tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post2618016377669315608..comments2024-03-03T16:35:25.083-05:00Comments on Marian's Roots and Rambles: My Genealogy Software UpheavalMarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738104230962644360noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-88275960411601006812013-07-21T15:11:54.868-04:002013-07-21T15:11:54.868-04:00I have many hours and years putting together all m...I have many hours and years putting together all my family back to 1540 using versions of Parsons Family Origins. Now I have a new computer with 64 bit and it will not accept that program I tried Roots Magic but I cannot transfer my 3,000 pics except one at a time. Is there any program that will do that for computers with 64 bit operation.? wdtemple@gmail.com<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-20912986007598646332013-07-10T15:34:16.362-04:002013-07-10T15:34:16.362-04:00I've found that I don't need to put Birth ...I've found that I don't need to put Birth of a Child, etc., on people in Roots Magic 6. Those things will show up in an individual's Timeline view. You can choose to include Birth of Sibling, Death of Spouse, etc.<br /><br />I have downloaded the trial version of Legacy and played around with it a bit. I like the user interface of Roots Magic much more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10102198188354130462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-80331420236209169492013-07-07T13:19:36.556-04:002013-07-07T13:19:36.556-04:00I'm loving this idea of copying an event to th...I'm loving this idea of copying an event to the clipboard so that it can be shared with another person. <br /><br />I now use Roots Magic 6, which does have shared events (in the paid version). What I would like to do, though, is to use an event such as a birth and convert it to, say, Birth of Sibling for another child in a family. (Roots Magic does allow you to make custom events.) If I share a birth event in Roots Magic, it shows up simply as Birth in the sharee's life. If I then change the fact type, it changes the fact type for all those who share that event, so that doesn't meet the need. Copying the event and pasting it to another person, then changing the fact type, would solve this problem.<br /><br />This copy-event feature is making me want to convert to Legacy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10102198188354130462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-81744066243738311892013-06-30T20:52:19.369-04:002013-06-30T20:52:19.369-04:00Hi Marian- I'm just reading your post now in m...Hi Marian- I'm just reading your post now in mid-2013. I think the best way to go with putting family trees online is to put them all onto one website and NOT put them on your home computer. Keep a GEDCOM on two hard drives at home only (and in the cloud, if you like that option). I'm sure you would be able to format the output from any proprietary genealogy software so that it can be converted to any other. It's all in the formatting. You can always substitute symbols/characters/numbers for each other in a text editor (like MSWord output as text-only). I spent years showing admin people in various workplaces how to get their documents out of old computers/formats/programs into new ones. All via text editing, eg. from a GEDCOM you might have the following:<br />1 NAME George /AMISON/<br />2 SURN AMISON<br />2 GIVN George<br />1 SEX M<br />1 BIRT<br />2 DATE 31 Jan 1915<br />2 PLAC 113 Heathcote St, Sandford Hill, Staffordshire<br />------------------<br />Look at a text-only version of the output from your genealogy program and note the format for the components. If the format for the person's surname looks like:<br />%surname% then you need to convert all instances of that piece of text into:<br />SURN(1 space with SpaceBar before the actual name)<br />In MSWord that would be CTRL-H Replace %surname% with SURN(space)<br />With mass converting whole chunks of the output, this can be quite quick.<br />Works for me as long as a program can output a formatted file as text!<br />Be brave!<br />Sorry if I'm preaching to the converted- feel free to chuck out my comment! ;-)Murfomurfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12975382358013125434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-12941426690933892722012-12-30T09:55:08.530-05:002012-12-30T09:55:08.530-05:00May I ask which program you use?May I ask which program you use?Swamp Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03399341066680160536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-4102856267397814672012-11-20T12:33:28.530-05:002012-11-20T12:33:28.530-05:00I know this post is a year old, but I just found i...I know this post is a year old, but I just found it. And Marian, I think you should do a follow-up post...unless you already did (and I missed that too).<br />But I will add my preference. I am a RootsMagic user, have been for several years and don't plan to change. I began with FTM. I was never really pleased with it, always seemed buggy, then I got frustrated with the constant new versions and the lack of support if you didn't spend the cash and play along with the upgrades. At one time I did use both FTM and RM, because my research buddy used FTM. But I realized very quickly that I really did prefer RM. I just feel it is better. And it is priced right. RootsMagic has just announced v 6. There is a webinar tonight to show what is new, and it will be archived on their site to view later.