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General => Technical Help => Family History Programs, Tree Organisation, Presentation => Topic started by: BIRDI on Monday 06 February 06 18:25 GMT (UK)
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I've done quite a lot of research into my family tree and am going to buy some software to enter it all into. Any suggestions as to which one is the best one to go for?
I want to be able to show all parts of the tree, brothers children etc.
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Personally I use Roots Magic and think it's a briliant piece of software. I also have Genbox Family History, which is also very good but tends to naff up some of the more complicated entries (ie. step-family, illegitimate births).
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Try before you buy ....
There are almost as many opinions as to the best software as there are Rootschatters ... what is more important is finding one that you are comfortable with and does most of what you want .
I don't believe that there is any one program which does everything.
I personally use Family Historian which has an "All relatives diagram" which shows every single relation from the file to an individual, but there are many other programs.
Family Historian http://www.family-historian.co.uk/
Legacy is a free program used by many http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/
The Master Genealogist another top program .. http://www.whollygenes.com/
Brothers keeper ... http://www.bkwin.net/
there are many others try the demos, and find one you like.
edited .. I really must remember to check my spelling :-[
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Thanks for that.
I'll have a look around and try a few out until I find one that suits me.
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Thanks for that.
I'll have a look around and try a few out until I find one that suits me.
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I also use rootsmagic-I downloaded the program direct from their site for about £15
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I would be interested to know if anyone knows a software programme where you can show cousins marrying,all the one I have tried seem to get tied up in knots trying to show the ancestors !
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As others have said, rather than there being a best, there are many very good programmes with different qualities to suit different people. Last year I downloaded a trial of Genbox (http://www.genbox.com/). After playing about with it for a month or so, I decided I very much liked it but not at the price it then was. However, a few months later, the price has dropped and the other week I bought a copy from TWR computing (http://www.twrcomputing.co.uk/). It comes as a single disc in a plastic sleeve, no fancy extras, but suits me fine because of how flexible the programme is and how well it deals with a variety of situations within a family (eg 2nd marriages/families, siblings from family A marrying siblings from B, adoptions, etc).
Shirleymarye, you might find this is just the job for your cousins marrying cousins. It seems to cope well with the less than straighforward situations thrown at it .
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I also have Genbox Family History, which is also very good but tends to naff up some of the more complicated entries (ie. step-family, illegitimate births).
Taffyblue, I have found it actually copes well with situations such as you have mentioned. Are you perhaps using an older version?
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I use Legacy and it seems to cope very well with cousins marrying cousins. I have 2 such situations in my family tree and the system has coped with no SNAFUs at all. ;D
Burrow Digger
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I also have Genbox and I find it excellent for its chart drawing capabilities. You can move the boxes around easily so that a family tree fits the pages. Not easy with other programmes.
Geoff
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I also have Genbox and I find it excellent for its chart drawing capabilities. You can move the boxes around easily so that a family tree fits the pages. Not easy with other programmes.
Geoff
OOH you mean the printouts?? Sorry, I didnt realise.
Legacy just repeats the same information on the charts twice for both cousins. Gets very tedious when theres 11 grand children and and over 100 great grandchildren. ;D
BD
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Taffyblue, I have found it actually copes well with situations such as you have mentioned. Are you perhaps using an older version?
To be honest, yes I am. I use Roots Magic mostly but shove it over to Genbox for charting.
I also have Genbox and I find it excellent for its chart drawing capabilities. You can move the boxes around easily so that a family tree fits the pages. Not easy with other programmes.
Geoff
I agree, Genbox is much better for charting. Currently, it is the only prog that successfully prints my "Everyone" chart, which includes illegitimate children, cousins marrying, and everything else you can throw at it, without it duplicating people or getting confused.
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I am with you TaffyBlue, I actually use Heredis for most things and then Genbox for charting.
Regards
Geoff
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I've done quite a lot of research into my family tree and am going to buy some software to enter it all into. Any suggestions as to which one is the best one to go for?
I want to be able to show all parts of the tree, brothers children etc.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpgedview
The above is a link to source forge which has a wealth of fantastic free software and much of it highly sophisticated. I also do a lot of music stream captures with Audacity,and recording of voice tracks,radio programmes etc .
