Easy to Use Family Tree Software for WindowsInformation and Examples Page

Famtree - Easy to Use Windows Family Tree Software

A brief introduction and some sample display/output from this genealogy program

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Data Entry Form

Getting your data into Famtree could not be simpler. If you are already using a genealogy program, simply export a Gedcom file from your current program and read it into Famtree.   Famtree can read a wide range of Gedcom files from other programs, without the need for any re-typing.   If you find a Gedcom file which Famtree won't read please !

If you are starting from scratch, you just need to fill as few or as many of the white boxes on the form shown on the right as you wish, for each individual that you wish to include.  You then join them into family groups with a few clicks of the mouse, and you're ready to produce various charts and trees, or find out how the relationships between people in your file.

Famtree comes with two sample files - a mythical 'Bloggs' family, and also a genealogy for Adam, taken from the Book of Genesis.   The examples below are mainly from the Bloggs family!

All tasks are achieved by using the Famtree toolbar, as shown below -

Famtree Menu

The icons are grouped into 'boxes'; each 'box' serving a different purpose.  Frequently used icons  have some text alongside, or have a larger format - and if you allow the mouse to 'hover' over an icon, text will appear explaining its function.  The first group is the 'Start/Stop' box of four buttons allow you to - open an existing file; start a new file; append one file to another; or exit the program!

The second box contians the icons which help you to 'enter a new individual', and to 'link people into family groups'.   The third 'box' of icons are all to do with saving your data.    The two icons at the top of the box are the familiar 'Save' and 'Save As' functions you will see in most programs.    The other icons allow you to save your data in special ways - either saving parts (branches) of your data into separate files, hiding the details of living people, or saving the whole file as a web site, rather than a standard GEDCOM file.   (These choices are explained fully in the Manual, and in the Help system within the program).

The next group of icons are all to do with navigating around the file, and how the list of names is displayed.   Next is a group of icons which allow you to vary a number of settings and options within the program - including Page Setup, choosing which items to include in your trees and charts; choice of fonts and font sizes and colours, and a range of miscellaneous options - again, all explained in the Manual and Help system.

The final and largest 'box' of icons allows you to produce, save, and print, a range of charts, trees, displays, and lists - saving an index of your data; finding out relationships; displaying traditional family trees, compact descendants charts, ancestry charts, wide family groups, and address lists (all of which can be printed using the preview and print buttons).

These actions are duplicated in the menu items.   In addition, the menu includes 'QuickTutor' - a three part tutorial which takes you through using the program; a comprehensive 'Help' facility; and also provides access to the Internet to allow you to 'surf the web' from within Famtree.

Below are a number of examples of Famtree screen displays and printed output, produced from the imaginary Bloggs family, included as an example file with the Famtree program.  'Janet Green (nee Bloggs)' has produced these charts using the default colour palette - she has highlighted her own details on the charts.

This is the Ancestry (or Pedigree) chart for Janet's son Joshua Green printed using Times New Roman font. As Joshua's parents are first cousins he has 'duplicate' great grandparents.

  Ancestry Chart

The printed version of the ancestry chart is shown below -

Joshua Bloggs' Ancestors

Next Janet produced a Wide Family Group Display using her brother Fred as the subject - showing that there is still plenty more to find out about the 'Bloggs' family! -

Family Group Display

Then Janet produced a Traditional Family Tree starting with her great grandmother Cath Snape, printed using Arial font (and with places of birth and death included, as well as dates). Janet appears twice on the tree as she married her first cousin, but her children are shown only once because Janet deselected 'show repeated families' before printing the tree.

Cath Snape's Descendants

Finally, the same tree can be printed in a more compact form, as shown below.  As the printout is more compact, this time Janet chose to show repeated familes (so her children are shown twice).  Janet chose Times New Roman font for this chart.

Cath Snape's Compact Chart

Although Janet knows that she has a lot more research to do, she decides to produce a Bloggs Family website - Famtree can do this automatically, so Janet just clicks on the correct menu items and produces the file - you can view it, just as it would appear if loaded on the web by clicking here  (Note - with the site displayed, you can click on names to navigate around the site;  I've added links at the top and bottom of the web page to allow you to return to here!)

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