The {{man label|Place Cleanup Gramplet}} addon uses the WebServices feature from the [https://www.geonames.org/about.html GeoNames.org geographical database] to lookup as many as 2,000 placenames per day. ( ''See '''[[GeoCodes#Filters|GeoCodes]]'''.)'' Selected parts of the validated information can then be pushed into Gramps to correct and improve incomplete [[Gramps_Glossary#place|Place]] records.

This was written to assist in cleaning up '''already existing''' places. You ''can'' use it while adding a new place, but the place must be created with the normal Gramps {{man menu|Add -> Place}} and select the new place in the top window prior to using the Gramplet.

See [[How to make a backup|make a Gramps XML backup]]}}

The Gramplet can be installed like any other Addon; see {{man label|[[5.1_Addons#Installing_Addons_in_Gramps|Installing Addons in Gramps]]}}

Once you have an ID, you should set it into the Gramplet via the Preferences button, see below.

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[[File:PlaceCleanupPref.png|left||alt="Preferences icon"]][[File:PlaceCleanupPrefDialog.png|thumb|right|350px|Place Cleanup Gramplet - Preferences]]

**: While this ensures that the enclosure matches GeoNames, it is possible that the previous enclosing place will no longer be used, and will remain in your database.

{{man warn|Use extra caution when changing the Title field|The place data found and pushed to update the Place view will depend on the contents of this field. If you change it in inappropriate ways, you could end up with mismatched place data. <br />For example, if the originally active record in the Place view is "Berlín, Usulután", and you manually type in a Place title of "Berlin, Germany" to search, when you find ''and accept'' the Berlin place, your originally selected Place view record for the municipality in El Salvador will be changed to Europe!}}

[[File:PlaceCleanupFind.png|thumb|right|350px|Place Cleanup - finding a particular place title]]

* {{man button|Next Place}} button. This causes the Gramplet to advance to the next incomplete Place in the Gramps Places list. Incomplete places are missing any of the Latitude/Longitude or Place Type data. If a place is found that is not used by any Event or encloses another place, you will get a dialog popup message suggesting that the place be deleted.

[[File:PlaceCleanupRes.png|thumb|right|350px|Place Cleanup Result View]]

* {{man button|Ok}} button. Pressing this modifies the selected place with the new values. In addition, the next level of the place hierarchy will be set into the place. If that next level is already present in the local Gramps place list, and has a matching GeoNames ID, the modifications are completed. If not, the next level in the place hierarchy is shown in the results view.

* GeoNames data is primarily intended for present day usage. It contains little historical information. I have heard that it is pretty complete for United States, Canada, and less so for Europe, although it seems to have all the European cities I have tested so far. If you find an error or omission in the GeoNames data, you may want to tell GeoNames about it [http://www.geonames.org/manual.html| http://www.geonames.org/manual.html].

* GetGov, how does this interoperate with the data from GetGov? At this time it does not integrate with that data. If you already have places loaded from the [[Addon:GetGOV|GetGov]] addon, then the ID field will have a GovID. If you want to do a lookup with GeoNames for that place, you should probably set the Place Cleanup preferences for the enclosure to keep the current values. In addition, you should probably use the 'Orig' checkbox for the ID to keep the original Gov ID.

This tool is fairly complex. Please report any issues or desired enhancements to paulr2787 at gmail.com.