GedShow

Description

GedShow is a simple WordPress plugin that allows the uploading of a gedcom file to a WordPress website. Once the plugin is installed there is a new menu item in the Admin menu panel on the website entitled Gedshow. On clicking this menu option a file upload dialog page is displayed allowing you to browse your computer for your gedcom file and then upload it. Once the gedcom file has been uploaded some of the data is extracted from it and loaded into the WordPress database. The uploaded information can then be displayed on a page using a shortcode.

The first shortcode is [gedshow living=”yes”] or [gedshow living=”no”], as usual the shortcode should be typed in lowercase and surrounded by square brackets. This displays a list of all the surnames in the database with a count of the number of records who have that surname in brackets next to the surname. The surname is displayed on a button, clicking on this button then shows the first and surname of all those individuals of the surname clicked and hides the all surnames records, again the names are displayed on a button. Clicking on this new button shows the individual record of that person. Currently occupations, birth, baptism, death, burial, residence and occupation dates and places are shown. If the individual had children a ‘show tree’ button is displayed, clicking this button shows a graphical tree of the family below the marriage details. The names of the spouse and children of the individual are links and clicking on any of these changes the display of fact to that new individuals details.

The second shortcode is [surname sn=”smith” living=”yes”] or [surname sn=”smith” living=”no”]. Replace smith with the surname of your choice within double quotes (ensuring that the surname exists in your gedcom). This shortcode then displays the data as above.

The third shortcode is [gs_individual id=”I1″ name=”Y” facts=”Y”] This shortcode can be placed on any page or post and will display the persons name (if Y is in the shortcode) followed by their Birth, Marriage and Death details and then any person level notes. Additional information and photos can then be added in the usual way. The reference number can be found for the person in the header of their normal Gedshow page by hovering over their name. More details on the demo site.

The fourth shortcode is [gs_tree id=”I1″] This displays a 3 generation Ancestor tree for a chosen individual. The id number is found in the same was as shortcode 3 above. The shortcode can be used anywhere on a page or post. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SHORTCODE DOES NOT CHECK FOR LIVING INDIVIDUALS BEING DISPLAYED.

The first two shortcodes can now have living yes / no qualifier. So [gedshow living=”yes”] or [surname sn=”smith” living=”yes”]. If you do not add the living qualifier living=no is assumed.
For these new shortcodes to work you MUST re-import your gedcom file as there are database changes. There is a new page on the demo website on using this new living qualifier.

The fifth shortcode is [gs_allnames] This is for a page specifically for search engines it lists all the individuals in the database with their dates of birth and death (if known) in a simple table. It does not include living individuals.

When first and surnames are shown on either the button or in the heading for individual records the sex of the individual is shown after the surname using the unicode symbols, ♂ for male and ♀ for female.

The ‘Upcoming Birthdays’ widget is available in the Widgets pane as Gedshow Birthdays. It can be displayed in any widget area (ideally around 250px wide or wider) the title and number of birthdays to show is selectable in the widget dialog (default 10). Only the day and month are shown so display of Living people is not repressed.

The ‘Top Surnames’ widget is available in the Widgets pane as Gedshow Surnames. This widget shows a configurable number (default 10) of the highest number of surnames in the database.

The ‘Anniversaries’ widget is available in the Widgets pane as Gedshow Anniversaries. This widget shows a configurable number (default 5) of the upcoming wedding anniversaries in the database.

The ‘In Memoriam’ widget is available in the Widgets pane as Gedshow In Memoriam. This widget shows a configurable number (default 10) of the upcoming deaths in the database.

Current limitations:

• Only one gedcom can be uploaded, the previous one will be deleted if a new one is uploaded.
• UTF-16 gedcom files, native to Family Historian V6, are not supported. Export as utf-8 format gedcom for use in this plugin.
• Large gedcom files with >25000 individuals are unlikely to load due to webserver timeouts (this may be a smaller number on free / shared webhosts.

