FTM 2019 incoming

[Helen7]

Yes there is an Options tag but it does not show 'back up tree automatically'. There are several option types and the nearest I can find is 'automatically backup family file'. Which incidentally I have ticked but this has no impact on closing down, so it must work behind the scenes. Perhaps others can comment further as you say.

The Preferences offered are divided into 3 tabs as shown in these screenshots (the backup one is near the top of the 'general' tab):



The ? in the bottom right corner takes you to the relevant Help page which gives more information about the options. The description for the 'backup' option says:
"Select the Automatically option to make a backup file of your tree each time you exit Family Tree Maker. The backup file is created in the default folder and is given the tree name followed by "_AutoBackup.ftmd" (for example: "Kennedy Family Tree_AutoBackup.ftmd"). Note: Media files are not included in the backup file."

 

[Bob Spiers]

The Windows version of FTM 2019 has similar tabs, but 4 as it happens: General- Names/Dates/Places- Warnings-References. No '?' in either tab. Here is a screen shot of the General tab:



As you can see similar, but different so we should bear this in mind when comparing the 'setup' of FTM in Windows or Mac versions. I believe the program likely works in the same way otherwise.

As I say even though 'automatically backup family file' is ticked this does not appear to affect the program closure whichever option I use to close, despite finding the same explanation as shown by Helen, using the Help option.

 

[At home in NZ]

Bob

I'm still on FTM 2017 but it sounds as though the Options might still be the same.
I went to FTM Help that you access from Help then choose Help for Family Tree Maker.
This is in the General tab of the Options:

Automatically backup family file

Makes a backup file of your tree each time you exit Family Tree Maker. The backup file is created in the default directory and is given the tree name followed by "_AutoBackup.ftmb" (for example: "G G Boggs Family_AutoBackup.ftmb").

Note: Media files are not included in the backup file.

Hope that helps.

I was writing this at the same time as the previous item,. Sometimes one can;'t keep up!

 

[Helen7]

I received an email from MacKiev this evening offering a free upgrade to FTM 2019, promising to clear the 'orange' status problem and enable FamilySearch features. I have installed this upgrade and now have a 'green' status for the first time in weeks. Hopefully others are also receiving this upgrade, which does seem to fix this problem.

 

[canadianbeth]

I received the e-mail this morning but just had time now to install it. I am also seeing green.

 

[At home in NZ]

I am also seeing green

Found this in the McKiev site:

NOTE FOR FTM 2017 USERS
Only FTM 2019 will be returning to normal sync weather conditions, after applying the free 24.0.1 update. We are working hard to complete a similar update for FTM 2017 users so you too can get back to green weather, which will take at least a few more weeks.

I will be patient..................

 

[jorghes]

Also back to green!

 

[Bob Spiers]

I am in the process of starting - note starting - to follow instructions to get my update (I was too busy yesterday). Never mind about getting a Green sync, I have to go through all shades of RED frustrations just to achieve the free update, after bypassing this and that, and this and that additional feature. (The same ones ignored times before). I know I have commented on this before but MacKiev really take the biscuit when it comes to getting you where you need to be to download with a cloak and dagger routine that I find very irritating. Then when you actually get to download, you have the warnings that you must have backed up all previous Trees, even though some are only used occasionally. Are all my Trees backed up (some are used infrequently)? Can't remember unless automatically backed up as referred to in previous postings.

I will therefore do as instructed but am I the only one who dreads having to go through a MacKiev update routine? It seem so as no one else mentions it. In my world one accepts updates with the click of a mouse on a link which then installs- Simples!

Well it completed and surprise surprise I get a FREE one year Tree Vault Service subscription as before, which I doubt I will need or use. Time to Sync (or swim)

 

[Helen7]

am I the only one who dreads having to go through a MacKiev update routine?

I know what you mean, all the advertising is irritating. I just click through the screens and ignore all the ads. The backups are just belt and braces as far as I can see, so people won't complain to them if things go wrong when doing the update.

 

[canadianbeth]

Yes, all that advertising is annoying, but as the previous posters have already said, I just keep clicking next and eventually get to where I need to be. I am just happy to see green again.

 

[KirstenB]

Sorry I may be asking a very long winded question. Background I have been using FTM 2012. I was given FTM 2019 for Christmas to put on the new PC I am about to buy. I have not used FTM 2012 online with Ancestry to backup/sync or anything else. I have used it just as a standalone programme as I was never a fan of Ancestry. My main tree on FTM 2012 is a combination of my maternal and paternal trees “Douse Main 09”. When I did DNA tests with Ancestry I downloaded two gedcom trees to Ancestry one based on my paternal family “Douse Family” and second tree based on my maternal family “Hallowell/Appleton”. The maternal tree I linked to my mother’s DNA test. I have now added facts to those trees using hints. The online trees at Ancestry might now have the odd fact gleaned from hints which I don’t have off line but not much. My offline tree has data/private facts etc. which I don’t want on a private or public tree available on Ancestry. The online trees are also much smaller/more limited e.g. not tracing siblings down the generations.

