Choosing A Family Tree Program for Your Genealogy Research

What Do I Have? What Do I Need? How Do I Know?

So, the question is what does a family history program do for your genealogy research organization anyway?

There are many answers to that central question. So here are some of the reasons for you to use one of those family tree programs.

• Can you produce a list of the names and dates of every member of your family tree that you currently have information about?
• Can you find out the name of every member of your family tree who is buried in a certain cemetery so when you visit that cemetery to take gravestone pictures, you do not miss any one?
• Can you send a copy of your family tree as it is today to anyone else in your family who wants such a copy?
• Can you do it in a digital format so that individual can import it into her genealogy program?
• Can you supply it as an Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) file so your relative can print it off on his printer and have it look the same as when you print it off on your printer?
• Can you produce a TO DO list of tasks you wish to accomplish in your family tree research?
• Can you sort it in different ways so it is useful to you when you decide to visit a particular archive or repository to do research, or by type of research, such as census records searches?
• Is it easy to prioritize your tasks on that list?
• Is it convenient to add new tasks to this list, and to delete or mark done those you have completed or no longer need to do?
• Can you print it out directly from your program?
• Can you enter source information for a book or microfilm series once with all the pertinent information necessary to find that source again, or do you have to keep copying down the same information every time you access it?
• Is it easy to add detail information to your sourcing for each individual?
• Do you know the formats for all the different sources you may use in your genealogy research? If not, will the program step you through the process?

If you do not already use any of the family tree software, now is the time to decide to begin.

So, what program should you use?

The Structure of Genealogy Software Keeps You from Getting Lost!