Family Tree Maker Deluxe [OLD VERSION]

I've been using this product for years and while it has slowly evolved to its current features and benefits list, its fundamental flaws persist. First, though, the benefits. The newest and most important feature is "tree synching," which allows you keep your ancestry.com family tree synchronized with information you manage on your PC. And by information, I mean, just about anything: facts, sources, documents, photos, etc.The deluxe version comes with three months' subscription to ancestry.com, which is useful if you started your family tree online and the introductory subscription has expired. If you're already paying for a subscription, you can apply the free months as you install and register the software.Overall the product integrates with ancestry.com pretty well. Aside from synchronization, you can launch searches on ancestry.com and the internet without opening a browser. It merges information you find on ancestry.com and provides copy and paste functionality for other websites. It also uses the "shaking leaves" affordance to alert you to possible matches, just as you've seen on the commercials for ancestry.com.If you've started your family tree using another application, such as Personal Ancestral File from familysearch.org, you can usually export your tree in .ged format and import it to Family Tree Maker. You can also start a family tree from scratch.Forms, forms, forms: a drawback with this product is that, while providing comprehensive management of facts about your ancestors, the user interface only somewhat masks the actual task at hand, that is, the fact that you are managing a complex relational database. As a result, procedures for entering information are often rigid: You must use a series of forms. Sometimes the flow from one to another feels unnatural and unintuitive (read: clunky and effort-ful). However, I have to say that, having experimented with a variety of genealogy software, Family Tree Maker is not unique in this regard. The vendor who someday succeeds in providing an interface that is non-modal, and flows naturally, will kill its competitors.

I love anything to do with my family history. So when I seen this, I snagged it. I've been using it ever since. It's totally user friendly and has tons of features that are awesome for any genealogist to have!Some of my favorite things about FTM:- It allows for multiple generations with multiple families per generation (multiple wives, children, etc)- You can print your information right from the program. I was able to make pedigree charts without inputting any additional information.- You can have different trees for different families.There isn't a whole lot I don't like. The program is very user friendly and comes with a large manual .I strongly suggest reading the manual before using the program, as it will help you navigate better in the long run.The one thing that I dislike about this program is that you can't have same-sex couples. I am a woman, so I had to put my spouse as a man even though I'm married to another woman. Even though it gives the option to put male/female, the default is still male. So it has our son taking my wife's last name even though he took mine. I think it would be much better if they adapted with the times.All in all, I strongly recommend this product if you're into keeping your research organized without the thousands of papers scattered around!

We were in the first group that sent informatin to FTM when they began many moons ago. FTM 2012 is fine for us, but can be to far advanced for a beginner.The new method of the way pictures are added is a big help. If you are just beginning, go slow and make sure your information is correct. We have spent 25 years correcting information handed down as, "My great aunt told my aunt who told my mother who told me that she heard her friend tell a friend that a friend told another friend that General Washingtown sleep in this very bed". That bed was built 35 years ago. We had a cousin who wrote that one of our forfathers was one of General Washington"s Honor Guard and it appears on a stone in the cemetery. This stone also reads that that forfather died in 1812, but his will reads 1825.This is hard to clear up. Make sure of your facts.

This is a very easy software to use. I had used a much older version which I found easy too. But the big plus for this was the Amcestry.com membership. I have expanded my tree to double its size in just a few weeks. Publishing capability is a bit limited. Wanted to do the family view that was available in the older version....can't seem to find it...but I may be missing it. I am very happy with the package. It allows easy merging of information from multiple sources even if the data are slightly out of wack which allows you to keep track of different potential branches and information. I had put my genealogical research on hold a few years ago when I hit a confusing period in the early 1700s when multiple potential branches showed up and I couldn't pick the one that seemed to be my ancestors. This has allowed me to experiment with each and after following the potentials back a generation to decide that I am on the right branch. All in all it has revived my interest in genealogy of my family and I have begun to research my husband's family as well.