I am creating a family history. I expect the history will be 100's of pages long and will include a number of photos and drawings of family trees as well as internal and external links. 1. Since the history will include a lot of formatting, I will use MS Word 2013. I thought about Google Docs, but I think Word will handle the formatting better. Your thoughts. . . . . :h 2. I will then share this history with my full family (about 50 people) using MS OneDrive or Google Drive. Since I will (?) use MS Word, I will probably use OneDrive.3. My question. I want to allow members of the family to add to the family history. I hope that there will be 100's of additions and changes. I know that MS Word and Google Docs each allow for editing by people you invite. However, I want more than simple editing. I want the document to show "Added by XXXXXX on dd/mm/yyyy" to each comment or edit. I am sure (?) that Word can do this, but I do not know what this feature is called so I can search on how to use it. I have looked at "Track Changes" but once the change is accepted and the file is saved the author's information is lost. Is there a way to accept the change and keep the author's information?4. I have thought about footnotes, but this requires more MS Work "skill" than some of the family have. I would like for the action to be automatically.

If I were to start a project like this, I would probably use Ancestry.com or one of the on-line genealogy sites. I have extensive family trees for several of our family name lines, but I use GenoPro which is a local app that will interface with various genealogy databases. Both Ancestry.com and the apps you install on your PC will handle photos and have databases behind them to handle and organize a lot more data in a way a Word document could never do. With Ancestry.com, you can give other family members varying levels of access to modify and update without fear of overwriting your information.Rob

TenOC wrote:1. Since the history will include a lot of formatting, I will use MS Word 2013. I thought about Google Docs, but I think Word will handle the formatting better. Your thoughts. . . . . :h GDoc is pretty good, as long as you have fast reliable Internet. It has an offline mode too, but I'm not sure about how it works.2. I will then share this history with my full family (about 50 people) using MS OneDrive or Google Drive. Since I will (?) use MS Word, I will probably use OneDrive.Yes, have to use each brand's sharing service, trying to do it cross brand will lead to confusion3. My question. I want to allow members of the family to add to the family history. I hope that there will be 100's of additions and changes. I know that MS Word and Google Docs each allow for editing by people you invite. However, I want more than simple editing. I want the document to show "Added by XXXXXX on dd/mm/yyyy" to each comment or edit. I am sure (?) that Word can do this, but I do not know what this feature is called so I can search on how to use it. I have looked at "Track Changes" but once the change is accepted and the file is saved the author's information is lost. Is there a way to accept the change and keep the author's information?Office 365 has this feature, and so does GDoc - Office charges for it, each person you want to collaborate with you will need to pay for Office, and everyone has to use the online version of Word. If collaboration is a big deal, GDoc is the way to go. As far as how the changes are formatted, you assign your collaborators different colors, and their changes are highlighted with that color. It will be up to you to teach them into typing the "Added by" part themselves.4. I have thought about footnotes, but this requires more MS Work "skill" than some of the family have. I would like for the action to be automatically.There's probably some add-on you can buy for Word to do automatic footnotes. There appears to be some support built into Word, more info here: support.office.com

In Word, you are referring to "Comments". Not sure if that is a part of Google Docs though. However, creating in Google Docs or Sheets would be your preferred route as you can share the edit functionality specific to those you want the ability to edit. You can also share to others where they can only view the doc.There is also track changes per user in Google Docs - Tip: How to Use Track Changes in Google Docs

Second Chance wrote:If I were to start a project like this, I would probably use Ancestry.com or one of the on-line genealogy sites. I have extensive family trees for several of our family name lines, but I use GenoPro which is a local app that will interface with various genealogy databases. Both Ancestry.com and the apps you install on your PC will handle photos and have databases behind them to handle and organize a lot more data in a way a Word document could never do. With Ancestry.com, you can give other family members varying levels of access to modify and update without fear of overwriting your information.RobThe family trees were only going to be a very small part of the history -- inserted as an image (?). Most of the history will be text. That is why I was thinking about Word.

What is a MS Word 2013 Feature Called ???? | Good Sam Community

RoadXYZ
Explorer II
Aug 13, 2016
Second Chance wrote:
If I were to start a project like this, I would probably use Ancestry.com or one of the on-line genealogy sites. I have extensive family trees for several of our family name lines, but I use GenoPro which is a local app that will interface with various genealogy databases. Both Ancestry.com and the apps you install on your PC will handle photos and have databases behind them to handle and organize a lot more data in a way a Word document could never do. With Ancestry.com, you can give other family members varying levels of access to modify and update without fear of overwriting your information. Rob

I have an old program that have a data base for, BUT it is no longer available on anything but a Windows 7 or 8 machine ... and know have a data base on Ancestry.com, but since cannot remember my password am stuck ... so only have a data file on a thumb drive which cannot seem to make work anywhere ...
coolmom42
Explorer II
Jun 04, 2016
Also.... go in daily and make a backup copy and save it to your local hard drive. That way if someone makes a horrible change like using a terrible font, you will be able to revert to a recent good version.

So far as pictures, if you want them with the most flexible formatting, use the default "in line with text."
coolmom42
Explorer II
Jun 04, 2016
TenOC wrote:
I am creating a family history. I expect the history will be 100's of pages long and will include a number of photos and drawings of family trees as well as internal and external links.

1. Since the history will include a lot of formatting, I will use MS Word 2013. I thought about Google Docs, but I think Word will handle the formatting better. Your thoughts. . . . . :h

2. I will then share this history with my full family (about 50 people) using MS OneDrive or Google Drive. Since I will (?) use MS Word, I will probably use OneDrive.

