Learn to use Family Tree Maker

Starting this past Monday, January 13, I began moderating a four-week course at Family Tree University. If you want to learn how to take Family Tree Maker to the next level as your ancestral database of choice join me! 

It is self-paced, so you can do it when you have time over the next month. I answer questions and give feedback on the assignments. All you need is a laptop or tablet! Of course, having the software is recommended.

You can still register through Friday, January 17.

From the Website:

Mastering Family Tree Maker - January 2020

Do you want a program that allows you to keep track of your family history research in one place? Whether you’re new to genealogy or you’ve been doing it for years, Family Tree Maker software* is a great way to grow and preserve your family tree, and we'll show you all the tips and tricks for making the most of it. Join us in this four-week online course to discover the tools and features that allow you to easily manage and organize your research.

Coupon for Evedentia Software

Are you ready to try Evedentia Software?  GREAT!  Simply click my affiliate link on the left side of
this blog and enter the coupon code TNT2016 to take advantage of it.

Remember, from May 1-10 Evedentia Software will offer free shipping in honor of the NGS Conference.  I mean really, conference attendees don't have to pay shipping why should you?!

In addition, Evidentia will offer a 16% coupon off everything in the store on May 1-10.  Use this coupon code (TNT2016) when you click on my affiliate link to take advantage of the sale.

I hope you are excited about the deep discounts offered usually only to conference attendees but now online. Check back here over the next few days to learn more about this great product!

Coming Evidentia Deal!

Have you ever considered trying Evedentia Software?  As a long time user, beta tester, and affiliate (look for the logo on the left hand menu bar on this blog) for the company I wanted to let you know that this is a great time to try it if you don't already use the program.

Why?  Good question!  From May 1-10 Evedentia Software will offer free shipping in honor of the NGS Conference.  I mean really, conference attendees don't have to pay shipping why should you?!

In addition, Evidentia will offer a 16% coupon off everything in our store on those same dates, May 1-10.  This coupon code is only available from me as an affiliate!!!  I will post this code later on in the weekend. Bleep your eyes open for it.

I hope you are excited about the deep discounts offered usually only to conference attendees but now online. Check back here over the next few days to get the coupon code and learn more about this great product!

Book Review: How to Use Evernote for Genealogy

I have a secret.  I am an Evernote drop out.  Yeah, yeah. I know. Bad on me. 

When it first came out I was actually all over it like white on rice, but I found it clunky and it didn’t do what I wanted it to do.  I briefly went back to try it again when my favorite note taking app, Penultimate, became sync-able to it.  It wasn’t long before I went back to my old ways though.  Tried and true, out of date, frustrating, but extremely comforting old ways of doing things.

Over the last few years Kerry Scott, who authored How to Use Evernote for Genealogy, has given me grief tried to convince me that I really need to check out Evernote again.  I listened to several of her webinars, learned how to do the web clipping feature, and did play around with some very cool features.  Still, I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around why everyone thought that this program was the best next thing to sliced bread.

I am a manual person.  No, let me rephrase that, I need hand holding to learn somethings.  I can be a real Luddite at times, and the thought of changing to something new can give me anxiety.  Usually I can overcome that with a tutorial and at times a workshop to help me with videos or demonstrations. 

That is why when I heard that Kerry had this book coming out I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Deep down I was secretly crossing my fingers that this would be the book to finally break me out of my Evernote using anxiety and come around to the digital age of genealogy record keeping.

I was not disappointed.

Even if you have never tried Evernote Kerry does an excellent job of holding your hand through all the steps, features, and program highlights.  Her quick wit and easy tone comes through to show you how set up your files with ease which made me feel a lot better about giving the program another try.

The book is also filled with images to help you along.  I am a very visual person so having pictures of the menus, drop down boxes, and the various screens you use in the program really helped when I pulled Evernote up on my computer.  For the first time in… a while.

