Terry's TMG Tips - Using Reminders

The Reminder feature, introduced in TMG version 7, provides notes, or hints, on how to enter data in Tags, Sources, or Citations in order to produce the desired outputs. Reminders are provided for selected standard Tag Types and Source Types, which should aid especially new users.

Users can add reminders or modify the standard reminders, which should be useful for more experienced users who have modified Tag Types or Source Types. This feature is especially valuable for those who have created complex Tag Types using split Memos or involved Roles, and for Source Types using split Citation Details.

Viewing Reminders

Reminders appear in a separate window, which by default automatically appears when you do any of the following:

The Reminder window closes when you close the screen that caused it to open. You can close it manually with the [X] button at the upper right corner of the screen, or by clicking the Reminder icon (see below). The Reminder window opens initially in the upper left corner of the main TMG screen. You can relocate and re-size it a more convenient position, and it will open in that position thereafter. A typical Reminder screen seen while creating a Source or citing it might look like this:

You can disable the automatic opening of the Reminder screen by clearing the checkmark for "Open Reminder window automatically" in Preferences > Program Options > Data Entry. A small icon near the top of each of the screens listed above "lights" to indicate the presence of Reminder:

Clicking the icon will open the Reminder screen if it is not already open, and clicking it again closes it.

Tag Type Reminders

Reminders for Tag Types are available when you create a new Tag or edit an existing Tag when the Tag Type being used had a reminder associated with it. These Reminders are intended to help users know which fields to use for data entry in the Tag Entry Screen, and when necessary, provide hints on phrasing the entries for best output.

Source Reminders

Reminders for Sources are a bit more complex. They can be created, and appear in the Reminder window, in two separate contexts:

The section below on "Editing and Creating Source Reminders" describes in more detail how to create Reminders associated with individual Sources.

Supplied Standard Reminders

TMG 7 comes with standard Reminders for the Tag Types that are most commonly found confusing by new users.

There are also Reminders for the more commonly used Source Types. These Reminders have two parts. The first, labeled "Source Definition," is intended to help users enter data in the various Source Elements as they define a new Source in the Source Definition screen. The second part, labeled "Citation," is intended to aid in creating citations to the source in the Citation screen.

These Reminders will be part of new Projects created in TMG 7, and will also be added to existing Projects created with prior versions when the Project is first transferred to version 7.

The standard Reminders describe use of the default Tag Types and Source Types. If you have modified the Sentences of Tag Types or Templates of Source Types for which there are standard Reminders, those Reminders may not be correct. If necessary, you can edit them to align with your modified Tag Types and Source Types as described below.

As mentioned above, by default, the Reminder screen opens automatically when a data entry screen that has an associated Reminder is opened. If the automatic opening of the screen becomes bothersome, it can be turned off in Preferences. You can still open individual Reminders manually if you like, such as those you have created for specific customized Tag Types or Source Types.

Editing and Creating Tag Type Reminders

Reminders for Tag Entry are edited on the Other tab of the Tag Type Definition, which is accessed by selecting a Tag Type in the Master Tag Type List (Tools menu) and clicking Edit:

Simply enter the desired text, or edit the existing text if present. The standard reminders may need to be modified if the user edits the Tag Type Sentence and thus changes the way data should be entered into the tag. Whatever text is entered will be visible in Reminder window when a Tag of this type is created or edited.

Editing and Creating Source Reminders

In general, Source Reminders are created on the Edit Source Type screen, accessed by selecting a Source Type from the Source Types screen (Tools menu) and clicking Edit:

Enter the desired text, or edit the existing text if present. Keep in mind that the Reminder text entered here may appear in two separate contexts, first when a Source is created using this Source Type, and again when that Source is cited. The standard Reminders address this by having separate sections for "Source Definition" and "Citation" so the user will readily know which comments apply to each action.

If the field is too small for convenient editing, press F7 to open a larger editing field (this tip works in most "memo" type fields).

Generally, if any hints are needed for citing the Source they should be part of the Reminder created for the Source Type, as described above. But occasionally, users may modify the Output Templates of an individual Source, making the Reminder notes from the Source Type inadequate or incorrect. In those cases, a Reminder can be created for the specific Source to aid in citing it. That is done on the Supplemental tab of the Source Definition screen:

Type in the desired text, which will be seen when creating a Citation for this source. If you prefer to start with the text from the Source Type reminder, click the "Copy" button to the right of the Reminder field to copy that text into field so it can be edited.

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