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DETAILS: In the new Edit Person screen you can add events and
the sources in which you discovered them, as well as setting
how they appear in reports. |
We featured RootsMagic 1 in the very first edition of YFT back in 2003 and concluded it was an excellent program for recording your family history. Six years later, version 4 confirms the program's reputation for only having major releases when significant new capabilities have been added, and not just because the calendar has flipped to a new year. In fact, the list of improvements for RM4 looked so good we were keen to see if it could match our expectations.
Running the program for the first time gives you the options to create a new family file, open one created in any earlier version of RM or directly import data from several other leading programs including Legacy, all versions of Family Tree Maker (except 2008 and 2009), PAF2.1 and later, and Family Origins from version 4. This makes the transition for new and existing users especially easy.
Apart from the comprehensive help files, our Platinum Edition contained a 33-minute video tutorial narrated by the program's creator, Bruce Buzbee, explaining many of the software's major features. Whichever route you take to load or start your family tree, it leads to the Pedigree tab of the interface, which will look familiar to existing users. The toolbar icons are clearer and more colourful than before, but the main addition to this and all other tabs is the sidebar.
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CUSTOM: On the Person tab, select the information you wish
to display from the Customise window and set the order
in which you want the columns to be in. |
Pedigree charts are a handy way to navigate direct ancestors of the roots person, but are not ideal when moving further afield. This is where the sidebar can help. Initially it lists all the people in your tree alphabetically, so you can acroll down and click a name to make them the chart's root. Even this can be tiresome with large trees, so the sidebar has its own tabs to display alternative lists. The first shows only the parents and siblings of the current root, while two others enable you to create your own list of bookmarked individuals and family groups for rapid navigation. The remaining tab automatically creates a chronological history list of all the people whose details you have edited.
You can view any individual's details and change them in the Edit Person window, which you can maximise to fill your entire screen. Its basic tabs and buttons have been rearranged, which makes it both easier to use and a convenient way to access a lot of information. In the Edit window the Multimedia tab used to take you to a window showing thumbnails of the first six items associated with the selected person. The tab has now been replaced by a Media button that opens a new window - which again you can maximise - containing a slider so you can set the size (and number) of the thumbnails to suit your computer screen.
Interface Guide: RootsMagic 4 |
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LOCATIONS: In the Mapping window, select a name to see all
the places associated with that person and then zoom in to
see a modern atlas and aerial picture. |
Apart from each individual's media window there is now a Media Gallery that shows all the items stored in your family file and lists all the people and events each one is linked to. The gallery also enables you to link a multimedia object to additional people without having to retype the original caption for every new link - a great improvement on the previous version of the program.
Returning to the main interface shows the Family tab for parents, children and spouse of the currently selected person, and the Descendants tab, which now contains a slider to se the number of generations displayed between two and seven.
This release contains two new tabs: People and WebSearch. The former lists all the people in your file together with, initially, their birth and death details. We say "initially" because a click on the Customize This View button enables you to specify exactly which events and details you want to be included. The final, WebSearch, tab offers a quick method to look for the currently selected person on various genealogy websites and via search engines using the information in your family file. There is a preset list of places to search that you can edit to add your own favourites. Of course, if it finds matches on a subscription sire you still have to pay to access the information.
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| PICTURES: A comprehensive range of editing tools means you can get the best results from your photographs. |
The mapping options of earlier versions have been replaced with a dedicated screen that initially lists all the locations recorded in your file. Click on any place name and you link to Microsoft's Virtual Earth website to select a street map, satellite view or, in many cases, a bird's eye view of the location. You can also change to the People list to select and view all the places associated with any individual. Each one is marked with a coloured pin that reveals details of the event when you hover your mouse pointer over it. This screen also comes with buttons to print your selected view or copy it to the Windows clipboard to paste into other documents.
Narrative reports use standard linkin phrases that turn a list of events and dates into readable text. In many programs, including RootsMagic, you can edit any of those phrases, but if you do the change will appear every time it is used in a report. In the Edit Person window a panel has been added that shows how each event will be described in reports. Thanks to an adjacent Customize Sentence button, you can now modify how that one event appears without changing all similar entries.
RootsMagic To-Go
Take the software with you to use in the archives
If you ever wanted to display or edit your family tree while away from home, you'll welcome the bran new RootsMagic To-Go. Place a flash drive - one of those inexpensive memory gizmos - in a USB port, run the software module, and it installs a copy of the software on the drive together with the family files you select.
We plugged the drive into another XP computer and a window opened asking if we wanted to run the program. It runs entirely from the flash drive without installing anything on the computer, though you can view and edit information aas though you were still on your own computer. If you do make changes to your file, these are automatically saved on the flash drive and you can update your computer when you return home.
The first time you use the program on a remote computer it will ask for the activation code that came with your software - so don't forget to take it with you! Also, the software does not handle multimedia files, which means your pictures will not be available on the remote computer and it cannot be used to add new images to your file. |
One of the best family history programs around has certainly got a lot better.
Every screen reveals new features or refinements of old ones that make it a pleasure to use.
Large charts still use a seperate charting module that comes with a huge and daunting range of tools to adjust its layout, and being limited to ancestors, descendants or houseglass it still lacks an all-relatives option.
That said, we would recommend this program to any family historian, be they a newcomer or an experienced and demanding user.
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Buy it for...
The complete program to records and share your family tree |
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RootsMagic 4
UK Edition
