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Family Tree Maker 2010: Product Review
Updated: 10 September 2009
By: Rick Roberts,   Biography & Archived Articles


The newly released Family Tree Maker 2010 arrived at our Milton warehouse on Tuesday of this week. I was quick to pop open the first carton, grab a package, and head to my computer to check it out.

First Impressions
After spending several hours exploring Family Tree Maker 2010 I can report that Family Tree Maker 2010 has successfully built on their earlier success with FTM 2009, adding popular new user-requested features, and improving overall performance.

This review is lengthy. It turns out that there are many more useful features and new options in FTM 2010 than can be covered in a short article.

A Bit of History
Family Tree Maker (FTM) has been the genealogy software market-share leader for the best part of the past two decades. They were the first to develop and mass-market an easy-to-use family history software that most people could afford to buy. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, FTM's frequent ownership changes and inconsistent product development began to erode their position, while newer entrants, such as Legacy and RootsMagic, developed more powerful products at a similar price point. FTM's legions of dedicated long-time users helped them to cling to first place while many other family historians moved to the competition.

During the few years prior to when Ancestry.com bought FTM, very little was invested in feature development. Ancestry decided to invest heavily in completely rebuilding the iconic brand from the ground up, releasing their new product as Family Tree Maker 2008. That didn't go so well! Family Tree Maker 2008 suffered from what many prematurely released new software programs do -- too many glitches and overlooked features and options that their users valued. Ancestry responded to deserved criticism by seeking input from users and establishing beta user groups. Throughout the life of FTM 2008 the developers fine tuned the software and fulfilled their promises to return missing features and to get the software's kinks sorted out. A year later they even offered free FTM 2009 upgrades to those early FTM 2008 users for sticking with them through the rocky development process.

Their strategy worked. FTM 2009 turned out to be a solid, stable, highly-featured and popular development of the FTM 2008 design. Many users who had given up on Family Tree Maker returned to the fold.

REVIEW - Family Tree Maker 2010:
    This review of Family Tree Maker 2010 documents my personal experience of loading the new software, inspecting the advertised new features, and navigating the program to seek out any new options and features that weren't outlined in the pre-release information provided by the maker. In the interest of full disclosure, this reviewer is a principle of GlobalGenealogy.com Inc., a genealogy book, map and software retailer. We sell Family Tree Maker as part of our mandate to market the three leading PC genealogy software programs regardless of who those three are at any given time (we also carry Mac software). Because of our independence from the software manufacturers we are in a position to provide candid opinions, and to match family historians with the software that best suits their specific needs.

  • Installation
    Installation was simple and uneventful. I put the installation disk in the CD drawer, closed it and waited a few seconds.

    If you are installing FTM 2010 to a computer that doesn't have FTM 2008/2009 installed, you will see a screen that asks you if want to start a NEW family file, or open an EXISTING file... just follow the prompts to get started. You can start from scratch or import family files created in any earlier version of FTM, GEDCOM format and files created in other genealogy software programs.

    The following dialogue box appeared on my screen because I was installing FTM 2010 to a computer that had FTM 2009 previously installed, and my personal family file that was in the FTM 2008/2009 format.



    FTM 2010 has a new and more effective file format that was designed to improve speed, especially on large family files. This dialogue box describes the improvement and provides for an option to create an extra backup of your family file in the old 2008/2009 format. This option seems to be provided in case you might want to use your family file in the 2008/2009 format at some point in the future. (default is set to create the 2008/2009 backup file... the user can un-check it). The new family file that is created for FTM 2010 cannot be opened in older versions of FTM. I accepted the default by clicking on OK.



    The resulting screen provides choices of where you want to save the old-format copy of your family file. I chose the default settings by clicking on OK.

    The backup was made (progress bar told me when it was done). Then FTM 2010 found my FTM 2009 family file, converted it to the new format and then opened up FTM 2010 with my family files loaded exactly where I left off when I last used FTM 2009. Fast and easy...

  • Better performance – Experienced faster load times and navigation
    The first test I made was to see if speed improved as a result of the new file format. I closed down FTM 2010. Then restarted it using the FTM 2010 icon that now is displayed on my desktop. The test file is quite large. It loaded faster than it had in FTM 2009, and responded more quickly to mouse clicks. As a secondary test I tried opening a large GEDCOM file... very quick compared to FTM 2009. Then I tried opening a very large .ftw file (created pre-FTM 2008)... it also opened much quicker than in the previous versions.


