Monday, January 11, 2010

Join NEHGS and Ancestry.com for Family History Day 2010 in Boston - Update

I received an update for an earlier posting about the Family History Day in Boston: 

Join NEHGS and Ancestry.com for Family History Day 2010 in Boston

Ancestry.com and the New England Historic Genealogical Society are excited to sponsor Family History Day 2010 -- Saturday, February 20, 2010, from 8 am to 4 pm. Held at Westin Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts.

Join us for a full day of:  
  • 6 fantastic classes to help you grow your tree
  • Ancestry.com experts on hand to answer your questions
  • One-on-one consolations with NEHGS genealogists
  • Opportunity to have photos and documents scanned on professional scanners

The cost for attendance is $30, which includes parking. Learn more or register today for Family History Day 2010 in Boston!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Visit to Ancestry.com Today

This blog post is not specifically about the Family Tree Maker program, more about my day visiting Ancestry.com.  You may be interested in reading blog posts that may be posted by a couple of Genealogy Bloggers, as they also were visiting with Ancestry.com.

The first such blog that I read was posted by Dear Myrtle at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2010/01/ancestrycom-bloggers-day-2010.html . What she posted was much the same as mine, but we were not in the same group.

My experience today, and has been consistent over the past several years, is that "They ARE listening to their Users".

From watching several Genealogy Bloggers facebook postings over the past week, they were gathering "What would like for Ancestry.com to do in 2010". I am guessing that they brought the feedback they received to the leadership and the product folks from Ancestry.com. I know that the group that I was in, they kept asking us 'What can we do better". We had a lot of back and forth about various features / offerings from Ancestry.com. They listened. They pushed back with what do you mean by that? What if we could to this? or what if we could do that.

Unlike the Genealogy Bloggers, we had a wide range of Users. Though there were 6 of us, there was a "newbie" to more experienced users of Ancestry.com. A number of us were also Family Tree Maker. To me it was a great mix of users.

Bottom line, each presenter made their presentation, but were more interested in what we had to say.

At the end of the day, We Came, They Listened. They told their stories, but wanted to hear ours.

I enjoyed spending the day with this group of Ancestry.Com / Family Tree Maker users. What a great group of folks.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Join NEHGS and Ancestry.com for Family History Day 2010 in Boston

Received this information in an email from Ancestry.com.


Join NEHGS and Ancestry.com for Family History Day 2010 in Boston

Ancestry.com and the New England Historical Genealogical Society are excited to sponsor Family History Day 2010 -- Saturday, February 20, 2010, from 8 am to 4 pm. Held at Westin Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts.

Join us for a full day of:  
  • 6 fantastic classes to help you grow your tree
  • Ancestry.com experts on hand to answer your questions
  • One-on-one consolations with NEHGS genealogists
  • Opportunity to have photos and documents scanned on professional scanners

The cost for attendance is $30, which includes parking. Learn more or register today for Family History Day 2010 in Boston!
 

ANASTASIA TYLER PR & EVENTS MANAGER
Ancestry.com
P 801.705.7311

E atyler@ancestry.com
360 West 4800 North Provo, UT 84604
ancestry.co.uk

Friday, November 27, 2009

Version 2010 - Errors on GEDCOM Import

Family Tree Maker
Version 2010
Error Message on GEDCOM Import

One of the options to create a New Tree is Importing a GEDCOM file. That GEDCOM file may be from another program or a download from a Ancestry.com Member Family Tree.

See:Plan - New File - Download from Ancestry.com

If, during the importing of a GEDCOM file, errors are encountered, the final screen of the import process will provide a Error Log file.

New in Version 2010:

Clicking on the Error Log button on that screen, information will be provided on the errors. Such as:

GEDCOM Import

  File:        C:\[user account information]\Family Tree Maker\Family Tree 11-09.ged
  Created by:  Ancestry.com Family Trees (2009)

Errors

  Line 12 : error InvalidDate: Unrecognized date for the Residence fact: 2006-present
  Line 227: error 4  : Invalid tag: MARR. Line ignored.
  Line 11145: error InvalidDate: Unrecognized date for the Education fact: abt 1895-1910?
  Line 13282: error InvalidDate: Unrecognized date for the Adoption fact: 1970?

This information may not be of much help. With Version 2010, this information is not placed on the To Do / Task list.


The Error messages are briefly described, who the error was associated and that it was an Import Error. Clicking on the line will take you to the individual involved for resolution.

Looking at the error messages, there is an indication of a number of the Facts that there is a "?" in the date field, or the word "or" was in the date field.

The Error Log can be opened with most word processors, including Notepad.exe and is filed in: C:\[user account information]\Family Tree Maker.

 Helpful Knowledge Base Articles on this topic: 

What is a Gedcom?

