MRIN Filing System+

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Some History

When I first started collecting family history files, the first thing I tried to do was sort them by individuals or married couples. My next instinct was to nest them but I couldn't see a way to make that happen. I was onto something but it wasn't making sense yet.

I filed the idea in the back of my mind and looked around at what other people were doing; sorting by records types mostly but I couldn't see how it would work. How would I find records for a particular person or family group which I, or others, would be most interested in?

It took some time to discover what I intuitively knew at the beginning and now seems obvious to me; a filing system that reflects the family structure of the database. When I read about an MRIN-based filing system for paper by Karen Clifford I realized that was the key to it and went back to my initial idea of nesting folders on my computer.

When I first wrote about it on my blog in 2006, someone(s) started publicly spreading bad press that MRINs are not stable in the database. This, according to Legacy's tech support, could be true, in a manner of speaking, if you were using the free version (I think it was v.5 at that time) because they could sometimes need to compact the MRINs when they were fixing something else. I used the paid version and never had a problem myself. But people persisted with the more common storage arrangements. 

Nowadays this is no longer an issue because there's no longer a paid vs. free version. There's only one full version of Legacy 10 and it's free for everyone.

Some people started adding Windows File Properties to their filing systems based on records, locations or names. It took a lot of years of me talking about standardized metadata and trying to wean people off using WFP for alternatives to start showing up in other peoples' blogs.

When I perused my many JLOG blog posts (2006-2016) I realized this filing system was the only thing I'd written about that was worth keeping so I sat down for a few months and compiled a book out of everything I knew. Then I ran into a couple of things I'd missed and sat some more til I figured them out.

I published the book in 2019. In 2023 I looked through it all again to update broken links and make some small changes to the text where applicable.

So, it's all trickled down to here.

Friday, July 19, 2024

MRIN Filing System+ Is Now Free

The MRIN Filing System+ is now free.

I appreciate the support of past purchasers.

Due to the overgrown, and frankly irrelevant and obscene, list of personal information that I am required to hand over to online payment processors, I am no longer willing to work with them.

Anyone within Canada who would like to send me an Interac e-transfer as a token of gratitude, using only my name and email address, is welcome to do so.  

If you want this book, just download it. It's best in the hands of anyone who finds value in it.

Since its conceptualization in 2003 it's been revolutionary in the world of digital genealogy filing. I think it's still the best genealogy filing system available. And it may still be the only one that's an actual filing system rather than a file-box.

I suggest you read it to get an overview and then again more slowly. Many hundreds of hours of work have gone into developing, testing and fine-tuning every last detail. But, if you get lost in the weeds, for now I'm still here.

Monday, March 04, 2024

Bulk Rename Utility

If you're starting your filing with the MRIN Filing System+ you'll get it right the first time. If you're switching from another system, you might find Bulk Rename Utility useful.

I've used it a lot to bring my files into a consistent naming pattern.

It has so many options for renaming, the screen looks quite daunting. Don't be daunted. There's a couple of short videos to get you started.

Bulk Rename Utility - Batch Rename Files

Bulk Rename Utility Windows


From here you can experiment. Maybe make a test batch of files in folders within folders and play around so you're not afraid of breaking anything.

When you're installing it, check the option for adding it to your Context menu for easy access.

See a preview of your results before hitting the Rename button.