TIP OF THE WEEK – ABOUT RETIRING FTM

Many people are upset with Ancestry.com “retiring” the desktop application “Family Tree Maker” aka FTM. The thing to remember is don’t panic.  There is time to explore your options as  Ancestry.com has pledged to support the program through January 1, 2017 and you can actually continue to use it after that for as long as your computer’s operating system will allow. Just be aware that after January 1, 2017 it won’t sync your online tree or do other things that interface directly with Ancestry.com.

Since this is a widely used application we will be visiting the issue again and again. SGS members have made suggestions and pointed to articles they found helpful.

For starters read Keith’s article  at GenealogyTools.com .  It was recommended by Dick Eastman and provides a good overview to the novice of what a “gedcom” file is and how to scrub your data to become “gedcom” compliant.

Find the article here :

Family Tree Software Alternatives, Part 1: How to Scrub Your Data (Updated 16 May 2018)