<br />Linda<br />Linda Skena Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12928614131789044233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-7153922452081003852012-09-17T22:52:37.755-04:002012-09-17T22:52:37.755-04:00Been there & doing that. Bjorn Nilssen just hi...Been there & doing that. Bjorn Nilssen just hit the nail on the head what bugs me in Legacy. I started out in Family Tree Maker when it worked right. Upgraded to 2006 & moved to Legacy because it did sources much better. But I moved back to FTM 2012 because of having to hunt for things & shouldn't have to hunt for. The GUI is part of the problem. I was a software engineer for years but found if I didn't use Legacy almost daily, I was constantly looking up those tools. <br /><br />As for FTM 2012 -- what a buggy piece of software. I'm on a new FAST laptop running Windows 7. Even if FTM is the only thing running, it will go into "not responding" for minutes at a time. You wait long enough -- it will come back. I finally through research & testing can make the sync work. But today to get 220 people I deleted in FTM to upload to Ancestry took over 15 syncs that failed. I've found a failed sync just needs compacting back to 0.00% which has to be done after the file is closed. Sync it again. More moves back & forth and repeat ad nauseum.<br /><br />Frankly I'm tired of it. I can't trust it. I've loaded Legacy on to this new laptop & uploaded the GEDCOM. This is the latest Legacy. I'm not happy with the GEDCOM upload. My pictures apparently moved but didn't match with the correct people.<br /><br />I've looked at TNG & am very impressed by the various user web sites. But how hard is it to maintain? It appears to have a single person upgrading the software. That concerns me. How hard is it to learn? I've had to absorb Joomla in the last 8 months. About the time I thought I got it -- there was the upgrade from 1.5 to 2.5. Huge learning curve & I certainly feel like I'm swimming uphill most of the time. Frankly, I don't want to get into another situation where an upgrade turns into a major learning curve. <br /><br />This is one of the best discussions I've seen on the various 'best' genealogy software. As you can see -- I STILL haven't made up my mind. <br /><br />The url shown has been good for me -- I created it long ago & have done a major update. But I'm tired of dealing with the nitty-gritty of XHTML. I want to concentrate on RESEARCH. And then producing information for family & fellow researches.<br /><br />Help me make a decision!!!idogenealogyhttp://www.ancestors-genealogy.com/coffmanpeach/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-66168517638359948442012-07-13T06:47:47.467-04:002012-07-13T06:47:47.467-04:00I'm using Legacy with data on Dropbox, and is ...I'm using Legacy with data on Dropbox, and is quite happy with that. For web I'm using TNG, which is excellent.<br />Legacy is quite powerful, but not the best GUI I've seen. It is quite cluttered in places, and often you have to hunt for tools/settings that should really have been 'at your finger tips'. It lacks configurable shortcuts, which I miss a lot, although when you find the built-in ones you can enter data pretty quickly. I think the search could've been much more powerful and flexible, and sorting as well. I also miss patronym fields. And the charting isn't flexible enough IMO. I would like to have control of the directions of the charts, left->right, top->down etc, and also the ability to hide duplicate lines. Because of that one of my ancestors descendants chart would now be more than 40m wide, while it could probably have fit in less than 5-10m. AKA 'Smart cousins'?<br />In general Legacy works well though. And no data loss so far. <br />If only they could manage to fix their mailing lists, which is totally messed up if you're using a mail client that follows the mailing list rules, like Opera.<br />It is kind of surprising that a company that can develop such complicated software as Legacy cannot manage to set up (or switch) a mailing list properlyBjørn K Nilssenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13911762006959762214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-87566757312962875122012-04-19T16:59:28.994-04:002012-04-19T16:59:28.994-04:00I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary of di...I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary of discovering genealogy, and I've been struggling with this question of which software to use. <br /><br />Your comments about not uploading any files to ancestry.com caught my attention. I started out using ancestry's online tree as my primary repository, uploading materials I've collected from other websites and from library scans. I love being able to access all my research from any computer--my desktop or laptop, the FHC, the library, wherever and whenever. I realize all the files I upload are accessible to everyone else, but I don't have a problem with sharing files about my own family (client research would be a different story). Are there other concerns about uploading files that I haven't realized? Are there copyright issues if materials I've downloaded from a different subscription service can be viewed publicly once I upload them to my ancestry.com tree? <br /><br />Several months ago I bought FTM2012 and it's been a bit of a snarl. Well, a huge snarl. But it's useful for things like searching for common locations and for making global changes to people or place names. In general, though, I hate it with a passion and only turn to it reluctantly. <br /><br />What are my options? I really like the convenience of having everything in one place on ancestry.com, but it's a limited program. FTM 2012 gives me some of the flexibility missing in ancestry. I'd like to explore other software--the big question is how can I keep the convenience of having my research in the cloud, but gain the capabilities of programs like Legacy and RootsMagic?Kaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-16897163235530375462012-01-11T14:00:06.861-05:002012-01-11T14:00:06.861-05:00Like Dolly in Maryland, I am on PAF way too long ....Like Dolly in Maryland, I am on PAF way too long .Planning on Legacy. The fact that LDS support Legacy is important to me because I want the New Family Search ease of access. Experimenting with Roots Magic. I like the thought