Rootsmagic software - buyers beware!

[KGarrad]

I'm with Erato on this
I never try to access FamilySearch from within RootsMagic.

[Biggles50]

I’ve not simply used the Essential version except to test our the USB drive which has the App and tree and It worked just fine.

Other options may be better for you, depending upon how you want to use it.

Repeatedly in reviews Family Historian comes out top or very nearly, personally whilst I have it, it is only Windows so no good for me.  I have tried it but cannot say I like it, but as it has a 30 day free trial it is worth installing and giving it a go.

Family Tree Maker, I like better than Roots Magic as it syncs with Ancestry far better than Roots Magic.  Unfortunately there is no cut down version or free trial and a 2024 version is due for release.

Roots Magic 9, it works, there are quirks and I have it on both my PC and our MacBook.  RM is great for its error checking tools, IMO better than the others mentioned.

Presently our trees are on Ancestry and Roots Magic and Family Tree Maker are just used for Backup and error checking.  When the time comes to consolidate, I will use both Roots Magic and Family Tree Maker.

[Ronda231]

Many thanks to Biggles, Erato, Talacharn and KGarrard for your advice, I do agree that synching with an online database is generally something that should be avoided.

However, I do a lot of work on the Familysearch family tree and the reason I need to link to it is to periodically download Gedcom data for that part of the tree I have worked on - before it is modified by someone else. So the synching of data between my PC's tree & the Familysearch tree does not really occur - I just download a new & dated Gedcom file whenever I want, for my records.

That being said, I do need to visualise and query these records from time to time and this is the reason I bought commercial software.

Being retired, a subscription type service or expensive, cutting edge software is not something I need or wish to take on.

I have checked out the Ancestral Quest software and this seems to be inexpensive, easy to use and to do what I want, without drama.

Of course the AQ interface is quite dated, but for me this is a plus, because both me and my hardware/software setup are also quite dated. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that the other, more expensive genealogy software offers, but it seems to be tried, tested and reliable.

To conclude, when I open the Rootsmagic app today, I find the blue/green interface to be both unfriendly and unhelpful and, bearing in mind the functionality problems I've had with it, I will not be using this product in the future.

Best regards

   

[Biggles50]

Your method does seem flawed.

Having a tree on Familysearch is not an action I would consider or suggest, rather the opposite.

Periodic Gedcom downloads from Familysearch could include all the flaws that others have introduced and to me the tree would require time consuming verification of each person before the Gedcam is generated.

As it is an Ancestry Worldwide Sub at £90 per year is not expensive nor is a one off software purchase.

Having your tree on a Computer and using the Family Tree App and researching via its links online is IMO inherently safer in maintaining the accuracy of inclusions within the tree.

I’m retired as well so yes, so cash management is prominent and when I will have been two years using Roots Magic 9 it will only work out at £22.50 a year so hardly expensive.

[Ronda231]

Dear Biggles,

Thank you for your additional opinions.

Best regards

[martin hooper]

Ronda231

Biggles is absolutely right about Familysearch. It's a bad idea to rely on gedcom downloads from there to maintain your tree. You really should consider maintaining your tree locally on your computer.

Sorry to sound patronising - my advice is offered in the spirit of trying to help you to do things a better way.

Martin

[Ronda231]

Hi all,

I think that you are all providing comments and advice for me here on the assumption that I am maintaining my family a tree on my home PC, and then periodically updating this tree by either synching with Familytree or downloading Gedcoms, and then using them to update my local family tree on an ongoing basis.

This is not actually the case. I do have a local family tree, with good source material, going back approx 500 years, which is fine, and which as far as I am concerned is inviolate. This is never connected via software to Familysearch or any other online site.

But at the same time I do carry out a lot of research into the family name within the extended family tree on Familysearch and update that tree with source material and family links when this is appropriate. I then download the Gedcom of the work that I have done for records purposes only.

It is this work that I do on Familysearch that necessitates the use genealogy software:

i) to download and generate GEDCOM files
ii) to visualise the content of the GEDCOM files
iii) to query the data in these files
iv) to map locations

I started this thread complaining about a product I had bought which didn't function as it should have and which had a very short lifespan. The thread then seems to have evolved into some sort of scenario whereby 'the product is very good' and everything I am doing is wrong, with a lot of advice being given as to what I should be doing (without knowing what I am actually doing).

While I appreciate the constructive criticism and the spirit with which it has been offered, at the end of the day, my experience with the Rootsmagic software has been mostly negative and I am happy to advise that I have now purchased a functional, user friendly alternative,

Best regards 

[Ronda231]

Hi,

A technical question for Rootsmagic aficionados.

When using the Rootsmagic relationship calculator on a family line GEDCOM, downloaded from Familytree about 6 months ago, I find that one of my relatives is the 20th great grandson of William the Conquerer.

Using exactly the same GEDCOM file, but using the Ancestral Quest program and their relationship calculator, I find that the same relative is also shown to be a grandson of William the Conquerer, but via 12 separate & distinct relationship lines including the line indicated by Rootsmagic (which is the shortest line).

These differing relationship lines (via different but longer routes - 20th GGS to 24th GGS) are of interest to me so the question I have is:

Can the Rootsmagic program also give up the information on these missing relationship lines - at the click of a button, or is it solely focused on the shortest line?

Best regards

[Biggles50]

I cannot answer your specific question, it is probably better asked on the Roots Magic Forum where Staff frequent.

There are multiple routes to all very distant predecessors, it is just a case of finding them.

My Wife has William the Conqueror in her tree as 26xGGF but there are multiple routes to get to him

She has different routes that take her to each of three of the sons of a member of the Stanley family so each one is both her xGGF and xGUncle.