Use a recent version of GRAMPS! From 2.2.5 onwards there is an automatic backup utility.
It is extremely important to keep backups of your data, and keep them in a safe place. GRAMPS has a specific portable file format which is small, and human readable, denoted by .gramps. If you have allowed this in the preferences (In Edit menu->Preferences->General), GRAMPS will keep a backup of your database on exit. You can copy this backup file from time to time to a save location (eg a usb stick).
Note: The .gramps files are compressed. Clicking them will open GRAMPS. To see the XML select them and open them with a decompressing utility (like ark, gunzip), after which you can extract the XML file which is human readable.
Do not keep backups in GEDCOM. Not all information GRAMPS stores can be written in the GEDCOM. Hence, an export/import operation GRAMPS --> GEDCOM --> GRAMPS, will mean you lose data. Use the .gramps file format for backups!
Do not keep backups in GRDB format. GRDB is a database, which might be computer dependent (read, not working on a different PC). Small damage to a GRDB file can also not be repaired. Use the .gramps file format for backups!
Yes. GRAMPS works internally with Unicode (UTF-8), so all alphabets can be used on all entry fields. All reports fully support this, although for PDF/PS you need to work with gnome-print or openoffice.
GRAMPS is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gtk GTK] application. GRAMPS needs to have the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygtk pygtk] libraries installed on the system. As long as these libraries are installed, GRAMPS should function. It will operate under the GNOME desktop, KDE desktop, or any other desktop. If the GNOME bindings for Python are installed on the system, GRAMPS will have additional functionality. The GRAMPS project recommends version 2.8 or higher of GTK.
The Linux Genealogy CD can function as a live CD that you boot directly from. You can then run Linux and GRAMPS off the CD, even if your computer is entirely Windows.
An experimental Windows installer is available, however we do not have the manpower to offer support for Windows. A windows mailing list is available however and we do do our best to solve windows related problems.
The Fink project has ported some older versions of GRAMPS to OS X (tm). The Mac OS X port is not directly supported by the GRAMPS project, primarily because none of the GRAMPS developers have access to Mac OS X and because OS X is not Free Software.
This present version of GRAMPS (2.2.x) does not appear to have been ported by the Fink project. Please contact the Fink project for more information. However, some users had success in installing 2.2.x on Mac OSX either running in native mode or running on X11 using some of the fink packages.
9. What are the Minimum Specs to run GRAMPS?
We would recommend at least an 800x600 video display. For GRAMPS 2.0, the memory requirements have been reduced, and GRAMPS can run quite efficiently on a 256MB system, holding considerably more people. A system with 512MB should be able to hold around 200,000 people. Disk space requirements for databases are however considerably larger, with a typical database being several megabytes in size. For 120.000 people you must consider already 530Mb for the database. Pictures are stored on disk separately, so a large harddisk is necessary.
==Preferences==
10. Can I change the dates in reports to 'day month year'
Yes, change in the preferences ("Edit->Preferences") the date for GRAMPS to the required format (eg YYYY-MM-DD or day mont year), and make the report. Your global date preferences will be used.
==Collaboration-Portability==
11. Is GRAMPS compatible with other genealogical software?
GRAMPS makes every effort to maintain compatibility with GEDCOM, the general standard of recording genealogical information. We have import and export filters that enable GRAMPS to read and write GEDCOM files.
It is important to understand that the GEDCOM standard is poorly implemented -- virtually every genealogical software has its own "flavor" of GEDCOM. As we learn about new flavor, the import/export filters can be created very quickly. However, finding out about the unknown flavors requires user feedback. Please feel free to inform us about any GEDCOM flavor not supported by GRAMPS, and we will do our best to support it!
The nice thing about standards is that there never is a shortage of them. GRAMPS is tested to support the following flavors of GEDCOM: GEDCOM5.5, Brother's Keeper, Family Origins, Family Tree Maker, Ftree, GeneWeb, Legacy, Personal Ancestral File, Pro-Gen, Reunion, and Visual Genealogie.
15. How do I import data from another genealogy program into GRAMPS?
The best way is to create a new gramps database file (.grdb), and select the import option in the file menu. Here you select the GEDCOM you generated with the other program, and import it.
16. Can I install GRAMPS on a Linux Web Server and use it via a web browser? This would enable my relations worldwide to access and update it.
While GRAMPS can generate web sites, it does not provide a web interface that allows for editing. If this is a requirement, then [http://geneweb.org GeneWeb] or [http://phpgedview.sourceforge.net PhpGedView] are programs more likely to meet your needs. However, you may wish to ask yourself the following questions:
* Do I really want relatives or other people to directly edit my genealogy database?
