Rootsmagic software - buyers beware!

[jc26red]

Bit late to the table with this thread but I am another longstanding RM user, since RM4  and it get's the thumbs up from me too.

Having said that... I upgraded to RM10 and have had to reinput all my DNA matches as they have totally revamped the DNA area, ok if you are new to DNA matches but a pain in the butt if you have already spent months if not years entering in connections.  Once you have re-entered the DNA match info though, it is extremely versatile.

I will be giving RM11 a miss as I don't agree with AI suggested input! I mean seriously? where is the verification in that. Sounds like a step backwards to the old unchecked  Family Search trees.
Jenny

[Biggles50]

There are many ways to use Family Tree Software.

Rather than it being the main repository for all our 20 years of research I use Roots Magic and Family Tree Maker slightly differently.

Our family trees were created on Ancestry and that is where they still reside.  Add in Ancestry DNA tests and having a family tree on their website makes logical sense since all the Matches and hints are there.

Best to add that most of my Genealogy research is from the comfort of our sofa and via my iPad and I find that using an App on the iPad is next to useless, hence online Ancestry Family Trees.

Being OCD about data I need a backup for the online tree, yes, Gedcom’s have a place but for me they are the last resort.

Much better is software such as Roots Magic or Family Tree Maker that interact with Family Trees that reside on Ancestry.

Start a new project in Roots Magic and select the option to download from Ancestry or Familysearch (nobody in the right mind would select the latter).  Roots Magic then copies everything, tree structures, images, documents, the whole gamut.

Once I have used all the great error checking tools in the software I can then create a Backup file with all media incorporated within it.

Thereafter it is a case of syncing or as RM calls it Tree Share between the Ancestry Tree and Roots Magic. 

I then undertake a similar process but using Family Tree Maker, it helps that both of these Apps are on different Computers (my OCD coming to the fore again) and both are Backed Up to mobile storage devices as well as on the Computer.

My methods only require a cursory knowledge of the software, so I have not needed to spend time learning the ins and outs of either app, only what I have described.

The beauty of Roots Magic is that there is a feature called Go where the software can be placed on a Memory Stick with all the family tree data, the resulting Memory Stick can be shared with family who then have a Read Only version of our Family Tree.  I incorporate a Gedcom file for use at some point in the future if a descendent so desires to research further.