Which Family History Software do You use.

[georgec]

Hi to you all.

Just sitting in front of the computer taking a break from putting info in to my family history program.
And a thought came to me as to what different software programs you all used to record your family history's in.
Which ones you find easy and of help and the ones that you tried but you could not get on with.
Also it may be of help to any one not sure which ones may be of help to them when starting out on this great adventure.

I use the Family Tree Maker
I find this is very easy to use and to set up. It has a
lot of features as well as making your own Charts, reports and also making your own family history book.
I have had no problem when up grading to the next editions with no loss of info.

(Which ever one you use don't for get to back up your info regularly )

George

[Cornish Terrier]

I use Relatively Yours 3, an Australian designed, produced and totally supported package that beats the heck out of any other program I have tried.

I will not spend time and effort here trying to tell you about it as it will be much easier for you to try it for yourself.

relativelyyours.com

Just go to this site and follow the instructions.
You can browse around the site, learn about the program and download a Trial Version to test for yourself.

It is easy to use and also has masses of features with links also to NSW BDM Indexes and other helpful links.

Log in and give it a go - I think you will love it.

Ian

[RobOats]

I use phpgedview.sourceforge.net , a FREE package designed to run on an apache server (MS, Linux or BSD). Great package which enables you to share your info online with other members of your extended family and you can give them rights to edit enter and edit info for collaborative research.

[white]

I have used Family Tree Maker version 5.0 for over 10 years.
It has proved very effective for all my needs.
My neighbour has a later edition, which in my opinion is not as good.
There are quite a few freebees on the internet, for example PAF from the Mormon site and Legacy which is quite good.

[Cornish Terrier]

One reason that I am not in favour of Family Tree Maker, Brothers Keeper or PAF is the manner in which dates are accepted.

To be specific I mean Julian Dates.

In my use of and observations of these programs when you enter a Julian Date (just as it appeared in the PR) the programme automatically updates the year element to reflect a Gregorian date.

To me this is apt to perpetuate errors and, in fact, compound them.

A date already processed through these programs and then passed on to another person could well end up being 'adjusted' again and again.

This is something that does not happen with Relatively Yours.

[myghaelangof]

We're well into the New Year and it's tidy up time. I've just about finished the 'office'. Now it's time to consider which Family History programme.

I've been using Generations 8 for years and love the layout. Ok it's what I've got used to, and I know it well. However it is lacking in some areas, notably production of charts. I never feel they are 'glossy' enough

I have just been looking through the Relatively Yours website as suggested by CT and like the look of this programme. Family Tree Maker did not appeal to me in the same way, and Ian's comments re the 'changing' dates has me concerned. What is the etiquette for recording 1st Jan 1749? I have found confusion does occur with years being adjusted, and you end up going back to sources and double checking other associated dates.

Personally I think we should stick to the exact date in the registers and as historians we all know when the calendar changed and how. Dont we?

Anyway I digress, and would love to hear of the current thoughts on all you lovely guys and gals out there.

Catch yer all sune, Mike

[Cornish Terrier]

Mike - when you enter a date that is pre-Gregorian into RY you will be given a prompt to accept that date ss either Julian or Gregorian.

It can always be changed later if necessary.

You therefore have control over date entry and also have much needed flexibility.

CT

[kerthen]

From what I have seen of FTM 2009 what you enter is what you get. I have entered the date 1 Jan 1743 and that's what it remains. If I change it to 1 Jan 1743/44, that's what I get. I think that used to be "automatic" with earlier versions of FTM, but it doesn't seem to be in the latest.

I have used FTM since version 4. I liked 4-11, thought all the intermediates through 2005 were passable, but went back to 11 for my records. I tried 2008 because I was sent a review copy. I didn't like it because it was very very slow and it made my computer crash repeatedly. But their new 2009 seems to have the 2008 bugs worked out. I began using it in December when I decided to put together a "new" family triee for a friend for Christmas. I thought working with a whole new set of data would be a good way to test it. It came through very well indeed, and I moved my own material into 2009 after that.

Over the years I've done software reviews for a couple of stateside genealogical mags and so I've tried a lot of programs. There are quite a few good ones out there as we've shown from the variety we prefer on this thread. Each of them seems to have particular things it does well.

I've used Legacy, The Master Genealogist, Family Historian, Family Trees Quick and Easy, and a couple of others that escape my memory. They all, along with FTM, had things to recommend them. It's pretty much whatever you find that you feel comfortable with and that will allow you to keep your material in a fashion that you can use to find it again, and will allow you to cite your sources so you -- and those who come after you -- don't have to redo all your work.

[myghaelangof]

Thanks for your input Ian and Kerthen, its given me some ideas. I shall keep hunting looking for a programme with better charts than my existing Generations. Will let you know what I come up with. Mike

[Mal]

I use PAF, it is okay and you can export files in different formats. When I first started I was a beginner so I didn't want anything to expensive or too complicated. I must say I do agree with CT about the dating issue, rather annoying. Since I have been using the tribal pages I have also had problems with the date formats. When I uploaded the PAF gedcom file to the tribal pages site it did not recognise a whole load of dates, hence people being automatically marked as living today, born 300 years ago!! Quite annoying as I had to put the dates in manually using my old PAF file. The tribal pages are quite good, as you can visualise the material in different ways which I find helps in detecting errors or double entries. If you upgrade from the free version it also allows you to print a number of reports in different ways that can also be useful. I also like the checking function which scans your tree against all the other ones in the database and shows where common ancestors can be found. I have found about 10 trees with whom I share some ancestors and I have been able to update my info accordingly. The only problem with the tribal pages is that many people's sites are private, you need a password to look at their info- probably because they display living persons' details- understandable but also frustrating when you are trying to demolish a two hundred year old brickwall!!!!