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Add Notes Workflows

Choose the workflow that matches what you want to accomplish:

  • Workflow 1: Share the same notes across multiple target records
  • Workflow 2: Create tailored notes for each target record using templates
  • Workflow 3: Create or edit notes and templates

đź“‹ Workflow 1: Link Existing Notes to Multiple Records

Example Scenario
You’ve written a detailed note about Irish census records and research methodology. Now you want to attach it to all 47 of your Irish ancestors so you don’t have to recreate this information for each person.
Step 1: Select Your Target Records

Choose the records that will receive the notes. You have three options:

Pre-select in Family Historian âś… RecommendedSingle record from Property BoxSelect using the plugin menu
  • In Family Historian, select all the records you want before running the plugin
  • Run the Add Notes plugin – it automatically detects your selection
  • If no records are selected, the plugin automatically uses whatever record is shown in the Property Box
  • In the plugin, go to Targets > Select: [Record Type]
  • Choose from the available record types
  • Use Family Historian’s selection dialog to pick one or more records
  • Click OK – your targets appear in the left panel
  • Repeat if you want to select targets from more than one record type
Step 2: Select Your Notes

Choose which existing notes to link to your target records:

  • Go to Notes > Select Existing [Note Type]
  • Choose Shared Notes or Research Notes
  • Use Family Historian’s note selection dialog  to pick one of more notes
  • Click OK – your notes appear in the right panel
💡 Tip: You can create a new note using Notes > New. Any note you create will automatically be added to the right panel for use, and be included in the Result Set when you exit the plugin.
Step 3: Apply and Review Results

Complete the linking process from the File menu:

  • Click either:
    • Apply and Continue – Process and keep plugin open for more work
    • Apply and Exit – Process and close the plugin
  • For large batches, a progress dialog appears (you can cancel if needed)
  • Review results in Family Historian’s Results window after you exit the plugin, including
    • “Note Linked” – Successfully created new link
    • “Note Already Linked” – Note was already attached to the specified record
    • “Note Created”

✨ Workflow 2: Create Personalized Notes from Templates

Example Scenario
You want to create a research to-do list for each of your great-grandparents. Each note should include the person’s name, a link back to their record, and a standard set of research tasks to complete.
Step 1: Switch to Create Mode

Change the plugin to template mode:

  • Go to Notes > Mode > Create from AutoText
  • The interface updates to show AutoText options instead of existing notes
  • The right panel now shows “AutoText Templates” instead of “Notes”
Step 2: Select Your Target Records

Same process as Workflow 1 – choose the records that will receive tailored notes. See detailed instructions in Step 1 of Workflow 1 above ↑

 

Step 3: Select AutoText Templates

Choose which templates to use to create notes to link to your target records:

  • Go to Notes > Select AutoText
  • Browse the file tree to select your chosen templates
  • Click OK – your templates appear in the right panel
💡 Tip: You can create new AutoText using Notes > New. Any template  you create will automatically be added to the right panel for use, and be included in the Result Set when you exit the plugin.
đź’ˇ Tip: Before using tokens like {NAME} and {LINK}, set them up in Options.
đź’ˇ Tip: Test your templates on 2-3 records first to make sure the tokens work as expected before processing large batches.
Step 4: Apply and Review Results

Complete the note creation process from the File menu:

  • Click either:
    • Apply and Continue – Process and keep plugin open for more work
    • Apply and Exit – Process and close the plugin
  • For large batches, a progress dialog appears (you can cancel if needed)
  • The plugin creates one dedicated note for each template-target combination
  • If you have 3 templates and 5 target records, you’ll get 15 new notes
  • Each note has tokens replaced with actual data from the target record
  • Review results in Family Historian’s Results window after you exit the plugin, including
    • “Note Created and Linked” – New note created from template and linked to a target
    • “AutoText Created”

đź“ť Workflow 3: Viewing and Editing Notes & Templates

You can view or edit any selected note or template directly from the plugin.

  • Select exactly one item in the Notes/AutoText panel, and either
    • Use Notes > View/Edit Selected, or
    • Press Enter or Space with the item selected
  • The rich text content is opened for editing. Caution: you cannot create new citations or record links (this is  a Family Historian restriction) but existing citations and links will be preserved if you don’t edit them.
  • Save changes to update the note or AutoText.
  • When you exit the plugin, the Result Set will indicate which notes or templates were edited.
Help content on this page is owned and provided by colevalleygirl, the plugin's author, Calico Pie takes no responsibility for its content.