Genealogy and Family Tree software

http://www.family-historian.co.uk/

Price £41.24 from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Historian-Genealogy-Tree-Software/dp/B00Q8VI7YG/ref=sr

** Established user review:

I have used this software for some time in its previous versions, in fact over a period of some years. So I was well aware of its power and capabilities and was most interested to see what version 6 can do. Without doubt, there is plenty it can do both in previous and in this new version and I don’t want to bore you with a long list of improvements and notable features but they can be found from here http://www.family-historian.co.uk/features/whats-new-in-version-6

Fascination with our family tree and information about our ancestors has grown hugely over recent years and this in part has been fuelled by the power and spectacular growth of the Internet. As a result, family tree research is now very much a mainstream activity. It is a very data intensive activity and so the choice of storage of your valuable data is very important. After all, you will be spending a lot of time, collecting, analysing and inputting large amounts of data-the latter almost certainly into some form of computer programme. I personally believe this is an excellent, good value for money software-well worth investing in. If you take your genealogy research seriously, then this represents a modest investment for what it can do and achieve.

Now in version 6 which was just released at the end of 2014, it has evolved into a substantial piece of software that can cater from the very beginner to the power user and everyone in between. It is easy to use (the boxed version comes with a simple and well illustrated quick start guide) and easy to install from the provided CD. Once you get the hang of this software-it’s not difficult-you will start to become more sophisticated in using it and improving the quality of your genealogy research as well as managing and manipulating your data.

Its main selling point (which it has been for sometime, not just version 6), is that it works with the GEDCOM file format, the universal currency of data storage of genealogy software. This means precious data can be freely exchanged and used elsewhere. Your data is not locked into a unique file format which is difficult to export from and no one else uses. It also makes it easy to back up and store off site your valuable data or easily exchange it with an interested third party.

The programme itself is a joy to work with and is quite easy to use. The main menus are laid out logically and icons across the top of the screen and down the left hand screen help to make the interface easy to access. Spend time going through the programme functions, as you dig deeper- there is an incredible array of facilities. There are diagrams and reports galore; publishing tools and many other clever options that you would have never of thought about, are all easily available. However if you just want to construct a simple family tree and then turn it into a diagram for distribution (say as a PDF) then that is easily done, also without any fuss.

This version as in previous versions has always been stable and version 6 never crashed and it does exactly what it claims to do. It is British product, so ideal for a UK audience and there is plenty of in programme help and there is also an on line users group http://www.fhug.org.uk/

If you are going invest a lot of time building up your family tree and you want to be able to manipulate and distribute this data, then this programme can easily fit the bill. I think it represents very good value for money and helps make an enjoyable pastime, even more enjoyable! Even better, despite being a long time user-I can think of many benefits and if there is a significant negative about this programme-I have not yet found it! -Highly recommended

Dr Harry Brown

January 2015