|
|
|
|
November 16, 2005 More About Family Tree Programs Preserving Your Roots New versions of family tree programs help you preserve family information and use it in many appealing ways, and creating a family tree can be very satisfying and interesting. Here are two programs we think are excellent:
It’s easy to create a tree by using the Data Entry Wizard, or just fill in the provided blanks on your own. An auto-entry feature fills in frequently-used information, and dates are automatically converted to standard genealogy format. You can display or print the information you’ve entered at any time in a family view, ancestor, descendant, hourglass, all-in-one, outline, fan or standard pedigree tree format. You can also choose which type of information to display, such as birth, marriage and death dates and the like and the number of generations to display. View or print the information in a variety of report formats too, and switch between different tree and report formats at any time. An index listing each person (sorted in alpha or birth date order) makes it easy to find any person. Enter address, phone, email (also medical information and notes) for each person if you want to print mailing labels, name tags, post cards and more. A Publishing Center lets you create family books that can include text, photos, Table of Contents, index and the like. You can also create scrapbooks, complete with photos and images, and personal family home pages to publish on the Web. Save a tree or report in a pdf, rtf or other format to share with others, even if they don’t have the program. Screen icons take you quickly to the many features available, and there’s help on screen and in the printed manual. Internet users can also find help and user group information on the Web site. We used this program to create a family tree for a reunion and were very happy with the results. We chose to use a format that showed each person displayed in a box containing name and birth date and each family with their photo near their entry; this format made it easy to see the relationship of each person and each family in all seven generations. We had the tree printed at Kinko’s on card stock on large sheets; we then taped the sheets together and posted our 13 foot long tree on a bulletin board at the reunion. Our family was thrilled with the results; now they know where they fit into the family, and they’ve also seen photos of some of our ancestors as well as current family members. And they all have a copy to print or keep.
Legacy 6.0 displays information in two basic views: the "Family" view, which shows three generations centered on a selected family, with grandparents displayed above and children displayed below. Birth and marriage places and dates and thumbnail photos of the selected family are also displayed, along any other details if you want. Grandparents’ and children’s information in the Family View display are limited to birth and death dates, but clicking on any of their names places that person in the center, with complete info, and their parents displayed above and their children below. All information is entered in the Family view, using a fill-in-the-box style, with auto-complete for dates and locations. Extensive search parameters, bookmark and history lists make it easy to find individuals, even in very large files. Up to eight windows can be opened in a Family File, and two different Family Files can be opened simultaneously to compare or copy info. A Picture Gallery can be filled with photos, graphics, scanned documents, audio and video clips. From this Picture Gallery you can choose photos and such to attach to individuals to display on-screen or to print in reports. The Pedigree view centers on a selected individual and displays his/her parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. This display format has two additional windows: one showing spouses and children, and the other showing siblings of the selected person. A Privacy feature allows you to exclude selected individuals from any view or report. Extensive help is available within the program, and bubble tips provide context help. Step-by-step instructions for LDS (Latter Day Saints) Temple submissions for genealogy searches are included. An optional printed manual helps you get the most from this program, and a free tutorial is available on the Web site.
|
Family
Tree Maker Deluxe 2006
(Encore, Windows 98/Me/XP, $69.95) is easy to use and offers online searching
for more than 5 billion records. New to the 2006 version is improved data entry,
source citation features, web search and merge options.
Legacy
Family Tree 6.0 (Millennia
Corporation, Windows, standard edition download is free, Deluxe version download
is $19.95, www.legacyfamilytree.com). New to this version are a built-in
personal research assistant, an updated publishing center, timelines, and 85 new
or updated features. This program stands out for its ease of entering and
finding information in your family tree. Help on actually researching your tree
is thin, but sourcing your info is emphasized throughout. The program supports
unlimited file sizes, record numbers and multimedia elements. Multiple printed
family tree and report formats are available, including a family book complete
with pictures. Mailing label creation helps in organizing family reunions and
such. Export your family tree in gedcom, pdf and LDS formats.