Parsons Genealogy Software

IntroductionGenealogy software provides a method for recording the subjects of our research, e.g. Their names, relationships, and events of their lives. Evidence (citations and sources) should be recorded to support the conclusions reached. They also print the reports and charts to show off the results of our labor.This article reviews stand alone programs which run on your PC.

• Rootsmagic

If you are interested in web applications, see this companion review.Several free applications in this review will do a reasonable job for the novice or advanced genealogist. Read also the of these applications in a section of this page.Rated Products. No Unicode support, individual view blocked, nags with each startup.Supported Features:The above applications support these features unless otherwise noted:.They support unlimited entry of individuals, birth, marriage, death, burial, and other events together with their associated dates, locations, and source citations.Alternative names can be entered but are not necessarily searched.Marriages are not numerically limited, i.e.

Multiple spouses (sequential or polygamous).Polygamous relationships are not completely displayed, e.g. Only one pair can be viewed at a time.Multiple parents are supported (adopted, foster, or other possibilities). However, only one pair of parents can be displayed at a time.Incest is supported, e.g. Hi, thanks for the article, quite useful indeed!Right now I'm in search for a decent program to build my family tree. Ages ago I used Geno Pro that allowed me to create a visual tree of all my relatives (even though it took four pages:) ), and now I'm trying to find something similar.I tried Gramps however it will not do it (hides siblings for instance, and also shows the tree horizontally when I really would have liked it vertically.

At least to have an option!)Any suggestions which program would do that, a chart like?Thank you:). or to post comments. You can change the chart to vertical, different direction, fan chart, etc. By going to View-Configure. The fan chart is pretty cool, you can see hundreds of people at once.The Reports menu has lots of different things that are produced with a Graphwiz plugin. It should be installed, so you just hit a button and it makes a chart in SVG format that you can manipulate using a vector graphics program.You can install plugins pretty easily, and there's a bunch of them at. Maybe some of them will do what you want.

Wiki has support for new users. Probably the place to go for help.

or to post comments. Hallo everybodyI made my family tree some years ago and I used Simple Family Tree direct file link removed as per site rules. I think you should give it a try since it is so clear and simple, even if it is very basic.When I had to merge two trees (one made by me and one made by my sister-in-law) I used MyHeritage Family Tree Builder.Merging didn't work very well since every individual was duplicated by the software so i had to delete every doubled individual 'by hand'.Moreover, every software I use, I can't get a tree with ALL the individuals I have in the list. I tried to use Gramps but this can only show the parents for every individual, that is definitely not what I want.Can you suggest me a free software that don't have these problems? commercial reference removed as per site rulesThank you for any reply.

or to post comments. Hey, thanks for the prompt answer!What I wanted is something like that: my family is not that complex, I think that it would be nice to have my family tree look like that, instead of the usual, partial tree I can get by selecting one individual and show only its siblings and ancestors.Also fan chart can't show me and my cousins, and my sister in law too.Can i use Gramps for merging trees?I see that I can have 'reports' that sound like what I need, but thay save files in.gv format.

I can't even open them with Gimp! Is there any other program I can use, a part from 'Graphviz'?If i download Graphviz, maybe in my Ubuntu computer, would it work? Have you ever tried to do something like that?Thanks anyway. or to post comments. Your summary of Brother's Keeper is entirely inaccurate.You said: No date formatting. No people list view. Only product which did not support pictures or other media.

Reports cannot be saved to formats other than html. No bookmarks. Supports same sex parents but labels are Father/Mother. Does not support Unicode. No duplicate merge tools.

No custom facts. No pop-up calendar. No private notes.

No people bookmarks. BK supports Date Formatting (File Options Date). BK people list views are available from the Lists menu on the main screen. They include alphabetical by first or last name. BK supports pictures and other media. There are picture and media tabs on the person view pages. BK also supports picture/media attachments in sources.

Reports can be saved as formats other than html. It varies depending on report, but.doc and.rtf are two of the possible formats available. No duplicate merge tools, but checks for duplicates on input. Custom facts are available. On the edit screen go to the Add menu and you have options to add custom events and facts. You can set notes to print on all reports, selected reports, or no reports. That gives you the flexibility to set up private notes.None of these are new features.

All predate your review. or to post comments. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate all feedback. BK supports Date Formatting (File Options Date)-Selecting 24 June 1954 (enter as DDMMYYYY) does work, i.e. Entering 29122015 did reformat to 29 Dec 2015. Existing entries such as, or 29 December 2015 in a date field are unchanged.

