Seeking Help with organising files and folders

[Newbie]

Hello All

My mother has just passed after using Reunion for many years (since the 1990s??). I am trying to make sense of her work so that I can continue her legacy or pass it on to another family member.

First some context....
She uses Reunion 12 and iMac purchased in early 2019 with Mac OS Monterey Version 12.1. I have noted that the operating system has changed multiple times in the 2-3 years that she has owned this iMac and it was a little exasperating for her! Every time the operating system updates it seems to create a 'Relocated Items' file inside Relocated Items folder on the desktop. No idea why.....

When I opened the Reunion 12 Family I immediately saw that all the multimedia links are missing. I have read the manual and various posts so I know how to re-link them, but I don't want to waste my time by doing the wrong thing again, for example:
* I may have to change some first as I think they were linked from the iMac's Photo app.

* All her working files are in two folders on the hard drive -- 'Documents' and 'Desktop'.

* The desktop is backed up on iCloud. Is that another problem for Reunion? [She also has Time Machine which seems to be working.]

When I looked in both the 'Documents' folder and the 'Desktop' folder there are multiple Reunion folders and files from different versions of Reunion and different backups. There are even two Reunion12 Family files, though one looks older and smaller.

Any suggestions of where I can/should start? Can I just ignore earlier versions of Reunion applications, files and folders, assuming that when Reunion 12 was installed, this took care of them??

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you
Newbie

[KirkS]

The 'Relocated Items' alias (shortcut) on the desktop is unrelated to Reunion. You can safely delete the Relocated Items icon from your desktop (and the target folder also, if you wish).

https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/04/what-macos-montereys-relocated-items-are-and-how-to-delete-them

[Newbie]

Thanks KirkS. One mystery solved!

[Deb]

Hello All

My mother has just passed after using Reunion for many years (since the 1990s??). I am trying to make sense of her work so that I can continue her legacy or pass it on to another family member.

...

When I looked in both the 'Documents' folder and the 'Desktop' folder there are multiple Reunion folders and files from different versions of Reunion and different backups. There are even two Reunion12 Family files, though one looks older and smaller.

Any suggestions of where I can/should start? Can I just ignore earlier versions of Reunion applications, files and folders, assuming that when Reunion 12 was installed, this took care of them??

Without seeing the family files and the contents of each, we cannot provide a definite answer. However, if your mom converted the older family files to be used in Reunion 12 and only continued adding information to that converted family file, it should be safe to delete the older files. (If you are not sure about this, convert each of the older files to be used in Reunion 12 - naming the converted files differently so they do not replace any existing files. Then compare them to the existing version 12 family files.)

Regarding the two existing version 12 family files, I recommend opening each and browsing through them to see if one looks like it could be a different branch of the family or just an older version of the larger file.

Another option, to ensure information is not lost, would be to combine each of the files into one file. (Information about how to combine two family file can be found in your manual by searching for "import family file." To access the manual, open a family file and choose Help -> Contents or click on the "?" in the lower-left corner of just about any Reunion window.) Then, use Reunion's Match and Merge People feature to merge any duplicated information into one record. (Information about using the Match and Merge features in Reunion can be found by searching the manual for "match merge.")

I hope you find this information helpful in moving forward with one family file.

[Bob White]

..........
When I opened the Reunion 12 Family I immediately saw that all the multimedia links are missing. I have read the manual and various posts so I know how to re-link them,..........

Just a "thinking out loud" suggestion. A mass of missing links suggests to me that maybe her multimedia items were on a volume that is currently not connected to the Mac. This could be an external hard drive or some kind of "cloud" storage location (like iCloud or Dropbox, etc...). You may want to explore that thought.

[Newbie]

Thank you Deb and Bob

To address Bob first.... Yes, I thought about that, but having read a few more of similar ReunionTalk posts since I posted, and considering that even the Reunion Family files are in the cloud (iCloud), and that the file path includes reference to "iPhoto", I think the main problem is that the photo links were originally created using the iPhoto or Photo apps on each device she used. I have a feeling that she only started linking multimedia with Reunion 10 and then Reunion 12.

Deb, thanks for your thoughts about how to proceed. I will look into the discrepancies between the two Reunion 12 family files first and then proceed from there.
cheers

[Cheryl]

This seems to be my problem too. My laptop has been unreliable for a long time so I have not touched reunion. Now with a new laptop, I find I can't remember nor comprehend how to operate it. I have Reunion 12 but in the last few years have been dragging photos from Photos. Now, they can't be found in Reunion. Is there an easy way to sort this and how should I add photos?

[Deb]

This seems to be my problem too. My laptop has been unreliable for a long time so I have not touched reunion. Now with a new laptop, I find I can't remember nor comprehend how to operate it. I have Reunion 12 but in the last few years have been dragging photos from Photos. Now, they can't be found in Reunion. Is there an easy way to sort this and how should I add photos?

My first suggestion would be to run the Multimedia Repair feature in Reunion 12 to find out where Reunion 12 is looking for those files. This can be done by opening your family file and choosing Reunion -> Preferences (or Settings) and selecting Multimedia. Then, click the "Repair Multimedia Links..." button at the bottom and "Proceed." Then, after Reunion 12 looks for the pictures it will let you know how things go. If some are still broken, I recommend clicking the button to see the "Multimedia Usage Report." This report will show the missing files and will include the file names and the locations where they were last seen by Reunion 12 (probably on your older Mac). I recommend searching your newer Mac for those files by file name. When (If) they are found, move them into your Users/<home>/Pictures/Reunion Pictures folder via the Finder.

As per the manual, we recommend keeping all pictures that you want to link to a person in that Reunion Pictures folder. Afterward, you may link them to a person by dragging and dropping from that folder directly onto the person's name button on the family view. There are other methods mentioned in the manual. Additional information about the multimedia repair procedure and how to add/link pictures to a person can be found in the manual by searching for "multimedia repair" and "adding multimedia," respectively. To access the manual, open your family file and choose Help -> Contents.

I hope you find this information helpful in moving forward