FAMILY TREE MAKER - California Tour 2026

 I received this information from Family Tree Maker today

===================================

YOU ARE INVITED

Family Tree Maker is heading to California for our first-ever tour there, covering the state from the San Diego area to Sacramento, with six events hosted by local genealogy societies and Family Tree Maker user groups. I'll be joined by Family Tree Maker's Executive Director, Duff Wilson. We'll be starting off on Monday, February 16th, in Vista with the North San Diego County Genealogical Society.

ABOUT THE TOUR EVENTS

You can find event details below and a list of topics we'll be covering. There will also be special prices on Family Tree Maker software. All events are free and open to the public, but be sure to register so we can save you a seat. Duff and I are looking forward to meeting you and will be happy to stay around after each session to answer questions as time permits.

Hope to see you at one of the stops along the way!

Mark Olsen
Family Tree Maker Ambassador

***

1. North San Diego County Event

FamilySearch Center
1310 Foothill Drive, Vista, CA 92084

Monday, February 16^th
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Society webpage: North San Diego County Genealogical Society (Family Tree Maker User Group)
FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

2. Chula Vista Area Event

San Diego County Library – Bonita-Sunnyside Branch
4375 Bonita Rd, Bonita, CA 91902

Tuesday, February 17^th
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Society webpage: Chula Vista Genealogical Society
FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

3. San Luis Obispo Event

Odd Fellows Chorro Lodge 168
520 Dana Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Wednesday, February 18^th
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Society webpage: San Luis Obispo Genealogical Society
FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

4. Central Valley Regional Event

Fowler Branch Library
306 South 7th Street, Fowler, CA 93625

Thursday, February 19^th
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Society webpage: Fresno County Genealogical Society
FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

5. Oakland / Bay Area Event

FamilySearch Center
4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602

Friday, February 20^th
11:30 AM – 2:00 PM

Society webpage: California Genealogical Society (Family Tree Maker User Group)
FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

6. Sacramento / Auburn Area Event

Sacramento FamilySearch Center
2745 Eastern Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95821

Saturday, February 21^st
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Society webpages:

• Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society (Family Tree Maker User Group)
• Placer County Genealogical Society (Family Tree Maker User Group)

FREE tickets (required) can be found here.

FAMILY TREE MAKER TOPICS

Some of the things we will discuss:

• A brief introduction to Family Tree Maker and why it's been America's favorite desktop family history software for over 35 years.
• Features only found in Family Tree Maker, including some insider tips and tricks for expert users.
• Connect! A completely new workspace in FTM 2024 that makes it easy to enlist relatives to help you accelerate your research.
• Easy on the Eyes^®, a long-requested feature that gives relief to tired old eyes by enlarging each section of the screen just when it's needed.
• A number of useful requested improvements in managing and reporting relationships.
• Tools for cleaning up orphaned items (media, sources, and citations).

We'll also cover:

1. FTM CONNECT 2.0

For the greatly expanded version 2.0 of our mobile tree viewer app (for Android, iPhone, and iPad), we'll show you:

• How FTM Connect can now be used by your relatives to fact-check your tree and introduce you to extended family members you didn't know you had.
• How to use FTM Connect with an iPad or Android tablet to provide a handy touchscreen that works seamlessly with Family Tree Maker on your PC or Mac at home.
• How to take your tree with you on your tablet or smartphone when visiting relatives and have their additions and corrections waiting for you as sticky note hints on your FTM tree when you get back home.

2. ALBUMWALK^® Mobile App

Called a "game-changer" in capturing memories in photos, we'll demonstrate:

• How easy it is to have a relative identify everyone in a group photo just by tapping on them and talking about them.
• How our newly-patented technology enables you to make "instant" documentary-style presentations.
• How you can use TreeVault to work seamlessly between Family Tree Maker and AlbumWALK, and to automatically back up these priceless "photo memories" for safekeeping.

3. ASK THE PRESENTERS

• We'll leave time to answer your questions (Q&A).
• We'll offer hands-on help with Family Tree Maker on your own computer as time permits after each tour event.
• We'd love to hear your requests for features you'd like to see in future editions.

SPECIAL PRICES

We will offer special prices for Family Tree Maker at the time of each event.

QUESTIONS?

Our support staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help. Click here to connect to a friendly agent now.

FUTURE TOUR STOPS

If sometime in the future you're having an event of the genealogical kind, or you'd like to plan one around Family Tree Maker at your society, give me a shout at societies@familytreemaker.com and we'll try to put your event on the map too. To see all our events for the year ahead (at least those we already have planned so far), click the CALENDAR button on our home page (www.familytreemaker.com).

WANT TO START A USER GROUP?