Also imported dates are unchanged. I expected the entries to change to 29 Dec 2015 as set in the options. If the dates aren't automatically formatted then inconsistent entries could result. I'll withdraw the specific criticism but I will mention that existing data and imports will not be reformatted to the standard.

BK people list views are available from the Lists menu on the main screen.-You are correct. I didn't realize that clicking on one of the items in the list would go to an edit screen. Apparently I failed to notice the difference from the reports which don't support clicking in the same drop down menu. The distinction is not always clear, e.g. The Locations list can be clicked to select but the Locations with event is not. I'll withdraw my comment. Reports can be saved as formats other than html.-I agree.

Many can be saved as txt format. A few can be saved to rtf and html. Several cannot be saved directly to a file at all. I'll rephrase my comment accordingly.

No duplicate merge tools, but checks for duplicates on input.-You are absolutely correct. I did notice the input checking (I look for both features). I'll add a comment about input checking. Custom facts are available.-I clicked the Add Event. Then I tried to select the text in the Event/Fact field. Only predesignated types of events are available from the drop down list are available. I couldn't add a custom event such as 'Owns Zebras' or 'Criminal.'

I do agree that this is a seldom used feature that most programs don't support and is arguably unnecessary. I'll remove this comment.

You can set notes to print on all reports, selected reports, or no reports.-You are correct. I didn't notice the 'Print where' selection ability. I'll withdraw this comment.I'll post a new review in the next day or two.Thanks,Rick. or to post comments. Very helpful, but I am SO confused.I just got several pages of geneology from a cousin and want to put them in a program.HOWEVER, I want to keep from doing a lot of unnecessary typing - oops I don't like THAT program, THIS one is better, starting from scratch.So I thought I would put data in an EXCEL worksheet and import into a program. Then if I decide to change programs, be able to do the same thing.So I'm looking for a program with import/export capability.HOWEVER, since many of the comments here look like Greek, I may be way over my head.SO, can anyone tell me best program to use with data import feature?and please remember, I am techno-challenged.Thanks!.

or to post comments. Every genealogy propgram will import and export to a GEDCOM file. I imported my dad's Roots Magic GEDCOM file into Gramps and it worked great.You will run into trouble if you start saving data that isn't included in the GEDCOM scheme. Proprietary formats could include sources, images, recordings. Those are fine as long as the company stays in business and you want to pay what they ask, but if you share the data with someone else they probably won't have the same program. If you use Excel (or the open source LibreOffice Calc) you will have your own format to sort out.Gramps seems to be the only real open source genealogy program.

It is better than the old PAF from the Mormons, and has a ton of capabilities. I back it up in their format, but also back up occasionally in GEDCOM. or to post comments.

Ttowndick,Vandamme is absolutely correct.Excel is not supported by any genealogy program import. GEDCOM is supported by all of them.I suggest you start using one of the programs.

If you aren't happy then export the date you've entered to a GEDCOM file and import that to the new program.I do suggest you start with the program with the most capability. I can speak from experience that it is very difficult to go back and add details to records you already entered. I originally started my research with a program that is still commercially available but I became frustrated with its limitations. Even with a GEDCOM import, I essentially had to review hundreds of records when I upgraded to a far superior program.Gramps would be an excellent choice for a program one is unlikely to outgrow. or to post comments. Thanks for yours & Vandamme's prompt replies.

I hope he sees this as well.Looking around, I started putting information into a free account at FamilySearch.org. I ASSUME since they have access to LDS data, that would be most helpful, and I have found several ancestors already listed.I did NOT check on their export options, but I think this is most helpful for my needs.My question had to do with Excel, that I have most experience in, would be best way to enter data and give me most flexibility in whatever program(s) I might discover later. And being tech dangerous, I don't know anything about GEDCOM at all.I think I am going to continue with FamilySearch. If you or anyone has comments on going that direction, I would welcome input.As to my original question, after your comments, I did a quick search and offers a method to import excel to GEDCOM format.I did NOT explore at this time, and only put it here in case someone is looking for ways to follow my approach using Excel.Thanks again for you help. or to post comments.

I went to the Orba Design site and opened up their template with LibreOffice Calc, and it worked fine. But I didn't try their converter.I found out that GEDCOM was started by the LDS and just kind of grew from there, with some companies making extensions to it for various things.GEDCOM is text based, but others like Excel and LO spreadsheets and Gramps's are XML. There's no standard, or official sanctioning entity to evaluate new formats or features and make them standard.

