tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post2306295160687887112..comments2024-03-26T11:22:41.940-07:00Comments on Genea-Musings: What Do Family Tree Maker Users Do Now?Randy Seaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17477703429102065294noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-53681904975108107632017-05-11T05:09:23.837-07:002017-05-11T05:09:23.837-07:00Such an informative post, thank you! I've been...Such an informative post, thank you! I've been trying to create my family tree using Family Historian <a href="http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/best-family-tree-builders/" rel="nofollow"> Family Tree Builder</a> and it's a rather great option for those who are new to this whole thing.ValerieVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07134521689743231245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-29838131961794689642017-05-11T05:06:43.042-07:002017-05-11T05:06:43.042-07:00ValerieVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07134521689743231245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-24390710993947113812016-01-29T14:06:21.134-08:002016-01-29T14:06:21.134-08:00For late comers like me to your blog and this post...For late comers like me to your blog and this post may I also recommend Heredis software? You can see it at www.heredis.com. One reason I choose this is that is has a native OSX version which is an important factor for me in deciding what to move away from FTM. I like OSX software and don't like the visual and UI features of Windows apps running under OSX. Just my preference of course. Heredis imported my FTM Gedcom file with only a few minor quirks that were easily ironed out. One unique feature it has is that it copies any media files into its own database, rather than just linking to a file. I haven't quite made up my mind if I really like this feature or not, but once you realise this is how it works, the it is OK.<br /><br />The reporting capabilities don't seem quite up to FTM standards but are adequate for most users.<br /><br />Like everyone else I am extremely disappointed that Ancestry have dropped support for FTM. We are all going to move at some stage so better to do it earlier in my view. My Ancestry.com subscription is due to renew next month but I refuse to pay them any more money. The renewal cost is about USD300 and I simply refuse to pay that amount for such reduced functionality.Paul Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13042347499548245711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-10724754279729513732015-12-13T11:41:57.991-08:002015-12-13T11:41:57.991-08:00Is Ancestry.com still going to exist? I actually ...Is Ancestry.com still going to exist? I actually use the web-based Ancestry because I like the way it functions better than the software. <br /><br />I do use the PC-based Ancestry to sync, of course, and for reports, even though I haven't done that for a while since I can't find a report I actually like. <br /><br />OR, am I going t need to switch to another ancestry web site? Thank you...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849695956589774557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-86592539637796096852015-12-13T05:37:32.396-08:002015-12-13T05:37:32.396-08:00I still have Family Tree Maker 2012, and never upg...I still have Family Tree Maker 2012, and never upgraded to 2014. Do you think there is a reason to upgrade now? Is it better to have the most up to date software before they stop selling it? Would this help increase my chances of having better GEDCOMs that I could import to other programs in the future? Thanks!RebeccaRosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10796522044617187396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-64371170492813479522015-12-12T14:17:15.718-08:002015-12-12T14:17:15.718-08:00This blog has been very helpful to this abandoned ...This blog has been very helpful to this abandoned FTM user with over 15 years of work and 15,000 individuals. My file has thousands of facts, stories, obits, marriages announcements, newspaper articles and on and on. I am searching for an FTM replacement but so far I can only get any Master Source to transfer. Neither Roots Magic or Legacy import additional info: e.g. 1930 Federal Census. The 1930 Federal Census transfers but the additional items such as Enumeration District, Ward, County, State and Sheet info is lost. It would take me years and years to update all this info in a new program. I get sick to my stomach as I love genealogy and this announcement means I guess I have to stop and forget it. If anyone has any ideas I would be so happy to hear your comments. judygengeniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10327668602880816966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-20830746670224810262015-12-10T21:37:40.486-08:002015-12-10T21:37:40.486-08:00Very good coverage of many facets of Ancestry'...Very good coverage of many facets of Ancestry's decision. A couple other points from a long-time FTM/Ancestry user. There is a function to check the validity of media files and to re-download all of them to FTM. Simply go to the Media browser screen and press -F5. I have used this to fix errors and "missing" media files in FTM. Ancestry also allows media, identified as a document, to have a description and transcription comment added. BOTH are not synchronized with FTM. Oh, and one final note; a GEDCOM exported from Ancestry.com will NOT have media images. A GEDCOM exported from FTM can also include media. Good luck! