In the past allowing multiple people to editing the same genealogy required that one person export their changes send them to the others in the group who were also editing. They then had to import these changes into their genealogy programs and match and merge the updated data with their data. Then they would export their changes and do it all over again. This process is highly inefficient and has led to a very closed an uncooperative approach to computerized genealogy.However, PhpGedView now allows concurrent editing of the same database right online so that everyone automatically has the latest copy of everyone elses work. There is no longer the need to export, then match and merge data.

So, how does the online editing of PhpGedView work? First the site administrator sets up user accounts for the different users who will be editing the data. Whenever users with editing privileges log into the site they will automatically be given options to edit the data.

Whenever a change is made by a user, the change is stored in the gedcom file leaving the original data in the database intact. An administrator or user with privileges to accept changes, will then be alerted to the change when they login. They can then review the changes that were made and compare the changes with the original data. This allows for a peer review process of all of the data to ensure its accuracy. The administrator can then undo the changes restoring the original data, or they can accept the changes which will make them live to the public. This process is the same whether you use the HTML editing built into PGV, or whether you use the GDBI client.

Starting with version 2.50 simple online editing is available to authenticated users who have been given editing privileges by the site administrator.  To access these editing features, go to the individual page for the person you want to edit.  If you have editing access for this individual, you will see "Edit" and "Delete" links under the label for each fact.  You will also see an "Add Fact" option listed as the last fact on the page.  All editing is done is a smaller popup window. 

If changes have been made to this individual, you will see a link just below their name which  provides you with the option of viewing the changes mixed in with the original data.  Site administrators can accept or reject the changes through the link at the bottom of every page notifying them that there are pending changes awaiting their approval.

Whenever a change is made, the data visible to the public is not changed, but the data in the original gedcom that was imported is changed.  This means that if you want to use the online editing features you must keep your gedcom in a place that the program can access it and make sure that PHP has the proper write privileges on the file.

Though PhpGedView provides limited online editing capabilities, the convenience and robust editing features of a full-fledged client would make it easier to update your data.  The online HTML forms will never be able to do all that a good client program could do.  So PhpGedView has teamed with the GDBI project to provide support for editing your gedcom information online.

Remote clients access the database by making HTTP requests to a CGI interface.  If you would like to write your own client to PhpGedView, you can read the documentation about using the CGI interface at racp.php

To begin online editing using the GDBI client:

1. You will need to be using PhpGedView version 3.0 or later for the client to work properly
2. Make sure you have a username and password setup in PhpGedView that has edit privileges on the Gedcom you want to access.
3. If necessary, download the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from java.sun.com
4. Download the gdbi-13-pgv.jar file from the GDBI project.
5. Run the PgvSQL client in one of the following ways
   1. In Windows, Double-Click the gdbi-11.pgv.jar file, you will be prompted to enter the URL to your PhpGedView server, your username, your password, and a GEDCOM file to edit. Refer to the following image:
      
   2. Open a command prompt window and run the PgvSQL Client using the following command:
      java -jar gdbi-13-pgv.jar
      Refer to a. for connection settings.
   3. You can also start the client on the command line with the following options:
      java -jar gdbi-13-pgv.jar http://www.yoursite.com/phpGedView/gdbi.php username password gedcom

Questions about using the GDBI BKEditor to edit your data should be directed to the GDBI project.