Category: Uncategorized

Happy New Year!  2013 was a busy year for us and we’ve hit the ground running in 2014.  Let’s look ahead at some of our goals and resolutions for the new year.

More Awards

We received some last-minute awards for 2013 after we did our Year in Review.

GenSoftReviews has presented RootsMagic with the “Top Rated Genealogy Software” award for the fifth year in a row.  These awards are based on reviews made by users and visitors to the site.  And while you’re there, be sure to rate RootsMagic for the 2014 awards!

RootsMagic also received the GeneAwards for “Best Genealogy Product of 2013”, “Best New Feature of 2013” for the RootsMagic Problem Alerts, and a mention for the “Best New Trend of 2013” with “single cross-platform file format”.  This is the 5th straight year that RootsMagic has won the GeneAward for “Best Genealogy Product”.

Help You Get the Most out of the Software

We’re dedicated to making RootsMagic the easiest way to record and share your family history.  Our free online classes, RootsMagic TV, and user groups help you learn how to most effectively use our software.  We offer online forums, mailing lists, a knowledge base, and free technical support to answer your questions and get you through rough spots.  In the coming year, look for more content and more ways to help you get the most out of our software.

New Updates and Features

Watch for regular updates to all of your software with improvements, fixes, and new features.  Updates can be found by clicking Help > Check for Updates on the main menu of most of our software.

RootsMagic Everywhere You Want It

One of the most common questions we hear is “When will I be able to run RootsMagic on my __________?”  We hear you loud and clear.  We know how important it is to have your information where and when you want it.  We’ve already expanded online and onto iOS devices with Android devices coming in the very near future.  We’re pushing out onto other platforms as well.  Be sure to watch this blog and our newsletter for official future announcements.

Thank You!

As you can see, we’ve got big plans for 2014 and beyond.  None of this would be possible without you and your support.  We try very hard to listen and respond to your problems, questions, and suggestions. If there is something that you’d like to see us do, please contact us and let us know.  May you have a successful 2014 (both genealogically and otherwise)!

The great news is here!  We are pleased to announce that an update to RootsMagic 6 is now available which has been “Share+ Certified” (note the “plus”) by FamilySearch for use with their new “Family Tree” system.  This means that RootsMagic is the only software certified to collaborate and share data with FamilySearch Family Tree!

Last March, RootsMagic became the first software certified to share data with FamilySearch Family Tree.  Today’s update brings in many collaborative features for FamilySearch that can only be found in RootsMagic.  These include enhanced discussions, viewing and copying sources between RootsMagic and Family Tree, as well as viewing a change history for a person and reversing incorrect changes.  There are also many enhancements and improvements to existing FamilySearch features.

What is FamilySearch Family Tree?

FamilySearch Family Tree is a new way to organize and record your genealogy online. It is free, is available to everyone, and provides an easy way to discover your place in history with free tools to help you preserve and share your family’s story for generations to come.

In Family Tree you can:

• See what the system already contains about your ancestors.
• Work with others to fill in missing information and correct errors.
• Add sources and explanations to show that information is accurate.
• Find and merge records that are about the same person.

How is FamilySearch Family Tree different than new.FamilySearch.org?

RootsMagic, the genealogy software named “Easiest to Sync” with new.FamilySearch.org, now brings the same power and features that you love to FamilySearch Family Tree- with more to come!

Family Tree has most of the features that are available on new.FamilySearch.org. It has some new features including the ability to edit and delete most any information about a person, a detailed history of changes made to people, and the ability to add sources to back up your conclusions. While new.FamilySearch.org has primarily been available to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family Tree is available to everyone.

Goodbye, new.FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has announced that they will be shutting-off the ability to make changes to their (old) new.FamilySearch.org website on Sunday, June 30, 2013.  This means that previous releases of RootsMagic (4, 5, and pre-6.1) will no longer be able to write data to new.FamilySearch.org after this date.  Users of these older versions of RootsMagic should upgrade or update their software to take advantage of the latest FamilySearch support and features.

How do I get started?

To get started:

1. Download the latest version of RootsMagic 6 or the free RootsMagic 6 Essentials.
2. Watch our brief video tutorials to help you get up-and-running quickly.
3. Check out our list of Frequently-Asked Questions for tips and explanations about the update.

More to Come!

In the coming days, we’ll be blogging more about RootsMagic and how you can use it to share and collaborate others through FamilySearch Family Tree.  We’ll also be adding new features and enhancements to our Family Tree support.  In the meantime, enjoy the update!

