Asturian-American Migration Forum

I'm to the point where it would be helpful to use software to organize my notes on ancestors. Does anyone have recommendations on genealogy software? I don't need lots of bells and whistles. I just want to record the info accurately, be able to create easy-to-decipher charts, and maybe create HTML to be used on a web page.

I'm considering trying Legacy Family Tree 4.0 Standard, which is free. Has anyone used it? For simple needs is it adequate?

Any alternatives you can recommend?

I would be interested in a genealogy program that can handle the Spanish dual surname system without a hassle. Any suggestions?

Bob

Oh, that would be important. Have you tried any of the programs and seen problems with the dual surnames?

I have not seen or used this program, www.gdsystem.net
claims to be a system used by spanish speaking families, using 3 naming conventions: A. Spanish name/father last name/mother last name B: Portugese C: one used by all genealogy programs. Also, it is multilingual
Spanish Catalan English. Maybe this is what you are looking for. I use FTM
Jane

Thanks, Jane. That looks interesting and "El Sistema General de Documentación familiar" (GDS) is a free download.

Does Family Tree Maker handle the Spanish surnames, or can you just treat them as one double name? Which version of FTM are you using? How well do you like it?

I use FTM #7 I am satisfied. I have not entered any of my husbands relatives that live in Spain,only those that emigrated, so I don't know how the names will be handled. Let you know when I do. Jane

I think I missed something? Is FTM Family Tree Maker or something like that?

Yes, FTM is Family Tree Maker. It's now in version 10, but I'm not seeing any info on their site about whether it deals intelligently with double surnames. Do you have any recommendations, Suronda?

I have asked on www.genealogy.com for help on how to handle dual surnames in Family Tree Maker. Their staff referred me to a page [October 2005: page is no longer available.]

It appears that with FTM the Spanish dual surnames are considered strange cases.

If you follow their instructions, the mother's side is basically ignored for indexing. They suggest putting the father's side surname inside slashes, like this:
givenName /firstSurname/ secondSurname

Another poster has recommended putting both surnames inside slashes, like this:
givenName /firstSecond secondSurname/

The staffer at FTM says that the surname has nothing to do with how people are related in the program, so it appears that how we input names doesn't make any difference.

I have the Family Tree Maker Program. I list the dual surnames within the backslashes like this \firstsurname second surname\. If you do not do this your ancestor will be indexed by the second surname. In addition, if you do not use the slashes the computer assumes the first surname is a middle name. This could be a problem if you wanted to print something up using only first and last names. I am happy with the FTM program.

I've been looking into different genealogy software.
If you have comments on software you've been using, share them with us!

These articles below are helpful.
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http://genealogy.about.com/cs/genealogy ... ftware.htm
http://genealogy.about.com/library/ones ... ftware.htm
http://www.thoughtfulcreations.com/genb ... arison.htm
http://genealogy-software-review.topten ... enealogist
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Estoy investigando distintos softwares genealógicos.
Si tienes unas observaciones sobre el software que has estado usando, dinos.

Los artículos más arriba son útiles.

Hola,

Yo uso un programa llamado MacFamilyTree también llamada MacStammbaum. No sé si existe versión para windows.

El programa no permite usar los dos apellidos en apartados distintos, sino que hay que poner los apellidos en el mismo, supongo que para respetar el formato .ged pero dispone de una buena función de búsqueda.

Puedes ver el código html generado por la aplicación en mi página web, en el apartado genealogía.

http://perso.wanadoo.es/berodia/html/Genealogia.html

Aunque tengo algún problema con los acentos que espero arreglar en la próxima revisión, aunque se ven bien en Unicode UTF-8.

Un saludo.

Hi, Berodia,

Thanks for the program idea. It looks like MacFamilyTree only works with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher.

I have downloaded a free version of Millennia's Legacy Family Tree (for PC only unless you have a Windows emulator) from this website:
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/

By the way, I was a little surprised to see that at least one of the people (Lobeto Borbolla, Arsenio Máximo) was listed as being a gaitero by profession. Was that a way to make a living in the period of 1900-1972?

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Hola Berodia,

Gracias para la idea de esa programa. Parece que MacFamilyTree solamente funciona con Mac OS X 10.3.9 o más.

He travasado una versión gratis de Millennia's Legacy Family Tree (para PC sólo o a no ser que se tenga una programa de emulación de Windows) de este sitioweb:
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/

A propósito, me extraña un poco ver que al menos una de las personnas (Lobeto Borbolla, Arsenio Máximo) está descrito como un gaitero por profesión. ¿Era una modo de ganarse la vida en la epoca de 1900-1972?

I use Personal Ancestral File (PAF) which is available as a free download from www.familysearch.org. It's a very powerful program with the capacity to print books, lists, charts. (although the charts aren't as pretty as those from FTM).

It has an excellent documentation feature and you can download the instructions with it. Additionally, it is available in SPANISH! The forms are pinted in Spanish, too.

My husband uses Legacy, and he thinks that is the best of all.

We own Family Tree Maker, Legacy, The Master Genealogist, and several others, but of them all, my workhorse, which I use every day, is PAF.

The best guide to documentation (for any genealogy program) is a guide to Documentation by the Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group. Here is their URL: www.svpafug.org

Hope some of this is helpful,
Xani

Hi, Xani,

The reviews I read indicated that PAF was highly regarded, but a little dated in comparison with some of the others. I think they said it was considered to be professional-quality, although limited because it relied heavily on data structures used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' geneology project--which is what you might expect of a program created for that church!

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Hola, Xani,

Las reseñas que leí indicaron que PAF fue considerado muy fino, pero un poco anticuado en comparación con los demás. Pienso que dijeron que se considera de calidad profesional, aunque limitado por depender muchísimo de las estructuras de datos usadas por el proyecto de geneology de la Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [¿Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos Modernos?] -- ¡lo que se podría esperar de un programa creado para aquella iglesia!