Genealogy Chat

Hi Ali

you should really enter the dates in the way you describe above, the problem with dates is that there are a few different formats that can be used,

Some people enter "st" and "nd" etc to indicate the date and some gedcom formats can't quite work them out. Our American cousins prefer mm/dd/yyyy which looks odd to UK folks.

You can edit the dates to the format you mention just by highlighting them on the FTM screen and changing them to dd/mm/yyyy. As long as you stick to one format throughout then you will find everything updates and transfers to other sites without major problems.

If you have any dates you are not 100% sure about, (perhaps you know an approximate year for example but not a date) then simply type the approximate year in the relevant box, birth, marriage, death etc.

abt 1870

By doing that you will find it easier to work through the list of individuals when you need to as they are listed in date order.

Great - thanks Glen - at least I only have 68 records so far. Best to get it right at this stage!

Sorry Allison, i hadn't noticed your reply till now.

I agree, while you have the chance to sort through relatively few records it is much easier, devising a system or method early on pays dividends later.

I'm going to blow my own trumpet for a moment, (now't new there!!)

I have put together a screenshot guide to some aspects of using FTM over on the FTF site. The screenshots show my actual FTM screens and what i add where (it's FTM 2005 using Vista, but XP users and 2006 users should recognise the screens quite easily).

There are umpteen ways you can organise your information and record your sources but i have demonstrated one method i use and given examples of the reports that you can create based on "my" system. That's not to say you have to do it the same way (there may well be better or simpler ways) but i find it useful because i can quickly pull up a report to show what certs i have, or illustrate which census images i have or need, burial info, bmd dates etc.

Of course all this info transfers via Gedcom too so you can use it to update all your internet trees on Ancestry, Genes, Tribal Pages etc and share with others via gedcom files too.

http://www.familytreeforum.com/family-tree-software-hints-tips/51172-ftm-2005-06-tips-guides.html

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Hi Glen

I have a major branch of my family that is not really mine and wish to hive it off into a separate gedcom. Is there any easy way of doing this, e.g. all ancestors of Joe Bloggs, or do I have to choose people one by one? That sounds painful.

Please advise.

Margaret

nudge

Is there any software available that will enable a GEDCOM file to be used to convert my GR tree into a report format ?

Thanks , Brian

Ifamily on the Apple will convert to a report format and Legacy on the PC.

Regards
Graham

nudge up for Carol in Australia

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For Poppie to see :)

Nudge for chippychap

Thank You All for your very expert and clear advice everything noted and will be used in the future. Regards George

For Jill

For Justblu

nudge up

Maplin usually have the older version of FTM for about £ 18 and Tesco sometimes. A lot of people strongly dislike the latest version which has a lot of changes. Its chief use is to create off line versions of Ancestry but it will work well enough with a GEDCOM from anywhere inc Gru. You can have as many trees or tree versions as you like.

GEDCOM (latest version 5.5) is a data exchange tool developed by and for LDS. It has endless issues when used for data interchange as most programs / sites have a twist on the "standard" and that includes Gru. Dates are especially liable to get pickled.

Bear in mind that if you save a tree to GEFCOM from Gru notes, links and photos will be lost.

The usual method for data interchange (I.T. generally, not genealogy) since about 2000 has been to use XML. At the recent RootsWeb conference in the USA Feb 2012 (sponsored by BrightSold, Phil Moire an attendee) a major issue was supposed to be the release of GEDCOM 6 with XML support. However the issue collapsed as LDS took the ball away and refused to collaborate with others on an equal basis. So we are stuck with 5.5. Microsoft's rather fun family tree product (free) will import GEDCOM but exports to XML. This XML is easy to import into Excel or Access or Libre Office.

The best free program is GRAMPS though you have to put in a bit of effort. It has an excellent user community. Free PAF is a total waste of time but registration is cheap enough.

No Knowledge of Gedcom at all so this will help me learn how to do it :-D

Thankyou