Some Notes on "Auto-Add" and "Shown"

[MaxSupernova]

I just wanted to document this for anyone who might ask later. I was unclear on the concepts so I poked around and experimented.

SUMMARY

Using the "Shown" and "Auto-Add" checkboxes allows you to customize what your new topics look like when they are created, and allows you to streamline the process of adding new Snippets to your Topics by removing unused Snippets from the selection menu.

SNIPPETS

If you go to MANAGE->CATEGORIES, you can change the behaviour of which snippets are available when you create a new topic. Click on any snippet in the right hand pane (under "Snippet Types" for each Section).

There are two checkboxes that you can change without having to remove protection from the category, which means that you aren't messing up potential imports or future data. All you are changing is how the topics appear to you.

AUTO-ADD:
If this box is checked, then the snippet will be added (blank) to any new Topics that you create in this Category. If you change this value it has no effect on any existing Topics. It won't remove or add snippets to any Topic that already exists.
If this box is unchecked, then this snippet will not appear on any new Topic that you create in this Category.

If you have created a Topic and you want to add a snippet, click the yellow paper with a green plus sign on it. From the menu that comes down you can choose a generic snippet (like "text") or you can choose "Types for This Section". "Types For This Section" lists all of the snippets that are in the Category definition. This allows you to get a short list of predefined snippets that are appropriate to this Section. For example, if you create an Individual, then in the "Overview" section, the "Types for This Section" menu lists Age, Gender, Condition, etc.

SHOWN:
if this box is checked, then the snippet will show up in the list for "Types For This Section".
If this box is not checked, then the snippet will not show up in the list for "Types For This Section".

This allows you to simplify the "Types For This Section" list to just the ones that you will possibly use. You can remove the snippets that will never be used in your Realm, so the list is smaller. For example, I don't own HeroLab, so I uncheck "Shown" for the the "HeroLab Portfolio" Snippet. It no longer appears in my list of "Types For This Section".

NOTE: If you disable Shown, then the Auto-Add setting is ignored. The only way to make a Snippet show up on a new Topic is to have BOTH Shown and Auto-Add boxes checked.

NOTE: If you click the yellow page with the green plus sign, select "More" and select "All Types For This Category" then you get a complete list of all the snippets that are defined for this entire Category, regardless of their "Shown" setting. This is a master list that overrides SHOWN.

SECTIONS

The exact same concept can be applied to entire Sections. If you uncheck Auto-Add for a Section, the Section won't be added to new Topics in that Category. Snippets in that section will not be added even if they are set to Auto-Add. Section Auto-Add settings override the settings of Snippets in that Section.

If you uncheck the Shown checkbox in a section, it will not be shown in the list of Sections available to add from the "Hammer and Wrench" menu.

The difference between Sections and Snippets is that there is no "All Sections For This Category" selection. There is apparently no way to add a Section to a Topic if the Section is not marked as Shown. You have to go to MANAGE->CATEGORIES and mark the Section as Shown in order to put it on the selection menu to add it to the Topic.

[Erdrix]

Nice! Thanks for that tutorial!