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Family Tree Maker to be pensioned off. NOT!

Discussion in 'Family Tree Maker' started by canadianbeth, Dec 8, 2015.

  1. canadianbeth

    canadianbeth LostCousins Star

    I just received this e-mail.

    Dear Family Tree Maker™ community,

    Ancestry is proud to have made a significant investment this year to bring valuable new content and records to the Ancestry site. In 2015, we’ve made 220 million searchable historical records from Mexico available, more than 170 million pages from the largest collection of U.S. will and probate records, among others. We’ve also introduced new features such as Ancestry Academy, and major advancements for AncestryDNA.

    As we strive to provide our customers with the best experience possible, we are constantly evaluating our services and product offerings. True to this focus, we’ve taken a hard look at the declining desktop software market and the impact this has on being able to continue to provide new content, product enhancements and support that our users need. With that, we’ve made the tough decision to stop selling Family Tree Maker as of December 31, 2015.

    We will continue to support existing Family Tree Maker owners at least through January 1, 2017. During this time, all features of the software, including TreeSync™ will continue to work. Our Member Services team will also remain available to assist with questions or issues you may have.

    These changes are never easy. But by focusing our efforts, we can concentrate on continuing to build great products for our loyal Ancestry community.

    You can find additional details about the retirement of Family Tree Maker on our blog.
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  2. trebor

    trebor LostCousins Member

    I have just received an email from Ancestry which states that from the end of 2015 they will no longer sell Family Tree Maker but they will continue support plus Tree Sync until Jan 1 2017.
    The connection that the two product had was my main reason for choosing this combination and I can see that unless prices fall to make up for the loss I will probably cancel my Ancestry subscription.
    Does anyone have any suggestions for a suitable replacement package / partnership to replace it?
     
  3. trebor

    trebor LostCousins Member

    Same here - the blog indicates that Ancestry has hit a few sore nerves.
     
  4. jorghes

    jorghes LostCousins Superstar

    As a Mac user I have also used MacFamily Tree 7 - but the interface is clunky, it can be difficult to use and the linking with FamilySearch resets everytime you open and close the program.

    I am also on the lookout for another program, but it would need to be Mac compatible, and I haven't been very impressed with the other Mac software for Family trees which was why I was using FTM. It seems that a big investment (FTM and an Ancestry subscription) is now useless.
     
  5. chrissy1

    chrissy1 LostCousins Star

    Thanks for that, Beth. I only bought FTM a few months ago but I am now afraid to trust it, having just lost ALL my large tree comprising 25 years' research! Luckily, most of the data (including the photos and census images) was also stored online at Ancestry, but I am currently wondering whether I dare synchronise my trees again in case I lose my FTM tree once more, or whether next time it will be irretrievable. Luckily all the info which I had recently added to FTM, I also added to my trusty old Reunion software, which has never let me down in almost 20 years' use, so I was able to manually retrieve the unsaved data in addition to that from Ancestry. (Backing up my FTM on external drive has frequently failed.)

    Unfortunately, I am unable to find a way to access the notes which I have added to FTM on Ancestry, so Ancestry alone will never be of use to me as a method of storing my tree and once there is no link with FTM, my tree will be removed.......
     
  6. emjay

    emjay LostCousins Member

    F.T.M. news. Also received an email from Roots Magic : Roots welcomes ftm users.....now that was quick off the mark!
     
  7. emjay

    emjay LostCousins Member

    As a .paf 5 user I was disappointed when support was withdrawn, and immediately sought alternative software. However I still use my .paf tree along with my chosen replacement Roots magic. As it turns out, there was no need to seek an alternative program. So ftm users do not have to look elsewhere; if you are happy with the functionality of the software you will be able to use it offline quite happily for years to come. The big downside will be dull grey leafs instead of green shaky ones, and sync facility for those who love that.
     
  8. AdrienneQ

    AdrienneQ Moderator Staff Member

    Like trebor I will also have to rethink my choices after Tree Sync stops. I like/want to have control of my Tree on my home machine not just on a web site.
     
  9. Norman

    Norman LostCousins Member

    RootsMagic have been quick off the mark with an upgrade offer.

    They state "We've had many people ask if we could work with Ancestry.com to integrate with their website, similiar to how Family Tree Maker has done. We're very willing to make this happen and have let them know this. If this is something that you'd find useful, please contact Ancestry and let them know."

    Of course FTM will continue to work even after they stop supporting it but I will miss the TreeSync feature as it was a foolproof way of keeping my local data and on-line data in "sync" and of downloading images of every document and image referenced within the tree.
     
  10. chrissy1

    chrissy1 LostCousins Star

    I was torn between upgrading the free version of Rootsmagic to the full version and purchasing FTM 6 months ago when I decided that a more modern program was required. As the latter came with a free Ancestry subscription, it has effectively cost me nothing, so I can afford to transfer to Rootsmagic next year. Yes, I could continue using FTM, but as it has just lost ALL my data following the recent update, I don't feel I can I trust it any more, esp without the Ancestry back up. Reunion for windows, which I have used for the past 20+ years never presented any problems or required any updates........ and thankfully I have continued to update my information on there. Downside might be that Reunion may not work with Windows 10.......and its gedcoms aren't accepted by FTM.
     
  11. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    That is quite a bombshell and I say this as someone who only uses FTM in a secondary way mainly for syncing with my Ancestry Tree. I find it useful to have a desktop version of my 'Ancestry' database to hand to use when researching or using my Tribal Pages webpage. Even so it disturbs me to hear of Ancestry's decision and I am sure it will upset those who use FTM as their main database as evidence comments on the blog. I hope there will be sufficient pressure to get Ancestry to reverse their decision, but somehow I doubt that will happen; still fingers crossed.
     
