Merging two trees.

[polidor]

I have 2 trees done separately on FTM. One for my father's side and one for my mother's side.

I keep them separate on backups on the p.c and update them every now and then onto 2 discs.

Does it make life any simpler if both sides of the family are merged into one tree only, or does it mix everything up into a 'jumble'??

The families have to merge at some point because i am here. Just wondered how the rest of you manage your trees?? Apologies if this is an 'obvious' query but i often miss the obvious.

Poli.

[otters]

Hi Poli,

I have both sides of my tree merged together. When I started my research, I understood that you start with yourself and work backwards, therefore both side are automatically in one tree.
Hope this helps.

[MaryA]

I have mine merged, it doesn't cause me a problem, in fact it saves the bother of having to open a different one whenever I change from one side to the other.

I even have unrelated small trees waiting for links to one of the main branches, just put some sort of  Identifier against these people these to show they aren't attached, that way it makes it clearer to me when I'm working on these.  That helps when comparing dates, suddenly you may find that you have a match.

[polidor]

I take your point MaryA about not having to keep opening one side then the other. That in itself is as good a reason as any.

I'm nervous about the actual merging tho' in case it all goes horribly wrong!! Is it easy to do??

I've merged duplicate people on one of my trees but am a wee bit concerned in case i don't like the 'new look' Can you un-merge them if you don't like it all as one??

And---are there any drawbacks having just one tree.

Poli.

[aghadowey]

When I did use FTM, which I've stopped using now, I kept my tree in 2 parts, one for mother's family and one for father's family. Found that I tended to exchange family details with one side of the family or the other and it caused less confusion. It might, of course, depend on how many people you have on your tree. Each of my trees had several thousand members.

[MaryA]

I kept my tree in 2 parts, one for mother's family and one for father's family.

I suppose one very good reason for having one tree rather than two might well be if, as I've heard a number of people say in surprise, that their two sides of the family have been connected at an earlier date, then you would have either this decision to make anyway, or else duplicate records in both trees.

I'm nervous about the actual merging tho' in case it all goes horribly wrong!! Is it easy to do??

I use Family Historian and there are step by step guides for most processes including merging two trees.  I'm sure most other programmes have a similar facility but before you do anything you MUST make back up copies of both of your trees and then if you should make any error, or indeed if you find you don't like working that way, you can revert to your old method.

Why not just try it and see how you like it or not?

Good luck with it.

[aghadowey]

I suppose one very good reason for having one tree rather than two might well be if, as I've heard a number of people say in surprise, that their two sides of the family have been connected at an earlier date, then you would have either this decision to make anyway, or else duplicate records in both trees.

My parents families are totally different backgrounds and not ever likely to connect- it's only a short time that they've been in the same country. If there was a chance that they even had lived near each other I might have considered using one tree but as I mentioned there are so many in each tree that it's easier to have two trees.
Now, however, I stopped using FTM and have everything in Word files which can be easily sent to someone. I can add or delete information as I want, add photographs, maps, etc.
If I want a chart showing a relationship, etc. (useful if sending a letter to a 'new' relative) I use a free programme called GenePro which allows me to move people anywhere on the page (which I was unable to do in FTM).

[Nadine Moore]

Hi Poli

I use FTM2005 and have both sides in one tree. I have also extracted them into separate trees.

To merge two files go to File / Apend/Merge and follow the instructions.

If you are not happy with the merged data you can undo it by going to Edit / Undo File Merge and following the instructions.

cheers

dinie

[polidor]

I too have FTM2005. I like the idea of having one big tree and yet still keeping 2 separate ones. How did you go about doing that. Did you do 2 big trees i.e combine the 2 twice over and then break one back down into 2 again? Poli.