I just upgraded the Family Tree software to PhpGedView 4.2.1 and have turned on a feature that allows mapping of events for individuals and families. When you bring up a person’s data, you will notice a new tab called “Map” which will show the location of births, deaths, marriages, etc. I spent the past week correcting errors in spelling and format and for the most part, when you display an individual’s map, the little flags will show up in the correct location. If you find an individual whose map is displaying incorrectly, let me know and I will correct the location coordinates.

Now that locations are going to be geocoded, it is very important to enter locations properly. The proper way to enter a location is:  City, County, State, USA, for example, Troy, Pike County, Alabama, USA. Please spell out the word “County” or “Parish”. The location “Probably Alabama” or “Near Enterprise” is not a proper location. If you don’t know the location for an event, leave it blank and enter things like “Probably Alabama” in a Note. To find a County, a quick way is a Google search on the city. I’ve had good luck searching for terms like: “Macon GA wiki”. The first result is usually the Wikipedia page for that city and the first line in the article will usually tell you the County. If you know the City or Town, please find the County (unless it’s a city in Virginia for instance).

Remember, Louisiana has Parishes and Virginia cities are usually not located in Counties (something I learned recently).