req help with starting

[2weis]

i am hoping some one can help me with a family tree program

i would like one that allows me to link a sibling to one parent only (i.e. mother only ) without going thru a complicated process
i would also like the option of putting photos / document etc. into a file associated with people on the tree
that can be opened by clicking onto the name
as i don't know how far back or how many boxes i need the ability to add as i go would also be handy

as this is my first attempt i hope i have explained myself properly
Brian

[PhotoFamily]

Hi, Brian -
Congrats on a successful first post!

I think most of the family tree programs out there will allow you to create a tree pretty easily. I've used Family Historian and Ancestry.com - just adding spouses, sibs and parents are pretty straightforward. You don't have to pay Ancestry to have a tree there (but you do if you want to see the records that they have).

Storing documents and photos is slightly more technical, but still pretty straight forward. It gets more complex when you want to do things like - tie the document to several people, create events associated with them.

Others here can talk about using Family Tree Maker (which ties into Ancestry) and other programs.

Good Luck!

[2weis]

thanks for the reply
what I am trying to ensure is that I can put in half brothers etc
the couple of programs I played with kept linking a half brother to both parents of the other brother
and wouldn't allow a father unknown link for the other brother
brian

[Anne in Carlisle]

I think most tree programs will do what you want but you have to be sure to add the children to the rught parents. If the father is unknown you can add the child just to the mother. Then later she may have married and can have other children from that union. On a tree they will show as having a 'blank' box where the unknown father is.
Anne

[GallowayLass]

In FTM, what I do is click on create another spouse for the woman. If she already has children by another spouse, the programme flags this up and asks of you want to associate the children with the new spouse. Click no and you end up with a new family page for the woman with her on the right and the new, currently blank, spouse on the left. You can now add the new child(ren). Also go to the marriage section for this pairing and change the relationship from married to single. There are various choices for the state of a couple's relationship. Choosing single stops the programme from referring in reports etc. to X married Y and it now will say X met Y. There is no limit to the number of extra spouses you can create. The annoying/confusing thing is FTM always assumes a marriage until you tell it different.
If you ever find out the names of any of the fathers simply add them in to the blank spouse box. As you will already have changed the relationship to single, adding his name will not alter this.
FTM also has the facility to add another set of parents to a child and you can choose which set is the preferred set. The relationship between the new mother and child and the new father and child can be independently set to various things which include adoption and step for example. You can also choose whether or not to suppress that new relationship from reports and trees.
So as you can see, hidden in the depths of the record page, FTM can be a lot more versatile than it looks.

[2weis]

anne
thank you I will keep this in mind
brian

[2weis]

gallowaylass
this gives me some answers that should help thank you
is it possible to add photos etc in FTM
brian

[GallowayLass]

I'm sorry Brian, I don't know as I've never done it. I still work with my old faithful 2006 version. Maybe newer ones allow this? I'll go look and see if I can do it.

UPDATE

Yes I can. There is an insert menu but it was all greyed o ut till I clicked on the scrapbook icon below my Gran's details. Then it was a simple matter of selecting my image. The scrapbook icon now shows the figure 1 next to it for her. you don't see the image in the normal data entry page. Later versions might be more sophisticated.

[2weis]

gallowaylass
thanks again it is making the FTM program more attractive
brian