US-UK-Canadian Census Report Extension
This extension cycles through census events for US, UK or Canada for
every individual in the current database or for just selected individuals. It creates a color-code table of census events to help you view and improve your census research.
Getting Census Report
To get a census report:
- Choose "US-UK-Canadian Census Report" from the Extensions menu.
- You can choose two styles for the report. The "one large table" shows all results in a standard
html table. The table with "searching options" shows the report (in a scrollable subfield if it is large) and has a "Search" field. It has additional features:
- You can type text into the "Search" field to show only individuals containing that text.
- The columns with name, birth, and death dates will remain in view as you scroll through census events
- You can sort by name, birth, or death date by clicking arrows into the column header.
- Note: for searching table features to work, you have to be connected to the internet, or to have recently run this same report while connected to the internet.
- Choose which census data to examine and click "All" or "Selected" to look for census reports in all records or just the currently selected records, respectively. Note that if your data has individuals from more than one of the listed countries, it is usually best to preselect records from just one country and then use the "Selected" option to get the report.
- You will then be prompted to enter a maximum age. This is the age after which individuals are assumed to be probably dead (if death date is not available)
- Finally, click "OK" and the report will be generated. A window will appear showing percentage progress while creating the report.
The Color-Coded Census Table
The census report appears in a table. Each row of the table has information for one individual giving their name, birth, and death dates. The rest of the row will have a cell for each census examined. The cells will be colored coded and some will have census place information as follows:
- For each census event found, the table cell lists the census place and the cell is colored green. If a recorded census event does not document the place for the census, the cell is colored pale green instead. If the census event has notes with more details, the cell includes text "[n]"; if it has an image, the cell includes text "[i]" (these annotations are in tables with "searching options" only).
- For any individual known to be alive on the date for a census, the cell is colored amber.
- When any individual was not alive (or probably not alive) on the date for a census, the cell is colored grey.
- When any individual was probably alive the cell is colored red. The intensity of the color decreases as the probability they are alive decreases.
Below is a key to the colors used in the table. The dark green are done. The light green are done as well, but it would be better to open that event and enter the place for the census event (to get to the event, click the person's name and then look in the "Events" tab). To research for new census information, you should start with amber cells and then move through red cells in order of their red intensity. You can ignore all grey cells because that person will not be in that census.
| Census Report Colors |
|---|
| Census done, place entered |
| Census done, place not entered |
| Alive, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 8, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 7, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 6, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 5, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 4, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 3, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 2, not done |
| Alive likelihood = 1, not done |
| Not Alive |
Hints on Use
The census dates are looked up by date and not place. Although the script has dates for census data from US, UK, or Canada, the events can get confused when individuals are from multiple countries and dates used in census events are imprecise. For best results, therefore, you should usually run this extension on selected individuals and when using it select individuals known to be in the country of interest. Here is a good way to achieve this goal:
- Open the search window and search for "Any Place" "contains" the country name such as "United States," "United Kingdom," or "Canada." (or whatever text you used to enter those countries in your place names).
- When found, save all search hits in a new album
- Select all records in that album, run this extension, and chose "Selected" individuals
Acknowledgement
This report was designed and written by Simon Robbins.