General Information
Saving Your Work: Always remember to click the Save button at the bottom of any screen where changes have been made to form fields or selected actions, or by selecting the Save icon located at the top of each page.
Data Storage: Except for photographs resident on your smart phone, all data is securely stored and encrypted in the GrandTracker database in the ‘cloud’ on Amazon servers. (See FAQ for further information on data and secure storage). All data stored from your registration as a GrandTracker is specific to you. Each family member using the application will have their own downloaded App that identifies them as the ‘owner’ of this information. Thus, information in the App’s Profile section is unique to the person registered to the user and is not shareable or viewable by other family users. In other words, other family members will not see any information, photos, notes, or events in their application except for what they entered within their own application.
Home Screen
GrandTracker’s home screen shows Shortcuts, the profile pictures of family members, list of events entered in the application, a thumbnail view of pictures on your phone’s Photos application, and a list of notes entered and associated with family members. A Navigation Bar with five buttons is positioned across the bottom of most major page views, including the Home page.
View Family Member
Each family member has their own data file in GrandTracker. After adding family members their contact information and details can be seen in the View Family Member page (inside the Family section).
The details or profile of a family member can be navigated to by selecting the Family button on the navigation bar of the Home screen, and then selecting their name. These details can also be accessed by clicking on the tagged photo images on the Home screen, as well as by selecting and touching the person’s image on the Family Tree and then choosing View Profile.
Selecting a family member from the family group listing opens their information. New events and notes can be added from this screen. Basic and contact information, along with tagged photos residing on your device, can be seen on this screen view. If changes to this information are needed, select the pencil ‘edit’ icon in the top right corner and update the information as desired.
Adding Family Members
Family members can be added using:
A) Shortcut Family+ button on the home screen.
B) Family button in the navigation bar at the bottom of the Home screen and then the “+” person icon at the top right of the Family screen.
C) Using the “Import Contacts” feature in the Profile section.
D) Family members can be added through Family Tree.
A) Using the Family+ Shortcut Icon, open the Add Family Member page and enter your contact’s information in the provided fields. You may also add Event information, Tag photos (taken from your device), and enter freeform Notes about this individual, as desired.
B) Using the Family button in the navigation bar, you can open the Add Family Member page, as previous.
C) Family members can be added through the Family Tree view. In the Family Tree view, touch and select an individual to bring up a menu titled Select Action. The five possible actions include 1- View profile, 2- Add father, 3- Add mother, 4- Add partner, and 5- Add child. Options 2-5 are a good way, initially or later by adding or through Family Tree, the direct relationships between family members, such as parentage, spouse/partners, and offspring.
D) The “Import Contacts” feature is located in the Profile page. Select the Profile button in the Home page navigation bar and select “Import Contacts.” A screen may pop up indicating that “GrandTracker would like to access your contacts,” to which you may choose “Continue” or “Don’t allow.”
Prior to importing contacts from your phone’s contacts application, you will need to grant access in your device’s Settings app (gear icon). Once in Settings, navigate to Apps and select GrandTracker and then find “contacts.” Here you may select Limited or Full Access*. If you select Full Access, ALL contacts in your contact manager will be imported when you then take that action inside GrandTracker. If you select Limited Access, you can select individual family contacts, which will then show up on the list in the Import Contacts page of GrandTracker.
*NOTE: WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU SELECT ‘LIMITED ACCESS’ AND THAT YOU SELECT INDIVIDUAL CONTACTS ONLY. Selecting “full access” for all contacts will cause ALL of your phone’s contacts to be imported, and then you will need to delete contacts that are not your family, one-by-one from the GrandTracker data base. Also note that GrandTracker will only import family names from your device’s Contacts application which have emails noted in their file. Within V 1.0, we recommend directly adding family members, and not through the Import Contacts function. (This will be changed in version 2.0).
