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Anyone into Genealogy? Best Storage?
Old 10-01-2017, 02:51 PM   #1
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Anyone into Genealogy? Best Storage?

I've been bitten by the genealogy bug lately and have made amazing discoveries. The last time I was doing this was with my mother in the 1980s, but now all the online materials especially the LDS site (Familysearch) have made the process unbelievably fruitful. I'm now well into the 1600s on the German side of my family (far less so on the Czech side). In fact, I've met two previously unknown family members via e-mail in the last couple months.

I've been doing a Word document for each major family grouping, since paper still appeals to me and I've found it easiest. However, I eventually need to get all this in an organized fashion into online storage. For anyone here into genealogy, what software are you using to store date files, photos, create trees, etc? I'd rather avoid a subscription price like ancestry.com, since I've found the free familysearch.org has everything ancestry has (possibly more).
Thanks!
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Old 10-01-2017, 04:56 PM   #2
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I’m using RootsMagic mainly because it’s free. Id like to hear from those who’ve used more than one package as well.

I mainly wanted to chime in to say don’t take everything you download as fact without verifying it. My line in particular has a massive amount of disinformation out there, originating in a book written in the 1920s by a lady determined to link her ancestry to European royalty.
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Old 10-01-2017, 05:29 PM   #3
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Family tree maker.
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Old 10-01-2017, 05:39 PM   #4
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I understood that Family Tree Maker has been discontinued.
Oh yes, Galaxy: I well know that everything has to be verified several times. So many errors out there. I've found lots of errors in the transcriptions of records in particular.
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Old 10-01-2017, 07:37 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marita40 View Post
I understood that Family Tree Maker has been discontinued.
The 2017 edition is just out.
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Old 10-01-2017, 11:10 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by REattempt View Post
Family tree maker.

Is this the one from the Mormans?

I still have a lot of data from when my mom was doing it in the 80s and 90s.... I know she has a lot of official records in paper form somewhere... she never did get to writing that book she kept talking about...

It might be interesting to revive what she has and see the history.... even in her current reduced memory capacity she still remember a number of family lines she took back to the 1600s... and with proof...
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Old 10-02-2017, 05:35 AM   #7
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A recent related thread is here:
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...est-87598.html
There are others, I think.

There is the LDS site, ancestry.com, 23andme, GEDMATCH, FTDNA.

Probably best to use a local database on your computer, first. I have one that has been passed down and added to since 1980, or so. If something can export and import GEDCOM files, you are in good shape.
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Old 10-02-2017, 06:30 AM   #8
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Genealogy has changed. My grandmother did everything by snail mail, visiting libraries and attending conferences. I imagine that was fun.

I inherited much of her data at the dawn of the Information Age. PAF (the DOS-based version provided by the LDS church) was king then. Getting everything on a computer, with the ability to move back and forth along family lines, made the whole thing SO much easier.

Today we're in a different era. There are a few large companies trying to consolidate everything, and monetize it. They want your research so they can sell it to others. "Doing genealogy" takes no more effort than a Google search. It does, however, require a credit card once you get to a certain point.

Although I was pretty big into genealogy software (one program I wrote was sold to one of those big companies I mentioned) I've since drifted away. There isn't the same sense of community, and I question whether quality has suffered in the drive for quantity and profit.

The emerging emphasis on genetics will probably mark the start of yet another era in genealogy.

That said, genealogy in my grandmother's day had it's own biases. Back then, I suspect many were trying to prove their descent from fame and royalty. They were quick to accept links that they felt were honorable, and slow to research any scoundrels who might appear in their family tree.
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Old 10-02-2017, 07:27 AM   #9
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Here is the link to FTM --> Family Tree Maker

$80, but I like it, and it is worth it to me. Tried lots of the others and the free ones, this one seemed easiest for me to work with. User friendly. YMMV.

I'm a Genealogist for the Sons of the American Revolution.
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Old 10-02-2017, 08:49 AM   #10
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I use familysearch a little. I enjoy learning things from my parents' and grandparents' lives that other relatives have uploaded. And I upload photos, letters, documents, and stories from their lives, which I hope others will find interesting someday.

It's sorta interesting to look back further in my ancestors, but I never knew them, and after enough years, most of us are related somehow. There's a curious tool called "relative finder", that searches for famous people to whom you are related. It's tied into Familysearch. It says I am related to
George HW Bush (9th cousin)
Ronald Reagan (14th Cousin 1 time removed)
Mary Queen of Scots (6th Cousin 8 times removed)
Barack Obama (10th Cousin 1 time removed)
Jimmy Hendrix (7th Cousin 3 times removed).

It's sorta silly, I think. Well, maybe if there's some inheritance money involved. From what I know about european royalty, I don't think I would want to be associated with many of them.
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Old 10-02-2017, 09:07 AM   #11
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Many years ago, I purchased "The Master Genealogist" program and, fortunately, kept up my license. About 10 years ago, the Publisher decided that they "had done all they could with the program and could not come up with anything that would improve it. Consequently, rather than continue to charge for minor upgrades, will close down." This in addition to being extremely user friendly, he was correct. Even today, there are no Genealogy programs that come even close to the capabilities of TMG. (Those of us with licenses are still able to access "support" but there can be no new owners.)

Nevertheless, there is now a group that is incorporating TMG into their "free platform-independent application for the serious amateur or professional historical researcher." https://historyresearchenvironment.org/

They are not quite ready for Prime-time but I have great expectations that this will be what everyone is looking for.

Quote:
History Research Environment is a community project which aims to create HRE, a free and open-source platform-independent application for the serious amateur or professional historical researcher.

HRE is designed to handle not only genealogical (family history) data, but a very wide range of other historical and social research needs.

For Genealogists, HRE will provide an onward path for existing users of the now-discontinued program The Master Genealogist (TMG).
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Old 10-02-2017, 11:10 AM   #12
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My husband is big into genealogy and I play some with it. He has used most of the major programs over the years. Currently we own both the new Family Tree Maker 2017 and the paid Rootsmagic.

Many people who do genealogy have memberships to Ancestry and therefore want to have software that sync directly with Ancestry. For a long time Family Tree Maker was the only one that could. But, now as of a few months ago Rootsmagic will do it as well.

Rootsmagic, however, will also give you hints from MyHeritage. We also have a paid membership there and sometimes get stuff from MyHeritage that we don't get from Rootsmagic. So, currently, he is using Rootsmagic.

Both programs have their adherents. I think both are fine. One feature DH likes about Rootsmagic is that he can increase the font which makes it easier to see on the screen. He can't do that in Family Tree Maker.

Suggest trying both out. I know there is a free version of Rootsmagic that can be used as well but we paid the $20 for the paid version.
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Old 10-02-2017, 11:48 AM   #13
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Thanks for the feedback on storage products. I'll check out both Family Tree Maker and Rootsmagic.
I have found that the LDS site, Familysearch, is in many ways superior to ancestry.com.
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