FTM2014 - Plan Workspace - Overview

Have made a couple of blog posts on the Plan Workspace. Thought I would back up and give the big picture and put some comments on the Screen.

•  Across the Very top (not marked) is the Filename and Family Tree Maker 2014. A normal windows type of operation and the way Family Tree Maker as worked since at least FTM2008
• Far Right is the TreeSync™ feature statue. (currently, this tree is not linked)
• Below the Workspace listing are Tabs. This is true for each Workspace. The number of tabs vary based on where you are (Workspace) and what else you are doing. In this case New Tree and Current Tree are listed. The Current tree is open
• Far Right, below the TreeSync ICON is the Ancestry Login Link. I am logged in based on other information on the screen. But the Login Link is there
• Left Column is a brief status of the file that is open. Who the Home Person is, the Last Person that was edited, number of people, marriages, and file size, as well as the Creation Date, Last Saved, and Last Backed up. This is a new file and hasn't been backed up yet
• Left Column below the status, is where the TreeSync options will be. In this case, the only option that is available is Upload and Link
• The large area in the Center is the ToDo or Task list. That will be another blog post. I use it a lot. Looks like I have lots of work to do, as there are over 800 Tasks listed
• Below that, on the Left, is the current status of my Subscription with Ancestry. That is also an indication that I am logged in.
• Below that, is a list of Ancestry Member Trees (AMT's) It's not all of them, as there is a "more" link included.
• Below that are links to message boards (will talk about this whole are in the future)
• To the Right of these items is a link to other Ancestry.com websites

In each area that I have listed above, there is an ICON which will provide more options. Lots of options / choices to allow us, the Users, to see those Items that are of interest to us when we open Family Tree Maker.

More information about the file can be seen by clicking on More, in the File Status area.

 What is NEW on the More window is that it now lists the Number of Sources that are using the Template Feature.

Looks like I didn't get much done last year, on my clean up of sources.

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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Plan Workspace - Other Opions

There are other options for getting started in FTM2014. Will just quickly show the other options and may publish more details on these options in the future.

Start with What You Know:

 If you haven't used Family Tree Maker before, and are just starting out, you can select Start with what you know, and on the right, will have a place for your (full) Name. For females, that would be your birth surname. You can add the parents names. This is just the starting point, creating a New FTM2014 from scratch. You can add your birth date and birth place on this screen, and selecting the sex of this person.

To the right, is where you Name the file:

I generally enter the Surname followed by the Version of Family Tree Maker that created the file, a dash, followed by the Product Version, found on the Help, About menu. I do NOT use any spaces in my filenames. This is just my 'best practice' and it's more for use outside of Family Tree Maker, like with Windows Explorer and file sorting.

 The next option is to Download from Ancestry.com. If you have an Existing Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) you can Download it directly from your AMT and all of the information will be downloaded into FTM2014.

You will notice on this screen capture, that I am NOT logged in. I am reminded of that on the Right. Clicking on that Link will take me to the appropriate Login screens.

 In the example below, there is No Action available. That is because that file is still LINKED to FTM2012, so I can't do anything with that file for the moment. I'll post information on how to resolve that issue.

Further down the list was a file that isn't linked to FTM2012 and the Download option is available.

 More details on each of these options will be covered in the future.

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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Plan Workspace - Select a file

In the Plan Workspace, there is a New way to open a file. Either from an earlier version or from a FTM2014 (existing file that has been opened with FTM2014).

In the Plan Workspace, Click on the Select Tree in the upper right of the screen.

This will bring up a number of your family files on your computer. I want to open the high-lighted file and when I do, a pop-out menu is opened. You will notice the Right Pointing Arrow on the other files.

The choices are to Open the Tree, Open in a New Tree, RENAME the tree, Delete Tree or Remove the tree file from the list. In this case, I want to Open this Existing FTM2012 file. 

 From there, the steps are described here:

http://ftmuser.blogspot.com/2013/09/ftm2014-plan-workspace-open-existing.html
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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Plan Workspace - Open Existing File

This is not a new feature, but a good reminder.

I have an existing FTM2012 file, but I don't want to open FTM2012, select the file, back it up, or restore in FTM2014. I just want to open that FTM2012 file.

In the Plan Workspace, I select File, then Open.

