Genealogy software decisions

What tools do I want to use to track the family tree? This will be an ongoing discussion on several topics.

Clearly it is possible to track the tree with paper and pencil. For me a typewriter adds legibility. The computer makes it easy for your reports to reflect small changes, and look at the information in different ways. Given my background, computers is the way to go.

After a family gathering with much note taking on the part of my father, I made my first attempt with lifelines running on linux, a free option. The ancestor charts at www.paffendorf.sj.ca.us/Family published in 1999 came from that effort. 

Since them we have tried assorted tools including Ancestor, Reunion, and most recently familysearch.  We often transferred person and family information using gedcom. This could be awkward with id's varying, and knowing what information to keep from each side.

I am unable to list my computers in detail. I can say my recent mac is unusable and I have not delved into my attempted backups. So I am looking at starting again from paper records.

Actually the familysearch data is an improvement in that it is mostly supported with outside records. Unfortunately it does not seem to directly export to GEDCOM .  familysearch mentions approved tools and a python script that may help.

I jumped into familysearch at the request of some family members. A quick glance at a list of  collaborative software has me especially curious about WikiTree, which has varying levels of control.

There are many tools to choose from. Gave quick consideration to several lists,  focussing on tools that are new to me.

I am currently running windows. I think the easiest short term solution is to install the cd image with linux, lifelines, and gramps. However I like the idea of moving to software I can modify if I want additional functionality. In the long run I suspect I will try  WSL and decide on a version of Linux, irregardless of genealogy, but I have other priorities now. I don't recall being impressed with gramps, but I  have wanted to learn python3 and have dealt with graphviz.


 Gramps installed easily. addons seem straight forward.In addition to online textual help there are videos: https://gramps.discourse.group/t/tutorial-videos/126

 as a certain uncle would say, stay tuned.


UPDATE: As I struggle with  WSL a friend will let me use their server, so installed PuTTy. serhttps://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html


Comments

  1. paffyMarch 29, 2021 at 5:41 AM

    This morning in a gramps user mailing list, there was a self advertising mention of genealogy showcase having a video on GRAMPS.

    https://youtu.be/H9rP9S5KHZY

    Is it any good? Are there other videos I want to watch?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. paffyMarch 29, 2021 at 7:17 AM

      As a user, the highlight for me was being made aware of a site, geonames, and an addon for fixing places. He found it full features but not so intuitive. He did not use the sources functionality and plugged an upcoming comparison video. He also mentioned goldie may for logging - this is a hole in my process.

      I like the videos from the channel, TechTutorial, better for learning how to use GRAMPS more efficiently.

      Delete
    2. paffyMarch 30, 2021 at 5:30 AM

      goldie may is very specific to familysearch and chrome. Citations require the most expensive plan.

      Delete
  2. paffyJune 24, 2021 at 3:13 AM

    Another allegedly secured shared tree. https://www.tribalpages.com/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

digitizing dad's slides and old home movies

Around Thanksgiving 2023 there was a slew of advertising for weeks. One of the things on TV was a discount for LegacyBox. I have an assortment of momentos from my folks and myself, that I have yet to make easily sharable or to help tell a story. (In addition I have been attempting to help my uncle organize his google pictures with tags and captions and share them. The multiple cloud issue is something I have yet to research.)  In googling LegacyBox I came across Everpresent in Highland Park, NJ. I like that I did not have to mail stuff. Everpresent I had a fine phone conversation with Hillary at Everpresent.com about my best guess about the slides and movies at dad's house. She sent me an estimate for smaller numbers and a bulk discount, USB.... During the conversation she mentioned that thier processing is done in Massachusetts and they have trucks pick up from partners and customers. They are accustomed to cleaning, scanning, adjusting....  Apparently I can get DVD/USB. They hav
Read more

Can of worms - one thing leading to so many others

Some genealogists have research plans and suggest writing notes to come back to distractions later. I can see where that makes sense with trying to finish off anything. Thomas McEntee, of genealogybargains and do over fame (these catch names span social media and help me find people again). described these as Bright Shiny Objects or BSOs. This tickled my fancy. I often chase them, as I do this for my amusement.The same group seems to also suggest setting down a regular scheduled time to research. Hah! This is not my job. Nor is it necessarily my life style. I like that I can sometimes go out and play on a nice day. Considering  organizing time and information is not limited to to my genealogy. You may have noticed Facebook posts on Bullet Journalling (#bujo). A friend helped guide me in finding a form which mimics some of what I have done. On Sunday nights, I tend to look at what is happening in the week ahead and what has to get done. I may do a revisit going into the weekend too. Thi
Read more

Transferring GEDCOM from familysearch to gramps - setup

 Back to that python script for exporting GEDCOM from familysearch mentioned in an earlier blog https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/GEDCOM GitHub Desktop After following a couple of links one sees it under source control with git. I have never used it with Windows before. https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git shows 3 options.  The last, desktop https://desktop.github.com/ , mentions CRLF handling and 64 bit installs. Run the GitHub Desktop installer. Approve permissions. log in. Bonus: my password manager even remembers my credentials from my last job. Luckily my personal email was in the list of for verification. Configure it for URL https://github.com/Linekio/getmyancestors and get errors. :( Failed to execute getStatus: ENOENT Git could not be found at the expected path: 'C:\Users\karen\AppData\Local\GitHubDesktop\app-2.6.3\resources\app\git\cmd\git.exe'. This might be a problem with how the application is packaged, so confirm this folder hasn't
Read more