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General => Technical Help => Family History Programs, Tree Organisation, Presentation => Topic started by: ewontner on Saturday 23 January 16 23:44 GMT (UK)
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Like lots of you genealogy buffs I am currently exploring updating my genealogy software on my home PC. I am motivated not only by the demise of Family Tree Maker but also by the fact that over the past year or so I've mainly been updating my online version of my tree via my Ancestry app which is very convenient but also means my files and general organisation are in a bit of a mess.
As a result I am looking for a genealogy software package that is versatile, easy to use and has some great features. One of main selling points for me is great reporting and statistical functionality. I find it odd but hardly any software or genealogy packages (apart from some basic statistics on RootsMagic and Family Tree Maker) provide statistical data.
I have come across My Heritage's Family Tree Builder software which is free to download but I am not keen on paying £8 per month indefinitely for the pleasure of accessing my own data and information. There family history sites do however do include some pretty cool statistical reports (45 different types of stats eg date of earliest and latest marriage, most marriages, oldest and youngest person, zodiac signs, months of birth, latest death in some great colourful charts).
In an effort to find an alternative, I've just come across a great software package called "My Family Tree" provided by Chronoplex Software. It is FREE to download. It also provides really useful statistical information and doesn't come with the downsides of My Heritage's monthly subscription model.
Here is a link to a short video - https://vimeo.com/149845249 showing some of the features.
It seems to have a lot going for it and I am surprised it is not my heavily advertised and promoted as it seems to offer most of what I am looking for (and is bang up to date). Only downside is that I don't think it has a related app (but that might be in the pipeline). I think this is my new favourite software package and I think I might stick with it.
I'd recommend others looking to change software packages as well to check it out too.
Ed Osborne
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Like lots of you genealogy buffs I am currently exploring updating my genealogy software on my home PC. I am motivated not only by the demise of Family Tree Maker but also by the fact that over the past year or so I've mainly been updating my online version of my tree via my Ancestry app which is very convenient but also means my files and general organisation are in a bit of a mess.
Family Tree Maker can still be used?!
All that's happened is that it is no longer sold!
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I have been using the free version of My Heritage's family tree for many yers and have found it very user friendly, the only thing I can't access are the hints that it gives, but then I find they are often hints from a tree I have on Ancestry. I am considering a new software programme as I am approaching the maximum number of people allowed before I have to upgrade or I can't add anymore. I have been considering a sub to My Heritage but at the moment the exchange rate prohibits this so I am looking around for another good one to use. :D
I downloaded Rootsmagic and have imported my gedcom from Ancestry and so far so good, but I do think I will give the one you mention a look over and see what's what........
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Thanks very much for this. ;D
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Actually, Family Tree Maker is still being sold. It was acquired by a company called “mackiev” after “ancestry” decided it wanted to dump it. Mackiev had already been for some time the developer of the Mac version of FTM. Here’s a link to their site:
http://www.mackiev.com/ftm/index.html (http://www.mackiev.com/ftm/index.html)
I don’t use it, but as far as I know it’s alive and well and is probably a better product now that it has an owner that really wants it.
Peter
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Two or three years ago when I started I assessed several products, but I must say I have the advantage of having worked in the i t department, specifically assessing software. I chose Gramps as being the very best, looked at it and decided that it was too complex for my requirements. I then settled on Chronoplex which I used for many months before deciding that although it was wonderful I wanted something with more flexibility and exported my data and imported it into Gramps which I've used very successfully. It is very sophisticated but it is not ideal for those who are not very competent with computers.
Martin
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I bought a new PC and found that my software wasn`t compatible which was a disappointment as it had a really good layout and was easy to use.
I had free versions of MyHeritage and Gramps, with the gedocms imported to both. When an update took place a few weeks ago all the data was lost from Gramps, so that got uninstalled.
I then looked for another and decided to try RootsMagic free version; I like the layout and was going to buy the full version after thinking about it for a couple of weeks, but just as I was about to order it I read a review which said the pedigree chart doesn`t show more than 2 siblings, so may now take a look at this.
I`m not too keen on MyHeritage as it doesn`t show names alphabetically and takes too many clicks to get to the edit person.
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This was easy to download and easy to get started. I just put in a basic tree to see what it would do, but unfortunately no descendant charts and I like to be able to use both, so it`s back to the drawing board for me !
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I haven't seen a pedigree chart that shows any siblings, just the direct ancestors. As a long time user of RootsMagic I find it does everything I need and much that I don't.
If you can't find a layout that suits you it also has a built in chart designer . . .
Hope you find something you like, it can be tricky changing after you've got used to one system.
Mike.
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Thanks for your reply. The software on my "old " pc did everything, but is not compatible with Windows 10, I`m finding it impossible to find the same sort of thing!
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Thanks for your reply. The software on my "old " pc did everything, but is not compatible with Windows 10, I`m finding it impossible to find the same sort of thing!
Just out of curiosity, what was the old software? I think I tried nearly everything that was going before I settled on RootsMagic, which I think had just been released at the time. I have upgraded through several versions since then.
Mike.
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The title on the jewel case was " Create Your Own Genealogy Suite ", I`ve seen it avaiable starting at £1 !! When installed it was Family Legends by Focus media; they were bought out by MyHeritage who haven`t used any of it`s attributes ( not sure if that`s the right word ).