I highly recommend this book for not only new users but also long time users of Evernote.  There are so many tips and resources in it that I am confident everyone will be able to learn something new.  For example she demonstrates how to use Evernote for keeping track of the genealogy related trips you take.  I don’t know about you but I take quite a few trips a year.  Conferences (local and far away), libraries, archives, cemeteries, family reunions, and so on.  I found the way she organized things in Evernote genius to keep her trips separated out and organized.  Actually, I am thinking about doing something similar to help keep track of my business expenses and income.

On that note, I am now trying to budget a few hours a week to transitioning to Evernote for my research.  It may take me a while but I am sure it will be well worth the time.

New Software Release

For the past few weeks I have been assisting with the Beta testing of a new software program called Evidentia.  Some of you may have heard of it, if you haven’t, well, let me tell you about it. 

Evidentia is a program created by ed4becky, LLC and was released 17 December 2012 (yep that was yesterday).  They pride themselves in being a “Source Centric genealogy tool.”  Instead of looking at the person Evidentia looks at the source and the information it contains.  With this program you collect, in one place, all the pieces of evidence a single source holds. 

Once you have your sources and evidence, or assumptions, entered into the program Evidentia will create several different reports where you will see where the holes are, what flaws there may be in your logic, and lead you to figure out what else you need to research.  It will also give you a Genealogical Proof Report analyzing all the assumptions you have made about a specific fact, for instance your grandfathers birth date.  The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS), as you may know, are the guidelines genealogists use to give credibility to their findings.  Following the 5 steps to the GPS will give your research the proof needed to feel confident in your findings, and Evidentia helps you with that. 

To help you along with the process of learning the software you can watch six videos available on YouTube. Within an hour I had several case studies up and running showing me how valid my proofs were and where I needed further work in my research.  Most important, this software is designed to enhance whatever program you currently use for genealogical research, not replace it.  Evidentia is available for Mac (OSX 10.7+) and PC (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8) and best of all you can download a free 30 day trial before you purchase.  Also, for a limited time you can purchase Evidentia for $19.99 instead of $24.99.  In my opinion it is reasonably priced for software of this type.

So check it out, I don't think you will be dissapointed! I love my copy so much I became an affiliate.
 

Software clean up next step

Okay, here is my next please help question, because I am not sure how to proceed. 

Now that I have all the people cleaned up I am starting on the media.  My biggest problem is I have Census records that are linked to the wrong people with the wrong source citations.  For example:  The Kelley family should show a Census record for Rutherford Township, Martin County, Indiana.  The source citation for the record states that, but the image is for the Combs family from Lost River Township, Martin County, Indiana.

<insert hysterical screaming here>

 

When I click the button on FTM2012 to unlink source I get 10 choices to unlink... to say I am paranoid about doing something wrong in an understatement. Suggestions?  Besides paying one of you to come to my house and sort this out.

Image from the Library of Congress

Wait.... when did they become a twin? Databse problems running amuck

The ongoing struggle of keeping my database up to date is in full swing again.  I have been plodding along the last few weeks in all my copius free time trying to streamline the information.  Some days I want to run away screaming from the computer, throw it out a window, or worse yet reenact the printer destruction scene from Office Space.

I don’t know how, but somewhere along the way (I think most likely in one of the upload/downloads with Ancestry and Family Tree Maker) I acquired duplicate people.  250 duplicate people to be precise.  The only reason I found this out was by going alphabetically, person by person, through the tree.  Anytime I had two people of the same name I compared each one to see if they were the same.  I can now say that I am an expert at merging, attaching, and detaching people in the software.

Currently I am going through all the media items.   I have people attached to media that they are not in, and worse some of the media is labeled correctly for that person but the image is not what the description is.  What a mess!  It is going to take me weeks to get this all straight.  After the media is under control then I have to attack the source citations. 

With all the turmoil in my program I am not sure that I should be entering anymore data into it until it is all fixed.  Guess I better lock down the internet for a while to resist the temptation huh?  To say I am frustrated is putting it mildly, but I guess I am asking too much in expecting the program to work the way I think it should.  It is not its fault it was made this way… right?

