Thursday, July 21, 2011

All caps SURNAMES? on your family tree--I think NOT

As I scan the internet looking for what others suggest for genealogy searches and trees, I find many suggestions to use all caps for the surnames. Some people use all caps just for their particular line, so that it stands out on a huge tree. Others use it for all last names.

No, I am thinking, it is not the best way to go,  but maybe I should have an open mind. I don't like the all caps approach, but maybe there is something to it. It did not take me long to find some validation for my point of view. Tamura Jones, in the online article:  Five Freaky Features your Genealogy Software should not have, emphatically states that names should always be properly cased, as they are names, and should be spelled correctly as names. I agree. All caps last names is almost like all caps posts, which we justifiably call "shouting." However, it is helpful to have a visual marker for the direct line of the person who begins the tree (from the youngest generation-i.e. now).

While I am against all caps in general, I think having temporary markers for a line can be useful.

The article by Tamura Jones can be found at: http://www.tamurajones.net/FiveFreakyFeaturesYourGenealogySoftwareShouldNotHave.xhtml

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