This will open a new window, and we have seen this window before:

I have selected the file, and as I have mentioned before, I include the Version in the Filename. In this specific case, it had not added the build number, it was <filename>2012. When I select that file, it puts the filename into the Open field.

Here is how I created my "FTM2012 Back Up" as I talked about earlier, but it's part of the process of moving from FTM2012 to FTM2014. All I needed to do in put a check mark in the box and the FTM2012 back up was created.

Now we have to Name the NEW file for FTM2014. I entered <filename>:2014-1207 and FTM2012 added FTM, as the file extension.

 After the new file is created, I am taken to the People Workspace and work can begin.
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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Program ICONs on Windows Task Bar

A not so obvious, but very helpful addition is that FTM2014's ICON, on your Windows Task Bar is different. I have both FTM2012 and FTM2014 installed, for the moment, but I can tell the version by the number of leaves.

FTM2012 has 2 leaves, (on the Left), while FTM2014 has 3 leaves (on the Right).

At least in my installation, unlike FTM2012, I had to Pin the program to the Windows Taskl bar. To do that, I opened FTM2014, right clicked on the ICON and selected Pin to Task Bar.

The two recent files above, are the Back Up that I restore from and the file that is now open.

Now, to get rid of FTM2012 from the Tool Bar, Right Clicking on the 2 leaves and selecting Unpin.

Which will leave just FTM2014. The other ICON is Firefox.

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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

FTM2014 - Plan Workspace Changes

The first visible change with Family Tree Maker Version 2014 is the Plan Workspace. Over the next couple of blog posts, I'll try to point out the changes as I have seen them.

Here is what the Plan Workspace looks like, for a New Tree (or family file).

 Lots of Changes. I'll walk through the major changes here.

 Not highlighted, just above the red box on the Left, is Family Tree Maker 2014.This has been the practice for previous versions, so as you open the program, you know what version you are working on.

The first change is the red box on the Left (I put that red box there, it's not part of the program). This is where you CAN select a different family file. Since this was just opened, no file was opened, so nothing to select, yet.

On the Right, is where the NEW Login is located in FTM2014.

As a reminder, don't forget to Register FTM2014. Each time you install Family Tree Maker, you must Register the program on that computer, Looking into Ancestry.com with your usual Login and Password. I'll create a blog post later on how to do that. The Registration process does NOT appear to have changed from previous version AFTER FTM2008.

To create a new tree (file), this is where you can do this. The format of the information is the SAME, but the location is a little different. You can Start by importing an existing tree. Again, the same steps as before. Will create import an existing tree later.

Before I installed FTM2014, I backed up my file in FTM2012, from the File, Back Up command in FTM2012. So in FTM2014, I want to RESTORE from that back up. As with previous versions, it's the File Menu, selecting Restore ...

Just for a note, other File menu items are, Open a File, like from FTM2012, Open a file in another window, or import as a New Tree. I didn't have to Back Up in FTM2012, but I have a practice of doing that, and I don't rely on the Automatic Back feature for my back ups.

I also have a practice of how I name my files. Normally it is Surname followed by the Version of Family Tree Maker AND the Build of that version. The file I am going to use, is my working file, which I call Master. I want to restore my FTM2012 file. When I backed up the file in FTM2012, I called it Master2014-1207, as 1207 is the 64 bit build number that was installed on this computer. The 32 bit version, I believe, is build 207. So I select that file, it is included in the Open field, as we are ready to Restore that file and open it in FTM2014.

You are then asked to Name the file, I am naming it Master2014-1207 and Family Tree Maker will add .FTM as the file extension.

The normal Restore Process bar appears, and the bar will go across the screen several times, until it completely restored, as a New FTM2014 file.

The new People Workspace will then open and you are ready to go.

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Yes, There are changes here, but they will be posted over the next couple of days.

To return to the Plan Workspace for this file, there are now TWO Tabs. New and Current, with the To Do list now present.

There will be a follow up Blog Post, to go into more detail on this workspace showing where "stuff" has been relocated. It's basically similar information, but moved around a little.

For me, the change is good, in that I am reminded of my To Do list (Task List), who the Home Person is, and who the Last Person I worked on. More on that later.

Time to get started with this new version of Family Tree Maker.

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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

Family Tree Maker 2014 is 64-bit compliant

I think that many Family Tree Maker users have wanted this feature for a while.

