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FAQ & Help
What's the difference between SEARCH and FIND? Navigating the Laughter Site FIND instructions assume that you have reached one of the Laughter / Lawter tree pages by conducting a SEARCH using the Pico Search engine (program) or reached the page in another way. Regardless of how you reach a page you must then perform a FIND within the page to locate the exact word, phrase, or date you want. SEARCHES are made from the SEARCH Page using the Pico Search engine. FINDS are done within a page using the FIND "on this page" feature in the EDIT Menu of your browser. The Laughter Genealogy site has nearly 3,000 pages. The Pico SEARCH will identify the pages that contain the word, phrase, date, or other information you may be seeking. The pages found by 'SEARCH' will arrange those pages with the most likely target page first. It assumes you are seeking a Laughter Tree page. You will then need to do a 'FIND' within the page for the exact entry you are looking for. Organization of the Laughter Tree The 'Tree' consist of Generation 01 through Generation 11 as of Nov. 2006. Generation 12 will be added if information becomes available. Generations 06 through 11 have grown very large and have been broken into three pages for each generation. That means you may have to perform a FIND in several pages even when you know the Generation number. The multiple-page factor need not concern anyone using the SEARCH and FIND features but if you want to browse the TREE it may cause some confusion. Links to page names are provided on the 'Other Menus' Index page. Within each Generation descendents are organized into families. The oldest known family of a Generation is listed first, and the youngest known family is last for that Generation. In the TREE, each Generation has a unique background color. All three pages within each Generation from 06 through 11 have the same background color. Generation Numbers John Laughter, or Lawter, is generation "1" and he is referred to as John1 throughout the Tree. His only known child was Henry who is generation "2" and is therefore, Henry2 throughout. Henry's children are generation 3, and so it goes. Right now there are 11 generations. If we ever learn of generations older than John1 we will not renumber all of the descendents. We will back up from John by placing a minus sign in front of the generation number, i.e., if we find that John1's father was King of England we will refer to him as King-1 :) Organization of Families Within Generations Within each generation, the display is immediate family with the oldest child first and the youngest last. For example; me, my wife, and two children are an immediate family. My son, the oldest child is listed first. I have a grandchild but she is not shown in my immediate family. She is in my daughter's immediate family. My daughter, her husband, and their daughter (my granddaughter) make an immediate family. Within my immediate family (me, my wife, and two children) my daughter's name is in blue indicating it is "linked" to another family. In this case the other family is my daughter, her husband, and her daughter. My son's name in my immediate family is black-bold. It does not link to another family because he has no children. Therefore, all the information about him can be displayed at the level of my immediate family and there is no need to link it further.
Example of a family:
James 3 ...... (Small blue number "3" links to Generation 3) No last name means Laughter or Lawter, otherwise last name is shown. ..... These are links to Ancestors .....
Frank Laughter 9 < Gen No. - - - Laughter/Lawter descendant's name. Children of Frank Laughter and Mary Almond are:
My son ---- no link because he has no childrenNotice, throughout the Laughter Tree: DOB; DOD; places; other info; ALWAYS follow the persons name. . . There are NEVER other names between the person and the info even though DOB, places, other info., etc., may be on other lines, i.e.,:
Frank Laughter 9
Born: 17 Mar 1935, Rutherford Co., North Carolina
Married: Mary Almond, 21 Apr 1957, Cabarrus Co., NC
MY DOB is 17 Mar 1935, Mary's DOB is 13 Jul 1936,
Also, The example shows that we were Married: 21 Apr 1957,
There are hundreds of families in the Tree and thousands of names. The Tree is growing fast. Searching through the page is confusing because of duplicate names. Using the small generation number is helpful but does not completely solve the problem because sometimes there are duplicate names within a generation. It is necessary, therefore, to use the entire name, including Sr. and Jr. and sometimes the father or mother's name when communicating about the information in the tree. Please keep this in mind if you wish to correct errors and/or add or delete information. You can also use birth dates or other details to specifically identify an individual.
These instructions assume that the users has virtually no computer experience.
First let's define the browser. The browser is the device, a computer program, used to explore the Internet and which displays what is found there. It is the device which is displaying this page. It may be AOL's browser, or Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE), or Netscape. Any of them will work.
Here is what the top of an AOL browser might look like:
Here is what the top of a Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) browser might look like:
Here is what the top of a Netscape browser might look like:
[NOTE: When navigating through web pages the best method for going back to the previous VIEW, previous PAGE, or in this case previous family, is to use the browsers BACK button. On the image of the AOL browser above it is the left pointing arrow under the word "Read." On the MSIE browser it is the left pointing arrow under the word "address." On the Netscape browser it is the green left pointing arrow under "Edit."]
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The site uses "Pop-up" pages to display some information. You will need to disable "Pop-up Stopper" or similar plug-ins to view notes, maps, some photos, etc.
