FTM Tree Sync ceasing from 29 March?

[Robert Fletcher]

I am certainly not interested in testing FMT and I know my cousin feels the same way and we have both spent our money on it. For me it is the only program I run under Windows so expensive all round. My main system is on Linux.
As I mentioned before, these updates that MacKiev put out say the same thing in not so many different words.
When FTM 2017 is finally released there will be bugs coming out of it. That happens with any new software you just can’t  calculate all the nuances of all the computer hardware combinations.

[weste]

Should be an update after mckiev talk to ancestry tomorrow according to what mckiev have posted on facebook.Today's spoiler alert says today is not a progress update but thought we'd like to know about some tools we can use. Not sure what to expect tomorrow. They are either fanfaring the release or warning us not to hold our breath.Can't decide which. Perhaps not holding our breath being they are saying we can do this and that.

[Elizajb]

Good Lord!
  I have just read all this topic as I was thinking about upgrading my Ancestry FTM2014 (not upgraded to the FTM 2014.1). 

However, I've changed my mind after reading the posts. I think I'll stick with FTM2014 and my trusty Ancestral Quest. To be fair, I never bothered too much about the sync feature but tended to use FTM as a backup copy of my Ancestry info and pics.

Today I downloaded my private tree from Ancestry including pics again, so I at least now have my most up-to-date copy. The only slight negative to that was that although my pics transferred just fine,  images of source records attached to my online tree do not any more.

I had put the Mackiev version 'on the back burner', thinking I would get it once it was all up and running - but the posts I have read here do not engender confidence in this company, at this stage anyway.

It's been useful to read the experiences to date of other forum users. Thanks to you all.

Regards Eliza.

[weste]

Well eliza still have n't been updated following the spoiler alert.Really they are overdue for an update whether you count the spoiler alert or not. They did promise a weekly update a while ago when people complained but they still aint delivering.People put on facebook to say its time for an update and they don't get much of a response.There's no phone numbers to use and any problems you have to go through live chat service on support site. I must admit I use the sync as a backup on computer but also do one elsewhere.

[groom]

Two months down the line and we still can't sync trees unless you've joined the trial. I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered. As I tend to work on my tree on Ancestry rather than in FTM, in hindsight it would have been just as easy to have saved the tree as a gedcom every week or so and downloaded it onto FTM. The only problem there is I don't think it would transfer photos etc would it?

[Elizajb]

Hi Groom,

Depending on the version of FTM you have, you can currently download your Ancestry tree without linking and it will include your media (minus source images like census records attached via Ancestry).

Here is the info: https://support.mackiev.com/003515-Upload-and-Download-without-Linking-in-FTM-20141

So you don't export a gedcom from Ancestry, rather you import from FTM, if you have a suitable version. I still have FTM 2014 (not the upgrade 2014.1) and the instructions worked fine.

I mucked it up a bit afterwards by trying to merge the downloaded Ancestry tree with the one I already had on FTM, but I ended up with some duplicate people. Luckily I had made a backup of my FTM tree before trying to merge so was able to restore it and remove the mucked up tree.

The tree I have always had on FTM I  re-downloaded in December 2016, just before all the sync was cut off, so I was fortunate at that time to be able to save copies of all media, including source images and have copied  this media file to USB and backup.

I would have been a bit brassed off after all I have spent on Ancestry subs if I was not able to save the source images that I have, in effect, paid for during my research. My understanding is that if I let my Ancestry sub lapse, so would my ability to view the source images attached to events so I was keen to have copies.

After reading all the posts here, I will definitely defer getting the Mackiev version until it is working properly and even then, only if I can download source images once they establish their sync feature (I don't trust that we will be allowed to do that, but....you never know).

Regards Eliza.

[groom]

Thanks Eliza, I have the latest edition, so it should work. I'm away at the moment, so will wait until I get home in a couple of weeks as the Wifi here is slow and tends to drop at times. If that happened I'd be even more frustrated!

[weste]

There's a new update on facebook and the support site , sounds good but I also recognise some of the old flannel. Saying gonna put 10,000 sers on a day again but if they were doing that before I would have had an invite by now as I now others have n't. Its a bigger update given this time on the face of it.

[HarryW]

I was "invited" to join the test drive program - a bit of a joke given that I paid for the upgrade ages ago!!  I really felt I had no choice as I had carried out changes in FTM and Ancestry and knew that at some stage I would duplicate the changes.

In any event, I've been using it for about 10 days and it certainly all seems to work fine.   Synchronising FTM - Ancestry and vice versa is much quicker than before and I've not come across any problems.   

The only downside for me is that I have to renew the test drive every two days, but it is a simple process.   

Overall, I'm happy with the software but less than happy with the overall software upgrade/marketing process as I still do not have a fully released version of the software.