New Kindex Feature Release Today

New Kindex Feature Release Today

by | Feb 12, 2018 | Features, Software

We are excited to announce the release of a major update to Kindex archival software, with several new features that will make creating your searchable family archive faster and easier.  We’ve maximized space, improved archive organization, and enhanced record navigation and transcription. Check out the updates below or watch our Kindex Feature Update video.

Organize & Browse Your Archive

  • Enjoy an expanded viewing area for your records
  • Access tools to add, filter, move, and delete records
  • Click a record to view or edit (add a transcription, description, or metadata). Note removal of “Transcribe” on record thumbnail. Purple checkmarks indicate indexing is complete.
  • View All Records or Indexed Records
  • View your archive record total and indexing progress

Manage Your Collections

  • View Collection record totals
  • Organize your Collections by using Sub-Collections
  • Use collections to filter your record views or search
  • Hover over record number to edit or move Collections

View & Transcribe Records

Navigate your Archive

  • When a record is open, you can view and edit records consecutively with new new navigation buttons above the record
  • The same navigation buttons appear below,  along with a Save button
  • A button under the transcription shows indexing progress as Complete or In Progress. When a transcription is done, click the “Read it!” link to read the completed transcription

We hope you enjoy this update. Let us know what you think!

SIGN UP OR LOG IN

Kindex Archive Essential Features

Kindex Archive Essential Features

by | Nov 3, 2017 | Features

Many Kindex users have asked us, “What exactly do I get when I sign up for Kindex?” We’re glad you asked! Here’s a summary of all our key features.

Create Your Cloud or Closet Archive

  • Kindex Cloud archive is a publicly accessible archive. Cloud owners may invite Collaborators to add or index records. Guests must have a free, “Kindexer” account to index records.
  • Kindex Closet archive is a private, invite-only archive. Closet owners may invite Collaborators to add or index records. It is only accessible and searchable to the archive owner and invited Collaborators
  • All archives receive a custom subdomain, can add unlimited records, and may invite unlimited collaborators
  • Archive backed by Amazon Web Services.

Gather Your Records

  • Add unlimited records (jpg, png, pdf up to 15MB each)
  • Import Memories from FamilySearch.
  • Individual or batch uploads

Collaborate with Others

  • Invite unlimited friends and family to access the archive, free
  • Collaborators can search, add, and index records
  • Unite records scattered among various households or locations
  • Create a crowdsourced indexing project (public archives only)

Share Your Records

Share records & transcriptions with anyone on a custom page

Add Data to Your Records

  • Add searchable metadata (title, description, keywords, etc.) in single records or in batches
  • Add a transcription with our built-in transcription tools
  • Add tags for people, places, and events

Search Your Records

  • Easily and quickly search every word of your archive
  • Search includes metadata and transcriptions

Archive Tools

  • Download your archive data as a CSV or XLS file
  • Download your archive records as a ZIP file
  • Print individual transcriptions as QR-Coded PDFs
  • View record totals and indexing stats

Support

  • Free customer support
  • Free training

 

ban-crop

Announcing New Download Tools for Archive Owners

Announcing New Download Tools for Archive Owners

by | Nov 3, 2017 | Software

It’s your archive—use what’s in it! Just-released software updates make it easier than ever to access, save, and utilize your archive data and source records. Kindex archive owners can now:
  • Download archive data as XLS (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet)
  • Download archive data as CSV (Comma-Separated Values)
  • Download archive records as ZIP (Compressed Archive File)
When you download archive data, your archive and record data is saved to a separate XLS or CSV file, including:
  • Archive Info: Your archive name and subdomain
  • Record Info: Metadata, including File Name (linked to source on Kindex), Collection, Title, Person, Description, Keywords, Provenance, Date, Place
  • Record Transcription
  • Tags (markup within transcription)
Learn more about how Kindex metadata tools add value to your family records. When you download archive records, you get a ZIP file of:
  • All records you contributed to your Kindex archive
  • All records Collaborators have contributed to your archive
  • All records shared to your archive from FamilySearch

How do I Get Started?

  1. Log in to your Kindex archive login
  2. Click the green cog cog  (upper right corner) to open Manage Archive Select the Tools tab and choose your download. savetools2
  3. To download your archive data, choose either XLS or CSV and the file will save directly to your download folder.
  4. To download your archive records, choose the ZIP option. The ZIP file is accessed through an email link you will be sent once your archive is ready to download.zip
  5. When you receive the email, click the Download Now button and the ZIP file will be saved to your download folder. ready2Note: You can only download archive data or records if you are the archive owner. Archive owners may download records and data as often as they wish.

Which Data Download Should I Choose?

When you download your archive data, you can choose to save as an XLS (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet) or a CSV (Comma-Separated Values). Which should you choose? That depends on how you want to use your data.When you download your archive data as an XLS file, you can view it in a spreadsheet format. This is what our family archive data looks like in an XLS file:
data-1

Looks like some records in my Art Collection are missing some metadata!

