The Family View: Customizing
The Family View: a Refresher
Switching Between Different Family Views
Family View Settings
Creating and Modifying Family Views
Customizing Children in the Family View
Customizing the Main Couple in the Family View
Customizing Parents in the Family View
Miscellaneous Settings in the Family View
Adding & Removing Fields in the Family View
Fonts in the Family View
Colors in the Family View
Pictures in the Family View
Resizing Pictures in the Family View
Resizing Fields Under the Main Couple
Copying Family Views to Other Family Files
The Family View: a Refresher
The "family view" appears in the center of Reunion's application window and represents a nuclear family — a couple is in the middle, their children below them, and their parents above them. This simple 3-generation layout is the foundation of Reunion. It's the basic navigational interface of the app.
The couple, the children and the parents all have their own buttons and fields, showing the names and some details for each individual. The "look" of these buttons and fields and the selection of fields appearing with each person represent a "family view" and can be customized to suit your desire. And you can have several different family views and quickly switch between them.

You can return to the family view from any other view (tree view, charts, reports, etc.) by pressing the Escape key.
If you need a refresher on using the various buttons in the family view, click here.
Switching Between Different Family Views
To choose a different family view, click the Family View button in the navbar and a pop-up menu will appear, from which you can select a different family view. The selected family view applies to everybody in a family file. The name of the current family view is shown in small text inside the Family View button in the navbar.

To quickly change views, press Command-1, Command-2, etc.
Note: If the navbar is in its space-saving narrow mode (showing icons, without text), the name of the current family view won't appear in the Family View button (there isn't enough room).
Reunion offers considerable flexibility to customize family views. A few default family views are included; however, you can create, customize, and name your own family views. Then you can easily switch between them by clicking the Family View button in the navbar.
To customize family views...
- From the Reunion menu at the top, choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
This opens the Family View Settings window, which is laid out as follows...
- On the left side, choose a family view to modify (or create a new family view).
- Along the top, choose a section you want to customize: children, couple, parents, miscellaneous.
- In the rest of the window, make choices for each section: text, pictures, buttons, fields, colors, etc., thereby customizing the family view to your liking.

Tips for modifying family views...
- As you make changes in the Family View Settings window, those changes will be reflected immediately (in the family view), providing the ability to experiment with different settings (like fonts, colors, etc.) and see the results. If your display is large enough, it helps to position the family view adjacent to the Family View Settings window, so you can see both.
- To simplify the process of modifying multiple family views simultaneously (for example, to apply font choices to all family views) be sure to enable the button Apply to all family views (near the upper right corner) before making changes. This button only applies to text, pictures, and buttons (not fields).
- To revert all settings in the current section (Children, Couple, Parents, or Miscellaneous) back to the "factory" settings, use the Restore Defaults button.
- A shortcut to open the Family View Settings window...
- Click Family View in the navbar.
- Choose Family View Settings.
- Another shortcut to open the Family View Settings window: Shift-click the Family View button in the navbar.
Creating and Modifying Family Views
To create and customize views...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View — the Family View Settings window will open...
- To add a new view, click the Add View button.
- To delete a view, select a view in the list and click the Delete View button.
- To duplicate a view, select a view in the list and click Duplicate View.
- To name a view, click on its name in the list, then click it again to edit the name directly in the list.
- To reorder views, drag the views up or down in the list.
- To save changes you've made to the views, close the Family View Settings window.
- To restore the default family views (the collection of views that originally came with Reunion) delete all of the family views in the Family View Settings.
Customizing Children in the Family View
To change the look of children and the collection of fields appearing with each child in the family view...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Children button.
- Select the view you want to customize in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
For the children in the family view, the following attributes can be changed...
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the names that appear in child buttons.
- Text - color of the names of children who do not have children.
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the text in fields that appear in child buttons.
- Text - whether or not to include the last name (surname) of each child.
- Pictures - whether or not to include preferred pictures inside child buttons.
- Buttons - whether or not child buttons appear in a list with columns.
- Fields - the selection of fields appearing for each child.
Customizing the Main Couple in the Family View
To change the look of the main couple of a family view (typically a husband and wife) and the collection of fields appearing with each couple...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Couple button.
- Select the view you want to customize in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
- Select whether you want to change fields inside the couple buttons or under the couple buttons.