Adding Family Connections
When adding family connections it is easier to add them as individual family members are added. However, they can be edited and connected later as well. However, it works best to add them in order to meet the contingencies inherent in the relationships. For example, add a daughter-in-law as your family member and THEN add your son’s marriage to her, and add her as the ‘celebrant’ from your list of family. As a best practice you can title the Event, “Steve and Julie’s Wedding,” as it will be an event in BOTH profiles.
Also, add both your son and daughter-in-law before you add your grandchild, in order to choose them as the child’s mother and father.
Editing Family Members / Relationships
Removing Family Members: Family members can be removed by locating them in the Family members listing. Select the Family button in the Navigation bar. Then touch the checkbox icon (located at the top-right of the screen). Checkboxes will appear next to each family member listed. Select the family member to delete and then touch the red trashcan icon to remove them from the family listing.
Divorce/Separation: In the event of divorce or cessation of partnership, this relationship change can be accomplished inside the View Family Member screen by selecting the Edit pencil icon (in upper-right corner) and scrolling down to the Family Connection area, and deselecting (uncheck the box) the “is this family member [name]’s current partner” checkbox. Note that if the “Family Connection” area is not visible in this member’s information, access the relationship using the spouse/partner’s membership record. Once the connection (partnership) has been severed (i.e., checkbox unchecked) there will be a dashed outline placed one of the partner’s photo image as it is on the Family Tree panorama.
Groups
Groups create an added level of organization of family members. It can organize the family by last names, relationships, sibling groups, close or extended family relations, location, or any organizational designation desired. Users can either create a group before adding individual contacts, or add all family members first and then create a group to include them.
To create and manage Groups, select the Family button in the navigation bar at the bottom of the Home screen and then select the Groups tab at the top right.
To create a new group, select the Family Group Add icon (with the “+”) at the top right of the screen. Enter a new name and click “create.”
You can select groups for deletion by selecting the checkmark box (top-right of screen) and then selecting the desired groups to delete and deleting them with the red-colored trashcan icon. Deleting a group designation does not delete the individual contacts from GrandTracker.
Events
A calendar and listing of all entered events can be seen by clicking the Events link on the Home screen (located below the My Family listing showing tagged photos).
New events can be entered from within a family member’s section (View Family Member screen) by selecting the Events button. The existing events are listed in chronological order, and each event listed can be edited and deleted from this page. New events can also be started by selecting the Events icon in Shortcuts located on the Home page. To associate this generic note to a specific family member, tag the family member by selecting Tag Family and selecting the family member.
Editing an event:
To edit the established event, click on the pencil icon. This allows you to edit the event details including title, date, and location as desired. Selecting the Alert option provides a number of options to send you a notification / reminder of this event. The Notes section can also be accessed on this view, allowing for a dated free-form note to be added to this family member’s record. When finished with editing, select the save icon at the top of this view. From this view the event can be deleted by selecting the three vertical ellipsis dots (⋮). To save these actions, click the save icon at the top or the word Save a the bottom of the page.
Adding an event:
To add a new event, navigate to the View Family Member page and select Events. (The number in parentheses indicates the number of events already listed). This takes you to the Events page for this family member. To add an event select the plus icon in the upper right corner (+) and go to the Add Custom Event page. Enter the title and location (optional) of the event. Indicate if this event is an “all-day” event or not. (An all-day event does not require times to be entered). Enter the beginning and ending dates/times for the event. If this is a repeated event (such as birthday or anniversary, etc.) mark the “End Date” the same as the beginning date, and select the appropriate repeat interval. If the event will stop repeating on a certain date, click “End Repeat” and select the termination date of the repeating event.
Select an Alert or notification as desired, to be reminded of the upcoming event ahead of time. Enter any freehand notes desired to describe the event or its details. Associated family members this event may also be relevant to or apply to can also be tagged.
To save these actions, click the save icon at the top of the screen, or the word Save at the bottom of the page.