With GNU http://www.fsf.org/ there is so much around.Try sourceforge first and you can forget paying for software- for ever! This one is a geneaology program, but there are more .
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I am using FTM 2005 - it seems to be not that great at handling complex relationships
Anna
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I use Family Historian.
Rock solid. Have never lost any data or had the program mess anything up in 5 years and I have a database of 14000-odd people (some of them very odd).
Dead easy to do the basic stuff, but very powerful if you want to dig deeper. Good support and a good user group, The author of the program is accessible and responds to requests for enhancements.
And its British!!!
Graham
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I am another Familyhistorian enthusiast.
No problem with cousins,or any other close rellies marrying.Diagrams can be for Ancestors/ Descendants and all relatives!When the Diagram is showing you can click on any other name and change to their Tree!
Great main(individual Records) page where every person is listed in surname alphabetical order .You can also put in differant column headings . I have one showing the relevant Spouse.
You can use it as simply as you like(as I do) or as some do use all the other
Advantages. .A great FHUser Group.E- mail support ( all via Rootsweb).
I have tried many of the other programmes mentioned and ended up with this one
Got Carried away (well it is good)
Spring
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Should have given you the link for the fhug so as a guest you can just take a look see..
http://www.fhug.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi
Spring
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I use Family Historian. It seems far better than anything else and is designed for 'British Ancestors' :)
Gadget
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Yes Gadget,
all the other programmes I tried used to irritate me as they were all American,with no real provision for European Ancestors.
I think the ability to Link Photos and Nick's Census programme are so easy to use.
I only Cut and Paste info into Notes. Add a * to the given name so I can spot
any names which have some info. attatched . It is so versatile and user friendly. I send files to my three children, US,NZ and UK. They love it.
Mind, for me it comes a bit pricey when the new version comes out with 4 copies, but I think 3.1. is sufficient for our needs.
Spring
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Family Historian looks a good package, I especially like the photo options. Have any of you who use it, transferred your info from another software. I have Legacy which is quite good, but I suppose more for the American market. I have quite a lot of info on there which I don't want to have to input all over again.
Liz
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I've imported gedcoms from other software to Family Historian and vice versa with no problems :)
Gadget
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Thanks Gadget, I'll give it a go.
Liz
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Hi Lizzie ,
yes at one time I had Fh and had Roots magic loaded at the same time.#
I could use the same GED prog on both, it is just displayed differently.
If you do buy the FH version 3, Then (until and unless you get really deeply into it) only upgrade to version 3.1 And that is because it enables you go to the EDit Tab and set root name, which shows all your relationships to all your rellies.
Good hunting
Spring
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Spring
Thank you for the advice. When I first got Legacy, I was forever asking the person who recommended it to me, questions that I could have found out the answers to, myself if I had read the handbook! So when I do get FH, I will be sure to get the handbook and read it thoroughly.
Liz
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Liz,
I did start by entering the practise prog. and originally down loaded the handbook.
I decided that I was too old and could spend much of my remaining years getting nowhere!
I made mistakes, but when I got stuck sent an e-mail to the fhug/roootsweb mail and either got a link to to the FHUG "How to do it" or lots of advice.
As i said before, it is so versatile that you can enter information/sources in many ways..
The e-mail address for queries is
family-historian-users@rootsweb.com
Spring
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I must be lucky, because I got it when it first came out and upgraded each time so I learnt as I went along. I didn't think the handbook was any better than any of the others. Just put up a little test tree and play is my advice.
Gadget
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Do so agree Gadget,
Which ever, it is a programme for all.
Spring
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I could use the same GED prog on both, it is just displayed differently.
I've just downloaded Family Historian for a 30 day free trial, copied my Legacy tree to a GEDCOM file and imported it to Family Historian. It is a disaster. There are hundreds of exceptions which it couldn't load, mainly notes I've made on my ancestors and even where it has loaded them, it has missed off the beginnings of lines etc. I don't know what I've done wrong. I've removed the FH prog for the moment.
I did like the way it showed all the members of the tree in a chart that I can get printed off at some stage, so I ought to persevere, although I have to say Legacy is much clearer.
Liz
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Lizzie, sorry to hear that it all went pear shaped.
