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General => Technical Help => Family History Programs, Tree Organisation, Presentation => Topic started by: ray70 on Sunday 22 January 23 21:43 GMT (UK)
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Looking to run a software programme totally disconnected and private from the net. Thoughts appreciated on suitable new/used programme. Thanks
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I recommend Brothers Keeper. It is available for free from the internet ( although a small donation is requested). It has been used by several member of my family and does everything we want by way of FH records. The program is regularly updated by the originators.
Marc
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I use the old PAF program. It does what I need and I've never found any reason to change.
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It appears FamilySearch closed it down in2013 but still allowed it to be used by persons who ran it before that date, but thanks for posting.
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You can still download it. I tried Gramps and found it to be overloaded with junk that I don't need or want. Sometimes less is more, or at least that's my opinion.
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Do you have an online tree?
If you do and it is with Ancestry you could buy Roots Magic and sync the Ancestry tree to a new Project in Roots Magic, the software will download all the citations and facts, more reliably than a Gedcom file.
If you do not have an online tree then I suggest you look at the software that is available and in particular watch the tutorial videos which should then help you to decide which is best for you.
If you have an iMac then options are limited, we have Reunion which works great and is good at charting.
On my PC we have Roots Magic and Family Historian which is good and has pretty good charting.
That said I do prefer Roots Magic.
One thing to bear in mind is the longevity of the software and the computer operating system, so updating the software can be good practice as is having more than one piece of software AND a robust backup system should an unrecoverable fault develop with the hard drive where the software and data reside.
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Hi Biggles, I have Ancestry and have been looking at both Roots Magic and Family Historian for off line work. At the moment I am leaning towards roots. So it was good to read your helpful comments. I think ultimately it will be buy and see how it goes. Thanks
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You can try the free version of RootsMagic - RootsMagic Essentials.
Easily upgraded to the full version using the key provided when you pay the fee.
There is also a RootsMagic Group on Facebook - sometimes queries are replied to by members of staff!
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Family Historian is UK developed. Roots Magic appears to be American. Depending on where your research is, and what features you are looking for, one may suit you better than the other.
I have an old version of FamilyHistorian which I found good but complex. There are user help groups though, and help here if needed. I don’t have experience with Roots Magic.
Like Erato, I like a simple program so use the free version of Tribal Pages these days which suits me well enough. I use my iPad exclusively and my Family Historian is on the PC, hence Tribal Pages is my preferred tree maker.
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I have used Family Historian for a few years now. It is a bit complex (and I haven't touched many of the features), but having trialled around half a dozen others, I decided it could produce reports and trees as I wanted them, so went for it. There is an option to create a web site.
Currently writing up my family history, up to 120 pages now, saving as pdfs for my brother and sister. Includes free text intros to each 'family', inserted reports on BMD events and censuses, plus photos and snips of certificates.
There is also a very good user group (FHUG) with loads of articles and a forum for questions when you need help.