Author: Michael Booth

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.

Where did the time go?  In accordance with our annual tradition here at RootsMagic, we’d like to look back on this past year and review some of our accomplishments with you, our users.  And don’t forget to check back on Tuesday as we present our 2013 New Years’ Resolutions with a peek at our plans for the coming year.  But until then, let’s turn the calendar back to January 2012.

Free Online Classes (Webinars)

Over the past two years, we have pioneered the use of “webinars“, or free online classes, to help our users get the most out of our software.  We’ve offered over 40 classes spanning over 40 hours of instruction to answer your questions and to teach you all the ins-and-outs of our software.  In 2012 alone, our webinars have been viewed and downloaded hundreds of thousands of times from users in nearly every country on the globe.

And don’t forget,  all of our webinars are archived and still available, free of charge.  If you haven’t already watched one of our webinars, what are you waiting for?  Just pick a webinar on a topic that you’ve been curious about and watch it today!  No other genealogy software comes close to providing the level of support and training that we do.

Conferences, Contests & Sponsorships

This year brought the usual conference travel, but this time we wanted to give back a little to the genealogy community that has given us so much.  First, at the RootsTech conference in February, we gave away two iPads in the RootsMagic 2012 RootsTech Treasure Hunt.  It was a lot of fun and brought some well-deserved attention to bloggers in our genealogy community.

In May we sponsored Genealogy Youth Kamp at the NGS Conference in Cincinnati.  Youth Kamp was designed to assist children between the ages of 8 and 16 with gaining an appreciation of and connection to their ancestry.  To aid in this, parents, grandparents, or other adults were encouraged to attend and participate in Youth Kamp along with the children.

We were pleased to again sponsor the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Annual Genealogy Jamboree in June.  The red carpet theme was a lot of fun and we were happy to contribute deluxe badge holders to all attendees.

And at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Birmingham, Alabama we sponsored the RootsMagic Cyber Cafe, the place to hang out, go online, charge a device, or print those syllabus pages you needed.

In August, we sponsored an old-fashioned photo booth at the Utah Genealogy Association’s Fall Conference.  It was a unique event that provided genealogy activities and games geared for the entire family.

In October, we held a “Most Interesting Family History Picture and Story” where we asked for interesting pictures and stories from our users.  We were overwhelmed with the love and pride that people felt for their family histories.  It was a very hard job, but our panel of judges narrowed the list down to 8 pictures and stories and the public voted for their favorites.  The finalists each won a copy of our Personal Historian 2 software and the picture/story with the most votes won a Flip-Pal mobile scanner and case.

We’ve also been pleased to sponsor two great genealogy podcasts- The Genealogy Gems with Lisa Louise Cooke and The Genealogy Guys with George Morgan and Drew Smith.  Watch for a blog post soon about podcasts and how you can take advantage of these valuable resources.

RootsMagic 6

We released regular free updates to our RootsMagic 5 software throughout the year, adding several new features such as our “Who Was There” Report.  And in November we released RootsMagic 6, the latest version of our award-winning genealogy software.  RootsMagic 6 added an editable Timeline View, Find Everywhere, CountyCheck Explorer, WebTags, and much more.  And the best is yet to come!

Expanding Beyond the Desktop

One of our resolutions for 2012 was to move RootsMagic to more platforms and more devices.  RootsMagic 6 also introduced a new feature which has proven to be extremely popular with our users- online publishing of your data and free My RootsMagic hosting service.  With it, you can easily publish and share your family tree, notes, sources, and media with others.  In the short time since it’s release, thousands of family history websites have been created and uploaded using RootsMagic 6.

And what better way to close out the year than with the release of RootsMagic for our first non-Windows platform- RootsMagic for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.  Now you can easily take and show off your family history with you wherever you go.  RootsMagic lets you carry your genealogy on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch!  It’s fast, easy, and free!

Thank You!

We say this every year, and we know this always sounds clichéd, but none of this would have been possible without you and your support.  2012 has been a huge year for us and, rest assured, we’re working hard to make 2013 even better!

One of the most common questions we’re asked is, “When can I get RootsMagic on my phone or tablet?”  The answer is, “Today!”  We’re pleased to announce the official release of RootsMagic for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch; a free companion app to our RootsMagic desktop genealogy software.

Your Family Tree at Your Fingertips

Now you can easily take and show off your family history with you wherever you go.  RootsMagic lets you carry your genealogy on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch!  It’s fast, easy, and free!

We’re very excited to bring RootsMagic right to your iPhone and iPad.  Not only is this one of the most-requested features from our users, but it is the perfect next step in our mission to simplify family history.  The app provides many useful features including:

• Access your actual RootsMagic files via iTunes or Dropbox – RootsMagic for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch uses your actual RootsMagic files- no conversion needed. You can copy as many files as you want right on your device via iTunes or Dropbox. Users of other genealogy software such as PAF, Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, and others can convert their files into viewable RootsMagic files using our free desktop software.
• Easily search and explore your family tree – Familiar Pedigree, Family, Descendant, and Individual Views help you quickly explore your family tree. You can also search for specific people by name or record number.
• View pictures, notes, and sources – All of your RootsMagic data is available inside the app. Touch any name to see more information about that person as well as family members. All of a person’s information is there including notes, sources, and pictures.
• Lists – Browse lists of your information and view more information about sources, to-do items, research logs, media, addresses, repositories, correspondences, and places.
• Tools and Calculators – useful tools to assist you in your research including a perpetual calendar, date calculator, relationship calculator, and soundex calculator.

Watch a Live Demonstration

Don’t miss a chance to see a live demonstration of the app and how easy it is to copy your data to your device!  We’ve scheduled a special online webinar for Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 4:00 PM MST.  To register, click here.  Be sure to arrive early as only the first 1000 attendees will be able to participate!

New Features and Platforms to Come

We see this as our first step into the mobile world and we’re interested in seeing how people use this app and evolving it to meet their needs.

And before we get swamped with e-mails accusing us of neglecting owners of Android devices, rest assured that a version of the app for Android devices will be available in the near future.

Available Now

RootsMagic for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is free and now available in the Apple App Store. It does require the RootsMagic desktop family tree software or the free RootsMagic Essentials software to create, edit, or add to your genealogy files. More information is available at http://www.rootsmagic.com/ios.

Some of you have been patiently awaiting the results of our “Most Interesting Family History Picture and Story” contest.  We apologize for the delay.  We had to contact each of the winners and then, frankly, we got so caught-up in other things that we forgot to tell you, our blog readers, who won.

We started out with hundreds of pictures and stories submitted by you.  Then our panel of judges narrowed the list down to 8 pictures and stories.  If you’d like to see the finalists and read their stories, click on any of the pictures below:

We then allowed you to vote on which picture and story you felt was the most interesting. We’re pleased to announce that the entry with the most votes was “Christmas Tires” by Rick D. Harms!  Congratulations to Rick as he is now the owner of a brand-new Flip-Pal mobile scanner.  Rick and all the other finalists have also won a copy of our Personal Historian 2 writing software.

Again, a big thank you to all of you took the time to share your precious family pictures and stories with us.  We were overwhelmed with the love and pride that people felt for their family histories.  They provided us with hours of entertainment and encouragement and made us thankful that we are able to help, in some small part, to the preservation and sharing of these priceless histories.