Genealogy Chat

Probably a very silly question, but I have just started using FTM! I don't quite understand how the family files work....Can I just do one huge family tree or am I better off separating maternal and paternal sides into separate files at the beginning? I would prefer it all on one, but can see it could turn into something enormous!

Thanks
Sue

I made the mistake of starting a new file for each side of the family . You dont need to do this you can start with one tree and it fills out with each side as you add the parents. You can print off each side by going to the earliest one and the going to View .reports.then genealogy report. You can "play" with the downloads to see which is the one you want each time,& then print it.

Sue

I started by doing a direct line tree only, so me ,parents, grandparents, ggrandparents et al. I call this my 'Direct Line Tree'

I then transfered that info into a second tree and added first/second/third/fourth ect marriages together with their parents. I then added any other marriages for the first/second/third ect mariages and any other marriages for the parents (Hope that makes sense)....Amazing how many that added up to :)
I called this 'Direct Line and All other Marriages'

Having done that I then made a third tree from the second one which I call my 'All in One' which has every connection I want to add.

The first tree/report could easily be created from the third tree but the second tree/report would be a bit more fiddly to create as I would have to remember every connection to produce it.....Not very likely in my case :)

The only downside of having the three 'main' trees is that any info found later for the people in trees one and two have to be entered individually.....However there may be a way of doing it once, I just don't know how.

I have probably made more work than necessary but for me it works :)

Chris

Thank you for this. I think Im better off sticking with just the one tree as Im easily confused!!

Sue

Sue

Stick with one file, it is easier to manage.

At a later date you can always "split" the file, this means you can take just one family line, surname or family group and have a file with just that family line or surname etc.

If you have one file with everyone in it then you can split as many smaller files from it as you want.


It also works in reverse, you can add a file into FTM and "merge" the two files together to make one larger file. Say for example someone has researched a distant part of your tree and you want to add the details, you can merge the new info (via GEDCOM) without having to add it all manually.

Glen

FTM works best with a single file.

The only time you might need to split it is if you want to sent selected parts to another researcher. You then use the reports / extracts to make a new file of the names that you want to include. However if you are just staring out then this will come later.

FTM has a huge capacity, for example it can easily handle 20,000, 100,000 names without even catching its breath. There is probably an upper theoretical limit, but it is more than most will ever need.

Thanks for all this info. Im not new to the research, Ive just been really bad at putting the info into an easily useable format! I started out with another programme but didn't get on with it at all. Have now decided I have to input all the info I have before I do any more research. A great motivator!

Sue