Software
Review of: |
 When
I was handed the My Family Tree (MFT) software package, all I received
was a CD in a paper jacket. The jacket had a “see through” front cover,
so I could read the company name, software name and the version. By that
time, my expectations weren’t on the high side. But, to be fair, I always
try to remember that, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover!” The same
basic principle should be applied to the packaging of software. (It isn’t
the package that makes things happen.)
With a little deductive reasoning, I was able to figure out what the Web address should be. When I entered it, I was taken to the site. After reviewing the information available (some of which I will present and address later), I figured I was ready to “do my thing” with the software and put the results in printed form. The program
Alphabetized index, for easy navigation, to individual files that exist or that have been created using the program. Information on an individual, with a place to list who the person is related to and the relationship: Current Spouse; Former Spouses (Deceased, Divorced); Children (natural, step, etc.); Siblings (full, half, step). The individual and back 4 levels of Father and Mother. Individual Mother and Father, Children, Grand Children, Great Grand Children. The latter three categories are lists of individuals. Photographs of individuals, Videos or Sound recordings. A fully functional address and phone directory. It is linked to each of the individuals included in MFT. I have to conclude that it is primarily for living individuals. (If you wanted to store address info about deceased individuals who are in the program, you could enter the name with “Deceased” following, then the address. Simply leave the phone number blank.) It can also be used to keep the address and phone number of individuals who, can and will, help with genealogical research. Suggest you preface the name with GR-F or GR-C (Stands for “Genealogy Research - Free” and “Genealogy Research - Charge” respectively) to quickly identify a “no pay” or “pay” status, if at some time you might consider asking for help.. Covers each area of MFT and provides information on functionality of the area.
Once you have the program installed, you can set about to input the information you have. If you are new to genealogy, have only begun the search for your”roots,” this program may prove to be quite adequate. As you enter more data and try to work with it you will begin to see other features you could use. For those who have worked with other genealogy programs I believe you will quickly discover that this is somewhat of a rudimentary program. It lacks many features available in other genealogy programs that range from a few dollars more to twice the price. As an example, MFT 4.0 is indicated to support GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunications) format, although limited. MFT does not support duplicate names (two different people with the same name), although GEDCOM does. (MFT handles duplicate names by asking you to put a numerical identifier somewhere with the name, and use this same identifier in MFT whenever you refer to that person.) MFT indicates it can do import and export with GEDCOM 5.5 formatted information. My comments
Source and pricing
System requirements
Company information
Bill Klutz does consulting work, primarily in the areas of Management and Computer Applications/Hardware/Software. |