Suggest some genealogy software, please.

[Michael73]

Sounds like an alarmist title, right?!? Or, is the title just a statement of fact?

Either way, with lots of deaths in my family in the last 2 years its got me thinking that as they die, so does tons of stories and facts about my family history. In this digital age, the front of the bible and info in my baby book just won't do. I'd like to begin recording some family geneology information as well as transcribing a lot of the paper geneological records that my grandfather did in the '70s and '80s. Can anyone make some product recommendations?

Until I get more into it, I'd like to stay under $50 for any software.

 

[jeremy.king]

http://www.ancestry.com/ ?

 

[blodwyn]

Sounds like an alarmist title, right?!? Or, is the title just a statement of fact?

Either way, with lots of deaths in my family in the last 2 years its got me thinking that as they die, so does tons of stories and facts about my family history. In this digital age, the front of the bible and info in my baby book just won't do. I'd like to begin recording some family geneology information as well as transcribing a lot of the paper geneological records that my grandfather did in the '70s and '80s. Can anyone make some product recommendations?

Until I get more into it, I'd like to stay under $50 for any software.

There's more to your question than just "which genealogy software should I use". I've used Reunion to put my tree together, which reads and writes gedcom files, as does MacFamilyTree. The question that I wonder about is how to make sure that the data and information survives into the medium to longer term future, long after the current applications are history. Currently I'm printing everything to PDF format, which is currently a well supported format, and should have some mileage. This may not be a solution for ever though so myself or my ancestors may have to find another format to store the information one day. I back my documents up often enough to different drives not to worry about about magnetic media degradation issues right now. When all is said and done, I think having a set of paper records is still a good thing.

 

[juanm]

Ask Ugg about this, he can tell you the history of the Copelands!

 

[velocityg4]

There's more to your question than just "which genealogy software should I use". I've used Reunion to put my tree together, which reads and writes gedcom files, as does MacFamilyTree. The question that I wonder about is how to make sure that the data and information survives into the medium to longer term future, long after the current applications are history. Currently I'm printing everything to PDF format, which is currently a well supported format, and should have some mileage. This may not be a solution for ever though so myself or my ancestors may have to find another format to store the information one day. I back my documents up often enough to different drives not to worry about about magnetic media degradation issues right now. When all is said and done, I think having a set of paper records is still a good thing.

If you want a really long lasting format save everything in .txt or .doc. I doubt either of those will disappear completely for many years.

 

[blodwyn]

If you want a really long lasting format save everything in .txt or .doc. I doubt either of those will disappear completely for many years.

I'm not sure about the .doc format. I have some files from Office 95 (Windows) that won't open in Office 2004 (Mac). Also .txt are no use for scans of Birth Certificates, hand-written letters, photos, etc. That's why I standardized on PDF for the foreseeable future.

 

[tuxtpenguin]

I think pdf is a good format for this.

 

[lugesm]

Michael73:

Reunion is an excellent program (the very best IMHO), and I have found the folks who publish the program to provide really good support. I have used Reunion for 15 years, and I have tried other programs. Still have not found a better program than Reunion. It is really important to start with the right genealogy program, as it is not always possible to accurately and completely move genealogy data from one program to another.

Moving genealogy data to a high-quality paper format is a desirable way to preserve your research, but I have not yet found a way to print it in an easy-to-understand, orderly manner.

A word of advice: As you research your genealogy, don't place a lot of credibility in published family trees, especially those found on the Internet. Most researchers are not researching at all, but simply copying everything they can find on the Internet. Unless a genealogy "fact" is sourced, it is always questionable; and false data can lead you down a lot of blind alleys.

The first, an most important, rule of genealogy research: Start with a single person about whom you are dead certain of the facts . . . yourself. Then work backwards in time.

Best of luck with your project; it is a fascinating hobby . . . . a puzzle without boundaries.

 

[SpudIdaho]

Mac geneology program that syncs with New Family Search

I'm a new user with Mac and past used PAF on my PC. I'm need a good mac software program that works well and syncs with New Family Search. Anyone out there that works with New Family Search?