Expand Gramps with add-ons
Gramps can be extended further with the use of free plug-ins. To see what’s available, select Edit > Preferences and click ‘Check for updated addons now’ under the General tab. You’ll see they’re split into various categories. Areas to focus on are Gramplet (lots of small functional add-ons), Gramps View (additional ways to view your research, including a pedigree and timeline view), Map Service (add Google Earth support), Quickreport (handy for the Dashboard) and Report (various options for presenting your family research).
One example is the Place Cleanup Gramplet, which can help speed up place-name entry by allowing you to quickly add multiple hierarchical levels at once. Expand the ‘New: Gramplet’ section, tick ‘Place Cleanup’ and click ‘Install Selected Addons’. Once done, switch to Places view and then click the down arrow in the bottom pane and select ‘Place Cleanup’ to add it. Now sign up for a free Geonames account in your browser (www.geonames.org) – once activated, visit www.geonames.org/manageaccount and click the link to enable free web services. In Gramps, click the Preferences button on the Place Cleanup tab and enter your Geonames User ID. Select a place name you’ve previously created and click the Find button. Highlight the correct match and click Select to review the details – if you’re happy, click OK and then each additional level will be created in turn, with your new place automatically enclosed within them.