  12. emjay

    emjay LostCousins Member

    Cynical view, but they are in it to make money.....not to please their current customers/users of the software.
    If it is the shaky leafs that are going to be missed, Roots Magic 7 has flashing light bulbs (low energy ones ;))
     
  13. Gillian

    Gillian LostCousins Star

    I don't think the shaky leaves on Ancestry are anything to do with FTM, are they? I get lots of them but don't have FTM. I use Legacy.
     
  14. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    I'm planning to write about this in my next newsletter, so I'd be interested to hear from FTM users how you will be affected - I know that different people make use of different features.

    Personally I've always been very wary of anything that ties in researchers to a particular website or a particular piece of software, and have never recommend FTM as software (only as a cheap way to get an Ancestry subscription), but I can understand why so many people found the combination irresistible.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. emjay

    emjay LostCousins Member

    There are shaky leafs on FTM Gillian
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  16. trebor

    trebor LostCousins Member

    From my perspective there are 3 main issues here.
    The first is the loss of Tree Sync which I found an excellent way of getting information from the website into my desktop program.
    Then there is the fact that I like the way it presents the tree and the general way it works - I tried many other programs before selecting FTM.
    But the most difficult issue will be the loss of the installation files. From memory this was a download plus the updates released since have been the same. If you have still got the original download then if you need to reinstall that will be possible but I guess that Ancestry will not offer the updates after they stop providing support and you are not given the option to save those. I am possibly in this position now because I have just bought a new PC and cannot find my install files.
     
  17. MelG

    MelG LostCousins Member

    The last update to my FTM 14 on my desktop PC & laptop went ok, but I may look for something else particularly as I don't think the tree drawing option of version 14 is as good as the old version 5 which I still have loaded on my desktop PC. I regularly export my FTM files to gedcoms to reduce the dependency on Ancestry should everything go nasty. As the old saying goes, it doesn't pay to have your nuts in someone else's cracker;).
     
    • Good tip Good tip x 1
  18. jorghes

    jorghes LostCousins Superstar

    I mainly used FTM because it seemed the best choice of a smaller selection of Mac products for family tree building. RootsMagic and Legacy and other like them are simply not available as Mac platforms, and while there is a PC in the house I live in, I would not want to move all my work from my Mac onto a desktop PC I rarely use just because I can't get a Mac program and it would also limit what and when I was able to work on my tree, as it would move it off the laptop I use all the time.

    I don't particularly want to get a Windows Boot program to run something like RootsMagic on my Mac, because when I've tried that before (I create cross-stitch patterns, and the program I use is PC only) it wanted to steal a lot of room off my memory to work, and I don't particularly want to sacrifice that space.

    As for other reasons it's best to have FTM - editing incorrect entries are easier on FTM, merging duplicate entries (which Ancestry seems so good at) can't seem to be done on the web version and is easy on the program; I use the report programs to find errors and incorrectly entered places and dates which the website won't do. I share my tree with various members of my extended family, and I use the ability to parse my one big tree (incorporating both sides of my family) to create smaller trees that only have, for example, my paternal line for my paternal cousins and aunts/uncles - you can't manipulate trees like that without the programming.

    I have used another Mac program - MacFamilyTree 7, which is the offering by Family Search. The program itself feels clunky, I'm not a fan of the views offered nor the default display of information. Some of the reports are nice (it makes brilliantly coloured fan charts) and it has some interesting ways to collate data such as creating graphs for age of death etc. However one it's massive downsides is that it's link with the FamilySearch database resets every time the program is closed - it runs through all the people in your tree and creates "hints" or suggests possible links with people on the FamilySearch database - it can take a long time to go through the entire GEDcom file... but you have to restart the search everytime you restart the program.
     
  19. Kate

    Kate LostCousins Member

    I can see that FTM still can be used as family tree programme but it was convenient to have my tree saved on line, as a private tree, every time I changed it. Obviously I have it on a 'stick' too but I do not save it on there every time I make a small change. So I will miss this .
    However there does not seem to be a practical alternative online.
    My other concern is that while I know I can download my actual tree as a ged com and transfer it to another programme if I want to do so, would I be able to transfer all my media at the same time, which is considerable?
    I like the free Legacy and Rootsmagic downloads but at the time I bought FTM 2012 it seemed superior.
    By the way, I have never been able to create a smaller tree using FTM as it seemed to me that the names had to be entered individually, but is that me being silly?
     
  20. chrissy1

    chrissy1 LostCousins Star

    I currently use the Ancestry shaking leaves to locate and save census and PR media etc, though I already have the relevant information stored in the notes section, laboriously typed out over many years on my old program. The shaking leaves simply save me time and effort locating the media again prior to saving copies. I find FTM relatively easy to use, particularly with it's link to Ancestry which facilitates media gathering and storage. I have yet to find out whether my large tree will transfer to another program easily or whether a gedcom will save all the media I have laboriously gathered. If not, I shall have to revert to simply typing out census and PR info under 'notes' (as has been my habit for the past 25 years) and try to save photos again on Rootsmagic. However, I am not very happy about the changes, since I have had FTM for less than 6 months and the feature for which I specifically purchased it is about to become obsolete.

    I have used the free version of Rootsmagic, but can anyone tell me why some of the photos I added have red crosses on them while others don't? Are some or all only temporarily saved? What does the full version offer that the free one does not (apart from a link to Dropbox for storage)? Rootsmagic also has the advantage that it accepts gedcoms from my old Reunion program, which FTM won't. Is there an upgrade offer similar to the one to which Norman refers for UK customers in £ sterling?
     

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