Author: Bruce Buzbee

Tip: Know Your Relationships

Bruce Buzbee 7 Comments

Relationships

As you’re exploring around your family tree, do you ever think, “Who is ‘Lysander Liske’ and how is he related to me?” Followed by, “Hmm. You don’t see many babies named ‘Lysander’ anymore.”  While RootsMagic doesn’t have the power to name babies, it does have the ability to always show you your relationship to the selected person on the main screen.

To display the relationships as you navigate around the main views, do Tools > Set Relationships from the main menu.  RootsMagic will bring up the following form where you can simply click the Set relationships button, or you can click the Change… button to select a different person to set the relationships for first.

SetRelationships

RootsMagic will scan through your database and set each person’s relationship to the person you selected on the form.  Then as you navigate around the various views, RootsMagic will display that relationship in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

StatusBarRelationship

In this example, the relationship between the highlighted person (William Thomas Lloyd) and the selected person (Dr. James Smith) is first cousin twice removed.  As you move from person to person in your file, the status line at the bottom of the screen will be updated to show the relationship between the highlighted person and the originally selected person.

You can easily select anyone in the database and set the relationships relative to that person, so it’s easy to display everyone’s relationship to you, and then change it to show the relationships to an ancestor you are researching.  One important point to this though is that when you set the relationships, it sets them for the people currently in the file.  If you add additional people to your file after setting relationships you will need to redo the Set Relationship command to include those new individuals.

And with that tip, “Congratulations”, meet your “second-cousin 3 times removed”, “Lysander Liske”!

 

 

Tip: Get Research Help with RootsMagic and GenSmarts

Bruce Buzbee 1 Comment

GenSmarts Tip

Have you ever stared at your RootsMagic screen wondering where to look next (or maybe even where to start)? There are so many record types and websites to search that you aren’t even sure where to begin.  Or maybe you are a seasoned genealogist who just wants to make sure you don’t overlook anything.  Did you know there is a program called GenSmarts which can help you choose which records to search for any person in your file?

And best of all, we have the chance to offer a special discount on GenSmarts for a limited time.

Research Suggestions from GenSmarts

GenSmarts is a program that makes research recommendations for people in your RootsMagic file.  If you have GenSmarts installed, you can highlight any person in your file, then select Tools > GenSmarts Suggestions from the RootsMagic menu, and RootsMagic will display a list of research suggestions for that person.

GenSmartsSuggestions

So how does GenSmarts come up with these suggestions?  It creates a profile of your ancestor based on where and when they lived, and then matches that profile with its inventory of known records to make predictions about the record trail your ancestors may have left behind.  Each suggestion will include the logic behind the suggestion, and where that type of record can be found.  Keep in mind that these are suggestions… GenSmarts doesn’t know if your ancestor is in a particular record, just that it is the type of record your ancestor is likely to show up in.

If a record type is available online, you can just click the “Look online” button and GenSmarts will attempt to find your ancestor in those records.  GenSmarts knows which online sites have which records, so it knows whether to search FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindAGrave, or whatever other site has that particular record type.  If more than one site has the records, it will default to the free site.

What if a suggestion is only available from a pay site (like Ancestry), but you don’t have a subscription?  GenSmarts will take you to the “teaser page” of the site so you can get an idea whether a record exists for your ancestor.  You can then add the suggestion to the RootsMagic person’s to-do list, and later print out a list of all the suggestions you need to pursue for a particular website.  You can then take that list to the local library or Family History Center where you can do the actual search.  This little trick (as well as other GenSmarts features) is shown in the video below.

Note: GenSmarts is primarily focused on US, Canadian, and UK records, but there is a little support for records in some other countries.  If you have other questions about GenSmarts, here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Special Discount on GenSmarts

The folks at GenSmarts have allowed us to offer a limited time discount on GenSmarts.

GenSmarts is available either as a download or on CD (not both).  The discounted price is $19.95 for the download, or $24.95 (plus s/h) for the CD.  You must use the link below in order to get this discounted price.

http://rootsmagic.com/store/gensmarts/special.aspx

This special offer is only available until June 15th, 2014. So get your copy of GenSmarts today!

RootsMagic Webinars are Now Indexed

Bruce Buzbee 3 Comments

RM-Webinar
One of the free training options we provide for RootsMagic is our free online classes (webinars).  Not only are all of our webinars free, but you can watch them anytime, day or night.  Just go to the RootsMagic Webinars page, select the one you want and start watching.