  • Standard source templates – Helps the user enter the correct citation every time.
    Family Tree Maker 2010's new Source Template system is a welcome response to earlier offerings from Legacy and RootsMagic. Select "Source Template" lets you find the template that best matches your source. The source templates are based on the model developed by Elizabeth Shown Mills and explained in the book Evidence Explained. The Select Source Template dialog box organizes the criteria so you can quickly locate the template that will help you organize your source information. After you click to add a source, click on NEW to activate the source template, and select the type of source, etc from the provided options.



    I've layered the source dialogue boxes to try and capture the process in a single image. The first step is to choose to add a source to any Fact in your family file. The result is the dialogue box in the top left-hand-side of the image.

    If you have an existing source that you wish to cite, click on the drop down arrow on the "Source Title" box, and choose the previously listed source of your choice.

    If you are adding a NEW source, click on NEW in the top left hand dialogue box. The result is the appearance of the middle dialogue box (Add Source). It is populated with the Source Template that was used in your previous session or with the default Source Template if the feature has not been used yet. Click on the MORE button. The third dialogue box then appears. This is where you choose source that you are citing from. In my sample I chose CENSUS RECORDS. I then chose DIGITAL IMAGES as my "Category". And finally "Online Archive - United Kingdom and Wales" for my chosen "Template". Then click on OK.


    The result is a re-populated ADD SOURCE dialogue box with the appropriate template for citing information secured from a digital image of a United Kingdom or Wales census that was found online. All you have to do is fill out the blanks and you have a proper master source added to your family tree.

    This is a very easy to use tool that will help new and experienced family historians define Master Sources accurately. The only beef that I have about the tool is that the list of different templates for census records, though complete for the USA, is not complete enough for other places worldwide (such as Canada, Australia, etc). That said, I suspect that the list will be expanded over time... especially if users let FTM know that they want to see the list expanded. It looks like FTM is listening to its users.


  • Now you can import your Online Ancestry.com family tree (with images)
    Those who built family trees on the Ancestry.com web site can now download your online Ancestry.com trees directly into Family Tree Maker. You have the choice of using your online tree to start a new tree or merge the information from your online tree into your Family Tree Maker family file. The downloaded information includes all of the facts as well as images and documents attached to the online tree. To import your Ancestry.com family tree click on PLAN, then click on the NEW TREE tab. Look for the choices in the graphic below, and choose "Download a tree from Ancestry", then follow the on-screen prompts


  • Global Spell Check
    i am delighted to see the new Global Spell Check in FTM 2010. It is going to be a big help for cleaning up spelling errors in my family file. Click on TOOLS, then click on GLOBAL SPELL CHECK. Choose options:


  • Web Dashboard - Genealogy news and useful links at your fingertips
    FTM 2010 has added some nice improvements to the WEB DASHBOARD. There was a Web Dashboard in FTM 2008/2009 -- however it only contained some icon driven links to web sites of the Ancestry.com family (Ancestry.com; Rootsweb.com, etc). The new Web Dashboard contains news items (Twitter feeds from Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com), links to your Ancestry membership and much more. Best of all, you can customize what appears in your Web Dashboard. To access your Web Dashboard, click on PLAN, then click on the CURRENT TREE tab.

    Web Dashboard FTM 2010



    Click on the OPTIONS link in the Web Dashboard and change your options to view the category of links that you want. You can even choose how frequently that you want it to check for news and new links:

    		 .
    Web Dashboard FTM 2009

  • Print Notes (from Notes screen)
    You can now print any notes you've entered for an individual. FTM 2010 (and 2008/2009) provide places for notes on every event in a persons life as well as a general note field for the person. The new FTM 2010 printing option applies to all note fields. The print icon is on the right-hand side of the toolbar at the top of each notes section.


  • Scan images directly into Family Tree Maker 2010
    We can now scan photos and documents directly into our Family Tree Maker. The family file itself does not increase in size -- because of where the images are saved. During the scanning process users are able to organize the image into appropriate categories. Previously, the only choice was to link to pictures that were previously saved to an archive in your computer. The scanning option is in addition to previous choices.



    • "Scan Media" is a new option

  • Additional Family File Statistics Available
    The Family File Stats page now provides additional information about your family tree including the average life span of individuals in your tree, the earliest birth date, and the most recent birth date. To access the statistics report click on PLAN, click on CURRENT TREE tab, click on the MORE button under the family file statistics.

