Neal relations at Cuckoos Cup, The Wrekin

2014 version of Family Tree Maker out soon

NOTE: for current position on Family Tree Maker see our main FTM info page.

After a year off, Ancestry is releasing a new version of its Family Tree Maker software, labelled 2014. This year’s UK release has seen the usual pattern, following the American version a month or two later with no firm date announced by Ancestry until late in the day. Our plot of developments has got rather long so has moved further down the page.

As at 25th October 2013: the Upgrade version is available for download from distributors Avanquest – see their Family Tree Software, otherwise release date is 1st November (as stated on Amazon.co.uk).

What’s new in Family Tree Maker 2014 (UK)

The short version:

“We have updated the new version to include new time–saving features and easy–to–use tools such as the new Family View™ which gives you a broader view of your tree and an improved TreeSync™ which includes more of your tree information than ever. We have also improved charts, reporting and print options. For more information visit Ancestry Shop.”

The long version:

Here’s a ‘copy and paste’ of the new features in Family Tree Maker from the USA Ancestry.com shop (and its the same in UK shop, 25th Oct). Nothing earth shattering after the key addition of TreeSync last time, but all welcome.

  • New Family View — see your family tree in a new way. This additional view makes navigating easier, especially when you want to see extended family members.
  • Improved TreeSync — lets you easily synchronize your tree in Family Tree Maker with an online Ancestry.com tree. A more robust TreeSync™ lets you sync even more of your family tree info.
  • More organizational tools — stay organized with new tools that let you sort children automatically by birth order and view people by location, grouping them by country, state, county, and city.
  • New and improved charts and reports — more options and views let you display an individual’s ancestors, spouses, and children together. Also, the Index of Individuals Report has been expanded with options for anniversary, birthday, and contact lists, and more.
  • New tree branch export — a new export option makes it much simpler to export a single branch of your tree.
  • More editing options — save time with the ability to copy and paste facts including related source citations, media items, and notes.

Even longer version at Note 3, below.

I’ll add to that list with additions or comments when more comes through and/or I get my hands on it.

The UK release saga

As it happened:

So far (27th August), they have only announced this on their American site, which won’t deliver FTM on CD to the UK but can provide a download option (shop link below). The downloaded software will link to the US version of Ancestry, which might not work for you.

For most people in Britain it will be better to wait for the UK version to come out. This usually seems to be about a month later, giving a chance for any really nasty bugs to be squashed. I generally ignore the UK upgrade version as the full thing, with included Ancestry subscriptions at various levels, is better value – especially from the likes of Amazon.

Ancestry.com is saying “September delivery” and my copy of FTM 2012 UK was despatched by Amazon on 13th October 2011, when there was a similar timetable {2}. Expect more information on FTM 2014 UK delivery in mid to late September. UPDATE at 24th Sept: the Ancestry UK shop says that the current special offer on FTM 2012 expires 21st October – it would make sense for the release of FTM 2014 in the UK to be soon after.

UPDATE Firm date (sort of) for UK release

The Ancestry.co.uk email newsletter on 4th October, confirming my suspicion above,  says:

“The new Family Tree Maker® 2014 is launching at the end of October and to help with your search we have made some big improvements.

“We have updated the new version to include new time–saving features and easy–to–use tools such as the new Family View™ which gives you a broader view of your tree and an improved TreeSync™ which includes more of your tree information than ever. We have also improved charts, reporting and print options. For more information visit Ancestry Shop.”

AND At 8th October the website for Avanquest, the UK software distributor, forwards you through to a new dedicated genealogy software site familytreesw.com (note: gone with end of FTM2014 sales, Dec. 2015), which gives standard prices for the 4 different flavours.  (3 month basic Ancestry sub, 6 months premium, or 6 months worldwide. Plus the Mac version with 6 months premium – which is still ‘version 2’, not the equivalent of FTM 2014.) For the first time, there are UK download options. No sign of boxed or download on Amazon yet though.

Definite release date

An e-mailing from Avanquest sent late 11th October gives a release date of 15th October. Upgrade price confirmed as £19-99, and includes a one month subscription to Essentials (worth a tenner but not much use to most existing FTM users I guess, who are likely to be on Premium or Worldwide subs).

BUT with 15th October come and gone, looks like Avanquest got it wrong – should that release date have been a week later, 22nd October?

