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Recomendations/Comments

Jeff Jahn

alas their is no software available that will do a direct transfer from FTM 2014, only option is ged file.

Jill Marci Sybalsky

Robert O. Pulse I don't understand why you are having issues "Family Tree Maker 2014 and converting 2012 files to 2014, and it has been wasted."
Which option did you pick when you did the conversion? Did you make sure to keep the original plus do a conversion?

Did you have issues upgrading from a previous version of Family Tree Maker (version 16 or earlier)?

Did you look here? http://help.ancestry.com/.../L3RpbWUvMTM4Njc5MTI2NS9zaWQv...

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help.ancestry.com

Teresa Ghee Elliott

I know of no program that is going to be able to import from FTM 2014 because it is so new. TMG can import a 2009 .FTM or a .FTW file. DOn't know what versions those are. There is still an active Rootsweb list and an active group in VA that could help you if you need help. Tech support is still incredibly good. My suggestion would be to first pick the program that works best for your needs and then contact the vendor and see what they can suggest as far as importing your data. I don't know if it can even be done to be honest, but it never hurts to ask. I admit, I don't use GEDCOM, so I can't really help you in that department.

Teresa Ghee Elliott

Yes, but in those 22 years you upgraded how many times? You are not still using the program you bought in 1991. I think you just have to go with the one that meets your needs most now and revisit this at some point in the future when Genealogy changes again. Just like the rest of us.

Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

Most of the programs uploaded to the old FamilySearch, but not all currently are compatible with the new FamilySearch. I imagine sooner or later they will ne again.

Raoul Savoie

Stay away from Family Tree Maker 2014 they only have one thing in mind, your info , so they can sell them. I know I lost mine.

Eileen Souza

FTM 2014 does not require you to sync to Ancestry.com. It is an option. I do not sync and all my data remains on my own disk drives.

Jim Catanzaro

20,000... 100,000, 30,000 names in a few databases, and I am not related to anyone, whats wrong with this picture? lol

Teresa Ghee Elliott

Jim, If that is true, a LOT. But I think if you are like me, and your ancestors are from a small geographic area for a long time and you've been in contact with the latest generations, 20,000 people isn't a lot. For instance, most of my 5th great grandfathers were living within Rutherford, Bedford or Davidson County TN by 1810. So I am related to a lot of people from those counties. But most of the 16,000 people in my dataset are related to me in some fashion. Some multiple ways. The ones that aren't are neighbors, bought/sold land or witnessed documents for the ones that are.

Jana Thompson

I like the software. You can also provide suggestions to them for improvements.

Donna Willis Brown

You also get larger files when you do siblings and their spouses and children for multiple generations. By doing siblings, I have solved many seeming brick walls, maiden names, remarriages, and discovered I was completely on a wrong trail, etc.

Janelle Vandervort Dvorak

Donna Willis Brown: Agree totally. I believe getting the whole family picture is very important. I've found it very helpful in predicting future behavior.

Patrice Houck Schadt

Janelle -- Didn't you have backups? I think I am getting back up happy so that doesn't happen. The thought just makes me cringe.

Janelle Vandervort Dvorak

I did have backups, but the very thought that an update could fry my system made me run like fury to another system. So far, no reoccurences.

Patrice Houck Schadt

I don't understand what you mean by "fry your system". did the whole computer crash because of an update? I have never had a problem with updates. If you had a bad experience with the program, I don't blame you for looking at something else. I have looked at other programs out of curiosity and just decided to go back to what I have used in the past. I just don't have the time or the patience to learn to do this all over again.

Sue Clifford Maxwell

What exactly happened Janelle? How did it "fry your system"?

Janelle Vandervort Dvorak

An excellent approach, Robert O. Pulse

Robert O. Pulse

Tamura Jones Thank you for the information on FAN numbers, very interesting, I will need to read a number of times to understand. Can you check over my other assumptions and let me know here if they are accurate. http://www.pittsburgcogenealogical.org/Advanced/Software/Conclusion%20%20.htm

Now a question for you, in my analysis, I came across the need to export files in GEDCOM 5.5 as UTF-8. I am assuming I need this instead of ANCII, because I wish to maintain my German Place names with the proper German character set. This is important when you search on the location, with out the proper German characters, the search will not yield the desired results. Is my analysis correct?

Next it appears that RootsMagic, FTM and MyHeritage are the only programs supporting UTF-8. That Legacy Tree and Master Genealogist are using database engines that do not support UTF-8, and therefore would have to be ported to another database engine to support UTF-8. Frankly, I find this difficult to believe, but the comments appear to support the conclusion. This was all new to me and a bit out of my areas of expertise; I am hoping you will know.

Tamura Jones

Robert O. Pulse, GEDCOM 5.5 does not allow UTF-8. For UTF-8, you need an application that support GEDCOM 5.5.1.
Some applications, most infamously PAF, support 5.5.1, yet misidentify their own GEDCOM files as version 5.5.
Although you should look for Unicode-based applications supporting UTF-8, ANSEL will do for German names; it was specifically designed to support all West European characters.

There are more Unicode based genealogy applications, e.g. PAF and Ancestral Quest, but it is remarkable how many genealogy software vendors have been dragging their feet for more than two decades already...
Many more applications support ANSEL and UTF-8, but with a code-page application like Legacy or TMG that support is limited to the code page they use (Windows ANSI). Windows ANSI does include the Latin Small Letter Sharp S.

Robert O. Pulse

Beverly Harrison- If you check my "Migration to RootsMagic", I am going to conical my experiences in moving files and bring RootsMagic up - may save you a step or so. Just so you know how I file media - each person has a folder based on their reference number, each person folder contains a folder named new folder that contains items that have not been linked yet (I use this when I am in a repository), If a media item has more than one person in it, I make copies for each individual, at the end of the reference numbered files are the Unknowns, these are people that I cannot identify an in my line at a repository, but they have the same surname, are buried in the same family plot, appear on the census as related, appear in a newspaper article as a family member etc., the files are labeled as "UN-Surname-Given name." I review these files during the winter, I have found new name spellings, nick names, in these files, amazing what you can do when not under the pressure of a repository. I have 38,000 media items (7,000 in FTM2014 that are duplicates), most are photo items, Federal and state census, scans of microfilm, and city directory pages (If I am near a brick wall, I copy 5 census, two before and two after the one my family is on, filed under the head of the household). I have gone through a number of media file naming systems, my current system is "reference number-year-month-day-description," but this may change, some one on this site published a proposed standard the other day, and I am reading it. I keep photo albums in the folder of the individual that allowed me to scan them, most are not identified, as I process and individual, I will go to these albums and see what is available for that individual, make a copy and place it in the individual's folder. Since RootsMagic makes links to these files, I am in hopes of getting some space back. The files are getting quite large. Will keep you informed of my progress.

Beverly Harrison

See above thread....the one started by Robert O. Pulse...I am doing the Happy Dance now, took advice posted by Marla Larson, manually linked ONE photo media file in the Roots Magic 6 tree that I uploaded from an FTM Gedcom, that seems to have done the trick, by manually linking that one pic, the rest have now linked themselves. My pics all appear to be attached where they should be, to the right people, and are visible (based on quick visual maneuvering through a few branches, but looks good so far!). So, anyone else having that same problem, media files-photos that won't import from a Gedcom or have broken links, try manually linking one or two photos and see what happens. It was just my links that were broken, apparently and somehow manually fixing one link seems to make the rest fall into place. Mystical voodoo stuff, this techy thing will drive me nuts yet, but right now I am a happy genea!

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