GenealogyTools

Genealogy Software Tutorials for Mac & PC

Mac Software

New Event Date Range Feature in MacFamilyTree’s Virtual Globe View

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MacFamilyTree 5.3.6 release contained a new feature in the virtual globe view. The release notes described it as “Virtual Globe marks events out of date range.” I found that it excludes events outside a date range. So it actually marks events within a date range. I also found an anomaly in it’s behavior, which I cover in the screencast. Those two issues aside, the new feature is a nice addition to the software.

In this video, Event Date Range in Mac Genealogy Software MacFamilyTree, I show you where the new setting can be found and how to use it.

Date Feasibility Checking in Reunion 9

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Reunion 9 for Mac includes a feature that helps you eliminate mistakes in genealogy event dates. It’s called date feasibility checking and it has two modes: interactive and report. Interactive date feasibility rules are evaluated whenever a birth, marriage, or death event is changed. The whole set of rules is evaluated when a date feasibility report is generated. Feasibility checking can ferret out typos and mistakes like setting a person’s marriage event to a date after their death date. Ugh, that’s nasty!

In this video from the MacGenealogist Archives, Date Feasibility Checking in Reunion 9 for Mac Genealogy Software, I take you step-by-step through each setting and show you what effect it has in genealogy software Reunion 9 for Mac.

How to Customize the MacFamilyTree Toolbar

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Version 5.3.6 of the Mac genealogy software MacFamilyTree includes the ability to customize the toolbar. In this video, Customizing the Toolbar in Mac Genealogy Software MacFamilyTree, I walk you step-by-step through the new features and ways that the toolbar can be customized.

Find and Replace Names with Accented Letters in Reunion 9

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An often overlooked feature in Reunion 9 is find and replace. I think this is because we tend to use the Find button on the toolbar instead of using the Find | Anything menu item.

At the bottom of the Find menu is a item called Replace…. It enables you to find and replace all occurrences of one piece of text with another. The search text can be sensitive to lower and upper case. It can limit the changes to marked people. It can also apply the change to all fields, or all source fields, or limit it to one these selected fields:

  • First and middle names
  • Last names
  • All names
  • Addresses
  • Places
  • Memos
  • Facts
  • Notes
  • Structured source fields
  • Free form source fields

One example of a use for this feature is replacing names without properly accented letters with an appropriately accented name. In this video from the MacGenealogist Archives, Find and Replace Names with Accented Letters in Reunion 9 for Mac Genealogy Software, I’ll show you how to make such a change without having to visit each family card. Along the way I’ll show you how to insert accented characters when the need arises.

Video Walkthrough of MacFamilyTree Version 5.3.5 Update

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Synium Software recently updated MacFamilyTree to version 5.3.5. This version contains a feature that should have been there from the start: the ability to apply changes of case to all the names in the database. The “what’s new” states that the update includes the following:

  • Database Maintenance improved: Names can be now reformatted into different styles
  • Virtual Tree con be saved as a high resolution PNG now
  • The user interface can now be configured to show Partner 1/Partner 2 instead of Husband/Wife
  • Improved automatic date range calculation for the Timeline pane
  • Improved Statistics pane
  • Other minor fixes and improvements

It may be worth noting that the term for the partner in the new preference wasn’t “Husband” and “Wife” in the previous version (5.3.3). It was “Man” and “Woman.”

I also found, while recording the walkthrough screencast, that three new charts were added to the statistics pane:

  • Age of Marriage
  • Age of Divorce
  • Age of Parents at Child Birth

This video, Video Walkthrough of Mac Genealogy Software MacFamilyTree Version 5.3.5 Update, will walk you through each of the identified changes that can be demonstrated. If you spot one or more of the “other minor fixes and improvements” please leave a comment on this post.