Us engineers have the IEEE, which is why your wireless card works with your router. or to post comments. As far as I know all Genealogical systems using numerals begin the tree with either the Arabic numeral 1 or the Roman numeral I. So printing a report for a single individual the Genealogical numbering system would always be 1 or I regardless of the program.If the object is to print a descendant report in smaller bits then a reference field or custom tag could approximate the numbering system but the appropriate d'Aboville number would need to be manually entered. In Legacy, the Title Pre field would provide a doable workaround and would appear in the proper placement on some reports. The down side with using a field is the need to be updated for each ancestor.

If tags are used instead, then a custom tag could be created for each ancestor but tags are unlikely to appear properly on the report. or to post comments. Thank you very much for this review (and all other reviews).One thing that is missed in this review is multiple language support for data entry. I need to enter non-Western encoded characters (Chinese in my case).

I was very excited to try Legacy because of all the features, only to find out the characters entered all translate to '??' This rendered the application useless for me. I tried Gramps next and it did beautifully with Chinese entry. It even took me to the right place in 'OpenStreetMap' based on a location which was entered in Chinese. I haven't tried other applications down the line yet as I'll work with Gramps now to see how it goes.

I will miss Legacy's intuitive interface but the lack of the language feature was a deal breaker for me.Perhaps an update to the Pros and Cons about languages supported for each software would help others. or to post comments. Hello, I have an update about double byte character entry for a couple of the software. In my previous post, I said that Gramps allows Chinese character entry.

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This is still accurate for the software GUI, however I found out that the reports produced do not render the Chinese characters (I tried the PDF reports). I have moved down the list to MyHeritage Family Tree Builder, and that both allows Chinese character entry and generates reports with the Chinese characters intact.Regarding the nag factor of MyHeritage Family Tree Builder, I recently found that there is a way to turn off the opening of the website at program start. With the application open, go to Tools - Options - General. Here, there are options to set 'Show splash screen' and 'Show My Sites page on startup' to 'No'.

I hope that helps. or to post comments.

Binders & SleevesTo ensure that your collections of certificates and research documents are preserved in pristine condition, they should be kept in specialist binders with inert archival sleeves. S&N offer a variety of different size binders with high quality ring mechanisms and durable, padded, leather grain style covers. Each binder comes with 4 archival quality sleeves, which are also available to purchase separately. These sleeves are acid free, inert, and transparent, making them ideal for your documents. (The standard sleeves available elsewhere can suffer from leaching of plasticiser from PVC sleeves. This will lift print off pages and ruin your valuable documents.). TreeView 2 Best Seller + FREE Upgrade to Version 3 on release!.Relatively new to the market, TreeView is already competing with the more well known alternatives available, and is packed full of powerful features and tools to enable you to get the most from your family history research.

Whether you're an experienced family historian or just starting out, you'll find TreeView easy to use and an essential tool in your research. Record your family's history and view details of your ancestors in a number of different and attractive ways. Create beautiful charts and detailed reports to present your family tree. Published in the UK for the UK market.With you wherever you go - Sync between TreeView, TreeView Online and the TreeView App to keep your family history at your fingertips! Download the free TreeView app for your smartphone or tablet and easily carry your family tree with you wherever you go, even when you have no signal.

Ideal for viewing and updating your tree on the move. RootsMagic UK Version 7 + FREE Upgrade to Version 8 on release!.Version 7 is the latest edition of this award winning, top rated genealogy software program. This great package is easy to learn and use with a wide range of charts and reports. Add photos to bring your family history to life - multimedia scapbooks for photos, sound, videos, and more. Publish your family history book.

RootsMagic To-Go - Carry your research in your pocket on a USB memory stick. Make shareable CDs of your research. Easily create a family history web site. Plan your next move with research tools. Support for BMD quarter and Quaker dates. Live UK spell checking and thesaurus. and much more!

Reunion 12 for MacReunion helps you to document, store, and display information about your family - your ancestors, descendants, cousins, etc. It records names, dates, places, facts, plenty of notes, sources of information, pictures, sounds, and videos. It shows family relationships in an elegant, graphic form - people and families are linked in an easy-to-understand fashion.£79.95.Free downloadable upgrade avaialble on request after release in 2020. Only for those who purchased the full program after 8th November 2019.Free downloadable upgrade avaialble on request after release in 2020. Only for those who purchased the full program after 23rd November 2019.Free downloadable upgrade avaialble on request after release in 2020. Only for those who purchased the full program after 5th November 2019.