Discover, Organize, and Share Your Family History

About Ben+

Father and husband. Family historian. Founder, Things to Teach, Inc. Creator, GenealogyTools.com, FreeObituariesFound.org, and Lineascope.com.

Posts by Ben

2012 Holiday Sale on Family Tree Maker Including Upgrades

9 Nov 2012 by 1 Comment

Family Tree Maker 2012 and Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 are once again available at a holiday discount. The sale is scheduled to go through December 12th, 2012. New copies are 25% off and upgrades are discounted 30%.

If you’re interested, but unsure if Family Tree Maker (FTM) is for you check out the buyers guides:

FTM 2012 Buyer’s Guide

FTMM2 Buyer’s Guide

As previously announced, Ancestry is focused on enhancing and fixing the current versions so there will be no new major version this year.

Click here to learn more and buy Family Tree Maker 2012.

Click here to learn more and buy Family Tree Maker for Mac 2.

Deleting Branches in Reunion 10

29 Aug 2012 by 2 Comments

Reunion 10 Menu Showing the Selection for Delete Marked PeopleRemoving branches from your Reunion 10 family file is one of those tasks that you (hopefully) won’t have to do often. It’s also one that can leave you lost for how to carry it out. Combine this with the potential for data loss if not done properly (or junking up your file with unneeded data) and you’ve got the makings of a  super handy GenealogyTools video!

When you find yourself needing to remove more than a single person from your genealogy software you’ll want a clear method for removing not only the direct ancestors, but the collateral people linked to them. Oh, and there’s also the source records that become orphaned when people records are deleted. Here are the basic steps to the method I devised: [Read more...]

How to Add a Migration Map to a Book in Family Tree Maker

20 Aug 2012 by 3 Comments

Migration Map in Family Tree MakerA migration map shows the movement of a person over their lifetime. They can help you better understand the person’s life story, uncover clues, and make your research look more interesting.

Displaying a migration map is easy with Family Tree Maker. Unfortunately the genealogy software doesn’t make it easy to add migration maps to a book. That’s the kind of problem I like to solve for you. [Read more...]

Ancestry iOS App Version 4.0

17 Aug 2012 by Leave a Comment

Dynamic Family TreeVersion 4.0 of the Ancestry.com companion genealogy app for iOS is available as a free update in the App Store.

The change log states the following:

  • Dynamic family tree that shows more family members.
  • See grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews & cousins in your family tree.
  • Ability to change your tree to display direct ancestors only.
  • Purchase monthly memberships via In App Purchase.
  • An updated look and feel that’s both beautiful and functional.

That seems like a good list for a 4.0 version! The dynamic family tree is pictured to the left. Handy buttons at the top enable you to switch on or off the direct ancestors only feature.

Family Tree Maker 2013 Availability

17 Aug 2012 by Leave a Comment

News came from Ancestry.com today that there won’t be a Family Tree Maker 2013. The firm is focused on enhancing the existing version. They’ve already released updates with the following enhancements (listed in their blog announcing the direction):

  • Numerous enhancements to TreeSync so syncing your tree to Ancestry.com is faster and more reliable
  • A new Family View Report that displays a person’s ancestors, spouse, and children together (similar to the Family View in the People workspace)
  • A new Undocumented Facts Report that lists people’s facts that have no source documentation
  • The ability to merge info from multiple versions of the same fact
  • New source templates for the 1940 U.S. census and improved support for city directories
  • Dozens of report enhancements including performance improvements and new options in the relationship chart, family group sheet, Individual Report, Notes Report, Data Errors Report, Outline Descendant Report, Media Item Report, photo albums, Media Usage Report, Documented Facts Report, and calendar

And more enhancements are promised.

[Read more...]

Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 Connectivity Issues Resolved

19 Jul 2012 by 2 Comments

I’m happy to see that Ancestry this evening released an update to Family Tree Maker for Mac 2. The Ancestry Blog says it corrects the connection issues that have been plaguing us since last weekend.