We have some bad news, some good news, and some great news.

Bad News, Good News

The bad news is that FamilySearch will be shutting-off the ability to make changes to their (old) new.FamilySearch.org website on Sunday, June 30, 2013.  This means that previous releases of RootsMagic (4, 5, and pre-6.1) will no longer be able to write data to new.FamilySearch.org after this date.

The good news is that the latest update to RootsMagic (6.1) already works with new.FamilySearch.org’s replacement- FamilySearch Family Tree!  In fact, RootsMagic is the first software certified to share data with FamilySearch Family Tree.

How will this affect me?

If you use RootsMagic 4, 5, or 6.0 to work with new.FamilySearch.org, beginning Sunday, June 30, 2013 any attempt to make changes to data on new.FamilySearch.org will give an error message.  This is not due to any bug or breakage in RootsMagic. It is simply because FamilySearch is shutting off that capability as they replace new.FamilySearch.org with FamilySearch Family Tree.  Note: This does not affect any other features in RootsMagic 4 or 5. Only new.FamilySearch.org features are affected.

What should I do?

If you are using RootsMagic 6.1 or RootsMagic Essentials 6.1, you don’t have to do anything. RootsMagic 6.1 does not work with new.FamilySearch.org. It works directly with FamilySearch Family Tree, the replacement for new.FamilySearch.org.

If you are using RootsMagic 6.0, simply download the free update to RootsMagic 6.1 by choosing Help > Check for Updates from the main menu of RootsMagic or download the update from our website.

If you are using RootsMagic 4 or 5 and you want to continue interfacing with FamilySearch, you’ll need to upgrade to RootsMagic 6 or download the free RootsMagic Essentials 6.

What is FamilySearch Family Tree?

FamilySearch Family Tree is a new way to organize and record your genealogy online. It is free, is available to everyone, and provides an easy way to discover your place in history with free tools to help you preserve and share your family’s story for generations to come.

With RootsMagic, you can search FamilySearch Family Tree for matches for people in your file. Once you have found a match, you can copy any data that FamilySearch has about that person into your own file. You can also copy any data that you have into the FamilySearch system. You have full control over what data is copied in each direction.

RootsMagic is the first software certified to share data with FamilySearch Family Tree and won the awards for “Easiest to Sync”, “Best Dashboard”, and “Trailblazer” from FamilySearch.

Wait- what’s the “great news”?

Hmm- we better save that for another day. We don’t want to overwhelm you all at once. Stay tuned for an exciting new announcement in the very near future!

We are pleased to announce that an update to RootsMagic 6 is now available which has been “Share Certified” by FamilySearch for use with their new “Family Tree” system.  This means that RootsMagic is the only software certified to share data with FamilySearch Family Tree!

What is FamilySearch Family Tree?

FamilySearch Family Tree is a new way to organize and record your genealogy online. It is free, is available to everyone, and provides an easy way to discover your place in history with free tools to help you preserve and share your family’s story for generations to come.

In Family Tree you can:

• See what the system already contains about your ancestors.
• Work with others to fill in missing information and correct errors.
• Add sources and explanations to show that information is accurate.
• Find and merge records that are about the same person.

How is FamilySearch Family Tree different than new.FamilySearch.org?

RootsMagic, the genealogy software named “Easiest to Sync” with new.FamilySearch.org, now brings the same power and features that you love to FamilySearch Family Tree- with more to come!

Family Tree has most of the features that are available on new.FamilySearch.org. It has some new features including the ability to edit and delete most any information about a person, a detailed history of changes made to people, and the ability to add sources to back up your conclusions. While new.FamilySearch.org has primarily been available to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family Tree is available to everyone.

How do I get started?

To get started:

1. Download the latest version of RootsMagic 6 or the free RootsMagic 6 Essentials.
2. Watch our brief video tutorials to help you get up-and-running quickly.
3. Check out our list of Frequently-Asked Questions for tips and explanations about the update.

More to Come!

In the coming days, we’ll be blogging more about RootsMagic and how you can use it to share and collaborate others through FamilySearch Family Tree.  We’ll also be adding new features and enhancements to our Family Tree support.  In the meantime, enjoy the update!

