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General => Technical Help => Family History Programs, Tree Organisation, Presentation => Topic started by: Norm Weston on Friday 06 April 18 12:26 BST (UK)

Title: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: Norm Weston on Friday 06 April 18 12:26 BST (UK)
I recently returned to researching my family history after quite a long break. I have used Legacy Family tree for decades as my genealogy computer program and have until recently been happy with it. My concern is, I think they sold out to MyHeritage! I followed their advice to upload my complete gedcom to MyHeritage which I soon realized was quickly copied. Since then I am bombarded with smartmatches (I am sure copied from my own data) which I would then have to subscribe to in order to view.

Although I do like Legacy and have got used to how it works, I wondered is there an alternative which may be more suitable for mainly UK based genealogy. Sorry for the rant but I would appreciate any recommendations.
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: KGarrad on Friday 06 April 18 12:37 BST (UK)
I'm not really sure what you are asking here?

Any genealogy program can be UK-centric.
It's only when you link the data to an internet site that things get complicated!

But that's 2 very different things:
1. Your software program, on your PC; using your data. That should stay local to you.
2. An Internet site and/or program. Not sure that any of them are purely UK-centric?
(the internet doesn't respect National Boundaries?)
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: Gadget on Friday 06 April 18 12:41 BST (UK)
Family Historian used to promote itself by saying it's UK centric. I've used it for over 10 years and am very happy with it.

http://www.family-historian.co.uk/


Gadget
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: dawnsh on Friday 06 April 18 13:11 BST (UK)
I second the vote for Family Historian.

It is a British product

http://www.family-historian.co.uk/about-calico-pie
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: arthurk on Friday 06 April 18 13:35 BST (UK)
Another vote for Family Historian.
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: CarolA3 on Friday 06 April 18 14:47 BST (UK)
Make that 4 for FH ;D

Carol
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: Norm Weston on Friday 06 April 18 15:25 BST (UK)
Many thanks for the advice. I will perhaps try the 30 day trial of FH to see if I like it. I can compare it to Legacy whilst evaluating it. From what I can see it gives smart matches from 'Find my Past' so I hope it isn't in the same situation as Legacy with My Heritage. Thanks again.
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: arthurk on Friday 06 April 18 15:48 BST (UK)
Many thanks for the advice. I will perhaps try the 30 day trial of FH to see if I like it. I can compare it to Legacy whilst evaluating it. From what I can see it gives smart matches from 'Find my Past' so I hope it isn't in the same situation as Legacy with My Heritage. Thanks again.

No, it's completely independent. Hints from FindMyPast are optional, and you can get them from MyHeritage too if you want, but I don't use either. You can read more about this feature at
http://www.family-historian.co.uk/aidm

It's a very capable program, but it can take a bit of getting used to. There's an active user group with associated forum and knowledge base, which may be worth having a look at.

More info at https://www.fhug.org.uk/

Key Features for Newcomers at
https://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=how_to:key_features_for_newcomers
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: CarolA3 on Friday 06 April 18 15:53 BST (UK)
When FH finds possible matches on FindMyPast, you just see a little green circle next to the person's name with the number of matches in it.  It's quite unobtrusive and I believe you can turn that feature off if you want to.

If you click on the green circle, you get an indication of what's been found but you'd need a subscription to FindMyPast to see the details.  You can also hit 'reject' and that match shouldn't come up again.

Carol
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: CarolA3 on Friday 06 April 18 16:03 BST (UK)
Come to think of it, when FH first started doing this 'matching' thing they linked up with My Heritage.  Almost everything MH suggested was US-based, despite every person in my tree having lived and died in England.  It was a useless nuisance and I turned it off.

I guess it wasn't a popular feature!  At least the FindMyPast suggestions are in the right country (so far!).

Carol
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: Norm Weston on Sunday 15 April 18 17:20 BST (UK)
Briefly, I did download the FH program and loaded it with my gedcom. It wouldn't load my family file from Legacy, it does not have the facility to do so. I spent several days watching video tutorials and trying it out but I kept returning to Legacy. I found FH to be 'quirky', probably because it is so different to Legacy which I have used over many years. Sad to say I won't be buying FH so I am stuck with Legacy for the duration! I am sure if it was the other way around, I would also find Legacy 'quirky'!
Title: Re: UK centric Family History computer program?
Post by: pinefamily on Sunday 15 April 18 21:35 BST (UK)
Have a look at RootsMagic. I believe it is similar to Legacy.