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-4478040603758094922015-12-10T21:01:31.723-08:002015-12-10T21:01:31.723-08:00.. silly me. You have a site search with TONS of h..... silly me. You have a site search with TONS of hits for custom events! <br />Nevermind. :-oRainManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778456864951564116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-44461371666551514742015-12-10T20:56:50.672-08:002015-12-10T20:56:50.672-08:00One of the better (ok, the best) blog posts about ...One of the better (ok, the best) blog posts about FTM retirement. Thanks<br /><br />Like purrfectquilts, I would also like to know how you implement these "custom events" as one of my needs is to feed gedcoms to TNG.<br /><br />Do you have a post on this, or will you consider one to explain them?<br />Thanks again.RainManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778456864951564116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-31499070585763027862015-12-10T16:27:13.066-08:002015-12-10T16:27:13.066-08:00One thing I have yet to see discussed much is what...One thing I have yet to see discussed much is what it means if you are a remote user with very little and slow bandwidth. Moving to an online - in the cloud FTM application won't work. Thanks for this good article. Lots more discussion will happen between now and when the plug is pulledjzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16182845753495911274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-29352766374922425992015-12-10T09:11:32.900-08:002015-12-10T09:11:32.900-08:00Great point about most desktop apps mangling sourc...Great point about most desktop apps mangling source citations in their GEDCOM files. That's not all they mangle, unfortunately. Family Tree Maker and other apps don't comply with the GEDCOM standard perfectly. You can lose data when you export to a GEDCOM file without even realizing it. I recommend people use a GEDCOM validator like http://ged-inline.elasticbeanstalk.com/validate or http://gigatrees.com/toolbox/vgedx to see where the problems are in their files before they import them into a new app or the cloud. Fix the problems you can first. For example, FTM improperly exports AKAs using the ALIA tag. Some other apps know this and will nicely import the AKAs for you, but others will just drop them. Therefore, I don't use the "Also Known As" field in FTM. The following fields are also not recognized in the GEDCOM standard: arrival, civil, degree, elected, employment, organization; there are probably others. Also, the only thing allowed in the Description field for most events (birth, death, marriage, etc.) is the letter Y if the date and place fields are blank; otherwise, the Description should be left blank, and anything you might want to put there should go into a note field. The bottom line is that you shouldn't just export your FTM file to GEDCOM and import it into another app or website without checking it first.Keith Rigglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09211666785587732418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-30556351626726078632015-12-10T07:12:31.712-08:002015-12-10T07:12:31.712-08:00This is an excellent review. One other thought it...This is an excellent review. One other thought it that over the next year Ancestry will migrate some/many/most of the features of FTM into Ancestry. They have always needed to maintain product differentiation in order to sell FTM but now they don't need to do that. Over the next year we will see how much of this will come to pass. That could well change our decisions too.Gary Fredericksenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15544449536555930151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-61928038184216249682015-12-10T06:03:03.916-08:002015-12-10T06:03:03.916-08:00This was very helpful and I thank you. One dumb q...This was very helpful and I thank you. One dumb question: what does "free form citation" mean?<br /><br />Also would like to know if any of these alternative genealogy tree maker programs allow one to keep the tree private if desired. I've looked at the descriptions of each software and emailed the companies. No one answered and the descriptions do not say. Before purchasing that would be good to know.purrfectquiltshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14036717021193311523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-60311260351477046682015-12-10T05:15:39.147-08:002015-12-10T05:15:39.147-08:00Ancestral Quest also has a Macintosh version - it ...Ancestral Quest also has a Macintosh version - it works the same way as RootsMagic and Family Tree Builder by being bundled into a custom version of CrossOver. See http://www.ancquest.com/mac/index.htm<br /><br />Unlike RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest requires a separate license fee for Windows and Macintosh.