The RootsMagic 2013 RootsTech Treasure Hunt is now over.  We wanted to thank the bloggers who placed clues on their sites: AnceStories (Miriam J. Robbins), Ancestry Insider (Anthony Nsider), DearMYRTLE (Pat Richley-Erickson), Elyse’s Genealogy Blog (Elyse Doerflinger), Gena’s Genealogy (Gena Philibert Ortega), Genealogy Gems Podcast (Lisa Louise Cooke), Genealogy Guy’s Podcast (Drew Smith), Genealogy’s Star (James Tanner), Genea-Musings (Randy Seaver), Granite Genealogy (Sue Maxwell), Leaves of the Tree (Kay Haden), Little Bytes of Life (Elizabeth O’Neal), Renee’s Genealogy Blog (Renee Zamora), The Genealogy Blog (Leland Meitzler), We Tree Genealogy Blog (Amy Coffin), Zap the Grandma Gap (Janet Hovorka).

Like last year, many of the bloggers said they had record-setting traffic to their blogs from the thousands of RootsMagic users from around the world who followed the links to find the clue words.  And we heard from many of you who enjoyed discovering new blogs and podcasts with such a variety of personalities and styles.

For those of you that are curious, the 15 words formed this important message:

“You have chosen wisely,” said the old crusader as Doctor Jones picked up Roots Magic

“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” Copyright LucasFilm, Ltd.

We held our first drawing at the actual RootsTech conference and gave an iPad (4th generation) to Vicki Renz.  And for those who weren’t able to attend RootsTech in person, we held a second drawing for online entries.

And the winner of an iPad (4th generation) in our online drawing is Judith Ann Taylor of Rexburg, Idaho!  We also drew three more winners who will each receive a RootsMagic super pack which includes RootsMagic 6, Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic 6, Personal Historian 2, Family Atlas, Family Reunion Organizer, and RootsMagic Webinars on CD Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, all in a RootsMagic tote bag.  Congratulations go to Glenn Harvey of Melbourne, Australia; Fernande Boudreau of Pointe Verte, New Brunswick; and Pat Blalock of West Virginia!

Thanks to the thousands of you who participated in our treasure hunt.  We had a lot of fun putting it together and we hope you had a lot of fun participating.  Look for more treasure hunts, more connections with the genealogical community, and more magic in the future!

It’s been a tremendous last few months here at RootsMagic. We’ve been busy with the new releases of RootsMagic 6 and RootsMagic for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. We’re also excited to participate in one of the largest genealogy events in North America- RootsTech!

We want to celebrate these momentous events with you, our loyal users! And what better way to celebrate than with a treasure hunt where you could win one of many prizes including an iPad (4th generation)!

Online Treasure Hunt

We’ve partnered with 15 of the best and brightest genealogy bloggers- many reporting at the RootsTech conference. Each blogger will place one of 15 clue words on their website. The clue word will look something like this:

From Thursday, March 21 through Wednesday, March 27, 2013, visit http://www.rootsmagic.com/treasure for a complete list of the blogs where the 15 clue words can be found. Visit each blog, collect all 15 clue words, uncover the secret message, and you could win software, prizes, or an iPad (4th generation)!

Once you’ve collected the clues there are two ways to enter- in person or at home.

Enter at RootsTech

If you’re lucky enough to attend RootsTech in person, pick up an entry card at the RootsMagic booth (#401) in the Exhibit Hall.  Write the clue words on the back of the card and return it to the RootsMagic booth in the Exhibit Hall by Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 1:20 pm.  At that time, we will hold the prize drawings.  You must be present to win.

Enter at Home

We didn’t want those who aren’t able to attend RootsTech in person to feel left out so we’re holding a second drawing and giving away more prizes including a second iPad.  To enter this drawing, visit http://www.rootsmagic.com/treasure anytime between Thursday, March 21 and midnight MST on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.  Fill out the online form to be entered into the second drawing.  You may enter both drawings but one entry per person, per drawing.  Winners will be picked at random and notified via e-mail by Friday, March 29, 2013.

Remember, the treasure hunt doesn’t begin until this Thursday. Good luck!

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.

The site is currently hosting the “2013 About Genealogy Readers’ Choice Awards“.  Readers have nominated their favorites and the finalists have now been chosen in eleven categories, ranging from genealogy software and apps, to websites and blogs.

RootsMagic is a finalist in three categories:

1. Best Genealogy Software (Windows)
   
2. Best Tool for Putting Your Family Tree Online
3. Best Online Genealogy Tool or Mobile App

This is a great chance to let the genealogy community know which products and services are most valuable to you.  Just click on the above links to vote.

Don’t forget, you can vote once per day in each category.  Voting is open through midnight (EST) on Tuesday, March 19, 2013.  Winners will be announced on March 27, 2013.