the image to zoom. Output to screen and printer includes some handy new features, many of which were only previously available when sending output to a word processor. - Embedded photographs.
- Real bottom-of-the-page footnotes.
- Endnotes at the end of the report(*)
- Bibliography at the end of the report(*)
- Page numbering styles.
- Full justification.
- The new screen preview is much more powerful:
- Toggle between "Draft" and "Print" modes.
- Search for text in Draft mode.
- Mark and copy text in Draft mode, e.g., for pasting into an email.
- 8 preset levels to zoom in/out (25% to 200%)
- Have multiple screen output windows open at the same time.
(*) as a result, the separate "Endnotes" and "Bibliography" report types are obsolete and have been removed from the Report menu.  Output with user-defined colors and "Accents". Click on the image to zoom. Color-Coded Report Output- User-defined color changes can be embedded in memos in order to highlight specific words or phrases in reports.
- The user can also specify foreground and background colors for each type of text (surnames, given names, dates, places, memos, etc.) in narrative reports and charts.
- Alternatively, output names in colors according to the current screen "Accent" which is based on personal characteristics. For example:
- Show the names of my ancestors in red ... or
- Use red, green, and blue to distinguish people who were buried in each of the three counties that I plan to visit on a research trip ... or
- Highlight names of people for whom I have low sureties or weak citations ... or
- Show all surnames but redact (i.e., black on black) the given names for a few specific people ... or
- Use colors to identify people whose photograph or tombstone I haven't yet found.
- The colors are supported by output to screen and printer as well as to word processors, although word processors vary in the range of colors they support.
Specific Report Types- Pedigree charts can now be saved directly in word processors formats, including indexes, control over line color and width, and other options.
- Other Charts (Family Group Sheet, Individual Detail, and Relationship Charts) have also been redesigned for better formatting when output to all screen, printer or file.
- List of Citations, Sources, and Tasks are now output in a more structured format for improved formatting and alignment.
- Family Group Sheet and Individual Detail Reports have new options to control the width and color of lines, and the color of shaded areas.
- Relationship Chart has new options to control the width and color of lines, the color of shaded areas, and to add Primary images and borders for missing images
Data Entry / Display Sorting the Master Source List. Click on the image to zoom. - Tag Type edit - A right-click on a selected tag in the Details window will provide a menu item to edit that Tag Type.
- The [COLOR:][:COLOR] codes can be used to specify the foreground and background colors of text.
- The F3 and Ctrl-F3 repeat keys now work for local event Tag sentences, event Witness sentences, and Name Tag sentences.
- Latitude/Longitude may now be entered as either decimal values or as degrees/minutes/seconds/compass values. The program will convert non-decimal Latitude/Longitude values to decimal values.
- The Place Information and Place Mapping screens include a new "Customize" button to directly edit the files which control these features.
- In the Tag Box, the right-click menu now includes options to control which columns are displayed.
- Preferences now includes new options to control whether there will be warnings for: "Warn when no primary tag" and "Warn when removing the 'primary' designation for a tag".
- Sort the Master Source List by the Cited column (the number of times each is cited).
- Optionally show the Date and Sort Date columns at the same time on the Person View.
- The displayed name in the Associates window of the person optionally may now be the name selected in the tag.
- Right-click menu on the Associates window includes setting the option for showing item tips.
- The Master Place List now displays Short Place, Start Date, End Date, and Comments, and the list may be sorted on any of these columns.
- On the Master Place List > Edit Place screen, F3 and Ctrl-F3 repeat keys now work for a Place Comment.
- For tag types that may have two Principals, now one can be the role "Principal" and the other some other role. Previously either both had to be "Principal" or both some other roles.
- The names of the default Tag Type roles are translated to Dutch, German and Norwegian.
- Tag Type role variables that pertain to the other roles existing for a given tag type have been added to the right-click menu when editing a sentence on the Tag Type Definition screen.
- Styles on the Master Style List are now translated to Dutch, German and Norwegian.
- The Exhibit Log has a new right-click option to choose either to display the thumbnail or the frowny face icon for missing images.
- The formats supported by the Acquire option in the Exhibit Log has been completely revised and updated.
- Right-click menu options include other new options to make data entry easier and faster.
 Right-click on the Person View. Click on the image to zoom. Searching- Filter by the number of DNA tests for each person in the Picklist, Project Explorer, and List of People reports.
- Filter by number of Locked Timelines
- A filter value can now include the escape character "\" to search for a space and other special characters.
- Search the Web features have been greatly expanded from just two sites to sixteen sites provided. Sites can be selectively enabled for searching, and each site has its own search options.
Miscellaneous- Data Set Manager - For a new data set created by importing or by extraction from another project, the name and data source fields for the data set is more informative.
- Flag Manager - The names of the default flags are now translated to Dutch, German and Norwegian.
- Validate File Integrity - additional new conditions are checked and repaired which were not checked in V7. You should run Validate File Integrity on TMG projects updated from older program versions.
- GEDCOM export - Association GEDCOM export tag type is set to 1 EVEN 2 TYPE in new projects.
Help- The Help File has been updated to reflect the new features, and the text in a number of topics has been clarified or expanded.
- A new "Access Folders" option on the Help Menu now displays and provides direct access to the various folders where TMG stores system files.
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