Chart Nodes
- What is a Chart Node?
- The Node Settings Window
- The Update Button
After the everybody chart is created, it can be edited much like other tree charts (ancestor, descendant, relative). For example, boxes or generations may be selected, edited, moved, pictures may be added, text and colors may be changed, etc.
However, since the everybody chart is comprised of many subcharts, the selection mode will default to Entire Subchart. In this selection mode, when any box is selected, then entire subchart will be selected alowing to you to click on a single box to move its entire subchart. If you want to move boxes within a subchart select the Default selection mode by choosing
from the main menubar.Everybody charts are comprised of many smaller subcharts. In many cases, the same person will appear in more than one subchart. The people that appear in more than one subchart are assigned a special attribute called a chart node. The purpose of the chart node is to indicate to the viewer of the chart that there is another instance of that person in another subchart and to also provide some guidance as to where they might look to find the other instance of that person.
In the example below: Robert Sargent SHRIVER Jr. appears in a subchart as the spouse of Eunice Mary KENNEDY - he also appears in a smaller subchart as the child of Robert Sargent & Hilda SHRIVER. Robert Jr. has been assigned a node number of 3, the boxes where he appears have a wide border and there is also has a node line connecting the two boxes where he appears.
There are many options for presenting chart nodes and lines outlined in the Nodes Settings section below.
To modify the appearance of nodes and note lines in an everybody chart, choose
to open the Node Settings window.There are four sections in the Node Settings window...
Box attributes, such as border width, border color and fill color, can be applied to boxes containing people with nodes.
Modified box attributes can give a visual clue to the viewer of the chart that the box contains a node. Check the checkbox by the box attribute(s) you wish to modify, a menu will appear to the right of the checked attribute name, you can select your desired value (color or width) for that attribute.
Text describing the node for a person will appear to the right of that person’s name. How the node text is presented is set in this section. Settings are outlined below.
Text used to present the node...
Text color and style selections can be made for the node presentation.
You can choose from a list of several different delimiters to enclose the note text. Delimiters will help distinguish the node from other numbers that might appear in chart boxes, for example user IDs.
A node line connects one box containing a chart node another box containing the same node. Node lines are drawn straight from one chart box to the destination chart box, they will always be drawn behind the chart boxes. Unlike regular lines that connect chart boxes with perfectly horizontal and vertical lines, node lines will be diagonal to achieve the shortest line.
In this section, you can set the line color, width and pattern. Most importantly however, you can eliminate longer node lines or all node lines to prevent a “bird’s-nest” of unreadable node lines in your chart.
The Draw menu has options for drawing node lines, you may need to experiment with the Draw options to decide which one creates the nicest looking chart that is still readable...
Node line color, width and pattern can also be set in this section.
As you modify the settings in the Boxes containing nodes, Node presentation and Node lines sections, the Preview will be updated to give you an example of how your settings will look when applied to your chart.
Once you are satified with your selections in the Node Settings window, click the
button to apply them to your everybody chart.