    Family File Statistics Tool - FTM 2010


  • Family Picture and individual thumbnails photos can be added to Family Group Sheet report.
    The Family Group Sheet in previous versions needed attention, and has received it in FTM 2010. The report has been completely redesigned to include optional inclusion of a "Family Picture" as well as pictures of individuals. The report has also been redesigned to more closely adhere to a standard format that family historians are accustomed to.


    If you have included pictures in the "relationship media" for the selected parents, you can chose one to print at the top of the Family Group Sheet. Select the picture you want from the Family Picture drop-down list. I found a harmless though frustrating glitch when trying this feature out. Once I understood how to overcome it, things moved along smoothly. I added a picture to the "relationship media" - but the picture was not on the drop down list of choices when I attempted to make the Family Group Sheet. It appeared that the picture was not being applied to the list (yet). I closed FTM, then re-started it, and it worked perfectly. It also worked perfectly every time after that. It seems that the pictures must be added in a previous session for them to be available for the report later. Not the end of the world but something that needs to be addressed in a future update.


  • Genealogy Report has been improved
    The wording of the ancestor and descendant organized narrative reports (Register and Ahnentafel reports) has been improved with more options and a more natural narrative. FTM 2010 provides a report that closely follows the New England Genealogical and Historical Society model. However, their narrative report still has a distance to go to measure up to the report that is available in their leading competitors' offerings (Legacy and RootsMagic).


  • Book-Building feature improved again
    In the last version of Family Tree Maker, they added the ability to assemble a book both online, or on your own computer. The feature was very well received by FTM 2009 users. They have done some fine tuning to the book feature in FTM 2010 that allows you to change the order in which items in your book appear by dragging and dropping them in the book outline.


  • Improved organization of images – New additional ways to organize photos and other media


  • New slide show feature - produced from photos in your family file
    Now you can create an on-screen slide show presentation using images you've included in your family file. You can also export the slide show to share with others who can view it in their Windows Media Player. A new icon appears on the media control bar (looks like a projector screen). When you click on the icon, a dialogue box appears where you can set the options for how you want your slide show to appear. You can even put a sound track into the background to play while your slide show runs.



  • Locations tool now applies GPS co-ordinates to any place name or place worldwide
    In the PLACES workspace you can access and modify GPS coordinates. You can also select your own locations on the map and store their GPS coordinates. This is one very nicely designed feature! You can identify a place on the electronic map, click on the "thumb tack" button, then click on the place on the map that you want to put the thumb tack. FTM 2010 adds the longitude/latitude coordinates to your file for that exact location. It doesn't matter whether or not it is a municipality. My sample was to get the exact GPS co-ordiantes for an ancestral farm that has a family cemetery on its grounds.


    • The feature works in both map view and satellite view at any level of detail... however, not in bird's eye view. I'll use this feature a lot -- especially for getting the co-ordinates of specific cemeteries, churches, houses, work places etc.

  • Locations tool has thousands of new place names added to data base
    A welcome addition to FTM 2010 are is the inclusion of thousands of new place names to the locations database. Also noticed that many locations have been updated and/or corrected since the previous version.


  • Added view of familial relationships in the PEOPLE workspace
    The People workspace has been improved so you can now see more information about all individuals in the pedigree view (top-centre screen) as well as additional information about the parents of the selected couple.


  • Family migration paths – View time lines and interactive maps highlighting events and places in your ancestors’ lives
    FTM 2010 provides a new tool where we can produce a map/s of the locations of an individual's life events. You can even choose multiple individuals and show all the locations linked to that entire group. The result can be customized insofar as you can select the specific individuals to include and the specific events you want mapped. The mapping feature works both with maps and satellite views.


    The mapping tool includes all locations worldwide that I tested. A nice feature appears when you hover your mouse over a any terminus point of your ancestors migration -- a box pops up to tell you what the event was, the name of the place where it happened, its date, and the person who the event is tied to. I printed (Samsung CLP-510) one map and found the quality to be very good.

Conclusion
In conclusion I can report that Family Tree Maker 2010 worked flawlessly during the two days of testing that I put it through. No hang ups, no processing delays. I am sure that I haven't found all of the new options and features yet. All of the new tools that I tested worked well, and were useful additions that every family historian can benefit from. Ancestry.com, as well as the FTM users who contributed their ideas and feedback to Ancestry.com, deserve hearty congratulations for this new edition of Family Tree Maker.

I'm sure there are many more new things to find in Family Tree Maker 2010. I'll leave it to you to have a much fun finding and using them as I had putting this review together.

Rick Roberts
GlobalGenealogy.com





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