The e-mail support may be able to explain this.
family-historian-users@rootsweb.com
Just put the same info as you have on here.
Jane Taubman is the person who may reply in regard to the FH users Group site, but other users possibly have had similar probs. Or Simon who (I think) is involved with Calico Pie who produced the programme.
Users Group site is http://www.fhug.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi
Hope it all works out for you
Spring
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Hi Lizzie
I would say that it's more likely to be corruption of the Legacy Gedcom than FH. I've imported a few differently produced gedcoms and have had no problems.
But, as Spring says, it might be best to contact them. It is a great package.
Gadget
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Gadget,
I am in the elderly range , so have just put in the basics /cut and pasted info into Notes etc.And whilst my children are happy to keep copies of files, they don't want to "learn" the prog.at present
Just discovered being able to alter the columns on the record window.and the relationships to Root!!
Keep having to remind myself to carry on searching for rellies!!
Spring
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Spring
All the technical issues can sometimes overshadow the main reason for using these 'aids' but FH is very good and logical to use.
Keep experimenting with it - it keeps you young ;D
Regards
Gadget
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Snicker,
OH is sleeping soundly, we don't cross paths 'till circa 11 am!!
Must follow Goodnight !!!
Spring
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Well, I downloaded FH again and tried again. This time I imported the correct GEDCOM file (my fault last time) and it all loaded OK. I had a quick play whilst reading the instructions via Adobe. I have now removed the program again as one of my daughter-in-laws has already bought FH on a disc and has the instruction book. Next time I see her, she will lend me the book and perhaps I will get her to show me how the prog works (she worked with computers before having her baby so should be a good teacher). There's no point in having a 30 day free trial starting before I am ready to try it out!!
However, apart from being able to have the complete tree printed off as a chart, I haven't found any benefits over Legacy at the moment.
Liz
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I'd like to put in another good word for Roots Magic. After trying half a dozen others, some of which are still on my PC, I have found it does more of the things I want than any of the others.
One big question:
Nearly all the programs have their own 'special' GEDCOM features which are non-standard, and are not understood by other programs . . . why? ??? ??? ???
Mike.
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For me one of the most useful bits of Family Historian has been the add on gedcom census. This has allowed me to 'attach' all my census returns to the appropriate people on my tree.
Not only has this allowed me to fill in gaps and find people I had not seen on census returns since the day I downloaded them but gives an overall picture of where each ancestor was for one night every 10 years.
Yesterday I split my tree through FH which was so simple compared to the old software I used to have, I really like FH.
Kerry :)
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KerryB
the add on gedcom census.
That sounds a good idea. I think it seems I will have to have FH and Legacy to get the best of both worlds.
Liz
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Hi Lizzie
I've not ever had a look at Legacy so I can't form an opinion of it but FH has lots of abilities which the old package I first bought 3 years ago did not.
I like being able to query my tree to find out answers to questions like, how many men, how old were mothers at first babies, old when married etc. Maybe not life changing information but fun nevertheless!
It's worth getting hold of that manual and having a good read, something I never bother to do and always wish I did. ::)
Kerry
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Hi
What I like about Legacy is that when I open the program, I can see the names of myself and husband in boxes (my default, it could be my grandparents or anyone), with below us a list of all our children and above us both our sets of parents' names also in boxes. That makes it very easy to follow each branch. I couldn't see that layout on FH, only a list of the names in my tree, with dob's etc and when I clicked on one I got up a small box, which could not be enlarged which showed the spouse and children.
Liz
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No I agree with you there. To see a family tree drawing as it were you need to click on the name of the person you want as your start and then go to some little buttons on the top toolbar which show different varieties of drawing ie just ancestors, ancestors and descendants and including all relations.
I often use this method, the drawing for adding new people to the tree, I see it grow as I add them. :)
Kerry
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Kerry
Thanks for that info. I'll see what my daughter-in-law thinks next time she comes over, which will be Sunday morning as we are taking care of our grandson overnight, whilst my son and d-i-l are at the evening reception following her sister's wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing the baby wearing his waistcoat to match the groom, best man and ushers!