* Do I implicitly trust, without verification, any data that people may enter?
* Do these people have the same understanding of good genealogy practice that I have?
A better approach may be to provide a web form interface that allows others to enter data that is then held for your examination. You can then decide if the information should be entered into your database.
You may also want to consider the effects of possible downtime of your site if you cannot afford yourself a premium webhosting service.
==Reports==
17. Can GRAMPS print a genealogical tree for my family?
18. In what formats can GRAMPS output its reports?
Text reports are available in HTML, PDF, ODT, LaTeX, and RTF formats. Graphical reports (charts and diagrams) are available in PostScript, PDF, SVG, ODS, and GraphViz formats.
19. How can I change the default language in reports?
The reports are in the language of your linux installation. You can change it by installing extra language packs, see [Howto: Change the language of reports] on wiki.
This is a limitation of the built-in fonts of PS and PDF formats. To print non-Latin text, use the Print... in the format selection menu of the report dialog. This will use the gnome-print backend, which supports PS and PDF creation, as well as direct printing. (Note: you might need to install gnome-print separately as it is not required for GRAMPS).
If you only have Latin text, the PDF option will produce a smaller PDF compared to that created by gnome-print, simply because no font information will be embedded.
The easiest way to contribute to reports, filters, tools, etc. is to copy an existing GRAMPS report, filter, or tool. If you can create what you want by modifying existing code -- great! If your idea does not fit into the logic of any existing GRAMPS tool, you will need to write your own plugin from scratch. Help is available on the [Developers Portal] on wiki, or on the developers mailing list: gramps-devel@lists.sourceforge.net.
To test your work in progress, you may save your plugin under $HOME/.gramps/plugins directory and it should be found and imported on startup. The correctly written plugin will register itself with GRAMPS, create menu item, and so on.
If you are happy with your plugin and would like to contribute your code back to the GRAMPS project, you are very welcome to do so by contacting us at gramps-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
GRAMPS has no hard limits on the size of a database that it can handle. Starting with 2.0.0 release, GRAMPS no longer loads all data into memory, which allows it to work with a much larger database than before. In reality, however, there are practical limits. The main limiting factors are the available memory on the system and the cache size used for BSDDB database access. With common memory sizes these days, GRAMPS should have no problem using databases with tens of thousands of people.
See above. Again, this is dependent on how much memory you have, see [GRAMPS Performance] on wiki.
26. My database is really big. Is there a way around loading all the data into memory?
Starting with 2.0.0 release, GRAMPS no longer loads all data into memory, which allows it to work with a much larger database than before. The fileformat used is .grdb which means gramps database.
27. Can I run GRAMPS from a database on a NFS share?
The surest way to see it happen is to get it done by yourself. Since GRAMPS is free/open source, nobody prevents you from taking all of the code and continuing its development in whatever direction you see fit. In doing so, you may consider giving your new project another name to avoid confusion with the continuing GRAMPS development. If you would like the GRAMPS project to provide advice, expertise, filters, etc., we will gladly cooperate with your new project, to ensure compatibility or import/export options to your new format of a project.
If, however, you would like the GRAMPS project to adopt your strategy, you would need to convince GRAMPS developers that your strategy is good for GRAMPS and superior to the present development strategy.
31. How can I publish web sites generated by GRAMPS?
Since GRAMPS generates HTML pages, you can upload the pages to your personal web site. If you do not have a personal web site, and still wish to have your pages available on the internet, the GRAMPS project can provide space for you at the http://library.gramps-project.org, see the [webhosting article] on wiki.
32. How do I submit my pages to the GRAMPS library site (http://library.gramps-project.org)?
If you wish to submit pages to the GRAMPS library site, you will need to contact the GRAMPS project, typically by sending a message to the gramps-users mailing list. You will then be given a username and password that will allow you to upload your files to the site. After you upload the files (in a gzip'ed tar file), the GRAMPS project will install the pages for you on the site.
33. After I upload my Family Web Page to library.gramps-project.org, is the password used for write privileges only or read privileges?
In order to prevent abuse of the library.gramsp-project.org site, the password given allows uploads only. If you wish to have a username and password combination to restrict read access to your pages, you will need to contact the GRAMPS project, and we could set this up for you. However, the read and write accounts will be separate accounts.
34. Do I view the Family Web Page with a url into my browser? Or through a link on a list of Family Web Pages on the GRAMPS-Project.org site?
The main page on the library.gramps-project.org site will contain an index of the available family sites. However, there will be a unique URL for each site as well.
