Family Tree Maker
Please note that the information is provided ‘as is’, without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.
The opinions expressed here are those of the reviewer. We hope that you will add your views. Please see the note at the end of the review to find out how to.
| System requirements | Windows 95/98/ME & Windows XP (as administrator rather than limited user); 90 MHz Pentium (166 MHz recommended); 16 MB Ram (32 MB recommended); 100 MB of free hard disk space; 640x480, 256 colours | |
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| Website: | Family Tree Maker . There is an online demo of the program available (requires java
applet download). |
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| Publisher: | Genealogy.com LLC | |
| Price: | Approx. £29.95 (program only - UK sellers are listed in the Family Records Resources section) - no downloadable option. | |
| Data Entry: | 
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Family
Tree Maker makes data entry as simple as possible. When you create
a new database, it walks you through the steps for entering basic
information on the first few people in your family tree, prompting
you for parents and grandparents and their birth and death dates
and locations. The program will then offer to search its online
index to see if there are any matches to the names you have entered.
However, this is of more use to those with USA ancestors so may
not be worth pursuing at this point. Dates can be entered in a flexible fashion, with modifiers available such as "about" or "before". Facts and notes can be added on separate screens and you can pick from a standard list of fact titles, e.g. Education, or include your own. Citations to a master list of sources can be added to facts or names in a relatively easy way and you can record the original text from the information’s source at the same time. Additionally, a research journal allows you to note avenues you wish to explore further for your next visit to a particular archive or exploration online. |
| Multimedia: | You can attach multiple
pictures, sound or video files and text files to any individual,
marriage or source in your database and can mark specific pictures
for use as the preferred image on charts and reports. Captions
can be included so you can explain the context of the attachment. Some facilities for editing pictures are included so that you can, for example, crop a photograph when you include it in you database. |
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| Charts: |
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Family Tree Maker’s charts are a particularly strong feature of
the program. This is, in part, because they are not only useful
for printing but are another way of navigating around your database. Standard charts are available, including vertical ancestor and descendant charts (i.e. the dropline trees familiar in the UK). There are also fan charts and an all-in-one tree which shows the connection between everyone in your database. Hourglass trees and timelines are also available. The latter can include historical details including significant European events. |
| Reports: | 
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Family Tree Maker offers a good range of reports, many of which can be
generated with a single click of a button. The Genealogy Report
can be set to give full details of either the descendants or the
ancestors of an individual. You can also produce customised reports showing specific data for a filtered list of individuals. Double clicking on a person in such a list takes you to their individual facts card. Reports can be printed out, saved or copied into a word processing program for editing. They can also be included within a Family Book which allows you to coordinate a mixture of reports, charts and text pages to produce an overall history of your ancestors. |
| Web Pages: | The ability to publish your family tree, reports or a Family Book on the web is fully integrated within Family Tree Maker and attempts are made to make the process as painless as possible. However, in the process, you lose flexibility in how to present your tree and unfortunately there is no facility to produce web pages which can be shown anywhere other than on Family Tree Maker’s own website. There are a number of programs available which can convert a GEDCOM file into HTML so this would be an option if you want to develop your own website. | |
| Help and support: | There is contextual
help available within the program. There is also technical support on
on Genealogy.com
or you can join an active email discussion list instead. There is also telephone technical support facility in
the USA. |
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| Conclusion: | This is a very good
program for someone who does not want to spend their research
time learning how to use a complicated software program. The charts are a strong feature and can be produced in a way particularly familiar in the UK. If you do not want to set up your own website, the web page facility is useful but the inability to publish anywhere other than Family Tree Maker’s own website will constrain you if you subsequently change your mind. |
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| Rating: |
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© Ruth Selman 2002 |
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