Thursday, October 12, 2017

Family Tree Software: Meeting followup

Hello, again,

At our September meeting we talked at length about family tree software and why you would want to use desktop in addition to online trees.  It boils down to having control over your tree, being responsible for your own tree, and not being thrown for a loop when the businesses make capricious changes.  As we know some websites are owned by equity companies and driven by the bottom line while others are owned by genealogists and are more responsive to genealogists.

The top three desktop software packages are Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, and Legacy and we have members using each of them.  In our group a number are using FTM current and older versions while fewer are using RootsMagic and Legacy.  During our meetings we can break out into small groups to share information.

The best article I have seen is a Family Tree Magazine online premium article called “Online Tree or Genealogy software? Deciding Where to Keep Your Data”.  It’s here.  I was able to read it without a premium subscription but you may need to seek out the print version at your library or on Zinio.  It’s called “Tree-Keeping” in the Oct-Nov 2017 Family Tree Magazine on page 48.

One consideration is which websites the software syncs with.  Sync is short for synchronize.  This feature allows you to update one tree and then automatically update the other to keep them the same, or in sync.  For example, Family Tree Maker (FTM) can sync with Ancestry.com.  If you make a change in FTM it is moved to Ancestry.com and vice versa. That is, if you make a change in Ancestry.com the change is moved to FTM.

Family Tree Maker syncs with Ancestry.com and also costs twice as much as the others.  You can find this information in the articles.

RootsMagic syncs with Ancestry.com and Family Search.  Also has a free trial version. 

Legacy syncs with Family Search and the Legacy version 10 will sync with MyHeritage.  Also has a free trial version.

Bottom line: All three, FTM, RootsMagic and Legacy are comprehensive packages and the selection comes down to personal preference. 

I have included this information on a blog page in the left sidebar called Family Tree Desktop Software so you will always be able to find it.


Judith

No comments:

Post a Comment