For the main couple in the family view, the following attributes can be changed...
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the names of the couple.
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the text appearing in fields inside the couple buttons.
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the text appearing in fields under the couple buttons.
- Pictures - whether or not to include preferred pictures in buttons for the couple.
- Fields - the selection of fields appearing inside the couple buttons.
- Fields - the selection of fields appearing under the couple buttons.
- Fields - the appearance of fields under the couple buttons. Editable attributes include: background color, line color, alternating line color, frame, vertical divider, and horizontal divider.
- Fields - the ability to exclude empty fields (inside the couple buttons).
- Fields - the ability to append a soundex number to last names (inside the couple buttons).
Customizing Parents in the Family View
To change the look of the parents in a family view (the parents of the main couple) and the collection of fields appearing with each parent...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Parents button.
- Select the view you want to customize in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
For the parents in the family view, the following attributes can be changed...
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the names that appear in parent buttons.
- Text - color of the names of parents who do not have parents.
- Text - font, style, size, and color of the fields that appear in parent buttons.
- Pictures - whether or not to include preferred pictures in parent buttons.
- Buttons - whether the parent buttons appear stacked or side-by-side.
- Fields - the selection of fields appearing for parents.
Miscellaneous Settings in the Family View
"Miscellaneous" settings for the family view include those not specifically for the children, main couple, or parents. To change miscellaneous settings for the family view...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Miscellaneous button.
Miscellaneous settings fall under the subcategories of Text, Colors, and Silhouettes...
Text
- Font, style, size, and color of names in the Quickbar.
- Font, style, size, and color of marriage information in the family view.
- Font, style, size and color of source citations in fields under the main couple in the family view. This selection also applies to ancestor, descendant, and relative numbering prefixes.
- Color of general source citations.
- Whether or not to show citations in fields under the source couple. To do this enable the Citations button.
- The option to show last names before first names. To do this, check the Last name first button. If enabled, you also have the option to show a comma after the last name. To do this, enable the Comma after last name button. These settings apply in most places where names appear (such as: in the family view, reports, charts windows, and pop-up menus). Notable exceptions include:
- Some lists - such as the People sidebar and Place/Usage sidebar, where last names are always displayed first.
- Timeline charts - where the name format is specified when the chart is created.
- Fan charts - which do not have the option of changing name order.
- Family names - where a "family name" is generated (ala "John & Jane SMITH").
Colors
Silhouettes
- Silhouettes - the generic images that appear inside person buttons for people who do not have a preferred picture. If you'd rather not see silhouettes, click the Silhouettes button and choose None.
Adding & Removing Fields in the Family View
To change the fields in a family view...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- Select Children, Couple, or Parents to edit the appropriate fields.
- If you select Couple, then select whether you want to change fields inside the couple buttons or under the couple buttons.
- Select the view you want to customize in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
Editing fields in the family view...
- To remove a field, click a field name in the list of fields and then click the Remove Field button (beneath the list).
- To add a field, use the Add Field button under the list of fields. Reunion permits multiple occurrences of the same field in the Edit Person
panel. However, in the family view, only the information from the first instance of the field is displayed.
If you need to display multiple occurrences of the same field in a family view, consider using the "smart list." Learn more.
- To reorder the fields, click and drag fields up or down.
A complete list of available fields in the family view appears here.
Tip: To quickly increase or decrease the size of text for all fields in the family view, sidebars, and lists, use these two keyboard shortcuts...
You can choose fonts, font styles, font size, and color for most of the text appearing in the family view. Font choices apply to all records in the family file.
Some fonts allow more characters in the same amount of horizontal space. Thus, if you have longer entries that are being cropped in the family view, you could try using another font. In other cases, changing the font size or style will help. For example, if your family data has lots of lengthy last names, you can choose a condensed font or a smaller font size. For practical purposes, your choice of font size is limited due to the limited height of fields in the family view.
To change font attributes in the family view...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- Select Children, Couple, Parents, or Miscellaneous to modify the appropriate text (see a breakdown below).
- If you select Couple, then select whether you want to modify fields inside the couple buttons or under the couple buttons.
- Select the view you want to affect in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
Font attributes are customizable for the following...
Children
- Names in buttons.
- Names of children without children (text color only).
- Fields in buttons.
Couple
- Names in buttons.
- Fields in buttons.
- Fields under the couple buttons.
Parents
- Names in buttons.
- Names of parents without parents (text color only).
- Fields in buttons.
Miscellaneous
If you have defined a fact or note field to use a custom font, the custom font will override the setting in the Family View Settings.
Colors in the Family View
To set settings for colors in the family view (and elsewhere)...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Miscellaneous button.
As explained above, the text color for most of the text appearing in the family view can be modified.
In addition, the following color options are available...
- Family view background - Select a color for the background of the family view.