• 64-bit Support—Family Tree Maker 2014 is 64-bit compliant. It will install as 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the system you are using. If you have a 64-bit system (hardware and operating system), you will now have access to additional memory beyond the 4GB 32-bit limit. So any high-memory consuming actions that were not possible with the 32-bit version may be possible with the 64-bit version.

There is no user choices to be made, as the installation will determine which version your computer is using.

The end result should be in the performance within the program.

For FULL system requirements, please visit this website. http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/P-5208 and select System Requirements.
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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

Do I start over ???

Do I start over seems to be running wild on Facebook. Folks are realizing that their files are out of control. I got that, been there done that. I understand the problem. My file has always been pretty well documented with Citations, as I have always used the Undocumented Report in Family Tree Maker. When I am looking at my screens, I try to make sure there is at least one citation for each fact. But that is just me.

My thought on the "start over" question was, I have spend 10 to 15 years working with this SAME family file. I have spend many, hours working with it. Do I want to through away those many hours of work?

But the Do I Start Over question has been on my mind. I spent a lot of time thinking about that question, but my answer is different, and it has paid off for me. I learned "my answer to that question" last year. My task was to move ALL of my source and citation information into the Template Feature of Family Tree Maker. I have blogged about that process many times.

How to attack the issue of an an out of control, messy, undocumented family file?

Let me say that over these past years, I have learned a lot about how to do family research. "GPS" wasn't part of my understanding until just a few years ago. How knew about Inferential Genealogy 10 years ago. Who knew the importance of a properly formed citation? I certainly didn't. My understanding of how to do research has changed and far more records are online, we have access to. I chose to work with what I have.

Make a plan.

There are many ways to go at this clean up process, You could do it my "line", by person, but I chose to do it starting with my Sources. That is, intentionally starting with my Sources, moving each of them into the Template format. In doing this, I actually accomplished 3 things.

1) All of my Citations, where the Source is in a Template, are in the Evidenced Explained format, which is my goal

2) In order to "fill in the blanks" of the Template, and complete the Citation, I had to go back to those sources, just to fill in the blanks

3) Picked up the data elements (Facts) that I missed the first or second "time around".

I worked on this and continue to work on this for the past 18 months. Not that I have a lot of Sources, but I took the time, had to re-do some of the work that I had done, but I have better information, more complete information in the Citation and about the people AND relationships within my file, just by looking at the Source.

When I started to look at my data from the Source, I did two things. Learned what the source is all about, why was it created, what was it's purpose. Just look at the Census Records over time. What was the purpose of that Census Record for each Census Year, What was being asked and WHY was it being asked. WHY did the 1940 Census Record have a question about where you were in 1935?

Understanding the Record was where I started, but the next step was, for me at least, What do I want to capture from that Record, any record. Sticking with the Census, do I want to capture if the family owned or rented? I chose not to track that. Was the person listed at being married in that Census Record. I chose to track that one. Just by relooking at the Census Record for that column, I then had a handle on, and could track, at a glance, when the person was married, when a spouse died, so know that I may have to look somewhere else.

A single female in 1910, not with the family in 1920, I might have to look for her, but being married in 1920, so my search strategy for her in 1920 would change.

By starting with the Record, Identifying what I want to capture, got me started. I started with the Census Records, mostly because they are at the top of my Source listing in the Source Workspace, I was able to understand that family make up over time. I made sure that I used the Head of Household and add the household members to that Citation. Making sure that I didn't have a number of the household members with their own Citations.

This gives me ONE Citation for that Household, with the Media file, LINKED to that Citation, and links from that citation to many Facts for that census year.

Here is a link to the work that I did for the 1940 Census.

http://ftmuser.blogspot.com/search/label/1940_Census

So, if I have any question about an entry, I can go to the Source Workspace, and I have then 2 places where I can see the record itself. Either the Media Tab, or the Link to the record, if it came from Ancestry.com.

There were a number of times where I re-merged an Ancestry record because I had done the merge from a household member, but I wanted to be consistent, then cleaned up the entries associated with the "first" non-head of household, but I wanted to be consistent.

Looking that the Timeline feature for the person, you help me identify what information I might be missing or to help understand what happened to a family. The best example was a family lived in one place for a number of years, but between two census years, they moved. Looking at the Time Line, I noticed the move. But WHY did they move. Looking at the Head of Household's timeline, with the Family Included, didn't help much. BUT when I looked at his Spouse, with the family timeline, I realized that HER father had died, just before they moved. Looking a little closer, I realized that they have been living with the "in-laws" in the previous census. So, it appears that the "father-in-laws" death caused the family to move.