of the portable Roots Magic Flashdrive .Like Russ said "don't start over ". Whatever you have been doing, works for you generally. <br /><br />I agree with you that TNG is not easy. I use TNG (with a Joomla bridge that has not been updated )only for web display. It has not been easy for family members to use and wondering what I should do in that respect but do like the Php capability for web sites and I use Drupal 7 for my blog. <br /> <br />My back up : Two huge office metal file cabinets with folders since 1973 (-:Magdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01335449359566720836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-56164799187577422952011-12-31T11:37:05.870-05:002011-12-31T11:37:05.870-05:00I tried RootsMagic 4 a short while ago, and loved ...I tried RootsMagic 4 a short while ago, and loved it. BUT ... I returned to Legacy for one simple reason. I don't know if this applies a lot in your family tree, but it does in mine: a man gets married, has children, the wife dies, so he remarries and has more children. Only in Legacy have I found that it displays him and ALL the children on one screen. In RM4 (and others) you see the man and one of his wives and their children. It's as if the other wife and the other children never existed. Yet, on census forms, all the children would be listed because they were one big (albeit blended) family. Legacy shows that. I love it.Ros Haywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16627277156997592066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-81401185466265791552011-11-26T14:47:28.076-05:002011-11-26T14:47:28.076-05:00Late comment here, but I love TNG. It still has a ...Late comment here, but I love TNG. It still has a few things that I feel could be improved, but that is my personal opinion. Once I had it set up, it pretty much runs on it's own. I like how I can control the look and info that is posted on there. www.WeMightBeRelated.com is my personal siteMasterLazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15842667776195429431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-59575880859299756722011-11-16T10:01:01.159-05:002011-11-16T10:01:01.159-05:00Thanks, Geoff! I'll check out that article.Thanks, Geoff! I'll check out that article.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11987424576985471215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-64333624039714959812011-11-15T17:27:35.936-05:002011-11-15T17:27:35.936-05:00Jackie- Use can use the source clipboard to memori...Jackie- Use can use the source clipboard to memorize a fact in Legacy7 and then paste it to attatch it to any person, source or event.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-48236741761744095492011-11-15T02:31:20.476-05:002011-11-15T02:31:20.476-05:00I see you've gotten lots of feedback already, ...I see you've gotten lots of feedback already, but wanted to throw in my two cents worth. I use several different genealogy programs, but keep my primary database in Roots Magic. Formerly I used Legacy for my data, and Clooz for organizing documents. However, Roots Magic is best of both worlds - allows me to easily see at a glance exactly what documents I have for an individual without having to open up multiple windows to view them. That said, I still use Legacy via exported Gedcoms, as I like their reports better, and they offer the Families app for the iPad. RE: The Next Generation, I too had difficulty with the install. However, Derrell was VERY helpful and guided me through the process. I did learn that TNG is not friendly with Windows servers - best to install on Linux. After making that switch, the rest of the process was pretty smooth sailing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-66729380087721129562011-11-14T12:28:23.095-05:002011-11-14T12:28:23.095-05:00Dawn - you can use Legacy on a variety of mobile d...Dawn - you can use Legacy on a variety of mobile devices, including the use of a USB drive. See our article at http://tinyurl.com/yedbdmb. In addition to the article, it can also be used on iPhones/Android devices with the new Families app.Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15402244736681337288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-77761697324629007982011-11-14T10:46:36.927-05:002011-11-14T10:46:36.927-05:00I decided to use Legacy , It is very efficient in ...I decided to use Legacy , It is very efficient in doing database maintenance , and also have a very good set of features , but I still use other softwares for other tasks (like reporting , or charting , or Spanish support)<br /><br />Gonzalo , from ArgentinaGonzalohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08992589514823962629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-79438035004396160412011-11-14T10:08:32.054-05:002011-11-14T10:08:32.054-05:00I am new to genealogy (4 years) and serious about ...I am new to genealogy (4 years) and serious about my research. I have an Apple and I am not crazy about my software choices. I don't want to put my trust in VM ware or other platforms and would use Legacy if there was a version written for mac. Perhaps there isn't enough of a market for Legacy to do it.mbm1311https://www.blogger.com/profile/00259363925596797806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-32503583253010097852011-11-14T09:27:14.963-05:002011-11-14T09:27:14.963-05:00Late to the discussion but I have so been through ...Late to the discussion but I have so been through the exact same thing. FTM 16 suited me fine. When I switched to Windy 7 all hell broke loose. I have FTM 2011 and Legacy 7.5 but I've given up hope of updating my family file, which I started on FTM in 1997. <br /><br />I acquired a secondhand XP laptop so I could use my old software, but it died. I wish somebody would design a little laptop computer that uses Win XP and its software, no frills. We could work in our old programs and ignore the folderol they're forcing on us.JG in MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16029403745201344240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-88408188338127519982011-11-13T20:31:27.020-05:002011-11-13T20:31:27.020-05:00It looked like from the discussion that there is a...It looked like from the discussion that there is a capability to use RootsMagic on a jump drive for ease of working on different computers. Can Legacy do that at all? Noticed talk of something called DropBox that sounded like a way to make this easier, too? CAn someone explain that? I like to use my program on both my home computer and my laptop and struggle with this currently. Thanks for a great topic and discussion!Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11987424576985471215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-56633525105773585072011-11-13T17:25:55.174-05:002011-11-13T17:25:55.174-05:00Legacy could win me back with shared facts. Wonder...Legacy could win me back with shared facts. Wonder when the next version will be out?Jackiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08634218973720153024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-12995983947079623082011-11-13T09:15:09.060-05:002011-11-13T09:15:09.060-05:00Hi Marian
As far as my personal genealogy is conce...Hi Marian<br />As far as my personal genealogy is concerned I have been intending to move from Family Tree Maker for some time. Since 2008, when FTM was completely re-written, its ratings have plunged (see http://www.gensoftreviews.com/ ). I think this is utterly deserved. Lots of functionality disappeared, and as it does not conform the GEDCOM standard well, transferring data to another program is problematic.<br /><br />All genealogy programs suffer from using the GEDCOM file format for data transfer, because GEDCOM follows an inadequate data model, is not a robust standard and is implemented differently in every program. There has been considerable discussion about this over the last year on BetterGedcom (http://bettergedcom.wikispaces.com/)<br /><br />For me, Tamura Jones (http://www.tamurajones.net/index.xhtml) offers excellent technical (and readable) appraisal of various programs. His tests expose serious shortcomings in all of the popular genealogy programs. Recent FTM versions fare very badly. RootsMagic conforms to the GEDCOM standard better than most. From the comments here Legacy may have the edge of user friendliness.<br /><br />Remember, being able to get your data out of the software is CRITICAL.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-52906642217802920972011-11-12T16:02:51.984-05:002011-11-12T16:02:51.984-05:00I was a PAF user for 12 years. Last year I decide...I was a PAF user for 12 years. Last year I decided to become an AG, and I felt like I needed a program that was able to record my source citations in a more professional manner. I purchased RM4 and liked the way it dealt with citations, but never moved my full files over. Since then, I have purchased Legacy7 and LOVE IT! There are a lot of options which you could get overwhelmed with or be happy about. I myself am glad for all the choices. What really made me switch was the Chronology Tab which is a timeline of events in an individuals life, which includes the birth and death of parents, spouses and children. RM4 didn't include all of these. The Research Guidance tab is also wonderful for beginners as well as advanced researchers. The To-Do lists are as easy as clicking a box by the source you want to search at a specific repository. And, you can print a To-Do list for a repository, (instead of just an individual), which is VERY handy. It will include all the people in your database in which you have marked or created a task for say at the Family History Libary and you can take that when you go. I like the USA County verifier that warns you when you type a place in that did not exist in the time frame you have connected to it. You can also run a report to check your old data that you brought in against the county verifier. Legacy7 makes being organized and recording fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-84366023038949913752011-11-12T15:50:37.738-05:002011-11-12T15:50:37.738-05:00Very interesting discussion. I think the key to a...Very interesting discussion. I think the key to any genealogy database program is "learning it." So many people don't take the time to learn the basics (either with the noodling through, reading the manual, watching webinars, or going to the forums with questions) that they make the data entry aspect twice as hard as it needs to be. Additionally, spend some time at the outset determining what you want as far as output - as this will determine how your input should work. Make the program work for you. That said Legacy is my go to program (although I have Roots Magic - I don't find it as intuitive). In combination with OneNote and Excel (for research notebook and big projects) I am a happy camper. Let us know what you decide and how it works for you.Tessa Keoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09146870113899850353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-691016683378293851.post-35414651741286462362011-11-12T10:11:42.297-05:002011-11-12T10:11:42.297-05:00This has been such a helpful discussion. My old, (...This has been such a helpful discussion. My old, (very old) desktop is dying and my laptop just didn't seem to have enough memory. Now that I am reading these posts, I realize it doesn't!! So, I am going to convince my husband he would like my laptop; I will trash the desktop and getting something with at least 2T's (terrabytes?) I just started using RootsMagic and sent for the paid copy. FTM has been a pain for the last 4 years - it is not worth the aggravation. I have been saving everything to jump drives - and since my main trees are on Ancestry, I will make them gedcoms and send to RootsMagic. That's the plan.joannenoreply@blogger.com