We have great starter kit materials if you are interested in starting a Family Tree Maker user group in your area. We'll provide door prizes, email templates, and tips for getting a group started. We will also be happy to make a presentation at your first meeting if you'd like – in person or on screen. Write to societies@familytreemaker.com to learn more.

© 2026 The Software MacKiev Company. Family Tree Maker, the Family Tree Maker tree logo, TreeVault, Easy on the Eyes, and AlbumWALK are registered trademarks of The Software MacKiev Company.

 =========================================

NOTE:  The link to buy FTM 2024 above does not work.  See the current offer at https://www.mackiev.com/offers/ftm2024/upgrade_promo.html.

Disclosure:  I have been a customer of Family Tree Maker since 1995.  I have received several complimentary copies of the software from Software MacKiev in the past twenty  years.  I  received a complimentary upgrade to FTM 2019.  I have not obtained FTM 2024 to date.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, BlueSky, Substack or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. 

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Family Tree Maker 2024 Family Tree Software Released

 I received this information from Software MacKiev about Family Tree Maker 2024 today:

============================================

INTRODUCING FTM 2024

Well, we were off in our estimates by more than a country mile, but FTM 2024 is here at last. We hope you'll get a chance today to fire up the smartest, fastest, most ambitious Family Tree Maker ever built. And when you do, we hope you'll let us know what you think.

THREE DAYS ONLY – INTRO PRICING

FTM 2024 is a major new Family Tree Maker edition that takes this grand old brand to places its creators could only have dreamed of when it was first published back in 1989. Where relatives can fact-check your trees on their smartphones. Where the interface grows in just the right places to go easy on your eyes. Where Mom's wedding album becomes an interactive documentary in which she literally speaks her mind about each of her guests. All this and more in the new world of Family Tree Maker.

A GOOD DAY TO ORDER. If you are going to be upgrading, think about doing that in the next three days. It's your last chance to get FTM 2024 at prices this low.

Family Tree Maker

But wait there's more.

Just so there's no confusion here, the items below are just a few of the more notable new features of FTM 2024. There are dozens more, large and small. Like hyphenated dual surname support (which I agree is not so small if yours is a name that's hyphenated). And there's extensive work "under the hood". Work that makes this by far the fastest and most stable Family Tree Maker ever built. One that can handle BIG trees. Really big. Hundreds of thousands of people big. And even if your tree isn't absolutely gigantic, you're going to feel the difference.

THREE DAYS ONLY. For the next 3 days order FTM 2024 for just A$69 (reg. A$125).

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS EDITION

There has never been a more useful set of features added in a single edition of Family Tree Maker.

Turn Back Time® 5000

Being able to fix a mistake that was made up to 1000 changes ago was just the ticket if you discovered you lopped off Uncle Harry's branch of the family – weeks ago. Introduced in FTM 2019, having Turn Back Time meant you could roll back changes with a single click to just before that catastrophe. Because every change is recorded in the Turn Back Time change log. Even the details of changes for complex operations like merging and syncing with Ancestry. So we asked users what more could we possibly do to improve on THAT? Easy, you told us. Give us more saved change log steps. And so we have. Five times as many. Meet Turn Back Time 5000.

Connect Workspace

Making it super easy to connect with your relatives is an idea so big that it gets its own workspace. The new Connect workspace makes it a snap to share your family tree with your relatives — and enlist their help in fact-checking it. They start by viewing your tree on the free FTM Connect mobile app for Apple and Android devices (see below). If they find something to share with you they simply add a Relative Hint™ sticky note to the tree. Then, through the magic of TreeVault®, their sticky note icons instantly show up on your FTM tree and in the Index, right next to Ancestry and FamilySearch hints. And, as your network of helpful relatives grows, the Connect workspace automatically keeps track of their progress. Time to get connected.

FTM Connect 2.0

A greatly expanded FTM Connect app is what makes getting connected with your relatives possible. First off, there's Guest Access. Enabled by TreeVault, Guest Access is what allows you to send invitations to relatives you'd like to view your tree on their phone or tablet. And when they do, they'll find even more information from your FTM tree in this version, including Relationships, Person and Research Notes, and Web Links. And for some fun, there's direct access from the app to our Family Tree Maker collection of famous trees — from Alexander Hamilton to Luke Skywalker, and Walt Disney to Game of Thrones. Enjoy!

AlbumWALK®

AlbumWALK has been called a "game-changer" for capturing memories in photos. Built around our very first technology patent, it's a free mobile app for iOS and Android devices that allows anyone to record memories and embed them in a photo using our tap-talk technology to create interactive talking photos. Just tap a face on a photo and talk about that person. Tap the next and talk and so on. And when you're finished, AlbumWALK creates a mini-documentary with professionally scored background music that can be played back in the media center of FTM 2024. To move album files to your tree, AlbumWALK relies on TreeVault, which on the way to your media collection, also puts an up-to-the-minute backup of all your AlbumWALK photos and albums in the TreeVault cloud. Once in Family Tree Maker, the talking picture files can be viewed in a built-in AlbumWALK player.