Future enhancements:

• Suggestions for added functionality welcome

Demo site – Full shortcode
Demo site – Surname shortcode
Demo site – Person story shortcode

Users group on Facebook

Any comments / feedback to [email protected]

Screenshots

Installation

Upload the GedShow plugin to your site and activate as normal in the ‘Plugins’ menu.
Select the Gedshow option in the admin panel.
Upload your gedcom file.
Go to Gedshow > Options and choose your button width and colour (these can be adjusted later without having to re upload your gedcom).
Enter the shortcode on a page.

FAQ

Can I delete my gedcom file once it is processed?

Yes, just go to the media browser and delete as usual. It is no longer needed by the plugin.

Can I update my gedcom file even though it is already in the plugin?

Yes, just upload it again, the old entries in the plugin database will be deleted and the contents of the uploaded gedcom file will take its place.

I don’t like the style of the buttons or the colours, can I change them?

Yes, the colour can be changed in the Gedshow Options page and styles can be changed using Custom CSS. The style of the button is dictated by the browser and theme but these can be changed with Custom CSS but may need the !important tag added.

I get the error ‘You must upload a gedcom file with an extension of ged (in lowercase).’ but my file is named correctly.

This problem is usually caused by being installed on WordPress multisite. Please add ged as an allowed extension in Dashboard > Settings > Network Settings > Upload file types.

Reviews

Clumsy

joevansteen March 4, 2023 11 replies

Provides a nice set of views for presentation of genealogy data from GEDOM files. However, the conflict with the Media Library Assistant plugin appears unnecessary as the RootsPersona plugin has no such problems in the same environment. In addition, problems which appear and disappear when using double versus single quotes to provide shortcode parameters again seem to be unnecessary complications in usage. I generally like to difference in presentation, but environmental restrictions do not warrant a 5 star rating. Needing to deactivate and re-activate MLA in order to upload GEDCOM files are problematic. Very nice supplementary, or alternative, views if the MLA issue is not a concern.

Great One

flk73 February 28, 2023 1 reply

Do what I need, and it’s great. Thanks for your job !I have few questions, for a project I’m trying to do : – when could we have a french version?- when I Import a gedcom from heredis, i have some dates converted in 1970-01-01, why?

Nice work!

jrereeves June 14, 2022

Just found this and so far I like it!

Simple, but so powerful

Alperian February 24, 2022

Installed this and realised that under the simplicity is so much power. If you want to get your family tree into WordPress, then you probably need to look no further. Maybe the best feature is the links to WordPress pages from (what is essentially) an embedded GED site. So if you set up WP pages for each ancestor, from a template, you can use (for instance) Elementor or Blocks to fill that page with galleries of certificates, photos, slideshows of their life etc. The short-codes also mean that you can embed more GED info into those pages. Excellent plugin.

Excellent Plugin

nielsk61 March 17, 2021 1 reply

After many months of entering family tree data into a Windows program, I exported this as a GED file. The import to GEDShow worked seamlessly in my Wordpress admin panel. It was a thrill to see the data appear on my Wordpress website accordingly. Thank you so much, guys! There is of course room for further styling options for this plugin. However, I prefer a plugin that is kept up-to-date regarding important basics instead of one that has all the bells and whistles but no updates or support further down the road as Wordpress evolves.

Love this plugin!

tzie April 10, 2020

Doing a family website, and wanted to include a family tree. I have a GedCom of about 700 people and I was going to just pull out one branch of the family for the site. But then I realized how well the surname-sort short-code works and I uploaded the full file; and created four separated surname pages, each focused on major branches of the family. I also have one major index. This has worked well for me – and I love that I can choose to display full names – with PW protection – or conceal names of living members for privacy. I had a question and support was terrific too!

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

2.1.1

• Renamed the ‘allnames’ shortcode to gs_allnames

2.1.0

• Fixed bug where some fact types had double descriptions
• Fixed bug in tree shortcode where incorrect grandparents were shown under some circumstances
• Improved handing of shortcode input errors
• Added new shortcode for a page specifically for search engines

1.0

Initial release
Release date – 5 January 2019