FTM User Question - What Media files are uploaded to an AMT in the FamilySync™ Process

Will try to answer a User Question about what Media files will be included in the FamilySync™ Process. I have blogged about this before https://ftmuser.blogspot.com/2017/04/... But this is a different take on the subject.

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Copyright © 2018 by Cousin Russ

What is a Sync Weather Report

When you do a FamilySync™ you will see a new screen, the Sync Weather Report.

The text in this "Weather Report" will most likely change, as this feature has just been turned on for us, the End User. I wasn't going to post this, because it might and will probably change. But what is important is that we just don't click through (Continue Sync) without READING the content of the information that is provided. In this case, the FamilySync feature has a warning about what is going on. The feature is safe, but read the whole message as to that is going on.

Welcome to the Sync Weather Report system.

We created this system to alert you to conditions that may affect your syncing. A orange window like this one means you should experience caution in syncing. A red window means syncing is down or so dangerous that we will not permit you to sync until these conditions improve.

Current Issues

FamilySync has been officially online for just 48 hours now and we see it has some quirks of its own to work out. Here are some notes.

Ancestry Side Changes: You may see changes on the Ancestry side when you didn't make any, especially on your first sync. This is a known issue and is not dangerous. What's happening is FamilySync occassionally picking up "time stamps" that tell us what has changed and reporting them as real changes when obvioiusly they're not. We're working with Ancestry to fix this.

Safe Mode for Ancestry Syncing. When changes are made only on the FTM side, sync speeds are lightening fast compared to TreeSync. But for the moment, syncing Ancestry side changes take place in "Safe Mode' which takes 2-3 times linger than before. While we work with Ancestry to make an Ancstry side sync that is both safe and fast we'd suggest making all your changes on the FTM side.

BUG REPORTING

We are committed to making syncing faster, safer and smarter. If you have issues with syncing please report them using our Bug Reporter system by clicking here. 

The important point here is the level of communication that has been added to this feature. This message appears very quickly at the start of the process so that WE can decide if WE want to continue with this process.

That last paragraph is probably the most important part. If you see a Bug, Report the Bug. That is the only way they know that there may be a problem to resolve. 

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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

What to name Back Ups and SyncLogs ?

I have changed how I name my Back Up files and SyncLog files. I have a number of Family Tree Maker files and I Compact, Back Up and SyncNow several times a day, on one or more files.

I am now backing up to Dropbox from my Desktop PC, but had been from my Laptop. I keep the most recent Back Ups there, then about every month, I'll Move those files to my External Family Tree Maker drive.

In the Dropbox folder, there are two subfolders. One for Back Ups and the other for the SyncLogs. I ALWAYS Export the SyncLog to a PDF file, so that is where they go. I can do that now from both computer. 

If I have read the information correctly about FTM2017, then my Working files will also be in Dropbox.

I have my way of Naming the Family Tree Maker Files.  I have the basic filename, so I know which family that is. My main working file is "Master". I append that with the Version of Family Tree Maker AND the build number. For example: Master_2014_1-1510. With any updates, I go to the Select Tree, in the Upper Left of the Plan Workspace, and rename the tree there to the new / update that I may have installed. That command renames the file and media folder.

I have done this for a long time and archive them by the basic file name, to a basic filename folder on my External Drive. That lets me know what version of Family Tree Maker last worked on the file. Maybe it's over kill, but it is working. This "master file" I have had since Version 3.4, in the DOS days and have been very good to me.

Now, to the topic at hand. Up until now, I use the DEFAULT filename that Family Tree Maker gives me, that is YYYY-MM-DD, which is great. Not only do I know the file, the version of Family Tree Maker, The last 4 number of the Version Number (1510), but the DATE when the back up was done, for sorting purposes. I had just be adding a character after the DD.

My new policy is to add the 24 Hour (military) Time after the date. 2017-04-10-0001. or one minute after midnight.

So, when I do the Compact and Back Up utility, I see this. (2017-04-09-2345). The Custom directory points to Dropbox, FTM2014\Back_Ups

I check mark ALL of the options, and they are set by default that way, 

In File Explorer, its easy to MOVE the files from the Dropbox, Back Up folder to my External Drive and that filenames folder.

Oh, in case you are wondering, that External Drive is also backed up by my Cloud Back Up service.

The SyncLog is the same format. 

Although the SyncLog and Back Ups are in different folders, the date and time to both will be within a couple of minutes of one another so I can recover pretty quickly if something happens.

My SyncLog folder is kinda empty at the moment, but I will be ready when FTM2017 rolls out.

Just how I "do stuff"

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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington