Updating Family Tree Maker from the Internet

[Judesman]

My family tree with ancestry.co.uk is on the internet and I have just transferred it to Family Tree Maker. I was pleased to see that images and all were transferred but I have a lot of comments on the web based tree that I can't find in FTM.  Do I need to copy and paste those into something like Research Notes?

Also, now if I update my tree on the internet is there some way that I can up date FTM without having to enter all the information for a second time.

Any help please?

[Birtle]

Hi Judesman,
I'm afraid it doesn't look too hopeful. I Searched for the word ancestry in FTM's Help section, and found a topic headed 'Download a tree from ancestry'. There it describes what will/will not transfer successfully between FTM and Ancestry in both directions, and downloading comments from ancestry to FTM was amongst the data that will not transfer. Also, it states that the two services do not synch...
Maybe other chatters have some tips on how they get round this? I can't help more myself as i don't have a tree on ancestry.
Good luck
Birtle

[Judesman]

Hi Birtle,

Thanks for your reply. I have also discovered the help item that confirms that comments will not transfer.

I have been speaking to the Ancestry technical support (I am impressed).  It sems that there should not be a problem merging and updating files from ancestry.co.uk to FTM.  I have tried this but it did not work very well and I got very confused with the Preferred, Alternate and Discard options. Perhaps a bit more practice will help.

[Birtle]

Preferred, Alternate, Discard. Yep, you're not alone in getting confused; I've had fun on the odd occasion I've had to use the merge feature within FTM (I've no experience though with Importing). I now imagine I'm creating a totally new individual from the two being merged (I probably am!!), and that I'm cherry-picking the best facts from each. I Discard anything i don't want from one or other - or maybe both - of the individuals, but use Alternate/Preferred where I want to keep a similar fact from both, in which case FTM seems to want to mark one or t'other as the Preferred fact.
The Help in FTM sort-of explains this (I Searched on Alternate - there isn't a corresponding entry for Preferred!):
'An alternate fact can be an accurate fact that complements the preferred fact, such as a different place of residence or another marriage, or it might be a disputed fact that needs more research, such as an alternate name or birth date'.
You might find the rather pithy topics in Help entitled Accept all Import Facts / Accept all Host Facts useful in clarifying what's going on as well.
Happy merging!
Birtle

[Judesman]

Thank you very much Birtle. I am glad I am not the only one although I am fairly new to FTM having set up my tree on the web initially.

I can't find this Help article "Accept all import facts / Accept all host facts". Can you point me in the right direction please?

[Birtle]

You're right - it's not findable via the Index tab in Help, but if you choose the Search tab instead and type in   accept   as your keyword, the Accept all... topics should head the list. Select which topic you want and then click on the Display button at the bottom.
Birtle 

[Judesman]

Thanks Birtle.  I am using FTM 2011 (Ishould have said that). If I type "Accept" into the search there is "About" and "Activate"  but no "Accept" I wonder if you are using a different version of FTM.  It is a pity because it sounds as if this article could be useful.  Thanks for your help it is appreciated.

[Birtle]

Nope, I'm using FTM 2011 too. I think you're probably using the Index tab in Help, which FTM seems to default to. You should see on either side of the Index tab non-highlighted tabs which are labelled Contents, and Search. Click on the latter, and then enter your keyword in the box. Then click List topics (if need be), select whatever you require, and then click Display.
But don't get your hopes up too much about the Accept all... topics - they are pithy to say the least. But you might find additional help by searching (using the Search rather than Index or Contents tabs) on other keywords.
All best,
Birtle

[Judesman]

Got it, Birtle! I should have read your first instructions properly.  I am getting too old for this. Many thanks.