The first person created on a chart becomes the default Ego, i.e. the focal point of the family tree. Ego is always colored red, and the name (and serial number) of Ego is displayed in a drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the Person display. You may select a different Ego at any time using this drop-down menu. If you Alt-Click (on some Macs Option-Click) on any person in the chart, they become Ego.
When you click on anyone else on the chart, they are displayed in blue and their information appears in the Person display. They are called Alter. The kin term boxes on the Person display show what Ego calls Alter and vice versa. Each Alter, of course, may have many sets of kin terms: one set for each possible alter.
All persons who are part of the chain of relations between Ego and Alter (Linking Kinsmen) are displayed in yellow/orange. For example, if Alter is married to Ego's granddaughter, Ego will be red, Alter will be blue, Alter's wife (the granddaughter) will be yellow, and one of the granddaughter's parents will be yellow. If there are multiple paths between Ego and Alter, SILKin will choose the shortest one.
For more information about the terms Ego, Alter and other basic terminology of kinship analysis, see the SIL Anthropology page. (To return to the Help System, use the "Back Button".)
All dates in SILKin are expressed in a 'universal format' like 2011-07-21 for July 21, 2011. If you are entering an approximate date, you can enter just the Year-Month or just the Year. If you accidentally enter a date in your native format, SILKin will try to interpret it; if it cannot you will get an error message. You should form the habit of entering dates in Year-Month-Day numeric format.
If you have entered names for people these names can be used to label the symbols. In the 'Labels' menu you may choose the labelling style: Initials, First Name, Last Name or Whole Name. You can change the style at any time. The labelling style does not affect the way you enter names, only the display on the chart. If you do not enter names, default names (Person 1, Person 2 etc.) are generated automatically.
The 'Labels' menu also allows you to display the kin term used by the current Ego for the current Alter. You may choose terms of address or terms of reference. You also may choose to place a letter (A, B, ...) under each person's symbol that represents their kin term. That shoud make it easier to see patterns of kin terms.
The Context menu has a 'Context is Editable' item. When it is checked, the diagram can be changed. If it is unchecked, the diagram is immutable. The normal (default) setting allows editing. But if, for example, you are examining someone else's data you can uncheck this box to assure that you do not accidentally change their data.
If you want to tidy up your chart, you can drag any person or union to a new location with the mouse. If you run out of room on the screen, simply scroll up, down, or sideways to get more room. Scroll bars will appear once your chart is larger than the viewing area. Whenever you place a person or union right on the edge of the chart, it will automatically add an empty space to allow room for one more. To force the chart to grow, keep placing objects right on the edge. If you later move a person or union away from the edge, the chart will NOT get smaller.
You can make charts as large as you like. The bigger they are, the more scrolling you must do to locate someone.
Click on and drag a person or union symbol to move it. The links will be redrawn. If you hold down the Shift key and move a union, you will also move the immediate nuclear family associated with that union. If you hold down the Alt key (also a Mac's Command key) while moving a union you will move the entire lineage descended from that union.
Drag a person to either the top (if they are a parent/spouse) or bottom (if they are a child/sibling) of a union. If there was a relationship, it will be deleted. Dropping a person on a union 'toggles' a relationship; when you initially drop someone on the bottom of a union symbol, you add them as a child of the union. If you drop them on the bottom again, you delete them as a child of the union.
The next time you Save (or Save As) your data, all the relationships you deleted will be erased from the SILK file, and any kin terms you entered for those relationships (dyads) are erased. This action cannot be undone. If you immediately re-connect the person to their family, all their relationships (links) will be restored, but the kin terms will not be restored.
Of course, if the relationship in question was erroneous, deleting it is exactly the right thing to do. However, in view of the serious, irreversible consequences of deleting a relationship, you should be cautious about it. Here are some things you might consider before deleting:
If you hold down the Control key and click on a person's symbol, they will be deleted if they are not Ego and are not linked to any union. This is a safety precaution because deleting a person has side-effects:
Likewise, if you attempt to delete a union that still has persons linked to it, SILKin may reject your deletion attempt. BE CAREFUL. Do not delete the person if you only need to delete a relationship (see above).
The next time you Save (or Save As) your data, all the people and unions you deleted will be erased from the SILK file. This action cannot be undone.
The Clear All entry under the File menu deletes all people, unions and relationships from your screen. It does not erase them from the SILK file; it disconnects your chart from the SILK file. It gives you a blank slate upon which to create a new chart (with a new project name and new SILK file).