CensusTools Spreadsheet Frequently Asked Questions
Please read this FAQ thoroughly. It probably addresses any problem you are experiencing and it definitely provides some very important information regarding my spreadsheets.
OK...some of these questions haven't been asked...yet. But after answering hundreds of e-mails, I have a good feel for the problems and questions you might have. So to help out everyone who will try to use my spreadsheet I offer these tips and suggestions.
1. ABOUT MY SPREADSHEETS
WHY DID YOU CREATE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
WHY ARE YOU OFFERING YOUR SPREADSHEETS TO OTHERS?
WHY AREN'T YOU SELLING THESE SPREADSHEETS?
HOW DO I MAKE A DONATION?
2. DOWNLOADING
HOW DO I DOWNLOAD A SPREADSHEET?
WHAT ABOUT MAC USERS?
DO HAVE TO DOWNLOAD EACH SPREADSHEET SEPERATELY?
3. USING THE SPREADSHEETS
WHAT SOFTWARE DO I NEED TO USE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
WHAT IF I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO PRINT BLANK FORMS?
HOW DO I USE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
CAN I RENAME THE SPREADSHEET FILES?
CAN I PRINT THE FILLED IN SPREADSHEET PAGES?
CAN I GIVE A COPY OF YOUR SPREADSHEETS TO A FRIEND?
CAN I LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE FROM MINE?
4. PROBLEMS
EXCEL WON'T OPEN THE SPREADSHEET I DOWNLOADED
WHY DO I ONLY SEE ONE PAGE OF THE SPREADSHEET?
I HAVE TOO MUCH INFORMATION TO FIT ON A SINGLE PAGE
WHAT IF I LOSE MY FILES?
1. ABOUT MY SPREADSHEETS
- WHY DID YOU CREATE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
I have extracted much census data over the years, all recorded on paper forms. By nature I'm not terribly organized and I simply got tired of trying to keep track of a mountain of paper. I did some Internet searches to look for a spreadsheet, thinking that someone must have done this before me. To my surprise I found nothing. I'm experienced with Excel so I made a spreadsheet for myself.
- WHY ARE YOU OFFERING YOUR SPREADSHEETS TO OTHERS?
When I finished my 1790-1920 federal census spreadsheet I thought others might find it useful. I have been helped many times by fellow researchers so I posted a notice on several e-mail lists and offered a copy to anyone who wanted one.
- WHY AREN'T YOU SELLING THESE SPREADSHEETS?
Genealogy is about sharing. When I first offered my spreadsheet I thought I'd get 10-20 requests. The response was overwhelming and it quickly became obvious that the spreadsheet was badly needed by other researchers as fed up as me over piles of unorganized census data. I am making my current and future spreadsheets available free. Since I had to purchase my own webhosting service to handle the demand and make my spreadsheets widely available...and since this has become a second full-time job, I am asking happy users to please consider making a $10 donation to help support this website.
- HOW DO I MAKE A DONATION?
My address is on the homepage if you'd like to mail a check. I have also set up a link to the Amazon.com Honor System which allow users to make a credit card donation via the trusted online merchant. Paypal users can use the button link on the CensusTools home page.
2. DOWNLOADING
- HOW DO I DOWNLOAD A SPREADSHEET?
Couldn't be easier. Simply go to my download page and enter your name and e-mail address. The desired spreadsheets will be sent to you via e-mail. The U.S.Federal, State and International Collections as well as the Research Log are all sent as .zip files. The Cemetery and Manifest spreadsheets are sent in .xls format.
- WHAT ABOUT MAC USERS?
Mac users get the same files. The only difference is the software on your machine you use to unarchive .zip files. Please understand that while I can spell "Mac", that is the extent of my knowledge of your system. I cannot answer specific questions regarding the Mac OS or other software.
- DO I HAVE TO DOWNLOAD EACH SPREADSHEET SEPARATELY?
Since I have so many spreadsheets to chose from, I have grouped them into separate collections. The U.S. Federal Collection contains the U.S. 1790-1930 spreadsheet and all U.S. special spreadsheets. The State Collection contains all of the state census files and the International Collection contains England, Scotland, Ireland and Canada. The Research Log, Cemetery and Manifest spreadsheets are e-mailed separately.
3. USING THE SPREADSHEET
- WHAT SOFTWARE DO I NEED TO USE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
The short answer is that you will need Microsoft Excel 97 or later to use my spreadsheets. I developed the spreadsheets in Excel and that is what I am able to support. The long answer is that there are other spreadsheet programs which can properly open my census spreadsheets. I maintain the latest information at my compatibility page.
- WHAT IF I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO PRINT BLANK FORMS?
Since I originally created the first spreadsheet for my personal use, I didn't think about their potential as blank extraction forms, though they are quite handy for that purpose. I don't know of any source of extraction sheets for state census records, so with my release of state census spreadsheets, it is increasingly likely that people will want to just print blanks. There is no need for Excel 97 or 2000 to just print. Microsoft offers a free Excel Viewer which works quite nicely to view and print my spreadsheet worksheets. Details are available at my compatibility page. I will soon offer all spreadsheet worksheets as PDF downloads also for anyone who simply wants high quality extraction forms.
- HOW DO I USE YOUR SPREADSHEETS?
Before doing any data entry, make a copy of the downloaded files and set them aside to use later as master copies.
Here is what I had in mind when I created the spreadsheets. My plan for personal use is to make a separate copy of my 1790-1930 spreadsheet for each family branch for which I have census data. That way I would have a handy way of storing, displaying, archiving and transporting census data for the 140 period that census data is available. The spreadsheet is small enough that more than 10 copies can fit on a single diskette. There is nothing to prevent a user from using a single spreadsheet file for all of their data, but I would find that confusing. Personal preference.