Proposal I propose to import “Douse Main 09” (the combined off line tree) and other trees e.g. my in-laws, from my FTM2012 backup copies to FTM2019. However, from my reading of the forum, it may be worth me this time also “syncing” or “uploading” (not sure of the term) these trees to Ancestry so I could work online away from my laptop, maybe with a mobile app and to have another backup.

Question 1. I keep my speculations, and links in the “notes section” of my FTM offline trees which I don’t want passed on to third parties. These notes are “privatised” so don’t appear in Gedcoms I send out. If I upload the tree to Ancestry presumably those private notes get copied. Who may get access/how secure is it e.g. if I stop a subscription, die, decide to remove it, etc.? I don’t use cloud systems and back up data to external hard drives.

Question 2, I don’t want to swap “Douse Main 09” (and other trees) for the ones currently available to people on line at Ancestry, i.e. “Douse Family” and “Hallowell/Appleton”. Is it as simple as calling the new uploaded “Douse Main 09” just that (or some other name) to distinguish it, and keeping that new “Douse Main 09” combined tree “private”, or are there other things to do /pitfalls? Your thoughts and help would be appreciated and I hope I understand any response - I find technology fascinating but like many posing a “thought out question” in a foreign language, I then struggle to understand the “foreign language” response. Thank you.

 

[peter]

You can have as many Ancestry trees as you like and you can make each of them public, private, or private searchable (the last being my choice for my main tree, but I also have a direct ancestors only tree which is public, and this is the one linked to my DNA results). You don't need a subscription to have an Ancestry tree, but you can't view other peoples' trees, nor can you view images of Ancestry records (even if they're attached to your tree).

I don't use FTM so I'll leave it to somebody who does to answer your other questions.

 

[KirstenB]

You can have as many Ancestry trees as you like and you can make each of them public, private, or private searchable (the last being my choice for my main tree, but I also have a direct ancestors only tree which is public, and this is the one linked to my DNA results). You don't need a subscription to have an Ancestry tree, but you can't view other peoples' trees, nor can you view images of Ancestry records (even if they're attached to your tree).

I don't use FTM so I'll leave it to somebody who does to answer your other questions.

Thank you Peter, I can understand that response!

 

[Helen7]

Question 1. I keep my speculations, and links in the “notes section” of my FTM offline trees which I don’t want passed on to third parties. These notes are “privatised” so don’t appear in Gedcoms I send out. If I upload the tree to Ancestry presumably those private notes get copied. Who may get access/how secure is it

If you have a tree in FTM 2019 which you wish to sync to Ancestry, you can do the upload and set up the sync in one step, by clicking on the 'Upload and Link to Ancestry' button from the Plan screen, Current Tree tab. You can select whether you want the Ancestry tree to be public or private from the options window before you upload. Your notes in the FTM Notes field will also be uploaded into the Ancestry Notes section for each person. However, the Notes section on Ancestry can only be viewed by the owner and by those invited to the tree as an “editor”. Whether the tree is private or public, the notes can't be seen by others.

Alternatively, you can export a GEDCOM from FTM excluding all the notes/sources/media as desired (by unchecking the relevant tickboxes when creating the GEDCOM), then import that into FTM before doing the upload and sync to Ancestry.

 

[KirstenB]

Alternatively, you can export a GEDCOM from FTM excluding all the notes/sources/media as desired (by unchecking the relevant tickboxes when creating the GEDCOM), then import that into FTM before doing the upload and sync to Ancestry.

Thank you Helen. What you suggest here is how I have done the upload so far and I guess I have to accept the limitations if I don't want my notes out there, albeit only supposedly accessible to me and those I allow editor acces to. I suspect I haven't written anything defamatory and most of the people are dead but I don't want to have to trawl through a few thousand people to check. I had to do that when I went back to privatise the notes.

 

[KirstenB]

Just a quick update in case others have views or had the same problem. I have converted from FTM 2012 to FTM 2019. I have, and am still having some problems converting trees from 2012 to 2019 as the process (doing is various ways) sometimes works but throws up the message that it can't convert. Eventually for most files it seems to give in eventually and change to the new format. Looking at the new version I was intrigued to work with the colour coding (not in 2012). So far rather than assign colours, or blocks of colours to say my four grandparents it has been useful working o particular trees. E.g. assigning a colour to a linked family helps working our from the list which of the several "Robert Jefferies" with similar birth dates belong to which line as you try to get the sorted out. Thank you again for the suggestions and help. The forum is always useful.

 

[PhilipT]

I'm still using FTM 2014.1. What extra does the latest FTM offer, that people find really useful?

 

[jorghes]

I'm still using FTM 2014.1. What extra does the latest FTM offer, that people find really useful?

As far as I remember, FTM 2014 doesn't have the colour-coding that KirstenB is referring to. FTM2019 also automatically updates any filters that you have going - I use the filters in conjunction with a colour coding and the updating is pretty much instantaneous.

The syncing with Ancestry is also very useful for those who use Ancestry a lot. The new version also has the TreeVault, which is a backup saved to the cloud for if the worst should happen (I haven't tried that yet for obvious reasons!)

The Mac version has finally started to organise my places list like the PC version does (by country with collapsable lists), that makes it much easier to have a reasonable, sortable list of those which are not recognised.