Family Tree Maker to be pensioned off. NOT!

Thanks, Peter. I will try FH if I ever get my tree back on FTM and see if I prefer it to Rootsmagic free version. I have tried Legacy but it keeps crashing, so that is no use to me. Following the last FTM update, my tree which is also linked to Ancestry has disappeared completely TWICE from FTM! Is this a ploy to make me decide to use only the online version? If so it certainly won't work! It took me over 7 hours to download my tree again from Ancestry back onto FTM, but it has promptly disappeared again. I tried to save the tree from FTM after it finally reloaded, but that closed the computer down completely and the tree disappeared again, so I haven't even got an up to date backup copy, as the last 3 attempts either aborted or showed LESS data than on the previous backup. Help! What is going on? (FTM helpdesk have so far offered several suggestions, none of which have worked.)

 

Jorghes seems to have a problem with MacFamilyTree which I don't (going off to search Family Search by itself). This suggests that there is a switch in settings that can be turned off because mine certainly doesn't do that. In fact I hardly use the FS link, preferring to be in charge of my own searches on that site.

Back to FTM. For some time now I have been contemplating buying the Mac version because it displays basic information better than MFT does but a few people above and in the 'which genealogy software to use' posts suggest that FTM can lose all your data unexpectedly. I would not intend to use it in sync with Ancestry and I wonder whether it is the sync process that causes this problem (and perhaps may have contributed to the decision by Ancestry to dump it and its users in a smelly heap). My point is that it may well function as a decent desk top only piece of software for a long time - until one day an operating system update on your PC or Mac renders it inoperable. You are not required to sync it with an Ancestry account if you don't want to.

Although some online only vendors have stopped selling it there may be some very cheap versions available in boxes at some software stores with retail outlets if you're prepared to take the risk. After all, the software has been matured very nicely for many years and is still a pretty sophisticated piece of work.

Just a thought!

 

Currently on the phone to Ancestry but will try later.

 

Seems that FTM will no longer work on my computer (despite the box stating that it's compatible with Vista) and my entire FTM file is unable to be viewed on FTM any more and the helpdesk is unable to help unless I purchase a new computer. Apparently I have a FTM file on the computer which could be transferred to another program (though the helpdesk seemed a little hazy about that) but the helpdesk informed me that gedcom files will only transfer words and NOT MEDIA.

 

Personally I think it's a ploy to persuade people to store their trees online only so that Ancestry can help itself to the information. For information, the Helpdesk person to whom I spoke said that is hasn't been confirmed that there will no longer be sync between Ancestry and FTM, simply that support for FTM14 will cease on Jan 1 2016.....

Rootsmagic are also offering a discount to FTM users, but it only seems to appear in dollars$....so I am not sure if it is offered to UK customers.

 

You can download a free trial version of Family Historian here.

Is Family Historian the one that links to My Heritage.........? I have read some offputting reports about My Heritage.

 

Although I too am concerned with Ancestry's decision to abandon FTM, perhaps, just perhaps, we should not be too surprised as they are following the world-wide corporate trend to discard things that no longer give a reasonable return (reasonable by their definition of course). The first indication in the market place that sales are stagnating is the need for ‘Sales’. When merchandise flies out the window there is no need for sales, and even Seasonable Sales point to the fact that old stock is hanging and space is needed.

Ancestry's decision to offer a 6 month subscription - or extend an existing one - with every sale of FTM amounted to a Sale under a different guise. Once offered it created a Catch 22 situation for Ancestry: withdraw the offer and sales drop; extend the offer and margins are cut. Eventually alarm bells rang for the corporate executives watching the balance sheets. All might have been well if there had been a 'quid pro quo' with people extending their subscriptions beyond the free period, but I suspect many did not and who can blame them?

Ancestry make the claim of a falloff in Desktop software and I'm sure this is true of all desktop utility software that is not free. It is on a par with declining high street shops giving way to the larger out-of-town stores, who are in turn suffering because of online shopping so they venture into online shopping themselves. People will leave no stone unturned to seek out a bargain, but behind the scenes -'back in the jungle' - mergers, sell-offs and corporate collaborations are in the pipeline. Operations will be trimmed back and (very likely) staff laid off in the hope that there will be return to the good old days where they made money like it was going out of fashion.