Am I done, no. Do I add new information, absolutely. I follow those shaky leaves, but I am spending more time understanding what I am looking at (the source) before I enter the data into my file.

My Citations are far better. I have moved some of the details that I might have in my citation into the Fact Notes or Citation Notes. Moving source information that was in the Person Notes, into Fact Notes or Citation Notes. Also taking advantage of Research Notes, AND adding to my ToDo list. Many of these features didn't exist when I started this file, way back when.

Bottom line here, for me at least, I have learned much over these years, AND Family Tree Maker has many more tools, built in, that I can take advantage of that didn't exist earlier.

Oh, if the plan that you start with doesn't work for you, look at your plan again. So far, my "clean up plan" has worked. That is move ALL of my sources into the Template feature is helping me clean up my file.

One User's Experience.


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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

More information on FTM2014

I should have posted this earlier.

Here is a link to Ancestry.com with more information on FTM2014.

http://www.ancestry.com/cs/apps/P-5208

Please look at the 4 tabs on that page for more information.



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Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington

Family Tree Maker Version 2014 announced at the FGS Conference

It’s that time again to announce all the greatest new features of Family Tree Maker. We listened to a large range of Family Tree Maker users to improve our features for 2014 including the roll out of the new Family View display, improved TreeSync, more extensive charts and reports, new organizational tools and more. Below is a list of the newly improved features.

• New Family View — see your family tree in a new way. This additional view makes navigating easier, especially when you want to see extended family members.
• Improved TreeSync — lets you easily synchronize your tree in Family Tree Maker with an online Ancestry.com tree.
  • A more robust TreeSync™ lets you sync even more of your family tree info.
  • Easily share your tree with your family and work on it together. Family and friends can view the online version of your tree without software or an Ancestry.com subscription.
  • Collaborate with the largest, most active family history community in the world. Keep your online tree private or make it public so that others researching your family can find you. You may connect with others who have insight on your ancestors, discover rare family photos, or even find relatives you didn’t know you had.
• More organizational tools — stay organized with new tools that let you sort children automatically by birth order and view people by location, grouping them by country, state, county, and city.
• New and improved charts and reports — more options and views let you display an individual’s ancestors, spouses, and children together. Also, the Index of Individuals Report has been expanded with options for anniversary, birthday, and contact lists and more.
• New tree branch export — a new export option makes it much simpler to export a single branch of your tree. 
• More editing options — save time with the ability to copy and paste facts including related source citations, media items, and notes.
• Improved merging — easily and reliably merge more of the information you find on Ancestry.com.

Family Tree Maker is a great program to help you organize your family history regardless of your level of expertise. With so many features and options, it’s perfect for the genealogist digging deeper into the past and the family historian fleshing out stories. Some of the additional features you may find helpful include:

1. Access interactive street and satellite maps

View important locations in your ancestors’ lives. Or create a migration map showing where events in ancestors’ lives took place.

2. Easily organize media

Add photos, documents, audio and video in one, easy-to-access location. Link media to multiple people in your tree and incorporate them into charts and reports.

3. Share your work with others

Use templates to create beautiful family trees or design your own with powerful charting tools. Enhance charts with backgrounds, embellishments and family photos.

4. Discover new family members — Follow hints from Ancestry.com, the world's largest family history resource.

5. Create Smart Stories — Transform facts from your tree into stories that update automatically as you change your tree.

6. Simplify source creation — Use templates to source everything from online databases to vital records.

7. Use standard location names — Use the locations database to enter place names consistently and in a standard format.

8. Explore data like never before — Use new and improved reports to gather information and export it in a variety of formats. Save settings in one report and apply them to others.

9. Navigate your tree with ease — View multiple generations, navigate to any individual in your tree with a click of the mouse and add or edit life events.

10. Import data from other genealogy programs — Open files created in Legacy™ Family Tree, The Master Genealogist™ and FamilySearch™ Personal Ancestral files.

Version 2014 is now available for pre-sale at 30% off for the early bird genealogist. You’ll have the option to have it shipped to you or download it the same day shipping begins. The pre-sale discount ends September 10^th, so get yours now to take advantage of the 2014 launch.