But one of the biggest issues is that many of the webinars are 60-90 minutes long, and sometimes you are only interested in one part of the webinar.  In the past you had to start up the webinar and scan through or watch the entire thing just to find the part you were interested in.

Those days are over.  We have just put up PDF indexes for all of the webinars.  You can now search the PDF indexes to find which point in which webinar you want.  Each index covers about 10 webinars, and lists the time (minute and second) where various topics occur within each webinar.  You can then start the webinar and jump to that time in the webinar to watch just the part you are interested in.

We have webinars for every user, whether you are a beginner just getting started, or a power user looking for more tips on RootsMagic tools.

To check out the indexes or list of webinars, just visit:

http://rootsmagic.com/webinars

 

Our Best Holiday Offer Ever

Bruce Buzbee


RM_ChristmasTree

With the holidays coming up, we often get requests from our users about buying copies of RootsMagic to give as gifts to their family or friends.  In what has become an annual tradition, RootsMagic owners can buy discounted copies of our software to give as gifts.

Ten Years of Holiday Specials!

It’s hard to believe this is our 10th year offering holiday pricing for gifts, and to celebrate we are going to do our best holiday offer ever!

During this special holiday sale, you can order gift copies of RootsMagic 6 *AND* the book “Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic” for just $20 (plus shipping).  That’s right, both the program and book together for $20.

Even better, you can order our other products for just $19.95 each, or you can order our 3 best sellers (RootsMagic, Personal Historian, Family Atlas, and the RootsMagic book) together for just $49.95.

There is no limit on the number of discounted gift copies you can buy during this limited time offer which will expire December 20, 2013. You will receive the full program and 360 page book for each copy you order.

To take advantage of this offer, just visit:

http://www.rootsmagic.com/holidayoffer

or order by phone at 1-800-ROOTSMAGIC (1-800-766-8762).  You’ll need to mention the code HOLIDAY2013 when you call.

Sharing Sources Between RootsMagic and FamilySearch Family Tree

Bruce Buzbee 28 Comments

As the only TreeShare+ certified program, RootsMagic is the only software certified to share sources with FamilySearch Family Tree.  We’ve gotten a lot of questions about this great feature, so we’ve created a short (12 min) video that shows exactly how to do this.  But let’s start with a quick overview first.

Sharing Sources with FamilySearch

Once a RootsMagic person has been matched to a person on FamilySearch, you may wish to compare and exchange sources between RootsMagic and FamilySearch. The source tab will display the sources attached to the RootsMagic person on the left and the sources attached to the FamilySearch person on the right.  You can view more details about a particular source by clicking the blue information icon to the right of the source name.

FSSources
Click to embiggen the image

Clicking the checkbox in front of a source will bring up a screen with one or more options available for the source. You can copy a source from RootsMagic to FamilySearch, or from FamilySearch into RootsMagic, and you can also detach, tag or untag a source on FamilySearch. Choose what you want to do with the source and then select the options for that comand. Some options (like copying a source from RootsMagic to FamilySearch) will also ask you to enter a reason why you are making that change.

CopyFSSource
Click to embiggen the image

If your RootsMagic source has a WebTag, the URL for that WebTag will be included when you copy the source to FamilySearch. When moving a source from FamilySearch to RootsMagic, the URL (if any) will be added as a WebTag attached to the source when it is brought over.

A Short Video

And here is that short video I promised, which goes into more detail about how to share sources between RootsMagic and FamilySearch Family Tree.

Remember, to use RootsMagic with FamilySearch Family Tree, you’ll need to be using the latest version of RootsMagic 6 (6.3.0.2).  If you already own version 6, select Help > Check for Updates from the main menu.  If you are using an older version, you’ll need to upgrade to v6.

In our next blog article, we’ll show you another FamilySearch feature unique to RootsMagic, the Change History List with the ability to restore incorrect changes to Family Tree.

RootsMagic Introduces Problem Alerts

Bruce Buzbee 42 Comments

As I teach RootsMagic classes or webinars, I’m surprised how often somebody will say “I didn’t know that feature was in there”.  One such “unknown” feature is RootsMagic’s problem list.  The existing problem list (found at Tools > Problem Search > Problem List) scans everyone in your file to try and find any potential data entry errors (people born before their parents, etc) for everyone in your file.

