Yesterday, like many of you have received the shocking news
that Ancestry is retiring the Family Tree Maker Software program. For the few
who haven’t seen the news here is the link to the blog page; http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/.
Most of the posts on that blog page are just as upset as me;
however a few people don’t understand why we are so upset. So I am going to try
to explain what I am feeling. Image your spouse saying out of the blue “I want
a divorce”. It’s like what? Am I hearing this correct? I didn’t think there was
any problem, why are you leaving me. Okay, you are correct a spouse saying out
of the blue they want a divorce is worst, but you understand how it takes you
by surprise.
So let me backtrack and tell you a little about my genealogy
history. In junior high (middle school) I was introduced to a genealogy
assignment and it was very interesting and sparked my curiosity. I graduated in
1981 and then personal computers started hitting the market. By 1986, I knew
nothing about computers and decided to go back to school and get my computer
degree, in spite of having two small children at home. I purchased my first computer in 1987. When
taking a BASIC programming computer class, I started thinking how computers
would make doing my genealogy so much easier. I hated my handwriting and having
to record the piece of information on so many forms seemed redundant to me. Mind you, I totally understand why I had to
record that information so many times, but each time I record something was
another chance for me to record it incorrectly. So my search started for the
ideal genealogy software package.
Windows hadn’t quite come on the scene yet and the first
program I used was not very user friendly. I didn’t know anything about GEDCOM’s
and not even sure if it was around quite yet. Anyway, when I decided that first
program was not going to hack it, I found out I could not export the
information into a new program. I had to start over with my 300 plus names.
I had seen Family Tree Maker was starting to make an appearance.
It was a very costly program, and I wanted to be absolutely sure this was
something I really wanted. I remembering biting the bullet and purchasing the
software package and I can’t even remember what version but I remember using
version 3 at some point.
About this time, the internet was starting to come on the
scene. I still wasn’t sure if FTM was what I really wanted and some other programs
allowed you to download evaluation versions of the software however I kept with
FTM. As my skills increased, so did FTM capabilities. I don’t remember if FTM
allowed you to record your sources in those early versions but I started
realizing I needed to record my sources around 1997. However, copying the same
source was not an easy task. I end up using notepad to save the detail I wanted
in my source and then copying and pasting the parts of the citation into where
I thought they should go. Then came my dream function, being able to copy the
same source over and over again. I was in heaven.
About this time I had exhausted all my free options for
getting leads from the internet and decided to join Ancestry.com. I saw I could
import my tree to Ancestry and it would be there as “cousin bait”. However, I
found that I wasn’t on top of keeping my tree current on Ancestry and then came
another dream function, treesync. It was like FTM read my mind and knew exactly
what I wanted. I didn’t want to update my tree on Ancestry’s side but on FTM’s
side and with a press of a button, my tree changes went to Ancestry. Now my “cousin
bait” was up to date. Before, I updated my tree once or twice a year (if I
remembered). Now FTM told me when I needed to update. The programmer side of me
loved the treesync logs that showed me all the changes I made to my tree. Now
when a cousin asked if I made any new finds, I could quickly review my logs and
answer the question.
But the real strength lies deep inside of the FTM software.
I can do so much more with FTM than what was being offered by Ancestry Trees.
If I want to run a report that shows me all the people buried in one town, I
can run that report. If I want to create a custom field called FindAGrave and
record the memorial number in that field I can do that too. If I want to run a
report for all the people buried in that town that doesn’t have a FindAGrave
memorial, I can do that too. From that report I can create a to-do-list that states
to visit those cemeteries and take pictures and create FindAGrave memorials. Or
as I am recording my citations, if I find I am missing a source, I can create a
to-do-list item to get that source. I do this often for vital records, I create
a to-do-list item for that person and write a little note such as “Obtain death
certificate” and then tag the to-do-list item and place it into a category
titled “whatever the county is”. I also create a to-do-list item with the
county courthouse information, location, phone number, hours of operation,
address and place it into the same county category. Now I run a to-do-list for
that category and quickly have a list of vital records I need to look up at
that county courthouse. When I get enough on that list, I make a road trip.
Why? Because everything is not on-line.
So does Ancestry Tree offer all these options? To be honest
I don’t know because I find moving around my tree on Ancestry is slow and
cumbersome. Moving around my tree on FTM is quick and easy.
If Ancestry is retiring FTM, how long before they change
other things? When I first started on Ancestry, one could and still can create
a tree for free. Will they still allow this in the future? In the past, with a
free “guest” account you could look at other public trees, but not anymore. You
must have a paid subscription to see public trees. Do you know that Ancestry
never announced that changed. I thought if I made my tree public, then anyone
could see it. NOPE, only those paid subscribers can see my tree. So much for “cousin
bait”. I know a lot of people who aren’t as dedicated to genealogy or research
as I am who only have a tree on Ancestry as a free “guest” account. They don’t
understand my shock at the news of FTM being retired. But then again, they don’t
totally understand how to do exhaustive genealogy research. They think if they
don’t find it on-line then the record doesn’t exist.
I do know that even though Ancestry is retiring FTM and
after 2017 our tree sync function will no longer work, but perhaps I will
retire all my Trees on Ancestry by that time too. Why should Ancestry benefit
financially from my tree by advertising how many trees are on their site that is
part of their paid subscription? Yes, I know I might be punishing myself, but
if my tree is going to be out of date, because now I have to go back and import
my tree regularly, why bother.
I also know that since FTM is on my computer, I can keep
using it. However, I am going to start exploring other options because I don’t
want all my eggs in one basket.