Launch FTMM2 to get the update. If you’re in the application already just click Family Tree Maker 2 -> Check for Updates… on the menubar.

Reunion for Mac 10.0.3 Update Available

10 Jul 2012 by 2 Comments

A new maintenance release is available for Reunion 10. Besides a slew of fixes, this version includes an overhaul of the web search feature.

The choices on the context menu that appears when you select Search the Web on a person button has been rearranged for efficiency. Search Favorites now appears at the top. You can also search custom groups of sites–a feature introduced in this release.

The preference pane for web search received an overhaul to support creation of custom groups as well as editing the same and the favorites group.

Finally, there’s a button on the Web Preferences pane that you can use to update search sites similarly to the way you can check for updates to the whole application.

I updated the original article on this topic, Using Reunion to Search the Web, and re-recorded the video.

Your Source and Citation Information Is In Danger

29 May 2012 by 47 Comments

Today I finished methodically testing which source and citation information reliably survives GEDCOM import and export. It’s not a pretty picture! A mere five of fourteen key GEDCOM tags are safe across the nine leading genealogy software packages I tested.[1] Fortunately, the ones I previously identified as essential to source citations are among them.

Why You Should Care

The ability to move your family history data from one application to another is important. Even if you have no intention of changing software or sharing your research you ought to be concerned. It’s entirely possible that the person or people that inherit your research will choose a different package. They may load your data and probably won’t even know they lost anything in the transfer. Well, that fate needn’t be yours if you know where you can safely store information.

What You Can Do

This research is part of the work I’ve been doing to create the very first GenealogyTools ebook and video course: Practical Citation. After completing the course, you will be able to safely and confidently record sources, citations, and quality in your genealogy software without having to consult a book or quick sheet. Say “goodbye” to uncertainty about citation templates and formats.

Notes

[1] I tested Family Historian 5, Family Tree Maker 2012, Family Tree Maker for Mac 2, GEDitCOM II, Legacy 7.5, MacFamilyTree 6, Reunion 10, RootsMagic 5, and The Master Genealogist 7.

Reunion 10.0.2 Update Available

29 May 2012 by Leave a Comment

The second maintenance update for the new Mac genealogy software Reunion 10, was released today. There are many fixes included. See the release notes for details. Here are the highlights:

  • Get precise coordinates in the geo code place window by moving the pin
  • Find relationships between two people feature now shows multiple blood relationships if they exist
  • Search favorites selection is now at the top of the list of resources when searching the web
  • Additions to the web search resources: Ancestry.com.au, Ancestry.ca, FindMyPast.co.uk, GuildOfOneNameStudies
  • Pressing the left or right arrow key in family view moves to the previous or next marked person
  • Crash fixes
  • Performance improvements
  • Updates to the manual

Family View Report in Family Tree Maker 2012

20 May 2012 by Leave a Comment

Miniature Family View Report SampleWant a Family Tree Maker 2012 family group sheet with a pedigree chart at the top instead of a family picture? Your wish just came true.

What You Need to Know

Like the family group sheet report on which it is based, it has the option to included children from other unions[1], lines for extra children[2], individual thumbnail images, and preparer information.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the option to include other spouses. Nor does it give you the option of including an LDS section or section dividers.

How to Create a Family View Report

  1. Navigate to the family you want to be the subject of the report
  2. Switch to the publish workspace
  3. Select Relationship Reports from the list of publication types
  4. Double-click the Family View Report (or click once then click the Create Report button)
  5. Configure the settings
  6. Click the Generate Report button
  7. Click the Print or Share button

Load up your copy of Family Tree Maker 2012 and follow along with this video to create a one of these for your relatives.

GenealogyTools Members, download this video to your computer for your private use.

Notes

[1] FTM calls this option blended families.

[2] Extra lines for children make this a handy report to take on a visit to collect data.

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