PDA

View Full Version : Blonde moment


Pipemma
14-10-08, 19:33
My poor brain is hurting at the moment, what with work and this addictive activity so I'm going to beg for help without searching properly first....

I have our tree online on Ancestry and at the moment only there. It occurs to me it would be a good thing to have a backup locally, partly in case Ancestry's servers were to go belly up and partly in case we want to stop our Ancestry subscription at some point in the future. Is there a way of exporting the tree from Ancestry and saving it locally?
Chrissy Confused
14-10-08, 19:38
I have Family Tree Maker on my puter, which you can download or is it up load never sure, from Ancestry and then you have it and can back up any way you like, hope this helps:):)
Elaine ..Spain
14-10-08, 19:43
Pipemma,

It is generally recommended that you keep the master copy of your tree on your own computer, so that it is totally under your control. You update your information on your computer and back up regularly. If you want to put your tree on Ancestry then you would export a file from your computer program and upload this to Ancestry.

You will need a family history software program. The most popular one at the moment is probably Family Tree Maker, but there are a couple of freebies which you can download from the internet - namely Personal Ancestral File and Legacy. Might be worth your while checking out the links at the top of this page which will take you to our guides in the wiki.
Pipemma
14-10-08, 19:48
It is generally recommended that you keep the master copy of your tree on your own computer, so that it is totally under your control. You update your information on your computer and back up regularly. If you want to put your tree on Ancestry then you would export a file from your computer program and upload this to Ancestry.

Ah, yes, this is eminently sensible. Last time I looked at family tree software was Generations (?) about 12 or 13 years ago, at which point it wouldn't allow me to enter married couples without their having children to link them (doh). I presume modern packages are rather more functional? What sort of cost would I be looking at? And could I export from Ancestry into the package to get the local database going?
Elaine ..Spain
14-10-08, 19:56
PAF is free.
There is a free version of Legacy, and also one you pay for.
The current version of Family Tree Maker is FTM2009 - costs about 20 pounds which includes one free month subscription to Ancestry. This can be added to your current sub if you have one. FTM 2009 has only just been released this month - most Family Tree Maker users are sticking with the earlier version of FTM2006 as they prefer it - but as you havenīt used it before then I would go for the most recent version.

Check out prices on
TWR Computing
Home (http://www.twrcomputing.co.uk/)
My History
My History - Family Tree Software and Genealogy Supplies Specialist (http://www.my-history.co.uk/)

When you have purchased a package you would download your tree from Ancestry and open it up in the software on your computer, so there would be no need to start from scratch.
WendyPusey
14-10-08, 19:59
This one is free too


Family Tree Builder - Free genealogy program - MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder)
Katarzyna
14-10-08, 20:21
To download your tree from Ancesty.
Go to My Ancestry and click on Manage tree.
On management tools, click export tree. This will down load your tree in gedcom file ready to export. It may take a while depending on how large your tree is. If you have photos , comments or stories on there they will not be included in the gedcom. You will need to copy and paste them over to your puter. All notes and sources will be saved to the gedcom.

When downloaded ignore what it says in white box and click once on
Download "blah blah family tree" in GEDCOM file format. (http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/pt/DownloadGedcom.aspx?tid=8053868)
Click on save file and OK
Save to somewhere on your puter...my docs or desktop. You wont be able to open it until you get a suitable program as described by others above.
Hope this helps
peely
15-10-08, 08:36
Be careful when you buy a family tree maker that it is compatible with Vista,
i made that mistake :o
Peely
Elaine ..Spain
15-10-08, 09:18
Family Tree Maker 2005, 2006, version 16, 2008 and 2009 are all compatible with Vista.

If you have FTM 2005, 2006 or version 16 there is a Vista patch which needs to be installed.
If you have FTM 2008 or 2009 then you just install the program, no additional patch is required.
Pipemma
15-10-08, 15:29
Thanks for the instructions Katazyna

I'm on OSX, I presume these things are Mac-compatible?
Elaine ..Spain
15-10-08, 15:31
Ah - if you are using a Mac then not sure these programs will work for you.
Hang on - will find the mac compatible ones.
Elaine ..Spain
15-10-08, 15:34
Programs for AppleMac

GenScribe (http://users.rcn.com/psherman/genscribe.html)
Heredis (http://www.myheredis.com/discover.html)
MacFamily Tree (http://www.onlymac.de/html/stammbaum4en.html/)
Reunion (http://www.leisterpro.com/)

Not sure which is the most popular I am afraid. Perhaps one of our Mac users can help you.
taffyfrog
18-10-08, 15:33
Hi

I'm on MacOS and use Reunion, which I think is about the best. You can download a trial version and test for yourself. It is a bit pricey though. Before that I used PAF, which was compatible with Mac then (about 5 years ago). You'd need to check it out on the FAmily Search site to see if it still is.