Genealogy Chat

Heather Just got an email from a very nice man at FTM and I'm now back using the web search function:-) Now I can do it too - so many rellies - where to start-) Bev X

Hi Whats email address for FTM? I cant get mine to search since its on my laptop comes up: the server is currently unavailable or your system is behine a firewall Tracy

If you go to your FTM program, look at the help tab, it drops down and there is a technical help link. It gives you lots of FAQ. I always ignore those and click on the tab at the top which says contact us or something. Remember to submit twice as its one of those where they show you what you have typed and you have to click to submit it.

Thank you Heather

Heather Have you ever tried using the average age calculating thingymebob. It uses the info already on the tree and tells you the average age of all the individuals. By my reckoning i have about three years left!!!!!!!! Glen

Shall I change my name to Slapper with fivers in nix? No, I havent done that one Glen. I have done individual surnames checks for longevity on ancestry. Its a bit worrying that my main lines have a lovely line way above the 'average lifespan' (incredible they were all well into their 80s and even 90s!) until the last 20 years or so when they seem to have dropped just under!!

I was going to be Corporal Shortarse,Tinsel Gimp Mask,Turnip Knickers Undercover Spy,but that sounds plain silly. Well what worries me is that my mothers generation and her 8 brothers and sisters (all now deceased) only managed an average of 42 years between them,add who i suspect is my father and it drops to just over 40. Granny and her contemporaries manage just short of 80. Three g/gparents (can't find the fourth) via mothers line went to 84. Glen

I saw this thread the other day, just been to pc world and they have 3 versions, one is who do you think you are family tree maker at £9.99 the family tree maker at 9.99 and a deluxe version at £39.00 includes 30 days ancestry membership which i dont need as i have a yrs memebrship, just wondered which one you would recommend. also can you store your tree on the disk which is what i would like to do in case pc ever gets a virus and wipes it all. im useless when it comes to computor programmes so i hope its really easy to use.

If you trawl this thread you will see that there is a decent standard one for under £20 at S and N Genealogy with the 90 days trial - dont go for the tenner ones, they are only trial type things you have to upgrade to get the full monty. Just have a look at S and N or my-history websites.

Heather.... thankyou. I am ashamed to say I have had FMT2006 for several months but have been too nervous to press different buttons. Just had a go at the web search and it is gooooooooood. I will be spending many happy hours looking for deaths, which for some reason I find difficult to match up. I do love this board. There are so many knowlegable people who are only too willing to help us technophobes. Thanks to you all. Jean x.

Jean, have a fiddle with all the other buttons. I often use the error finder(which finds things like kids older than their mum in my program) but only knew when Glen told me that you can actually print out 'missing items' - the program finds what certs and dates etc are missing for you - isnt that brilliant - handy when you have come to a full stop and dont know which line to tackle next. And Jean - I trust you are backing it all up to a cd - its really easy - and also created your own family home page on an internet website?

Steady on Heather .... 1 step at a time lol. Yes I have backed up on CD but until I read this thread didn't realise you could create your own web site. I will certainly be trying that one out. Jean x.

Just ordered the deluxe version from amazon for £23.99 including free postage. It arrived in 2 days. Problem is I dare not open it until the weekend when I have more time to play.

Great hints from the knicker lady & turnip pants...Thanks! Off to play.... Sarah :-)

Just had a look at my family stats - interesting stuff (11 generations!) and I found the place where you can make yourself a TO DO list. (by pressing Ctrl-t wherever you are) but where is the 'missing info' thingy that Mrs 'Big-knickers-stuffed-with-dosh' wrote about. Help Heather please! Sarah :-))))

Nudge for Heather... (well, for me really!) :-)))

hi if you dont mind me askin what is FTM and where do you go to find it plz ?

Just a sec, I shall have to find old Turnip Pants pm to me. Ok, go to the Reports tab - ok? Click on that and look down to Data Error. If you click on that it brings up a report of things that you have missing from your tree. It may even be the same as your To Do list actually?

Hi Joanne, FTM is Family Tree Maker - it's a software programme that stores & sorts all your family tree stuff. You can buy it online. It's really easy to use & people are always discovering new bits to tell us about. By the way, I've just been reading your thread about your search for your dad - Good luck! Sarah :-) THANKS HEATHER - I'll try that now - hope it doesn't blow my 'puter up - LOADS of stuff missing!!! :-))))

Ah ha! only 4 and a half pages of it - lots of 'incorrect capitalisation' and 4 x 'birth date is more than 20 years after the marriage' worth checking. It also cleverly noticed that 2 of our children were born before my husband & I got married (correct) Useful to look at but too much to print out. Thanks for sharing it.. Sarah :-) The 'to do' list is something that YOU create. (So you don't get hassled about flippin' capital letters! - well i wouldn't hassle myself would i?)