Notes - General Info
The My Notes button in the Shortcut menu on the Home screen serves as the main dashboard for managing notes. Here, users can add new notes, view a list of folders, create new folders, delete folders, move notes between folders, and create notes directly within a folder.
Selecting Notes from the Shortcut menu on the Home screen allows users to add a note for the current date.
All notes can be viewed in a composite view by selecting the View All link in the Notes section located near the bottom of the Home page.
Notes - Family Members
Notes for individual family members can be accessed and created by navigating to a desired family member (from the Family button in the Navigation bar) and by selecting the Notes button directly below the family members name and profile picture while in their View Family Member page. Notes can be selected and deleted in this view by selecting the note and deleting it by tapping the red garbage can. Alternatively the note can be deleted by opening the note and selecting the vertical ellipsis ( ⋮ ) in the upper-right corner, and then deleting the note. New notes about a family member can be entered in the View Family Member screen by clicking on the plus ( + ) icon in the upper-right corner.
Notes - Folders
Notes can reside in Folders which can be used to organize various notes. To set up Folders, select the My Notes icon in the Shortcut menu of the Home screen, and then select the plus ( + ) folder icon in the upper-right corner of the Folders list. Name and create the folder (recipes, grocery list, prayer list, cousins, etc.). After notes have been entered they can be moved to specific folders by selecting the note, tapping on the vertical ellipsis ( ⋮ ) and tapping “Move to folder” to select the desired folder.
Family Tree
The Family Tree module shows a visual representation of all linked family members. When a family group members’ photo icon in the Family Tree display is touched, a “Select Action” screen appears allowing the user to go to that family member’s profile, or to add a family member (father, mother, partner, or child. (Note that siblings would be added as children of a person’s parents). Both immediate and extended family members can be added to the GrandTracker family member database and Family Tree structure. Similar to immediate family members, extended family members can be added and seen in the Family Tree view by selecting an immediate family member’s family tree image and building out the next level connection, by adding a father, mother, partner, or child, and then repeating that with the newly added family member, similarly.
The view of the Family Tree can be expanded or shrunk by using two fingers to stretch or shrink the view. The plus and minus (+ / -) buttons in the lower right can also expand or shrink this screen view.
Gallery
The photo Gallery pulls from and tags images residing on your phone device. These images are not stored on or within GrandTracker or its databases. Deleting the app and reinstalling it will interrupt these tag linkages.
Pro Tip: To simplify finding family member images for tagging or connecting to a family member, it is recommended to organize your phone’s photos into Albums, organized by family (or any other sub-designation), which will make searching for and tagging them easier from within GrandTracker. These albums on your phone’s Photos application can be seen on the Gallery home screen accessible by selecting the Gallery button on the navigation bar. Images from your phone will be seen as “All Media” and by the “Albums” which you organized (as mentioned previously). This Gallery feature is the way GrandTracker accesses and sees the photo images resident on your phone device.
Profile
The Profile tab in the GrandTracker main navigation allows you to edit your profile, change passwords, import contacts from your device, and turn on notifications. It also lists terms and conditions and the privacy policy of GrandTracker.
Adding a profile photo of the family member is accomplished by tapping on the photo image/icon at the top of any profile page (the View Family Member screen). The ‘Add Media’ screen appears showing a list of small images (thumbnails) of the photo images on your phone’s Photo application. Touching and selecting an image places a checkmark on the image showing what was selected. You have the option of scrolling and selecting an image or of taking a new photo with the camera.
To find images quickly, select the dropdown arrow next to “All” at the top of this view, and select from among the pre-arranged Albums on your phone’s Photos application. This will make searching for an image easier than scrolling through your images to find the right family member’s picture.
Once an image is selected, touch and select “Upload.” You can then rotate the image right or left, or crop/expand/center the profile image to your preference. Then select “Choose” in the lower-right of the screen to place the profile picture at the top of the profile page.
You can replace the profile image by repeating the above steps, by clicking on the small camera icon inset in the profile picture, and choosing a different profile picture.