AND yes, 22nd October proves to be the release date for Avanquest orders, but only for the Upgrade version (you need a previous version of FTM).

Amazon has release date

As at 18th October, a release date which you might believe in – 1st November. Not quite “late October” as promised, but hey these Americans always had trouble with European dates.

Notes

1. What others have written on FTM2014:

  • Russ Worthington (blogspot site) has a whole stack of pieces about what FTM 2014 looks like.

2. Articles around the release of FTM 2012:

3. Even longer version, sourced via Ancestry message board!

What’s New in Family Tree Maker 2014?

New Family View

An additional option to the traditional pedigree view. These options can be accessed from a new toolbar in the tree view. “Home person” button to this toolbar so that it is accessible even when the index is collapsed.

Improved TreeSync

A number of improvements to TreeSync in order to make it more robust and to support additional data. TreeSync now includes more of your family tree data, even in cases where the data is not visible in the online tree system. The following tree data is now included:
•Source templates
•Research notes
•Fact notes
•Media notes
•Relationship notes
•Relationship media
•Media filenames
•Media categories

This additional data is stored online even though it is not visible in your online tree. Because it is stored online, it can be included when/if you ever need to restore your tree from the online version.

User Interface Update

Colours & dimension We have updated the overall colour scheme and look of Family Tree Maker.
Global access to list of trees The list of most recently used trees is now accessible from any workspace. It is located at the left of the main navigation bar.
Plan layout redesign The Plan workspace has a new layout.
Web Dashboard The Ancestry Web Dashboard is only accessible from the “Current Tree” tab in the Plan workspace.
The log in option is no longer in the web dashboard panel but is located more prominently at the top of the plan workspace.

64-Bit Support

This is a 64-bit version of Family Tree Maker 2014. It will install as 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the system you are using. The 64-bit version is about 50% faster than Family Tree Maker 2012 depending on your computer

Task Simplification

We have simplified some existing features.
Export branch – A new “Export Branch” option is available from the right-mouse menu when you click on a person in the pedigree or family view. This is a simplified option that makes it easy to export a branch of your tree to a new file.
Attach – You can now attach an existing person from the add person dialog.
Detach – We have simplified the detach dialog to be simpler and more flexible.
Automatic/manual child sorting—A family’s children can be sorted manually or automatically.
Image Viewer – We have implemented a new media viewer that is used for viewing media item.
PDF support PDF files can now be viewed in the FTM media viewer.
Magnifier tool – There is a new tool that will change the cursor to a magnifying glass for inspecting images. The magnifying tool and the pan/grab tool are mutually exclusive. When magnifying, you cannot grab/pan and vice versa.

List of Individuals Report

The previous Index of Individuals report (from the Person reports group) has been enhanced to include the following options. Each of the options below can now be filtered to display only living individuals if that option is selected.
Index of Individuals—This is the same report that was available before but now includes spouses.
Index of Individuals by ID—Displays Person and Relationship ID facts that exist for individuals.
Anniversary List—Displays the marriage date, spouse, and coming anniversary for each person listed
Birthday List—Displays the name, birthdate, and coming birthday for each person listed. If deceased people are included, the list also displays the death date and age at death.
Contact List—Displays the name, address, email address, and phone number for each person listed.

New Extended Family Option in Reports

New “Extended family” option is available in some reports (Individuals to include section).

This new setting filters the report to include the following:
All immediate family
– Primary individual
– Parents
– Siblings
– Spouses
– Children
Plus extended family
– Grandparents
– Uncles/Aunts
– 1st Cousins
– Nieces/Nephews
– Grandchildren
– Spouses of all above

Other Improvements

  • Index name options moved—Index name options have been moved from the Index dialog to the caption/header of the main index.
  • Ability to append description in fact merge—When merging facts, you can now choose to keep as many of the fact descriptions as you like. Multiple descriptions will simply be appended together.
  • Improved spacing & layout of genealogy reports—The Ahnentafel and Descendant reports are more consistent and economic in their use of space.
  • Person view > Source citation list—The source citations in the Person view now include a thumbnail of the first attached image if any.
  • Template indication on sources—Sources that are based on a source template have a very subtle star in the upper left corner of the icon. The manage sources dialog box lists the name of the source template when one is used.
  • Media dialog now includes notes—There is now a notes tab in the right column of the media detail dialog box.
  • Pedigree chart node layout—The text layout for nodes in the pedigree chart has been improved.

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