As for Customers affected by such actions, they will seek an alternative product, one that offers the same or very similar functions, providing of course they get, or appear to get, a bargain. ‘Twas always so!

 

I was disappointed to see that the $20 upgrade is postal as opposed to a download,therefore doubling the cost for UK purchasers.( I refer to the upgrade from Roots Magic 6 to 7 and assume it to be the case for the FTM users offer)

 

During the purchase process the cost will convert to £ssss

 

Sources (but not any media attached to them) and media attached to a person will import OK into Family Historian and Roots Magic via a Gedcom Export in ANSI format from FTM, albeit they initially show with the path of the file as the media title. The media itself remains in the FTM folder and isn't moved into the Family Historian or Roots Magic media folder.

FTM doesn't appear to allow for media attached to sources to have a link exported to Gedcom. As most trees sync'd to Ancestry will have the media for an Event/Fact attached to the source record for that Fact/Event (as that is what ancestry does), this means that the link to the media won't export to any other software package. Whether that is just to do with Gedcom standards or whether its to do with FTM I don't know.

A possible long winded workaround is to go through a tree and manually attach such media to the individual as well. This is the same as when someone saves an ancestry record to their ancestry tree and then uploads a separate copy to the media section for the same person.

This is the same when exporting via Gedcom from FTM to Roots Magic. There has been a little misinformation on the ancestry Message Boards regarding exporting FTM trees to Roots Magic natively (ie not via a gedcom). If FTM is version 2006 or earlier, then a full import is possible. From version 2008 onwards, a gedcom has to be exported for import into RM. RM's own website does specifically state this but mentions V16 of FTM which was known in the UK as 2006 (and may have been in the US, I don't know for definite).

I tested out both last night as my Aunt is in a similar position and not happy about Ancestry's decision, albeit that everyone has a year to sort this out before support finishes.

There are a number of threads on the Family Historian User Groups Forum regarding migrating from FTM - see http://www.fhug.org.uk/forum/index.php. There is a lot of help from volunteers on FHUG in getting things working but it will involve some tidying up after import.

Personally, as I've used FTM, Roots Magic, and Family Historian, FH is by far the better package but is perhaps not the easiest to understand for the new user. That said, Roots Magic's display I find rather basic, but its narrative reports are as good (although FH's can be heavily customised) as FH's.

For anyone concerned about the links between Family Historian and My Heritage, its easy to disable. And in any case, Roots Magic has the same facility that can be disabled.

If anyone has created Custom Facts/Events, then a Custom Fact/Event will have to be created in Family Historian to recognise the Fact/Event. Otherwise it defaults to a Residence Fact which doesn't look right. Its not difficult to do. The same would need to be done in any other program.

 

There is an option to purchase a download, but without the manual, for the same price. Its shows on the purchase page.

 

I should have said that this applies to all other software, not just Family Historian, if you have created Custom Facts in FTM.

 

Thanks for this.
Given the difficulty in transferring media from FTM to another programme, I think I will leave my tree on FTM.
However I will put a basic tree on a site like FMP which I can access on a computer if I am at the archives and save all my media separately on a memory stick. That way, if FTM stops working or I get fed up with it I can put my tree together again on another programme.
Luckily I have a lot on paper, too.
Does that make sense?

 

Went and had a look in the settings - there is no place which can "turn on or off" the FamilySearch. I have to log into the feature each time and it begins the search again each time, and does not save any of the results for use later.

As for my dislikes - I am not a fan of most of the "edit" views and how they chose people to show and how they don't remember who you were last working on, like FTM does. I quite like the Virtual Globe view, but it requires me, as an Australian, to go into the places to manually edit a whole heap of Australian places (and some others) that it simply doesn't recognise as "places" (often attempting to replace them with similar names from the US). It does do reports very well and I like the colour coding it does automatically. I do have both MFT and FTM, but I simply prefer the set up and syncing abilities of FTM, and find FTM simpler to use.

I just wish that more creators would put the time into creating good Mac programs so when one of the big Mac platform programs goes offline, there isn't simply very little choice to take it's place.