<br /><br />RogertheKiwihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08032776673542923740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-18221034229063728572015-12-09T20:22:52.022-08:002015-12-09T20:22:52.022-08:00I think you make an excellent point about how to c...I think you make an excellent point about how to create sources that have the best likelihood of transferring between programs. <br /><br />Also I have a question on notes. Do they transfer from FTM to RootsMagic with out a problem? I'm not in a hurry to change from FTM but I will be using another software as a mirror to FTM which I also like for report and publishing capabilities. Also I will have to study up and see I can easily create the same LOOKING reports on Roots Magic. I know you and many love RootsMagic but the word I find it old fashion. Old fashion look, old fashion experience. IMHO RM doesn't need to change it's program but it does needs stylist. mbm1311https://www.blogger.com/profile/00259363925596797806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-38833815538840256862015-12-09T17:18:20.234-08:002015-12-09T17:18:20.234-08:00Well written and thought out. I have a "maste...Well written and thought out. I have a "master" database on my desktop machine; mirror it to a laptop, can see it on my iPad. I also store up to date copies in several cloud locations. I use Ancestry and FamilySearch trees as cousin bait. While I love the ease that clouds provide, we have a flaky local provider that several times a month is offline/down for extended periods. I would no more have an "online-only" tree in a commercial or free host, than I would fly.Genbookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02075136999028197291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-70328238042117859782015-12-09T15:04:38.203-08:002015-12-09T15:04:38.203-08:00Very helpful Randy. In fact, when I heard the news...Very helpful Randy. In fact, when I heard the news about FTM last evening my first thought was to ask you how best to work with it, Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and Rootsmagic (which has been my main program for years). Is it worth scooping Ancestry hints into FTM while we can and then exporting individuals or clusters back into RM with the attached sources? I'm just not sure yet. Thanks again - we'll stay tuned.John McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00361096033117310240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-5535787938297443562015-12-09T14:10:42.276-08:002015-12-09T14:10:42.276-08:00Thank you, Randy. I have no plans to ditch Family...Thank you, Randy. I have no plans to ditch Family Tree Maker any time soon, and maybe not ever. I will learn to use a different desktop genealogy software program after trying a couple and weighing the pros and cons, but I will continue to use FTM for it's publishing capabilities at least. <br /><br />My concern is that Ancestry may be just the first of the major companies to opt for cloud only trees. (It may be time to update to a new version of TNG.) I plan to take spend the next twelve months checking out hints and downloading documents from Ancestry to my computer, learning all the various consequences of Ancestry's decision, and taking whatever steps I need to take to preserve my research.<br /><br />I look forward to reading more posts on this subject from you and other informed genealogists.L Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11997595978878695934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-16169043801588740932015-12-09T13:45:56.954-08:002015-12-09T13:45:56.954-08:00Thanks for the write-up on this - and also for all...Thanks for the write-up on this - and also for all the other things you share. (First time commenter here.)<br /><br />I guess I am not surprised by this rather major development, but I have heard questioning comments about ancestry.com true interest. Frankly, I agree - they are about the money first and last.<br /><br />For myself - I am not a fan of the 'cloud'. That ought to be a back-up storage option, and where you can interact with others. I had (and do) have Family Tree Maker, but will moving my data over to both Legacy and RootsMagic, and will avoiding ancestry.com as much as I can in the future. <br /><br />It's a pity. What I had there was useful to others, and several copied images I had shared. I welcomed that, and now this will be gone. With a large family tree, I was about to build more fully my kinship list from Edward III of England, and now - ancestry.com shall not have access. Therefore - nothing for others.<br /><br />Dav Murrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07891366217057808744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26204193.post-56475305679089369012015-12-09T12:36:59.710-08:002015-12-09T12:36:59.710-08:00Randy, I love that you know so much about the user...Randy, I love that you know so much about the user details of the various programs. This is one of the most helpful posts I've seen even though I myself had already chosen to migrate over to RootsMagic before yesterday's announcement. Thank you!Linda Stufflebeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10652044674485948749noreply@blogger.com