Liz
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And here am I at 71 yrs. of age, having had a computer for eighteen months
and thinking I'm the real bees knees, loggin' on and postin ' to RootsChatters. Then finding out about my long dead uncle and my Mother's family in Tipperary and my paternal grandparents in Mayo and Barnsley. Eee bye gum, I've got this jeeniology licked 'oller, like fallin' off a log! And who is kidding moi? I look in on Roots, select about software and am completely flummoxed, gobsmacked and in everyway discumknokerated. I remember asking a friend from Finland, who was 31 yrs. old, how long it would take me to learn to speak Finnish - his reply "about 31 years!". I've got a similar feeling now about my genealogy!
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Hi cath,
Have been there and then!! There a number of discussions on here regarding software and I'm sure someone will come up with a couple of links for you.
There are Free Programmes which you can download and some could at least get you started. But do get something down before you get bogged down in scraps of paper.(which often have a vital bit of info)
Reading the letters on this thread, it does appear daunting ...
it comes down to which prog suits you best. Any one you start with will store your tree on a GED file( The Mormons started it I Think!!) and if you try a differant software programme , the GED file will usually just open in that.
The difference is not in the GED file(which just contains your tree) but in the software which displays the information.
Hope that goes a wee way to clarifying (I think I 'm fairly correct if not technically so)
Also aged Spring
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Cath,
found the link.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,158637.0.html
Spring
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Thanks so much for responding to my posting. It is true, the more I learn the less I know. It is simply that my computer has opened up my mind to the sheer expanse of cyber space and the language that is spoken within it. Being born in the age of the steam wireless and the accumulator and now living my dotage in the age of the microchip and the internet is of itself miraculous. I wonder what my old Irish granny, smoking her clay pipe with a filling of Gallaher's thick twist, make of of it all. Again many thanks for your comments. Live and learn and keep on truckin'!!!
Bill
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Hi,
I am thinking of going back prior to 1800, and noticed that Ancestry only held after 1841 Wales census, but Family Search for example went back further.
Can anyone tell me if I can save my family tree as a Gedcom file on Ancestry and upload it on to Family search to create a new tree there.
I understand that Gedcom files only save text, so is there any way I can save text and images ?
My subscription with Ancestry will finish soon, and I would love to transfer it to something else, but presume that I wont be able to transfer any images etc.
Can anyone recommend some good software, thanks.
Colin
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I use Brothers Keeper and have done since it first incarnation in the early days of DOS through the various Windows offerings.
However I have also tried and rejected most other family tree programs such as Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Family Historian, Roots Magic and about twenty or thirty other programs which were not up to the job, slow or simply did not suit my way of working.
Brothers Keeper has a number of good points apart from being good at what it does.
These include the ability to store data, pictures, media etc., in whatever folder or disk drive you want it stored.
The ability to use third party programs such as Word, Photoshop etc to process files and images “within” Brothers Keeper. This means there are no restrictions on recording or storing notes about a person, these could be one word or the size of a book.
The ability to name and store notes, images and media (video, sound recordings) in predetermined locations allows easy access of those items from outside Brother’s Keeper allowing easy sharing, copying and/or manipulation of the files.
This may not seem important now but when you have a collection of files complied over many years you want to be able to access them when you want to the way you want to rather than to have to follow the route required by a family tree program such as finding the person and opening files that are attached to that person.
Cheers
Guy
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I haven't had a subscription to Ancestry for years, but I still keep my trees (about 10 of them!) there! ;D
Ancestry has an awful lot more than just censuses - 1841 being the first of any use the Family History. Have you checked what parish records are available?
And there is no way to copy images and documents using a Gedcom transfer!
You have to save every image/document to your own PC, and then transfer it from there into your new chosen software.
Personally I use RootsMagic - but each to their own.
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Hmmm
I have one thing to say to Colin . . . . .
Your note implies that the only copy of your family tree, et al, is on Ancestry?
Take at least one backup, NOW! ( That's flaming for you ;D )
Once you have a copy, test that you can access it.
I am not inferring that Ancestry could go the same way as that fotopic.net foto site a few years back (2012?).
However, stranger things have happened.
You can never have enough copies of backups.
Don't forget, dogs and cats love chewing usb sticks.
Sorry Colin, that's more than one thing.
::)
Ray
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Thanks for the advice.
In the early days the same thing happened to GEOCITIES. I have copied a GEDCOM file, but havent tried it out.