When you download your archive data as a CSV, your data is saved as plain text in a series of values (cells) separated by commas (,) in a series of lines (rows). This format offers flexibility when importing into other spreadsheet formats or databases.

How Can I Use my Data Download?

  • View archive data side-by-side in a spreadsheet and see at a glance what fields are missing or incomplete. For example, in the XLS spreadsheet example above, it appears that several records in the Art collection are Record Info, including Descriptions, Keywords, and Place. I can now add that information exactly where it needs to be.
  • Import your archive data into another database. If you are a family organization, genealogy society, or historical society, this data can be a very useful addition to your existing database.
  • Use your data to create digital or paper publications. When you copy or export transcriptions from your spreadsheet download (with accompanying markup), you can apply styles and formats to create new publications, like a book of primary source transcriptions. In the example below, I pasted some transcription text into a basic HTML template.
html Note: Markup (paragraph tags, line breaks, etc.) are retained in data exports. Markup is helpful when you want to retain the original structure of the transcription as well as apply formatting in a new program.

Cool. What’s Next?

We’re working hard to develop tools that will make it easier to grow, discover, and share your Kindex archive. Upcoming features include:
  • Advanced archive data search
  • Improved record navigation
  • Expanded archive import and export options
Have a question or suggestion? Let’s chat.
Transforming Family History Through Metadata & Transcription

Transforming Family History Through Metadata & Transcription

by | Nov 3, 2017 | Features, Software

If a family record can’t be discovered, searched, or shared, what value is it? How do we rescue our family records and transform them into a family archive that reaches beyond the walls of our own home and into the hearts of countless others?

Engaging our families through searchable archives is our primary mission at Kindex. Check out our five essential steps that add value to records and bring families one step closer to getting face-to-face with their own history.

infographic1 copy

1. Gather your records for scanning. Take an inventory of what you have, start with a small project (think shoebox-sized), and get scanning.

kinfograph-1.jpg

2. Add your digitized records to an online database. Google and Dropbox are great, but consider tools like Kindex that offer collaborative and indexing tools. After all, what good are digitized records if no one can access or search them? 

kinfograph-2.jpg

3. Add metadata to your records. In Kindex, this can be done on-the-fly when uploading records in batch mode, making it quick and easy to get records searchable.

infographic1 copy

4. Transcribe your records. While you can do this in a word processing program, adding transcriptions in Kindex is easy and keeps the indexed data attached to the original record.

infographic1 copy

5. Add tags for names, dates, and places. (Note: our tagging tool is temporarily offline while we make some improvements.)

kinfograph-5.jpg

Are you ready to rescue your history?

Get started on Kindex today to take advantage of unlimited records and collaborative tools that will get your records out of the closet and into the hearts of your family everywhere. 

SIGN UP OR LOG IN

20170921_112259 (1).jpg

 

Treasure Hunting at Home: a Visit to the Alamo

Treasure Hunting at Home: a Visit to the Alamo

by | Jul 14, 2017 | News

A few days ago, we visited The Alamo. No, not that one. The historic home of Ezra T. and Mary Stevenson Clark in Farmington, Utah, with its architectural stylings reflective of the Alamo, was the childhood home of Kindex founder Kimball Clark. On a mission to rescue records for a treasure hunt for the upcoming MyFamily History Youth Camp at BYU, we thought of no better place to start than in our own backyard.
alamo-0

Welcome to the Alamo.

I had a few minutes waiting for Kimball to arrive, so I poked around outside, walking deep into the expansive property. Situated on historic “Clark Lane” in Farmington, Utah, the property stretches north reaching the Farmington Creek Trail and Lagoon Park. So close is Lagoon that I could hear clack of amusement rides and the screams of thrill-seekers just a stone’s throw away.
alamo-6

Kimball’s father Charles Clark collected, among other things, wagon wheels.

alamo-9

And other kinds of wheels.

alamo-8

The random patterns of native field stones.

alamo-5

A marker for the old telephone system cables. It has not been disturbed.

alamo-4

At last, Kimball is here! Now, where’s that key.

Once inside, we had a great time exploring the home. I remember coming to this home once in a while to visit Charles and Sally’s family, but it had been at least 20 years. Wandering from room to room in the heavy July heat, we discovered some great things. Buried between craft boxes, tools, and boxes of old bills were family genealogies, old photos, letters, and a few other surprises.
alamo-1

A few items from a dusty old suitcase.

This 161-year old home is thick with memory. Treasure hunting aside, I loved looking around the various rooms and hearing Kimball’s memories of growing up here. With eight brothers and one sister, Kimball has no shortage of stories from this house.
alamo-3

A view in the kitchen.

alamo-14

A well-worn banister post cap.

Someday soon, Kimball will share some memories of him growing up in that historic pioneer home. That’s his story to tell. In the mean time, we’ll keep hunting for treasures and putting them on Kindex, one dusty suitcase at a time.