GEDCOM files and how they are used

Uploading my file from Family Tree Maker to Ancestry.com 

Importing an Existing File in Family Tree Maker 2009 & 2010

Resolving File Import Errors in Family Tree Maker 2008 or 2009

Version 2010 - Plan Workspace

Family Tree Maker
Version 2010
Plan Workspace
New Tree Tab

This is the initial screen that you see when you open the Family Tree Maker program for the first time. This is the control center where you manage your family trees. The Plan Workspace is divided into two tabs:
  • New Tree
  • Current Tree

In an earlier post:

Family Tree Maker 2009 - Plan Screen

This screen was discussed for Version 2009. #1 is the Plan Workspace Button. The New Tree Tab is #2 and #3 indicates the files that have been open. Not much changes here. 

 #4, Web Dashboard, has changed. In version 2009 it "indicates that I am logged into various online offerings at The Generations Network. There is a link to Log Off of these websites, if I so choose". 

New with Version 2010, the Web Dashboard gives you quick access to your Ancestry.com subscription; you can log in to your account, view your subscription expiration date, and display the Ancestry trees you have created and posted on the Ancestry.com Member Family Tree. The Web Dashboard will only be active when your computer is connected to the Internet.

There is are options on what is displayed in this part of the window.




Web Dashboard Options:
  • Show my Ancestry subscription information
  • Show my Ancestry trees
  • Show content feeds
  • Show web links section
  • Automatically update dashboard

Each has an option to expand the content of the feeds section or not expanded. The Dashboard update intervals can also be set.

The window on this screen capture has each option Expanded.

Beside the Dashboard options menu, each section can be expanded by clicking on the double up-arrow on the right end of the Option line, of compacted with the double down-arrow,

I have found that the Twitter Feed is important, as it will reflect, for example, that Scheduled Site Maintenance Tonight, Tuesday Nov. 18 posted on 3:34 PM Nov 18.


All of the Plan Workspace posts can be reviewed by clicking here:

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

FTM2010 - Workspaces

Family Tree Maker Version 2010


Many of us have been using Family Tree Maker Version 2010 for a while now. The purpose of the next series of Blog posts will be to cover the various Workspaces, what is included in these workspaces and options that are found there.

Below is the top part of the screen in Family Tree Maker. These items are on each page as you navigate through the program.

#1 below is the very top bar of the Family Tree Maker program. Two pieces of information are there. The Filename, in this case "Blog", and the Version of Family Tree Maker that is being used. "Blog - Family Tree Maker 2010" in this case.


#2 is showing the seven (7) Workspaces that will be described later on. There is the Plan workspace, People workspace, Places, Resources, Publish, and Web Search. The Active workspace, or where you are at the moment, is in orange. In this case Plan. The Web Search button is a lighter orange, was this computer is online.

#3 is showing two Tabs. Each Workspace will have Tabs and will be discussed later. In this case, New Tree and Current Tree at the two tabs

#4 is the another level of menu for specific tasks. The Help menu is on the Left end of that list of menu selections.

Each Workspace Button can be accesses throughout the program and will be discussed in the near future. Since many of these options have been covered, the focus of future blog posts will focus on the New or Changes that have been made in 2010.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Family Tree Maker: Program Update

From the Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker Blog

Family Tree Maker: Program Update


Hello Everyone,

We are soon going to release a small program update to Family Tree Maker 2010, which will address some of the requests you’ve made here on the blog and in other forums.  Here are some of the highlights:
  1. Improved Relationship Calculator. Direct-line relationships now take precedence over less direct lines.
  2. Greater control over hinting. A new option lets you turn tree hints off, so you can get hints from records only. See the new check box in the Options dialog. Also, the program will stop hinting on trees owned by the logged in user, as well as not hinting records that have been downloaded with a tree from Ancestry.com.
  3. Improved data and formatting in a number of reports.
  4. Improved support for GEDCOM, PAF and Legacy import.
  5. Many other small changes throughout the program to help it run more smoothly.
We appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us; they have helped us tremendously in preparing this update.

Please watch for the update in the next day or two. When it’s ready, a prompt will display in Family Tree Maker after you start the program. For those of you using Vista or Windows 7, make sure to right click on the Family Tree Maker 2010 shortcut and chose the “Run as Administrator” option to ensure you receive the notification. More detailed information regarding the patch, as well as links to download the patch directly, can be found at the following location starting tomorrow morning: http://www.familytreemaker.com/Support/Patch_2010.aspx.
Thanks!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ancestry.com Adds 600 Navy Cruise Books to Its U.S. Military Collection

Below is a Press Release from Ancestry.com.


Ancestry.com Publishes for the First Time Online
Collection of Twentieth-Century Navy Records
Site Celebrates Veterans Day with Free Access to Entire U.S. Military Records Collection