Since the problem checking is such an important feature, we are introducing Problem Alerts in our latest update (version 6.3.0.0).  With Problem Alerts, you no longer have to manually run the problem list to see possible data entry issues.

RootsMagic will problem check in the background and display an alert next to the name of any person with a potential problem.  This alert will show on the pedigree, family, and descendant views.

ProblemAlerts
Click to embiggen the image

Just click on the problem alert and RootsMagic will display a list of the potential problems for the person.

ProblemList
Click to embiggen the image

You can highlight any of the potential problems and edit the person or family, mark the potential problem as “not a problem”, add the problem to your To-Do list so you can work on it later, or print the list of potential problems for the person.

You can enable or disable Problem Alerts from the Tools > File Options screen. You can also select which types of problems you want the Problem Alerts to look for.

Here is a short video showing how this cool new feature works.

Remember, to use Problem Alerts, you’ll need to be using the latest version of RootsMagic 6 (6.3.0.0).  If you already own version 6, select Help > Check for Updates from the main menu.  If you are using an older version, you’ll need to upgrade to v6.

In our secret underground labs, we’ve already found the Problem Alerts to be very useful in helping us clean and maintain our genealogy data. We’re confident it will be just as useful for you too.

 

RootsMagic Wins Two 2013 About.com Readers’ Choice Awards

Bruce Buzbee 4 Comments

The awards keep coming in.  Just 3 months after winning its 4th straight GeneAward for Best Genealogy Product of the Year, RootsMagic has won not one, but two 2013 About Genealogy Readers’ Choice Awards!

2013AboutReadersChoiceAwards

After a month of nominations and voting by the community, RootsMagic received awards for:

About.com Genealogy is the highest-ranked single contributor genealogy site on the internet.  Kimberly Powell, the curator, does a terrific job keeping it up-to-date with the latest news and tips as well as detailed and valuable lessons and how-to articles.  If you aren’t already familiar with this resource, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

We’d like to thank all of you who made your voices heard through your votes.  We work hard to bring you the best genealogy features and software available and it’s gratifying to see that many of you approve of the job we’re doing.  Of course, we’re not just sitting around.  We have even more surprises in store to make researching, recording, and sharing your family history even easier!

Special Holiday Offer Ends December 20th

Bruce Buzbee 1 Comment

Our special holiday offer continues through December 20th.  With the holidays coming up, we often get requests from our users about buying copies of RootsMagic to give as gifts to their family or friends.  In what has become an annual tradition, RootsMagic owners can buy discounted copies of our software to give as gifts.

Brand New Version 6!

Once again our Holiday Special hits at the exact same time as the release of a new version.  During this special holiday sale, you can order gift copies of RootsMagic 6 for just $19.95 (plus shipping).  Even better, you can order our other products at that same $19.95 price.  There is even a special bundle of our 3 best selling programs (and the RM book) for just $59.95.

There is no limit on the number of discounted gift copies you can buy during this limited time offer which will expire December 20, 2012. You will receive the full program for each copy you order.

To take advantage of this offer, just visit:

http://www.rootsmagic.com/holidayoffer

or order by phone at 1-800-ROOTSMAGIC (1-800-766-8762).

Here are a few resources if you would like more information about the new RootsMagic 6.

RootsMagic 6 – Free Online Publishing at My.RootsMagic.com

Bruce Buzbee 5 Comments

My RootsMagic

We released our new RootsMagic 6 software last week with an impressive list of new features.  One of our goals with this new release was to make it easier for you to share your information online with your family.

With that goal in mind, we’re pleased to offer our new My RootsMagic free hosting service for users of RootsMagic 6.  With it, you can easily publish and share your family tree, notes, sources, and media with others.

Publish Online

To publish your information to My RootsMagic, just run RootsMagic 6, then select “Internet > Publish online” from the main menu.  RootsMagic will step you through choosing which people you want to include, privacy options, and customizing your home page.  Then, with the click of a button, it publishes it online for you.  Your site will be located at my.rootsmagic.com/yourusername and will include a home page, a searchable name index, and pedigree view, family views, and individual view for every person you choose to include.  You can also include the notes, sources, and pictures on your site as well.

Your My RootsMagic site will have a very clean appearance, and is very easy for visitors to navigate.  Here’s a sample of what the pedigree view looks like (click the image to embiggen it).

Publish Online

See it in Action

If you want to see a sample of what RootsMagic 6 can create, we’ve put up a sample site for you to experience.  This sample site is purely fictional information, but will let you navigate the various views and see how notes, sources, and media are included.

If you’ve like to see a live demonstration where I created and published a family tree online, watch the last half of our free webinar “What’s New in RootsMagic 6” (it starts at 40:00 minutes into the webinar).

And be sure to read Randy Seaver’s blog articles about his experiences trying RootsMagic 6 and it’s online publishing here and here.  Randy sums up the My RootsMagic online publishing nicely:

“I really like the ease of creation of the website – it’s so idiot-proof that even I can do it.  I really like the tree content, the visual product, and the ease of navigation within the tree.  Plus, it’s FREE as part of buying a superb genealogy software program.”

So if you’ve been wanting to share your family history online but haven’t had the time or tech-knowledge to do it, get or upgrade to RootsMagic 6 today!

New RootsMagic 6 Software Released

Bruce Buzbee 10 Comments

RootsMagic 6

Latest Version of Genealogy and Family Tree Software Now Available to the Public

SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — November 19, 2012 — RootsMagic, Inc. today announced the official release of RootsMagic 6, the latest version of the award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history easy and enjoyable.  With this release comes an update to the popular “RootsMagic Essentials” free genealogy software.

Family History Made Easy

Family Tree Magazine said RootsMagic is “probably the best all-around genealogy program” and “offers a winning combination of features for both casual and serious genealogists.”

Throughout its 11-year history, RootsMagic has helped people research and share their family trees with innovative features such as moving people from one file to another with your mouse, a SourceWizard to help you document your work, creating a Shareable CD to give to family and friends, and running RootsMagic off of a USB flash drive when you are away from home.  RootsMagic has also received numerous awards, including the award for “Easiest to Sync” from FamilySearch for their work in interfacing with that system.

New Features

RootsMagic 6 adds many new features while making existing features even easier to use.  “This release includes something for everybody,” said Bruce Buzbee, president.  “Whether you want an easier way to share your family history with family or are looking for better tools to help you organize your work, RootsMagic 6 has something new for you.”  New features include:

Publish Online

  • Online Publishing – Create beautiful, dynamic websites with pedigree, family and individual views as well as supporting notes, sources, and media.  And with our free My.RootsMagic.com hosting service, your genealogy has an online home with the click of a mouse.

Timeline View

  • Live Timeline View – A live-edit panel on RootsMagic’s timeline view makes this one of the most powerful editing features ever!  Make corrections to your data while viewing it in context with other family members life events.

Find Everywhere

  • Find Everywhere – With a single search you can now find every  record in your file containing the text you want.  Quickly find people, families, notes, sources, places, to-do items, research logs, and more.  Then edit those found records directly from the search results.

WebTags

  • WebTags – Link people, sources, places, and more to websites using RootsMagic 6’s new WebTags.

CountyCheck Explorer

  • CountyCheck Explorer – Look up a county, state, or country from a multi-national database.  It can even show you online maps of county boundaries for that date.
  • Plus dozens of other enhancements and features

Free “RootsMagic Essentials”

RootsMagic 6 is also available in an updated, free edition named, “RootsMagic 6 Essentials”.  RootsMagic Essentials contains many core features from the RootsMagic software and the two products are fully-compatible with one another.  “Many people are curious about their family history and don’t know where to begin,” said Michael Booth, vice president.  “RootsMagic Essentials is the perfect way for someone to get started, risk-free.”  RootsMagic Essentials is available for download at http://www.rootsmagic.com.

Available Now

RootsMagic 6 is now available online at http://www.rootsmagic.com or by calling 1-800-766-8762.  New users may purchase RootsMagic 6 for only $29.95.  Users of previous versions of RootsMagic and it’s predecessor, Family Origins may purchase RootsMagic 6 for the upgrade price of only $19.95.

About RootsMagic, Inc.

For over 20 years, RootsMagic, Inc. has been creating computer software with a special purpose- to unite families. One of our earliest products- the popular “Family Origins” software, introduced thousands of people to the joy and excitement of family history.

That tradition continues today with “RootsMagic”, our award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history fun and easy. “Personal Historian” will help you easily write and preserve your life stories. “Family Reunion Organizer” takes the headaches out of planning those important get-togethers. And “Family Atlas” creates beautiful and educational geographic maps of your family history.

For more information, visit www.rootsmagic.com.
Source: RootsMagic, Inc.