News

Synium Software’s iPhone application has been updated to version 2.0 and is available in iTunes. Here’s what they’re saying is changed in this release:

• Completely rewritten from the ground up
• 3D virtual tree added
• Map chart available
• Ancestor and descendant charts
• Family quiz
• Media browser added
• Take photos with your iPhone camera
• Performance enhanced

There is a $4.99 price to buy this new; the upgrade from 1.x is free. You’ll need to be running version 5.6.3 of MacFamilyTree to use this iPhone application.

In case you missed it (because the RootsMagic News screen is disabled), an update to RootsMagic was released on July 10th. This brings the version number of this leading PC genealogy software to 4.0.4.0.

The update includes some new features and some fixes.

New

• Added a feature to fix broken media / image links (in the media gallery/album do Tools > Fix broken media links)
• Added the ability to enter Helper mode for another person when using the NFS features
• Added life span (birthyear-deathyear) to parents and children’s spouses in group sheets

Fixed

• Deleting a fact will now remove the shared copies of that fact instead of leaving phantom witness records (Note: we are still working on a way to delete any pre-existing phanton witness records)
• Edit source screen displays Call# in right panel if one exists
• Shouldn’t sometimes change family in family and descendant view when adding a child
• Double clicking a citation when the citation manager is opened from Explorer now opens Edit Source screen
• Box charts now include prefix and suffix on names
• FTM import now preserves nicknames entered with quotes like William “Bill” Jones

Oh, and in case you want to enable the RootsMagic News Screen display upon startup, here are the steps:

1. Select “Tools” -> “Program Options…” from the menu
2. In the “General” pane, click the box next to “Display news screen” if it isn’t already checked
3. Click the “OK” button

The folks at Millenia released an update to their PC genealogy software, Legacy Family Tree last week. This one adds fields to prepare the software for upcoming integration with FamilySearch.

There’s a GEDCOM export change that you can use to prevent British Quarter dates from being converted to date ranges. A new prompt has been added to the GEDCOM import if there’s an unrecognized path to media specified; you can point Legacy to the correct location (assuming there is one and you know what it is).

You can now choose to include the date in the “compiler information” on reports instead of the “credit information.”

Two timelines have been updated: “Confederate States of America” and US States and Territories – Dates of Organization and Admission.”

Finally, the update includes a set of fixes.

A recent discussion thread on the MacGenealogist group on GenealogyWise reminded me that I wanted to share a caution about the Logs feature in the Macintosh genealogy software, Reunion. I didn’t include this tidbit in the screencast I recently produced about Logs in Reunion for Mac.

Don’t expect your log entries to export to GEDCOM; they don’t. Now, I’m not saying, “Don’t use the Logs feature.” I simply didn’t want you assuming any GEDCOM files you create include the logs. If you want to give a log to someone you’ll need to generate a report. Unfortunately they can’t all be exported at once; this tidbit I did share in the Logs screencast.

One of the common problems MacGenealogists shared with me in my recent “One Problem Survey” is the fear of your genealogical materials being lost or forgotten after you pass on or can’t manage it yourself any more. This concern coincides with a recent story.

I know a genealogist that passed away on January 1st, 2007. His name was Bob. I know Bob put a lot of effort into his research and that he took trips to do more research and walk in his ancestor’s footsteps. I wondered what happened to his research, so I asked.

It turns out Bob’s PC and three-ring-binders have yet to be picked up by his son! [Read more…] about The Program that is Preventing Genealogy Research from Being Lost and Forgotten