Family Tree Customization Options | World Anvil

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Family Tree Customization Options

New Feature Addition · Family trees · Created by CraniumBeaver
accepted
First of all: the family tree system is great. Its complexity and depth is wonderful. Here I'd like to propose some graphical customisation options for it. Some background first, however!   Making a large family tree requires that I create lots of articles. I do not have the time or the creative capacity to make all of these articles into proper articles, i.e. articles with content and images and good formatting. Most characters in family trees are just names and vague ideas -- nothing else. What follows is that I place most such characters in a hidden "dummy relative category" instead of clogging up my usual character categories with them and make the articles private. The dummies are then largely hidden from viewers. Fair enough, works for me.  

What is unsatisfying with the current situation?

After making a whole bunch of dummy relatives for a family tree, the tree is filled with World Anvil logos, i.e. the portraits. I'm a perfectionist and would like the family tree to appear finished and I think placeholder logos go against that. Another problem is that 90 % of character names function as links to Multipass because those articles are private (because there is no content in them). I fear this can lead to frustration when someone other than me is trying to browse the family tree in order to find the 10 % of articles that actually are readable.   The Solution(s). I propose two improvements:
  1. Hiding character portraits in the family tree.
  2. Disabling article linking in the family tree.
 

How does this feature request address the current situation?

1. Hiding portraits.

This would remove the placeholder logos and make me happy. I would be entirely content with the family tree being just names and birth dates in boxes.   Three ways to implement this that I can think of:
  • World-wide toggle to show/hide all portraits in family trees. Add a switch into world settings that disables all portraits in family trees for the world.
  • World-wide toggle to show/hide placeholder portraits in family trees. Same as previous but this only hides the logos and leaves visible any actual portraits that I have added to character articles.
  • Character-specific toggle to show/hide portrait in family trees. Add an ON/OFF switch to the relationships-tab in each character article. This could show/hide both the portrait and the placeholder logo.
 

2. Disabling links.

This would stop people from banging their heads against the wall that is Multipass. I would also like to add that there could be some kind of visual clue in the family tree that which character names are links and which are not -- some color or icon or whatever that makes it clear that "You should click here! But don't click there, that would be pointless!"   Three ways to implement this that I can think of:
  • World-wide toggle to enable/disable. Again in the world settings.
  • Enabling/disabling would be automatic and tied to article status. Public/private? Draft/published?
  • Character-specific toggle. Again in the relationships-tab: "Disable links to this article in family trees, ON/OFF"
  • Subscriber-specific toggle? I dunno how subcriber groups affect family trees currently, I haven't actually tested it...
 

What are other uses for this feature request?

Besides addressing my particular pet-peeves with family trees, these additions would allow new customisation options for all authors. I think the ultimate benefit/goal here should be a kind of "visual polarization" of the family tree into the characters that are well fleshed out versus those that are just names. It would be great if the family tree used visual clues to guide readers into clicking open the articles of the "proper characters" while helping them to intuitively avoid trying to open any "dummy articles" (i.e. Multipass in my world).   And I guess this principle of customization could be expanded to other things as well. Maybe somebody wants to hide titles from family trees? Maybe somebody wants to hide the birth and death years? And so on and so forth.

The Team's Response

Hello amazing beans!

Thank you CraniumBeaver for your suggestion, and all of you for your contributions, thoughts and voting. I am attaching below my thoughts. This suggestion is wholeheartedly accepted.

 

What will happen

  • Ability to remove placeholder images
  • System to check if the user who is browsing has access to the article linked, if not, do not activate the link
  • Ability to set global (world) placeholder for Family trees
  • Ability to set some per-tree settings that define its visualisation.
  • What will be discussed

  • Additional markings (major/minor)
  • What will not happen

  • Fake non existent characters only for a Family tree. An article will always be required. (there are SO many ways to hide an article from others and yourself)
  • Current score

    343/300 Votes · +59600 points

    Votes Cast