Changing family history software

[Jillwye]

Hi, I started Family history many years ago using Reunion which then was made for Windows. When it changed I moved onto Generations which I found very intuitive and easy to use. I then had break from FH due to family circumstances, and only dipped into it occasionally. In that 20 years technology and family history have changed so much, and Generations now outdated and I want to move my data into a program that I can stick with as I upgrade, at present I’m using a Windows 7 computer and an iPad. I have 1500+ people in my software, some are names that I collected as I came across them in case I found a link at a later date, I tried Heredis because I thought I could switch platforms, but didn’t find it very intuitive, so then bought Legacy, which is better, although I’m still struggling with things like entering sources.
My biggest problem is that each time I change programs I find that things get changed, one example being person ID numbers. In generations I had made quite extensive notes, and these also got changed. I now use a document to keep notes on individuals
My question is this am I being too impatient, should I stick with Legacy and just go through and adjust details, and spend time getting to know the software, or is there a better solution? I don’t want to waste precious family history time!!

[McGroger]

Welcome to Rootschat, Jillwye.

The biggest problem with changing programs is that, because not one program is 100% compliant with GEDCOM standards, with every move made to a different program you will lose some data. (And the programs probably never will be 100% compliant because developers are more interested in introducing new bells and whistles than in getting the basics right.)

For example there is a standard GEDCOM tag for “Physical Description”. But the program I use also offers “Eye colour”, “Hair colour”, “Height”, “Skin colour” and “Weight”, none of which have standard GEDCOM tags. So if I was to input data into those non-standard fields then send a GEDCOM file to a different program I would lose all the data I had input to those non-standard fields.

This is only one example of many, many discrepancies between different programs. I learnt the hard way.

My solution has been to:
Find out all the standard tags and “turn off” all the non-compliant fields in my program so I don’t accidentally use them;
Return to the old way of putting information into notes rather than into boxes.

You mention struggling with things like entering source data. I use Mac programs so no bias when I say that Family Historian usually scores very highly in reviews for ease of use.

I’d suggest downloading trial versions of a couple of programs you haven’t yet tried, make an informed decision, then stick to one.

For an insight into GEDCOM and problems resulting from non-compliance there is an excellent series of articles starting here:
https://genealogytools.com/replacing-family-tree-maker-part-1-how-to-scrub-your-data/

There's a lot of reading and digesting there but it's worth at least going through the introduction/overview and the articles for the programs you're interested in.

Peter

[andrewalston]

When you are trying out the various programs, pick a small corner of your tree with lots of recorded data and see whether you can reproduce the results you want in a sensible way.

Spend some time testing each. Don't test more than one at a time; you'll get confused.

Some will work for you better than others. Make notes for each about what things you like or dislike. You might time yourself going though the same task for each, but remember that data entry will be used regularly, while learning how to do the data entry will only be done once.

Check the "odd" corners if possible. Can it cope properly with dates such as "3 February 1733/4" ? Are there record types beyond the "usual" in your existing research? Many programs seem to have trouble with people changing their names, including when women marry. Some insist that a person has a single occupation for their entire life.

Try also exporting your existing data and importing into the test program. As McGroger says, there will be things missing or complained about. Is there a log file of the things being complained about so you can go through and fix them?

Remember that nearly everything we do is text-based, so the software must be good at dealing with text. Being able to store and play back videos is a feature unlikely to be meaningful in research into your ggg grandfather, no matter much the software companies plug it.

The one I use (unfortunately no longer available) makes entering data very easy, and copes with the stuff I've mentioned above. I'm unlikely to shift to software which is more difficult to use, even if the screen layout is "more modern".

[markheal]

Andrew,
What excellent advice you give with a methodical method.
Thank you.
Mark

[Jillwye]

Thanks so much for your patience and clear insight,
“ but remember that data entry will be used regularly, while learning how to do the data entry will only be done once.” I think that sums it up!
You’re right I need to spend time and patience working out what I need- Thankyou you’ve clarified it!
I have another question which I struggle with on all programs- how do you record census data? Do you import an image as media, or keep a copy in a separate program and just put in data as you need it and assign it in sources?
It’s so nice to be able to ask these sort of questions and someone understands!
Thanks

[andrewalston]

Personally I transcribe the relevant items from a census entry. Those on my direct lines usually get the downloaded image attached to them as a "multimedia file".

The census record type in the program I use includes dedicated fields for date and the address. These get filled in as much as possible - so "31 Mar 1901" and "31", "Greene St", "Lancaster", "Lancashire", "England".

Miscellaneous stuff gets put in the Memo field, such as "Age 28. Boarder with William Muckle, carter."

All record types have citation fields, where there is a Source Type, e.g. "1901 Census" and detail, e.g. "RG13/3988 fol53 p22".

Occupation gets recorded in a separate Occupation record type, with the same date and same citation.

If there is a variation of name, that is recorded in a "name-variant" record type, again with date and citation. In this example, my great grandfather Edward Pickering is recorded as Edward Crewdson.

Note that I can see all this info directly in the stuff my software displays when I select Edward. I don't need to bring up the image. Even if I hadn't downloaded the page, I could grab it from more than one site using the reference in the citation details.

[Jillwye]

Thanks so much for your clear suggestions, I like the idea of using media files for direct lines only.
 I can see I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, at least going back through individuals will renew my association with them and I’ve already spotted something I missed before!
 I had used census source citations before but they seem to get messed up with the corruption of my sources when I transferred programs. Like you say a lot of modern programs have bells and buzzers that we / I don’t really need, and seem to have more source fields that to me are confusing or irrelevant to me, but I still think it’s a good time to get used to a new program now before I add more people and have to change with new hardware.
Thanks again for your time Andrew and Peter, I may well be back a bit down the line. All I need now is time!