Photos
Click or tap any photo to see it larger. Step through the rest with the arrows beside the caption, the arrow keys, or a swipe. Close it with the × at the top right, the Escape key, or a tap outside the photo. The count at the top left says where you are.
Clear view. The button with four corners, or a tap on the photo itself, hides the caption, the arrows and the count. On a computer, an iPad or an Android phone it also fills the whole screen; Escape or the same button brings everything back. On an iPhone it fills the page, as far as Safari lets a website go.
Play starts a slideshow of every photo you can step through, and it goes round until you pause it. The space bar plays and pauses too. Choose 3, 5 or 8 seconds a photo in Settings. Your screen still locks when it normally would; unlock it and the show carries on.
Under a caption you may find:
- Restored or Colorized: the photo has been cleaned up or colored. Tap it to see the original scan, and again to go back.
- Credit: who took the photo, or who has the original.
- Prints: the photo is for sale as a print on Fine Art America. It opens in a new tab.
A row of photos scrolls sideways. View all lays the whole set out on the page, and any photo opens larger from there.
The Journal
The Journal page has three tabs. Entries lists what Carl and Bev have written, Photos shows every photo on its own, and Map shows where the entries took place. On Photos, Show captions puts the words back under each one, and the site remembers which you prefer.
In an entry, Older and Newer, at the top and the foot, go to the entries either side. The left and right arrow keys do the same.
Maps
Full screen, in a map’s top right corner, or a tap on the map, opens it across the whole window. There, its + and − buttons, a pinch or the + and − keys zoom in and out, and a drag moves it around. A trip’s map plays its route, with its own controls along the bottom.
Finding things
The icons at the top each say what they are: point at one, or Tab to it, and its name shows underneath.
The magnifying glass, at the top of every page, opens Contents & search. It lists the sections of the page you’re on and searches the whole site as you type. The / key opens it too, and Search tips says how to narrow a search.
Words with a dotted underline, like bygdebokbygdebok (plural bygdebøker) A Norwegian local history, usually a few volumes per district, going farm by farm through who lived there and when. Compiled from church registers, censuses, probate, tax and court records. The Kjemhus line comes from the ones for Flesberg and Rollag. All the words, open a short explanation when you tap them. All of them are on the Glossary.
The bell at the top has a red dot when something has been added since you last looked. Tap it for What’s new.
Saving pages and photos
The bookmark at the top right of a page, beside its title, keeps the page in your Saved list. Press it again to take it out. In a photo opened large, the bookmark at the top saves just that photo.
Saved is in the person icon’s menu once you’re signed in, and always at amoth.us/saved. It sorts what you’ve kept into people, stories, the Journal, places, recipes and photos. Saved photos open large, and Play runs them as a slideshow.
Signed in, your saved pages follow you to every device you use. Not signed in, they stay in the browser you saved them in, and join your sign-in the next time you sign in.
Settings
Settings, the icon with two sliders at the top of every page, holds:
- Appearance: light, dark, or whatever your device is set to.
- Colors: Evergreen, Slate or Taupe.
- Text size and Line spacing, for the body text.
- Motion: Off keeps the page still, with nothing fading or sliding.
- Slideshow: how long each photo stays when you press Play.
They’re kept in the browser you set them in, so your phone and your computer can each have their own. Reset to my device settings puts everything back.
Signing in
Parts of amoth.us are kept for Carl’s family and friends.
To sign in, tap the person icon at the top right, or Family sign-in at the foot of a page, and type the email address Carl has for you. An email comes from [email protected] with a Sign me in button and a six-digit code. Either one signs you in for the next 30 minutes. The first one may land in spam.
On a phone, the button sometimes opens inside your mail app instead of Safari or Chrome. The code works on up to three devices or browsers, so you can type it into the one you meant to use.
You stay signed in for six months on that device, and every visit starts the six months over. Each browser signs in on its own. Signed in, the person icon has a green dot, and Sign out is in its menu.
Not on the list? Ask to join and say how you’re connected.
Recipes
The bookmark beside a recipe saves it. It shows in the notebook’s Saved list at the top of the page, and in your Saved list with everything else. Copy puts the recipe on your clipboard, to paste into a message or a note.
Anything else
Write to Carl at [email protected], or see Contact.