The most common question I get is what family tree computer program I recommend. And the winner is — Family Tree Maker 2012 (FTM 2012 – available through Ancestry.com).
There are many reasons I’ve made the recently revised FTM 2012 (www.ancestry.com) my first choice. Ease of use and its low price top the list. But the best new feature of FTM 2012 is the “sync” feature; which allows you to synchronize your computerized tree with the free Ancestry online tree; and synchronize with anyone you’ve allowed to edit your tree. Now (if you are lucky enough to own them) you can keep your family tree up to date on your laptop, iPhone or iPad, as well as online and on your home computer, all at the same time. Any change you make will change all your linked trees.
Let me give you some examples of what this means. In the past, if you had an online tree and one on a computer, every time you made a change to one, you had to remember to go in and make the same change “by hand” on the other tree. Now you can keep the tree on each of your electronic devices and it is automatically updated each time you go online. Now, when I work with my sister in Florida, and the sister who may be in Maine or Florida, we all get the same updates automatically! No more mailing disks and hoping the merge didn’t mess things up: no more merging!
Frequent readers will know that I think Ancestry.com is the no. 1 research site. Now, the state of Maine has made Ancestry’s powerful search engines available for free at the library! This is currently available by visiting one of over two-thirds of the state’s public libraries, and the list of libraries with access keeps growing. Ancestry has always maintained the free family tree option for anyone. Combine that with free international searches at the library, and it is an unbeatable combination.
Family Tree Maker was first published in 1989 and has been constantly updated over the years and is today is the most user-friendly program I know. Many of the options use icons rather than printed lists, so even if you don’t know the difference between a descendant chart and a pedigree chart, you will be able to figure out from the icon picture what your printout will look like. They have made many improvements. No matter how experienced or how new you are to computerized genealogy, you will be able to use this software program.
The genealogist who is serious about sources will welcome the wealth of options in citing and organizing them. There are new advanced media handling options so you can use your videos, photos and stories to make beautiful presentations. If you do not already have photo-editing software, a more expensive version of FTW 2012 incorporates it into the package. Overall, for ease of use, quality of the product, price and “synchronicity” — FTW 2012 is the hands-down winner!
Editor’s note: Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft, who has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. The Aroostook County Genealogical Society meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