- Button color mode - See the next section.
- Sex colors - see below.
Button Color Mode
You have the option of coloring buttons for people in one of two ways...
- Using color to indicate the sex of people.
- Using a single color for all buttons.
To choose the button color mode...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Miscellaneous button.

- If you select Color buttons by sex, then different colors may be chosen for males, females, people of unknown sex, and couples/families (see below).
- If you select Make all buttons this color then all buttons will be the same color, regardless of sex.
Like most modern Mac apps, Reunion 12 utilizes a "flatter" appearance for buttons and lists. However, if you prefer the older, more "rounded" 3D look, then enable the More depth button. As shown above, it's located in Family View Settings > Miscellaneous > Button color mode.
button depth
Sex Colors
To set settings for sex colors...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click Family View.
- Click the Miscellaneous button.
Sex colors refers to colors assigned to males, females, people of unknown sex, and couples. These colors apply to people in the family view and also apply to sidebars and lists if the List color mode in General Settings is set to Color lists by sex. By default, males appear light blue, females appear light pink, people of unknown sex appear yellow, and couples or families appear light tan.

The family color applies to couples/families appearing in sidebars and lists. Examples include...
Pictures in the Family View
Here's an easy, step-by-step method to show pictures in the family view buttons for children, the main couple, and parents...
- First, pictures must be linked to people. There are several ways to do this. Here's one quick way to add a picture to Leroy...
- Navigate to Leroy in the family view.
- Drag the picture file from the Finder and drop it on Leroy's button in the family view.
- If adding more than one picture to somebody, be sure to pick one as the preferred picture for each person.
- Click the Family View button in the navbar and choose Show Preferred Pictures.

All of your preferred pictures will now appear in the current family view. The size of pictures in the buttons of the family view can be changed, as described in the next section.
To include/exclude preferred pictures in buttons independently for children, the main couple, and parents...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- Select Children, Couple, or Parents.
- In the Pictures section, check/uncheck the Show preferred pictures button.

Resizing Pictures in the Family View
To resize pictures in the family view...
- Move the mouse pointer over a picture.
- Notice a little "handle" appearing in the bottom-center of the picture.
- Drag that little handle up or down to make the image smaller or larger.

In the family view, pictures in child buttons, parent buttons, and the couple buttons (husband/wife) are sized independently. However, resizing a picture in one type of button will resize all pictures in the same type of buttons. For example, enlarging a picture in one child button will make pictures in all child buttons larger.
Resizing Fields Under The Main Couple in the Family View
All fields appearing under the main couple in the family view will become wider as the family view becomes wider. The family view becomes wider by resizing the Reunion application window or by making the sidebar narrower.
In addition, some fields appearing under the main couple can be made taller, including...
- Events.
- Notes.
- Smart lists.
- Other children, other spouses.
To adjust the height of these fields...
- Choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- Select Couple.
- Select Under the Couple Buttons.
- Select the view you want to affect in the list on the left (the current view is selected by default).
- Click once on any field to select it.
- Drag the little black square in the lower-right corner of the field up or down. (This will only appear if the field has first been clicked.)

Event fields that are single-line in height will display the date and place on the same line. In this case, the family view may not include the entire contents of the place field if the entry is too long, or if the family view is too narrow (or both). Taller, two-line event fields will show the date and place on separate lines.
If you customize family views based on the current size of the family view and later reduce the height of the family view — either by resizing the Reunion window or by using the same family file on a Mac with a smaller display — Reunion will attempt to accommodate by shrinking note fields, morphing two-line event fields into a single line, and, if necessary, hiding fields under the main couple. The good news: if you make the Reunion window larger again, your original view configuration will be restored. Learn more about resizing different elements of Reunion's window.
Copying Family Views to Other Family Files
If you use multiple family files and take the time to create one or more custom family views, you can share or copy the family views from one family file to another. To do this...
- From the Reunion menu at the top, choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- On the left side, click and drag the name of a family view and drop it on your desktop. The file will look like this...

- Close the Family View Settings window (and optionally, to simplify things, close the family file too).
- Open another family file.
- From the Reunion menu at the top, choose Reunion > Settings.
- Click the Family View button.
- Drag the file on the desktop (the file you just created in step 3) and drop it in the list of family views on the left.