If you follow this blog, you know that we do not currently recommend Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 (FTMM2). However, I still use it personally and keep hoping that Ancestry and the developer will fix it. I recently installed the Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 (FTMM2) update, version 21.2.2.415. According to the release notes:
Splitting a Family Tree with Family Tree Maker, Part 2
25 Mar 2012 by 1 Comment
Ben recently wrote about his frustrations with splitting a tree in Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 (FTMM2). I needed to do this for my own tree, so I set about finding the best way to do it. I recently prepared a family tree for my stepmother-in-law and, silly me, included it in my primary file. After reading Ben’s post, I became concerned that splitting that branch from my file would be impossible. As Ben said, many steps are involved, but it’s not impossible. [Read more...]
What Genealogy Software Do We Recommend?
14 Mar 2012 by 10 Comments
When I tell people I don’t recommend Family Tree Maker for Mac 2, they often ask what I do recommend, which is understandable. But I really can’t recommend a genealogy program for other people without knowing what their requirements are. You must first decide what your priorities are. Then you can check on the web to see which programs meet your requirements. You can use Ben’s Feature Comparison Table or FindtheBest.com to find the features you need (but take the Smart Ratings on the latter with a grain of salt). GenSoftReviews.com lists lots of genealogy programs, although not all of them have reviews. But see Tamura Jones’ article, The Most Important Genealogy Software Feature. [Read more...]
Splitting a Tree with Family Tree Maker for Mac 2
12 Mar 2012 by 7 Comments
I just sent the following in an email to a GenealogyTools reader who asked me how to split a Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 (FTMM2) tree. This person had purchased the genealogy software, downloaded a 13,000 person tree from Ancestry.com, and found it too cumbersome to manage. [Read more...]
Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 Review
7 Mar 2012 by 32 Comments
Fewer Features for More Money
Introduction
Family Tree Maker for Mac (FTMM), released in late 2010, was the first Mac version of the best-selling genealogy software released by Ancestry.com (hereafter referred to as Ancestry). The only previous version for Mac was Family Tree Maker Deluxe Edition II for Macintosh, released by Brøderbund in 1997. There have been reviews of FTMM (see, for example, this review at PC Advisor UK), but many people want to know if version 2 is worth buying or not.
TreeSync
Prior to the release of FTMM2, the feature I wanted most but didn’t get from FTMM was the ability to sync with my family tree at Ancestry, so when Ancestry announced they would include this feature, which they call TreeSync, in FTM 2012 and FTMM2, I was very excited. In a comment to one of Ben’s posts on this website, I said, “if the Mac version includes this, it will be worth buying, although it would be nice if FTM adopted price parity as well as feature parity.” Now that I’ve used FTMM2 for two months, I’ve been able to evaluate whether the TreeSync feature meets my expectations. I’ve also compiled a detailed list of the pros and cons of the product. Bottom line: TreeSync is great in concept but lacking in implementation. [Read more...]
New Index of Reunion 9 for Mac Tutorials
29 Feb 2012 by 15 Comments
The new page containing an index of Reunion 9 for Mac tutorials is now complete. You can easily reach it through this site’s menu: Mac -> Reunion.
I got a lot of feedback on the experimental index page. I carefully considered all the comments and chose to create the index for Reunion the same way I did for Family Tree Maker (PC). I’ll be doing the same for RootsMagic and Family Tree Maker for Mac 2.
New Index Page
25 Feb 2012 by 19 Comments
I changed the family tree maker tutorial index page. Will you look at it for me and give me your feedback? Even if you’re not using that software, I want to know what you think so that I know whether to invest the time it will take to change the index pages for Reunion, RootsMagic, and Family Tree Maker for Mac.
I modeled the index pages after the index in a book. Does this make it easier to find what you’re looking for? Can you think of anything I could do to make it even easier? What else might you want to know on that page?
Please leave me your feedback in a comment on this post or in a quick email.
Adding and Changing a Portrait in Family Tree Maker for Mac 2
17 Feb 2012 by 1 Comment
Adding and changing a portrait in Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 (2012) is one of the activities that isn’t very Mac-like. Mac users expect intuitive control of an app. The intuitive action here is to drag and drop the image onto the portrait in the pedigree view or editing panel. Alas, it doesn’t work that way yet.
Having pictures of my ancestors in my pedigree view helps me connect to my main purpose while doing family history research: to revive and keep their stories alive. Like you, I do this by discovering and crafting stories about them that my family members are eager to hear and share. Their faces help create a sense of familiarity.
[Read more...]
Adding Names in Family Tree Maker
10 Feb 2012 by 3 Comments
Storing names in genealogy software seems simple enough at first glance, right? While Family Tree Maker makes it comparatively simple, it’s still a bit tricky when adding name variations, AKAs, suffixes, titles, and multi-word surnames.
Learning how to enter names will speed your evidence capture so you can focus on the fun family history activities: research, analysis, and storytelling. Those fun bits will be easier too! All the information and evidence will be organized.
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