To use the 1790-1930 census spreadsheet, simply take your paper copies of census data, select the appropriate year in your spreadsheet, and enter the information. You should find that the data fields are in the same order and located in the same place as on the microfilmed records. That should make data entry easy if you use the spreadsheet with a laptop at your local library.
My Census Tracker was developed to supplement the federal spreadsheet. I make a separate copy for each family branch and then make individual worksheet pages for each person in the family I want to track. You can add as many worksheet pages to a Tracker file as you require. I use the tracker for data analysis. It allows me to enter genealogically important census data on an individual and review an entire lifetime of information on a single page. I find that a very powerful tool.
My Census Checklist was created to handle the tedious job of keeping track of where various census related documents and files are kept or stored. It features data fields to record microfilm numbers, photocopy locations, image file names and locations, and spreadsheet file names and locations. It should be particularly useful as more and more census images become available online and our hard drives fill with digital images files.
The state and international spreadsheets serve the same purpose as their federal census counterparts.
- CAN I RENAME THE SPREADSHEETS?
Absolutely. In fact you'll have to as you make more and more copies for particular family branches. The file I provide is named "census.xls" (after extraction) and as I make copies for my own data entry I rename each copy using the name involved (smith.xls e.g.) for ease of identification.
- CAN I PRINT THE FILLED IN SPREADSHEET PAGES?
I get a lot of questions which sound like users plan to use the spreadsheets to just print blank forms. Nothing wrong with that, but the power of using my spreadsheets is in storing census data in electronic format. To answer the question though, all of the various spreadsheet pages can be printed. In the federal census spreadsheet, the 1790 through 1870 worksheets can be printed on 8.5" by 11" paper. The 1880 through 1920 worksheets wouldn't fit so I had to created them in a 8.5" by 14" legal size format. To print those years you will need the larger paper. There is a way to shrink these 8.5" by 14" pages to fit on regular paper. Details are available in my February 2001 Newsletter. Before printing from any of the spreadsheets, check the margins so that they match the information found on the "How to use this spreadsheet" page of your spreadsheet. Printing really wasn't a concern when I created the spreadsheet because I already have my data on paper. The printouts though are very professional in appearance and if I want a paper copy, they would be much better than my scribbling.
- CAN I GIVE A COPY OF YOUR SPREADSHEETS TO A FRIEND?
Please do. I ask that the introduction page in each spreadsheet file be left intact and that you also pass on the address of this website.
- CAN I LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE FROM MINE?
Again...please do. I have some banners available for use at my Link to CensusTools page.
4. PROBLEMS
- EXCEL WON'T OPEN THE SPREADSHEET I DOWNLOADED
Be sure that you followed the directions at my instructions page. Most likely you are attempting to open the file you downloaded without first extracting the spreadsheet. If for whatever reason, the extraction process just doesn't work for you, please feel free to e-mail me and I will be happy to forward an uncompressed copy of whichever spreadsheet(s) you need.
- WHY DO I ONLY SEE ONE PAGE OF THE SPREADSHEET?
This is the most frequently asked frequently asked question. If you are using a spreadsheet program which supports worksheets such as Excel 95, 97, Excel 2000 or Quattro Pro 8 and you can't see any worksheet tabs, one of two things might be wrong. First, check to make sure that all spreadsheet windows are maximized. In Excel for example, there are two windows open when you are viewing a spreadsheet. Both need to be maximized in order to see the labled worksheet tabs at the bottom of the page. Second, check to be sure that sheet tabs are enabled. In Excel 97 that is done by clicking "tools" in the top menu bar and then selecting "options". Under the "view" tab there is a checkbox labled "sheet tabs". Be sure that checkbox is selected.
- I HAVE TOO MUCH INFORMATION TO FIT ON A SINGLE PAGE
That will probably happen a lot. The following instructions for creating a duplicate worksheet are written for MS Excel 97. The procedure should be similar if you are using a different program. Right click the sheet tab of the worksheet you need to copy and select "move or copy". In the resulting window, ensure that the "create a copy" box is checked and then designate where you want the copy to be located in the sequence of worksheets. Click "OK" and a copy of the worksheet will be inserted where ever you chose. If you need to move the worksheet, left click its tab at the bottom of the screen and drag it to the correct spot. I recommend saving your spreadsheet after successfully created a new worksheet.
- WHAT IF I LOSE MY FILES?
One potential drawback of relying on an electronic format is that if your files get lost or corrupted, your data can be lost. FOR THAT REASON IT IS VITAL THAT YOU MAKE PERIODIC BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA! If you store your spreadsheet files on floppy disks, then back them up on your hard drive...and vice versa. Better yet, take advantage of the many free online storage websites which will give you many megabytes of storage for the cost of looking at their ad banners while you're at their site. One of the many website is called idrive at http://www.idrive.com. Do a web search and you can find many others. BACKUP...BACKUP....BACKUP!!!!!!!
Imagine this...you have spent years researching your family history. You have logged countless hours ruining your eyes at your FHC viewing countless census pages. You have meticulously recorded your data on paper census data extraction sheets. You have now put all of your precious data into the spreadsheet for safekeeping, ease of storage, organization, sharing and posterity. You then spill a cup of coffee on your floppy diskettes...or your hard drive dies...or your laptop gets stolen. Your data is gone. You either have a backup of all of your data safely put away and nothing is lost...or you are back to your FHC to start renting census films again to re-research your information...from scratch. BACKUP...BACKUP....BACKUP!!!!!!!