There are people with a letter only as a middle name where the letter is not an abbreviation. When an initial is an abbreviation, it should be followed by a period. At this time, none of the genealogy systems have a standardized convention to indicate a letter only name which is not an abbreviation. Such a convention should be developed to distinguish these single letter names from the abbreviated initials. Just turning off the alert is not the fix but instead complicates the issue further because without the period, it is unknown whether the letter is a single letter name or an abbreviation for something else.
On Friday, October 17, 2014 8:55 PM, Jerry <[email protected]> wrote: Thank you David and Cathy. Since Legacy has the long and short place name fields, I do actually use the postal codes for the short fields, but for the long fields, I always use the complete name (for example) Detroit, Wayne Co, Michigan, United States. I always use the Co for county, simply for my users' benefit on our website. I realize that all genealogists know the second field would be for the county when used in a four-division standard place name. Thanks for the suggestions and the place to turn off that particular item about the use of the periods. Jerry Boor, MerriamFamilyTree.org On 10/17/2014 10:37 PM, Cathy Pinner wrote: Hi Jerry, > >Where and whether periods are used is determined by which convention you follow. Choose one and stick to it. > >To change the criteria for the Potential Problem alerts there are 3 ways to get to the same place. > >>From an alert Shift + right click >>From the Tools Ribbon - Potential Problems >>From the Reports Ribbon - Other Reports - Potential Problems > >Tick or untick the checkboxes etc to suit yourself. > >Cathy > >Jerry wrote: > > >>Can some of you professional genealogists tell me why or if it is >>recommended to continue to use periods after abbreviations, especially >>with middle names where only the initial is known? It seems that in >>this computer age, we could safely omit those periods. It won't cause >>any concerns for search engines, right? Is there a way to turn off the >>suggestion in Legacy 8 so as not to be reminded if periods are not used >>in abbreviations?  I'm not speaking of place names - I realize those >>names should be completely spelled out for accuracy (ie, don't use USA, >>MI, Mich, etc). Thanks, Jerry Boor, MerriamFamilyTree.org >> > > >Legacy User Group guidelines: >http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp >Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp >Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). >To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