When I use my browser I don't like to surrender viewing space to the browser. I reduce the tools at the top to the minimum so that I gain more viewing area. The reconfigured browser that I actually use looks like this:
The point is this... it doesn't matter how your browser is configured or which one you use. The instructions for searching through the Laughter Family Tree Page will still work. Look in the left corner of the images above and then look in the upper left corner of the browser you are using to view this page. You will see the words File, Edit, View, etc. in the MSIE and Netscape browsers but in the AOL browser it has File, Edit, Window. All three are the same. The AOL word "Window" performs basically the same function as the View Menu in the other two. It also doesn't matter whether they appear in the same order as the above image. The functions are still the same. If you click on the word "File," a FILE MENU drops down regardless of which browser is used.
But the FILE MENU and the View/Window Menus are not needed to conduct searches in the page. The EDIT Menu is all that is necessary.
Here is a typical top of page view of the Laughter Page:
Notice the cursor pointer in the image above. Just move the pointer to the word "Edit" as shown on the next view.
Now LEFT click on the word "Edit" and the EDIT MENU drops down. Slide the pointer tip down the list of the EDIT MENU and notice that the options darken or become "Selected" as the pointer passes over them. Stop on the option which begins with the words "Find in page." Microsoft's MSIE may say "Find in this page..." and AOL "Find in..." It doesn't matter if the words are slightly different. AOL, Netscape, and Microsoft (MSIE) may use different words but the functions are basically the same. The results may look like this:
Left click on the "Find in..." option and a small window pops onto the screen which looks similar to the one below.
Note that the window may not open in the same relative location as the one pictured. Depending on several factors, it may be just about anywhere within the web page. If it is covering something you need to see, move it. Place the pointer in the blue area anywhere between the word "Find" and the large question mark, press and hold down the left mouse button and drag the box anywhere within the page. To "drop" it, release the mouse button.
Look in the gray area beside the words "Find what:" Notice the vertical black line in the left edge of this area. This is the cursor and in the actual view it should be blinking. If it is not there, -- or is not blinking, -- place the mouse pointer in the gray area and left click and release. This "Selects" the box and window making it ready for typing. Sometimes, and with certain browsers, it is possible to have the box as it appears above and neither the page or window is "Selected." As a precaution, it is wise to point to a spot on the web page, left click and release, then move the pointer into the gray area of the box and repeat the "left click and release."
Look at the options offered by the little box: "Match case" means exactly that. Pointing and clicking on this square will cause the pending search to require that a "match" be made ONLY if ALL letters in the word or phrase "match" upper and lower case. Suggestion: turn it off. To the right are two circles for selecting if the search is to be "up" the page or "down" the page. The circle with the black dot is the option selected. To turn the dots on, click in the circle. To turn them off, click in the circle again. [NOTE: AOL's browser does not offer up or down options. All searches with AOL's browser are "down" and when it reaches the botton, it loops over the top and starts down the page again.]
Notice in the image above the words "Find next" are grayed out. That's because the dialog area (typing area) is blank. Look at the following:
When the name "milan" is typed in, the "Find next" area lights up, ready to be used. Clicking on the "Find next" button causes the search to begin. A "hit" (or match) will produce a result similar to the one below:
If this is the name desired, click on the "Cancel" button to remove the "Find" window. [Note: If the Cancel button is used and it is discovered that the search needs to continue, repeat the above procedure [Edit Menu, > Find...] and the search box will reappear WITH the search name still in it and the last options used still intact. Click on "Find next" to continue the search.]
The final option is "Cancel" when finished searching. "Cancel" removes the dialogue box from the browser area.
Finding One's Lineage
If you have mastered the art of performing a SEARCH and conducting a FIND within web pages you are now ready to use the best feature of the Laughter Family Tree Page... finding ancestral lineage. This section provides instructions plus an exercise for practice.
The key to determining lineage is the ability to "travel" back up through the "tree" once a person's name has been found. Let's assume you have conducted a SEARCH and have arrived at the page in the following image:
Again, look at the small numbers by each name in the image. As explained earlier, these are generation numbers. In the above, the SEARCH and FIND reached William Milan "Buck" Laughter's6 family, and indicates he is of the 6th generation below John1. Just a quick glance reveals that William Milan descended as follows:
Also, there are no last names indicated so they are all Laughters. If an ancestor had a different last name it would be included as part of the ancestral name. For example, if James' last name were "Smith," it would appear as James Smith instead of just James.
Look closely at the small numbers in the above image and it is apparent that those numbers are a different color and they are underlined.
Move the cursor pointer to the small number. These are UP LINKS, or links which will move back up through the tree. Clicking on these links will move back up to the name associated with the number.
A single click moves the page from MILAN to Wyley Ellis as shown below.
From William Milan's family -- clicking on the small "5" by Wyley Ellis moves UP to...
...Wyley Ellis' family. Click on the small "4" by Wiley moves to...
...Wiley's family. Click on the small "3" by James to move UP to...
...James' Family. Then click on the small "2" by Henry to move to...
...Henry's family. Click on the small "1" by John moves up to...
...John1 which is the top of the tree.
And that is how to determine the ancestral line.
Practice Exercise
PROBLEM:
Do a SEARCH for 'Michelle,' then perform a FIND for each page that contains the name Michelle. When you have located the entry for Michelle, click back through her ancestors, one-by-one, until you have her complete line.
SOLUTION and ANSWER.
Even if you peek now, be sure to try it!
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Frank D. Laughter, Concord, NC 28025 All rights reserved. |