3. My question. I want to allow members of the family to add to the family history. I hope that there will be 100's of additions and changes. I know that MS Word and Google Docs each allow for editing by people you invite. However, I want more than simple editing. I want the document to show "Added by XXXXXX on dd/mm/yyyy" to each comment or edit. I am sure (?) that Word can do this, but I do not know what this feature is called so I can search on how to use it. I have looked at "Track Changes" but once the change is accepted and the file is saved the author's information is lost. Is there a way to accept the change and keep the author's information?

4. I have thought about footnotes, but this requires more MS Work "skill" than some of the family have. I would like for the action to be automatically.

Create your document and then go to the REVIEW tab in the ribbon. Turn on TRACK CHANGES and SHOW COMMENTS. Then go to the section that says "simple markup". You have options to show every single tiny change, in "all markup" from the pull-down. Choose "all markup" if you want to see every change. Then also go into "show markup" and check the things you want to see.

To add a comment, go back to the INSERT tab, and click on "comment" usually kind of in the middle of the ribbon. Once you do that, you will have a wide margin on the right. It puts a line to where your cursor is and makes a "balloon" with your comment in it. You can have whatever you want in the balloon---comments or revisions. THE BALLOON SHOWS WHO MADE THE CHANGES, and that is what you want to see.

You can also create a "Template". My preference is to start with the simple single-spaced template. Then set the margins you want and the font you want to use. When saving the document, answer "yes" when asked if you want to save changes to the template. That will make the default settings in your document.
Rainier
Explorer
Jun 04, 2016
I train teachers on both Google and Microsoft so I have a lot of experience using both. Both will do the job, however Google in my opinion will do a better job. Here is why...Google is Free, easier to use and its collaborative features generally work better in my opinion. Office 365 is subscription-based and not everyone will have access to edit or contribute to your project unless they have a subscription as well. They will will only be able to "view" the project. Onedrive personal gives you 5GB of free space where Google drive gives you 15GB. With all those pictures, etc, you may want to have more space available. The advantage to Office 365 is that you have access to both the desktop and online version of Office. Yes, the desktop are way more powerful and that is a huge advantage for power users, however you still have to have the subscription for each person. I find that most people can function quite perfectly with Google. If I was you, I'd go with google. Feel free to message me if you need more guidance. Take care
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 04, 2016
Would a person have to use MS Word 2013 to open the document? Not everyone may be using Word 2013.
WNYBob
Explorer
Jun 04, 2016
IMO Formatting in MS Word is challenging to say the least. With multiple users withe possibly different versions is a formula for disaster!

My suggestion is to have a starting from (in an older compatible version) that you can copy/incorporate in the secure final version. This is a lot of work for you, but not as much as after someone saved something inappropriately.

If you make the master read onle, I believe they can copy out of it into another doc.
joebedford
Nomad II
Jun 04, 2016
Track Changes
TenOC
Nomad
Jun 04, 2016
Second Chance wrote:
If I were to start a project like this, I would probably use Ancestry.com or one of the on-line genealogy sites. I have extensive family trees for several of our family name lines, but I use GenoPro which is a local app that will interface with various genealogy databases. Both Ancestry.com and the apps you install on your PC will handle photos and have databases behind them to handle and organize a lot more data in a way a Word document could never do. With Ancestry.com, you can give other family members varying levels of access to modify and update without fear of overwriting your information.

Rob

The family trees were only going to be a very small part of the history -- inserted as an image (?). Most of the history will be text. That is why I was thinking about Word.
RedRocket204
Explorer
Jun 04, 2016
In Word, you are referring to "Comments". Not sure if that is a part of Google Docs though. However, creating in Google Docs or Sheets would be your preferred route as you can share the edit functionality specific to those you want the ability to edit. You can also share to others where they can only view the doc.

There is also track changes per user in Google Docs - Tip: How to Use Track Changes in Google Docs
GordonThree
Explorer
Jun 04, 2016
TenOC wrote:
1. Since the history will include a lot of formatting, I will use MS Word 2013. I thought about Google Docs, but I think Word will handle the formatting better. Your thoughts. . . . . :h

GDoc is pretty good, as long as you have fast reliable Internet. It has an offline mode too, but I'm not sure about how it works.

2. I will then share this history with my full family (about 50 people) using MS OneDrive or Google Drive. Since I will (?) use MS Word, I will probably use OneDrive.

Yes, have to use each brand's sharing service, trying to do it cross brand will lead to confusion

3. My question. I want to allow members of the family to add to the family history. I hope that there will be 100's of additions and changes. I know that MS Word and Google Docs each allow for editing by people you invite. However, I want more than simple editing. I want the document to show "Added by XXXXXX on dd/mm/yyyy" to each comment or edit. I am sure (?) that Word can do this, but I do not know what this feature is called so I can search on how to use it. I have looked at "Track Changes" but once the change is accepted and the file is saved the author's information is lost. Is there a way to accept the change and keep the author's information?

Office 365 has this feature, and so does GDoc - Office charges for it, each person you want to collaborate with you will need to pay for Office, and everyone has to use the online version of Word. If collaboration is a big deal, GDoc is the way to go. As far as how the changes are formatted, you assign your collaborators different colors, and their changes are highlighted with that color. It will be up to you to teach them into typing the "Added by" part themselves.

4. I have thought about footnotes, but this requires more MS Work "skill" than some of the family have. I would like for the action to be automatically.

There's probably some add-on you can buy for Word to do automatic footnotes. There appears to be some support built into Word, more info here: support.office.com