Hello John and Alan
Here I go with my two cents worth. I too was a dyed in the wool FTM user
even before a 1998 massive stroke left me with only my non-prominent right
hand to type with. To me LEGACY was just the most efficient way to do merges
[still is] In 2003 my Mormon cousin installed LEGACY into my computer which
I managed to ignore for quite some time and one day for no good reason, I
decided to give LEGACY my 40 person test and so I entered 40 persons by hand
from the ones that I already had in my files. Since that unknown day I
dropped FTM and never never looked back, for all who read this John has
written what I wish that I could write and in my opinion he has it nailed
down perfectly
Love, Light, Rainbows and Blessings
Sandra Tyler Duncan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "John B. Lisle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] FTM User Considering Legacy or FTM Upgrade.
Alan,
Someone from Legacy Sales might wish to chat with you, but let me tell you
my story.
I was also an FTM user and was frustrated by it limitation with respect to
inputting data and doing sourcing. I spent a considerable amount of time a
few years ago looking at the alternatives and decided that Legacy was the
best path to go.
Are you going to miss some things from FTM? You might. But, in my opinion,
the benefits that I have gained are tremendous.
That being said, FTM does not make it easy for you to leave... As you are
on Version 10, it will be a bit easier than the latest version but there
will still be some challenges. Mostly, because FTM either does a poor job
of exporting data to Gedcom or does not export the data at all.
1/ If you have any images in you FTM file, you will need to extract them
manually. FTM stores the images in the family file and does not export
them to gedcom.
2/ Name and address data is not exported. Again, if you have a lot, this
will be a pain to do manually.
3/ FTM has a screwy way of exporting marriage facts. If you have entered a
lot of marriage events, you will need to review them after you have done
the import.
4/ FTM displays the facts/events in chronological order however it exports
them in the order you entered them. Legacy currently does not attempt an
event sort when a Gedcom is imported.
5/ FTM has a single field in its facts/events for Comment or Location.
When you import the events, Legacy will ask you questions for how you want
each event or event type handled. I tell it how I want each event type
handled either to put the data in the place, description, or note field. I
try to avoid polluting my Master location list with a lot of extraneous
stuff.
You will have to do some cleanup -- the larger your database, the more the
cleanup. I am cleaning up a 60,000+ name database. The effort is
definitely worth it.
I have found that trying to import an FTM Gedcom into the Web Publishing
package that I use is a problem. Importing from Legacy is not as it uses
more standard conventions.
Arlene noted a problem with importing notes. I have never had that
problem, but I have not upgraded to one of the later versions. I am told
that FTM made a change in the notes format in one of the last versions and
that is the problem with the Legacy default option for note import. Legacy
has several other options for how to handle notes on import. You might
want to run some tests and see which one works for you.
Lastly, just try it. Download the free version and have a go at it.
Get the book and training CDs when you upgrade. The training CDs are the
best tool for learning how to use Legacy effectively.
john.
Nashua, NH
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