How to track activities -- Using Color Coding

How I am keeping track of an update that I am doing on a new file

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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FTM2017 User Question - Adding Media Files

User Question:

In FTM 2017, when adding a picture, do you link to the media or allow FTM 2017 to make a copy and link from there?

My Answer:

Use the COPY option,when adding a New Media File to your FTM2017 file.

Reason: (and I have blogged about this before)

It's another COPY of your / my valuable images. When I take a photograph, scan an image, I do NOT want to touch that file again. I always want to work with a COPY of it. I might want to crop that image, resize it, change it's looks. I have messed up in that past, and I am guessing others have as well, but that is OK, because I am working with a copy.

The same goes when adding a new media file to Family Tree Maker. There is another reason from the above, and that is when you do a Compact and Back Up, the Media Folder, where that COPY is saved, will be included in that Back Up. Using the Linked option, will only include a LINK to that Media file.

IF you were to send a Back Up file, with Linked Media, those Media Files will not be included. When that sent back up is restore, those Media files will be missing.

Here is a link to a Blog Post on this topic

Why the difference in the Number of Media Files ?


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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FTM2017 User Question - Where to start a FTM2017 File ?

User Question:

Would you rather start your tree on FTM 2017 and sync to Ancestry or start in Ancestry and sync back to FTM 2017?

My Answer:

It is my opinion that WE, the User of this or any other genealogy software, need to take responsibility for our research. That starts at the beginning. The short answer is start with your genealogy software, in this case Family Tree Maker (FTM2017). 

Further, that includes manually Backing Up our files, and from time to time, doing a test Restore from Back Up. The Tools menu, has a great utility to do this, Compact File. As I have blogged about many times before, using that utility will help maintain a good file. Testing that Back Up from time to time is a MUST.

Then the FamilySync™ feature comes into play. As I have blogged about before, in order to get Ancestry Hints, you must have an uploaded and linked Ancestry Member Tree (AMT). That AMT can be Public, Private, or Private and not searchable by Ancestry. User Choice.

That AMT then, can be another Back Up of your research. BUT, some of the information in your FTM2017 file is NOT included in that AMT. Privatized Media, for example, will NOT be uploaded to the AMT. Privatized Facts, Notes, Research Notes, Todo or Task Lists will NOT be uploaded to the AMT. If you use the Source Template Feature in FTM2017, those Sources and Citations will NOT be formatted correctly in the AMT.

All of that to say, my Best Practice is to Compact and use the Back Up feature, all check marks along the way. Backing up to an External Drive (NOT a Flash Drive, but External Hard Drive) is another best practice. If your Hard Drive crashes, which it will, your information is on an external drive. Also, doing a Restore from Back Up from time to time, once a month for example, is another Best Practice.

One additional Best Practice, for me, is to have my Hard Drive AND External Drives backed up to a Cloud Service, like BackBlaze. will back up your external drives as well. All done in the background. And, to a restore from there as well.


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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

Deleting An Empty Media Category

A reader asked me this question: I created a media category and added a media item to it. Later I realized it really belonged in a different category and moved it. That left an empty media category I never planned to use again. So, can you delete an empty media category?


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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

Do I add an Unknown Name from DNA Results ?

How do I add a DNA Cousin, but not sure IF this person belongs in my database, but want to add the information anyway.


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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FamilySync Observation

Now that we have been using the new interface to Ancestry.com, using the new FamilySync feature, I have an observation. This observation has changed "WHEN" I use the FamilySync Feature.

This observation comes from being aware of how long it takes to do a FamilySync. I have found that the more citations that I am working with, the longer the Sync process takes. Instead of doing a Sync every two or three hours, I am doing it about every hour.

In this example, I had been working a couple of hours and ended up with syncing 2,165 Citations. My observation is that the Sync takes longer.

As I mentioned earlier, I have changed my Sync process:

1. Compact and Back Up the file, ADDING the Time to the Back Up Filename
2. SyncNow
3. Export the FamilySync Log to a PDF file (saving that PDF file)
4. File, Back Up, again  adding the Time to the Back Up Filename.

At the End of the Day, File, Close, File, Exit.

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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FTM2017 - Back2Basics - Back Up / Sync / Back Up

Back2Basics - an update to my Sync Best Practices. Back Up / Sync / Back Up

After a computer crash, I learned something about the new, FTM2017 Back Up, FamilySync, and Restore features.

I have changed my Best Practices when doing a FamilySync. That is to do a Compact File, including the Back Up feature, both before and after the SyncNow.


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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FTM2017 - Merge Duplicate People, Not in the Find Duplicate People Report

As a follow up on the Find Duplicate People Report, this time it is for a Duplicate person that does NOT show up in the Find Duplicate People Report.




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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

How to get a FTM2014 file from an Old Computer to FTM2017 on a New Computer

I was asked "How to I get my FTM2014 file from an Old Computer onto my New Computer with FTM2017 installed.

Here is my response:



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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington

FTM2017 - Find Duplicate People feature #1

This will probably become one of several blog posts on the Find Duplicate People feature in Family Tree Maker.

In this first case, I already have a Saved List of Duplicate People that I am working one. I will review the information that I have and make a determination as to my next steps.



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Copyright © 2017 by H R Worthington