Have any of you struggled with your software?  Any tips on how to survive the next few weeks as I clean it all up?  Besides lots of chocolate, wine, and mindless television. 

photo credit: jypsygen via photo pin cc and RenoTahoe via photo pin cc

Week 25 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 25: Genealogy Database Software: Database programs have revolutionized the way we store and record our genealogy. Which one is your favorite? What are some of the tools and perks of the program that enhance your family history research? Share a link to the company website or vendor so others may learn more about this product.

I use Family Tree Maker from Ancestry.com.  This was the first place I got my genealogy toes wet and it seemed like a good idea to stick with what I was familiar with.  They update it frequently and have several features I really enjoy. 

* Ability to search the Internet from the program and attach information directly from the pages
* iPad app for on the go research (or sitting on the couch)
* Many charts, graphs, and forms
* Auto-sync from desktop application to online tree, and vice-versa
* On the dashboard you can see if you have messages or hints

So far it has been very user friendly and my only complaint has been re-doing all the source citations.  Yes, I am very picky and it has been an on going process.

*Image from the Library of Congress

Things I should be getting around to...

Last week the trees in our area decided that breathing was optional for me and my husband, and proceeded to coat everything outside in yellow.  My navy blue car is now yellow.  I can’t touch the deck with having swaths of yellow on me.  This week is my children’s spring break and having two parents that are hacking, coughing, and sneezing their brains out is cramping their style.  They don’t quite get, yet, why we are so miserable.  However, it has given me plenty of opportunities to think, and meditate in a medication induce stupor, on what I am going to be doing genealogy wise over the next few weeks.  

I have nearly a dozen letters from my mother-in-law and her family that I have promised to transcribe and post so that others in the family can read them too.  This is a project that I have been sitting on since December and I really need to get off my tail and finish it. 

Then there is the next installment of “clean up my database” that needs to happen.  I finally recovered all my missing images, but now it seems that I have two, three, and even four copies of the same images in people’s files.  Jeesh, whoever knew technology could be so frustrating!  It looks like I have going to have to go person by person and make sure that each image folder for them is correct.  Next on the to-do list: fixing all the citations.

My dad finally got the DNA testing submitted and it is being processed now.  This is the process that started last fall, and due to some hiccups with the company being bought, the original test was lost.  He and I are both anxiously waiting to hear what it has to say.  When the results come back (estimated as June 1) I am going to go through them with the Combs & Families DNA database person to see if we have any hits.  There is a possibility of confirming our suspected line to a William Combs who settled in Virginia.

I think this list of items should keep me fairly busy for the next month.

*Image: Robert S. Donovan via photopin cc

Cool App and Software Issues

I found another app that I like.  It is called Oganizer HD, and it closely resembles the paper organizer that I gave up to go digital.  There are also lots of bells and whistles that allow for maps, pictures, and voice memos to be added to your daily dairy.  The program also syncs with google calendar and my calendar that is from the iPad attached to my home server.  Still playing with it, but so far I really like it.

Being a thirty-something that is not tech savvy feels like a disgrace.  My husband is the techie in the family and I constantly ask him for help with some piece of software or program I am interested in.  The one thing that is all mine is my family history software.  He did help me set it up, but I have been proud at how much I have done on my own.  That is, up until recently.  Over the last month I have more than once wanted to throw my computer out a window over the frustration it has caused. 

I started using Family Tree Maker through Ancestry right after I began doing research last year.  Everything has been grand, right up to the point where I updated the software so I could sync all of my trees (online, iPad, and desktop).  In December I even spent 3 hours (no kidding) on the phone with tech support trying to figure out what in the worled was going on.  Thought I had it all solved too.

Yesterday I discovered that half of my image files were no longer in my database.  There was an odd thumbnail instead and a link broken message.  I found them, luckily, in an old back up (ALWAYS back-up) and now have to go through the process of fixing it all.  So while I am at it, I may as well make sure everything is correct and up-to-date.  I feel a large project coming on...

If anyone has any tricks, tips or advice about using the program I would love to hear it.  Sometimes I get very frustrated with the way it wants me to use their source citation prompts if anyone has any clues on exactly how to make that less scary I would be grateful.

*Image from Clipart Pal, eve picking from the tree of knowledge