Easy on the Eyes™

One of the most frequent requests we get is "Can't you do something for my poor tired eyes?" Well, now we have. Easy on the Eyes does just one thing. It enlarges areas of the People workspace while you are working in them and then puts them back to normal size. So go ahead — you can stop squinting now. See how Easy on the Eyes works by watching a video of the feature in action.

New Photo Darkroom® Tools

In FTM 2017 we introduced a set of repair tools for damaged photos, especially those that faded over time to be almost blank. And we named them collectively Photo Darkroom. Now in FTM 2024, we've greatly expanded the tools you'll have on hand to rescue old family photos. They include cropping and a range of new repair tools that will help you remove dust and scratches. And, as with the first set of Photo Darkroom tools, the original photograph is always saved unchanged.

Resource Center*

We've been thinking for a while about building a resource center inside Family Tree Maker. So what will you find there? Resources of all kinds to help you with your research. Connect with a professional to take your research to the next level, or a mentor to help you get started. Find the nearest Family Tree Maker user group, or get everything you need to start one. Check out our tour calendar for visiting societies, or request we swing by the next time we're in your part of the world. Sign up for free webinars. And, oh yes, get discounts we've been busy negotiating for you. See you there.

Co-Pilot 2024

The co-pilot program started with FTM 2017 to make sure that each new user of Family Tree Maker got off to a good start. And that's still the concept behind our Co-Pilot 2024 program, but greatly expanded to include the growing number of mobile apps that now make up the Family Tree Maker ecosystem. Here's how it works. A few days after your first launch of FTM 2024, we'll offer a brief diagnostic test that can tell us if you've had a great flight, or if there are some things we can start to address with you right away. You'll be offered help if you want it with getting TreeVault set up. With making your first Connect Workspace mailing to relatives. And with creating your first AlbumWALK page. It's free, fast and completely optional. You're cleared for takeoff, captain.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

If there's something you'd like to know about upgrading, you can pose your questions to our friendly Support Agents — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — via Live Chat. Just click the Live Chat button below or go to ftm.support/chat.

HERE'S TO THE ROAD AHEAD

It was 35 years ago, in the fall of 1989, that version 1.0 of Family Tree Maker was first released on floppy discs by Banner Blue, and we're just the fourth publisher since then to have the honor to take a turn at the wheel. So stay tuned. We're just getting started.

                                     =========================================

NOTE:  The link to buy FTM 2024 above does not work.  See the current offer at https://www.mackiev.com/offers/ftm2024/upgrade_promo.html.

Disclosure:  I have been a customer of Family Tree Maker since 1995.  I have received several complimentary copies of the software from Software MacKiev in the past five years.  I  received a complimentary upgrade to FTM 2019.  I have not obtained FTM 2024 to date.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/05/family-tree-maker-2024-family-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, BlueSky, Substack or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. 

Subscribe to receive a free daily email from Genea-Musings using www.Blogtrottr.com.

Introducing Family Tree Maker 2024

UODATE:  The links in this post now go to a Software MacKiev support page.  They said it was a 3-day pre-release sale.  Apparently, the sale was Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  At least we know what they're planning when it is released - perhaps at RootsTech 2024.

I received this information from Family Tree Maker today:

=========================================

INTRODUCING FTM 2024

It's been a while since we introduced a major new edition. And in keeping with our tradition of not charging for software unless we believe it's worth paying for — we are pleased to present FTM 2024. As you'll read below, it's focused on getting you connected. With relatives who can help fact-check your tree. With parents, siblings and cousins to record their memories in talking photos. And with mentors, teachers and our staff, ready to share everything they know.

PRE-ORDERS START RIGHT NOW. If you are going to be upgrading, think about doing that today. For three days only, the new edition is a super bargain starting at A$49.95 for a download copy.

It's been 35 years since Family Tree Maker was first published, and each new edition has taken this grand old brand to places its creators could only have dreamed of. Where relatives review your trees on their smartphones. Where the interface grows in just the right places to go easy on your eyes. Where Mom's wedding album becomes an interactive documentary in which she literally speaks her mind about each of her guests. Where a built-in family history resource center has exactly what you need. All this and more in the new world of Family Tree Maker. We think you're going to like it here.

THREE DAYS ONLY. In the next 3 days pre-order FTM 2024 and save up to 60%.

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS EDITION

There has never been a more useful set of features added in a single edition of Family Tree Maker.

