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fisharebest
Request: Add a dates or notes column to place_location
As my project grows, it is increasingly difficult to keep track of place names throughout history. Renaming them to add meta details is too awkward. I would very much like to have a "Dates" or even "Notes" varchar column to help add info that is not part of the name.
The GEDCOM Standard only provides for a PLAC:NOTE not PLAC:DATE.
If you are using webtrees v2.1.x you can access the PLAC:NOTE tag by pressing the “Edit with all GEDCOM tags” function at the bottom of the Fact Edit screen.
This is the "gazetteer" - i.e. the geographic data that is managed in the control panel.
My understand is that this gets populated three ways, 1) via an update to a PLAC tag in the GEDCOM, 2) via CSV files from a load program, 3) control panel long/lat update. And with Vesta module installed I think this gets updated as well!
so in addition to the “place” name, coordinates, zoom and a flag (not used) additional note data is needed! What would be put here as a standard text? Sinc I don’t have an issue keeping track of my places in the Gazetteer I’m at a loss for what would go here in a new CSV if I created one!
Zoom and flag were eliminated already. I'm on v2.1.6 and it only has these now:
`id` int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`parent_id` int DEFAULT NULL,
`place` varchar(120) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
`latitude` double DEFAULT NULL,
`longitude` double DEFAULT NULL,
The notes field I'm proposing would be optional. "Standard text" would be empty or null, otherwise any string.
Standard text meaning, “this is the town where grandpa was born”, “John Doe is buried here”.
I’m guessing that you are manipulating this table outside of the normal interface!
Not at all. If I was doing that I wouldn't need any changes here. I'd much rather see it as a new feature in the control panel.
If you are asking for an example, I would say something more like, "Established in 1820. Incorporated into city of x in 1870."
Ah!!
I use the Vesta add-on to accomplish that function. I usually write histories about various places, include photos and other stuff!
A while back, @fisharebest proposed a GeoJson implementation. I'm not sure if this would require a dates field, as the place boundaries would change over time. Just something to consider if there are going to be more columns in the future.
Greg discussed and I agreed that polygonal (vs single point) locations was also an interesting concept, which would include dates, but also require the need for multiple points of the polygon. The GEDCOM-L initiative has dating of locations covered and could be part of a different future for both GEDCOM and webtrees!