PROVO, UT (Nov. 11, 2009) – Ancestry.com today added more than 600 Navy cruise books to its online collection of military records to commemorate Veterans Day. This historic effort is the result of an agreement between Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online resource for family history, and the United States Navy. As part of the agreement, Ancestry.com set up scanners on location at the Navy Department Library in Washington, DC, and has spent several months digitizing the cruise books for this occasion.
 The collection of Navy cruise books, available exclusively online at Ancestry.com, represents nearly 40 years of cruises following World War II (1950-1988) and chronicles an estimated 450,000 servicemen deployed at sea during that time. Styled after yearbooks, the cruise books include the names and photographs of individuals who served aboard the ship and highlight not only significant milestones that took place during the cruise, but also the day-to-day life on board ship. While not every Navy cruise was documented in a cruise book, the Navy Department Library has on file an estimated 3,500 cruise books, which Ancestry.com plans to digitize and add to this collection over time.
“When Ancestry.com approached the Navy about digitizing these cruise books for online access, we were thrilled,” said Captain Charles Todd Creekman, Jr., USN (Ret.) Executive Director of the Naval Historical Foundation. “A cruise book offers an insider’s perspective into what these sailors experienced, and the strong camaraderie they established, while serving their country at sea.”
The Navy cruise books are part of Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection, which includes 100 million names that span more than three centuries of American military service.
“When you have a family member who has served in the Armed Forces, you can’t help but be proud,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com. “This Veterans Day, we’re celebrating America’s military heroes of yesterday and today and invite every American with military roots to see if they can learn something new about their family member on Ancestry.com.”
In honor of America’s military heroes, the entire U.S. Military Collection on Ancestry.com can be searched free through Nov. 13. To begin exploring your family’s military heritage, visit www.ancestry.com/military.
About Ancestry.com Inc.
Ancestry.com is an online resource for family history and has digitized and put online over 4 billion records over the past twelve years. Ancestry users have created over twelve million family trees containing over 1.25 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship website at http://www.ancestry.com/.

###

Ancestry.com Adds 600 Navy Cruise Books to Its U.S. Military Collection

 

To add a note:  I did look at this collection, as I was on board a ship in Vietnam, and read with interest a couple of these Navy  Cruise Books of ships that we encountered in Vietnam. There was one cruise book that was taken while my ship (U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Halfmoon) was in the same port at the same time.


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Family Tree Maker 2010 and Windows 7

The Family Tree Maker Blog on Ancestry.Com posted an article on

Family Tree Maker 2010 and Windows 7


It starts with:

With the release of Microsoft Windows 7 this week, many have been asking about the compatibility and testing of Family Tree Maker 2010 related to this new operating system.

The short answer is yes, Family Tree Maker 2010 is fully compatible with Windows 7.

Please read the complete Blog for details.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Source Citation Template - Find-A-Grave

This series of Blog posts will expand each of the Groups and show the various Categories that will appear on the Category menu. The list of Categories to select from. Each of these categories are referred to in Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills

 There have been several Blogs, written today  (10/21/09), on How to Cite a Gravestone from the Find-A-Grave website.

As a contributor to Find-A-Grave as well as posting a blog on Tombstone Tuesday, I thought it was time to continue the Use of the New Templates found in Family Tree Maker Version 2009 and now 2010 and address this specific issue..

Here are two Blog Entries that might be of interest on the topic of Citing Find-A-Grave information:


and



In researching Tombstone Pictures on Find-A-Grave, a photograph of the Headstone of Hiram Deats, Jr. Based on the information in my Family File, this was the correct Hiram Deats, Jr.



Figure 246

Downloaded the image to the Media Folder for this Family File, gave it a filename that was meaningful (Deats-HiramJr) and Added it to the Media section for this person (People Workspace, Person Tab, Media tab in the Center).

Hi-Lighting that image, and going to the Right Hand Panel (RH Panel), and selecting the Burial FACT that was already known, from a Cemetery Visit, Selected New, Add New Source-Citation in the Source-Citation portion of the RH Panel.



Figure 247


This brought up a New Source-Citation Screen (2), where New was selected. This brought up another screen, where More (3) was selected, as this is where the Templates are chosen from.


There is a more detailed description on this blog post:


Source Citation Template - Source Group

In that blog the various Source Groups were discussed. From the list of Groups, Cemetery Records (1 below) appear to be the best match. That would be Group 3 

 


Figure 248

Looking at the Category Listing, Grave Markers appear to be the best choice for this Headstone photograph. Selecting the specific Template would be the next choice and that would be Online Image.




Figure 249


This completes the Selection of the Template, but now to "fill in the blanks" for the Find-A-Grave Source.



Figure 250

The Create surname, in this case, is Find-A-Grave. No Creator forname is required, but the Web Site Title (Find-A-Grave) and URL (http://findagrave.com) is entered. The year is also entered.

Clicking on OK will bring up a Specific Source-Citation screen.




Figure 251


For this example, the Date of the Citation was entered in the Citation Details, and in the Citation Text box, the information was transcribed from the photograph of the headstone. Giving Credit to the photographer would also be acceptable.

The Source-Citation will appear like this:

Find-A-Grave, Find-A-Grave, digital images (http://findagrave.com), October 21, 2009. Photograph of the headstone of Hiram Deats Jr - Born Sept 10 1853 - Died Feb 6 1928 - Cherryville Baptist Cemetery Cherryville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

Note: When entering information into the Citation Text field, the Enter Key (return) will NOT be recognized in the end note (Source-Citation). In this example you will see Dashes (-) in the entry. "Hiram Deats Jr - Born Sept 10 1853"

Evidence Explained: 5,16, page 229 

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