# Settings

## Preferences

Most of the settings in &app;, are configured in the Preferences dialog. To invoke it, choose Edit Preferences....

### Preferences dialog

Shows Preferences dialog.

The pane on the left displays the tree of available option categories. Selecting a tree node will display the corresponding options in the right side of the dialog.

### Database

This category contains preferences relevant to the database itself. It has the following subcategories:

General
  Automatically load last database

    Check this box to automatically load the last open database on startup.

  Family name guessing

    This option affects the initial family name of a child when he/she is added to the database.

    This option only affects the initial family name guessed by &app; when the Edit Person dialog is launched. You can modify that name the way you see fit. Set this option to the value that you will most frequently use, as it will save you a lot of typing.

    If None is selected, no guessing will be attempted. Selecting Father's surname will use the family name of the father. Selecting Combination of mother's and father's surname will use the father's name followed by the mother's name. Finally, Icelandic style will use the father's given name followed by the "sson" suffix (e.g. the son of Edwin will be guessed as Edwinsson).

GRAMPS IDs

  Enter ID prefixes for various kinds of database entries into the corresponding text entry fields.

  The ID prefixes use formatting conventions common for C, Python, and other programming languages. For example, the %04d expands to an integer, prepended with zeros to have the total width of four digits. If you would like IDs to be 1, 2, 3, etc, simply set the formatting parameter to %d.

Researcher Information

  Enter your personal information in the corresponding text entry fields. Although &app; requests information about you, this information is used only so that &app; can create valid GEDCOM output files. A valid GEDCOM file requires information about the file's creator. If you choose, you may leave the information empty, however none of your exported GEDCOM files will be valid.

### Display

This category contains preferences relevant to displaying database records and controls in &app;. It has the following subcategories:

General
  Default view

    This determines which view will appear when you start &app;. Choose between Person and Family views.

  Family view style

    This selects between the two available styles of the Family view layout. The Left to right style is similar to the Family Tree Maker (tm), while the Top to bottom is similar to the Reunion.

  Always display the LDS ordinance tabs

    Check this box to have LDS ordinance tabs displayed. If you do not know what LDS is then you probably should not check it.

  Display Tip of the Day

    Check this box to have the Tip of the Day dialog appear on every startup. The tips are displayed randomly from the large collection of information bits on &app;.

    The Tip of the Day is likely to be useful for new user of &app;.

Dates

  Select the display format for the dates from the available formats listed in this menu.

  Available date display formats are language-specific. Depending on whether or not there is a &app; date displayer available for your language, you may or may not have a lot of choices.

Toolbar and Statusbar
  Toolbar

    Select the desired appearance of the toolbar icons from the menu. Selecting GNOME Settings will use the overall settings selected for your GNOME desktop.

  Statusbar

    Select the desired contents displayed in the statusbar using the radio buttons.

## Other settings

Besides Preferences dialog, there are other settings available in &app;. For various reasons they have been made more readily accessible, as listed below.

Column Editor

  The columns of the list views may be added, removed, or reordered in a Column Editor Dialog, see . Only checked columns will be shown in the view. To change their order, drag any column to its desired place inside the editor. Clicking OK will reflect the changes in the appropriate view. To invoke Column Editor Dialog, choose Edit Column Editor....

  The Column Editor is available and works in the same way for all list views. Specifically, it is available for People View, Family View (children list). Sources View, Places View, and Media View.

Setting Home person

  The Home person is the person who becomes active when database opened, when Home button is clicked or the Home menu item is selected from either Go menu or the right-click context menu anywhere.

  To set Home person, make the desired person active and then choose Edit Set Home person....

Adjusting viewing controls

  Whether the toolbar, the sidebar, or the filter (People View only) are displayed in the main window is adjusted through the View menu.

## Advanced manipulation of settings

The contents of this section is outside the scope of interest of a general user of &app;. If you proceed with tweaking the options on the low level you may damage your &app; installation. Be careful. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

By default, &app; stores its settings using gconf2 system. All the settings used in this version of &app; are stored in subdirectories under `/apps/gramps/` in the gconf2 namespace. Accessing the keys can be done either using `gconftool-2` command line tool, or the `gconf-editor` GUI tool.

All keys are documented, and the notification mechanisms are used as appropriate. Therefore, updating keys from outside of &app; should lead to updating &app; in real time, without necessarily restarting it.