Connect Workspace

Making it super easy to connect with your relatives is an idea so big that it gets its own workspace. The new Connect workspace makes it a snap to share your family tree with your relatives — and enlist their help in fact-checking it. They start by viewing your tree on the FTM Connect mobile app for Apple and Android devices (see below). If they find something to share with you they simply add a Relative Hint™ sticky note to the tree. Then, through the magic of TreeVault®, their sticky note icons instantly show up in your FTM tree and in the Index, right next to Ancestry and FamilySearch hints. And, as your network of helpful relatives grows, the Connect workspace automatically keeps track of their progress. Time to get connected.

FTM Connect 2.0


A greatly expanded FTM Connect app is what makes getting connected with your relatives possible. First off, there's Guest Access. Enabled by TreeVault, Guest Access is what allows you to send invitations to relatives you'd like to view your tree on their phone or tablet. And when they do, they'll find even more information from your FTM tree in this version, including Relationships, Person and Research Notes, and Web Links. And for some fun, there's direct access from the app to our Family Tree Maker collection of famous trees — from Alexander Hamilton to Luke Skywalker, and Walt Disney to Game of Thrones. Let us know what trees you'd like to see us add. Enjoy!

AlbumWALK®

AlbumWALK has been called a "game-changer" for capturing memories in photos. Built around our very first technology patent, it's a free mobile app for iOS and Android devices that allows anyone to record memories and embed them in a photo using our tap-talk technology to create interactive talking photos. Just tap a face on a photo and talk about that person. Tap the next and talk and so on. And when you're finished, AlbumWALK creates a mini-documentary with professionally scored background music that can be played back in the media center of FTM 2024. To move album files to your tree, AlbumWALK relies on TreeVault, which on the way to your media collection, also puts an up-to-the-minute backup of all your AlbumWALK photos and albums in the TreeVault cloud. Once in Family Tree Maker, the talking picture files can be viewed in a built-in AlbumWALK player. Watch AlbumWALK Player video.

Easy on the Eyes™

One of the most frequent requests we get is "Can't you do something for my poor tired eyes?" Well now we have. Easy on the Eyes does just one thing. It enlarges areas of the People workspace while you are working in them and then puts them back to normal size. So go ahead — you can stop squinting now. See how Easy on the Eyes works by watching a video of the feature in action.

New Photo Darkroom® Tools

In FTM 2017 we introduced a set of repair tools for damaged photos, especially those faded over time to be almost blank. And we named them collectively Photo Darkroom. Now in FTM 2024 we've greatly expanded the tools you'll have on hand to rescue old family photos. They include cropping and a range of new repair tools that will help you remove dust and scratches. And, as with the first set of Photo Darkroom tools, the original photograph is always saved unchanged.

Resource Center

We've been thinking for a while about building a resource center inside Family Tree Maker. And now we have. So what will you find there? Resources of all kinds to help you with your research. Connect with a professional to take your research to the next level, or a mentor to help you get started. Find the nearest Family Tree Maker user group, or get everything you need to start one. Check out our tour calendar for visiting societies, or request we swing by the next time we're in your part of the world. Sign up for free webinars. And, oh yes, get discounts we've been busy negotiating for you. See you there.

Co-Pilot 2024

The co-pilot program started with FTM 2017 to make sure that each new user of Family Tree Maker got off to a good start. And that's still the concept behind our Co-Pilot 2024 program, but greatly expanded to include the growing number of mobile apps that now make up the Family Tree Maker ecosystem. Here's how it works. Two days after your first launch of FTM 2024, we'll offer a brief diagnostic test that can tell us if you've had a great flight, or if there are some things we can start to address with you right away. You'll be offered help if you want it with getting TreeVault set up. With making your first Connect Workspace mailing to relatives. And with creating your first AlbumWALK page. It's free, fast and completely optional. You're cleared for takeoff, captain.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

If there's something you'd like to know about upgrading, you can pose your questions to our friendly Support Agents — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — via Live Chat. Just click the Live Chat button below or go to ftm.support/chat.

HERE'S TO THE ROAD AHEAD

It was in 1989 that version 1.0 of Family Tree Maker was first released on floppy discs by Banner Blue and we're just the fourth publisher in the thirty-five years since then to have the honor to take a turn at the wheel. We hope you'll get a chance to fire up the smartest, fastest, most ambitious new Family Tree Maker ever built. And when you do, we hope you'll let us know what you think. Get ready, and stay tuned. We're just getting started.

                                        =========================================

Disclosure:  I have been a customer of Family Tree Maker since 1995.  I have received several complimentary copies of the software from Software MacKiev in the past five years.  I  received a complimentary upgrade to FTM 2019.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/02/introducing-family-tree-maker-2024.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.