Monday, May 06, 2013

New FamilySearch 3rd Party Products Update

This past Friday (3 May 2013) FamilySearch removed the ability to do combines or separate in the NFS API. That means you can no longer combine or separate using a 3rd Party Affiliate Product.  This feature was turned off because of the damage combining and separating was doing to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

If you have the following products and version numbers you will no longer be able to do combines or separate using their New FamilySearch sync features.

Ancestral Quest 14.00.9 build date 20 Mar 2013 - current version
Ancestral Quest had turned off the combine feature when their latest version came out. To get around combining, since AQ doesn't yet sync with Family Tree, they have a unique method of launching your browser so you can do the actual merging instead on the Family Tree website. You still see the NFS results on your compare screens inside the program.  Ancestral Quest has not launched an update yet to work with FamilySearch Family Tree it is still NFS Certified - Tree Share only.  It is working on becoming FT Certified. My guess is this feature will be a free update to version 14. If you don't have the latest build of AQ you will want to update so you can at least launch your browser through the program so you can merge on FT.

Legacy Family Tree 7.5.0.219 build date 15 Feb 2013 - current version
The current version still only works with NFS. My gut tells me that Legacy will wait for version 8 to come out before they add the FT sync feature. Legacy 7 has been around way to long (since 2007) and people might not pay to upgrade if you put FT sync in version 7. At RootsTech I learned that Legacy 8 was coming out, but no clear indication of when. On the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) website they did announce Geoff Rasmussen will be teaching a Legacy 8 class at their annual conference (Jun 7-9, 2013). While at the UGA S. Davis Conference Apr 20th I asked a new guy behind the Legacy booth when version 8 was coming out and he said 3-4 weeks. So we are getting a small window on how soon Legacy 8 should appear.  Of course, what's planned and how beta testing goes on a new version can totally destroy any time frames.

RootsMagic 6.0.0.5 build 21 Feb 2013 - last version with NFS sync (current version 6.1.0.3 has FT sync)
If you have older versions of the software that synced with NFS you will no longer be able to do combines. RootsMagic released version 6.1 at RootsTech and it is FT Certified for Tree Share. It will work directly with FamilySearch Family Tree and you can do merges inside of the program. If you have version 6.0 you need to update to 6.1 it's free. If you have RM 4 or 5 it's time to upgrade to RM 6. RootsMagic 6 Essentials is the free version that will sync with Family Tree.

Real-Time Collaboration, Inc. - FamilyInsight and AncestorSplit
I don't know what the latest version of either program is. The website doesn't mention it either. It's been a long time since I  have seen FamilyInsight at any genealogy conferences. Rumor has it that FamilyInsight was not going to update the program to become Family Tree Certified.  We have to wait to see if that rumor is correct. As long as PAF is around there will be people that want to use FamilyInsight with it.

AncestorSplit was a great program that helped you split people that were combined incorrectly on New FamilySearch.  I used that program all the time. Now that feature is pretty much dead in the water.  I don't know if it can be resurrected to be applicable with Family Tree or not. My guess is that's programs gone now too.

Well that's all the news I have on the New FamilySearch front.  We all know NFS is going away and being replaced with FamilySearch Family Tree. Shutting off the ability to do combines and separate in NFS API has just help make the Family Tree much more stable. Won't we all breath a since of relief when this whole transition period is over.

If you want to follow when a 3rd Party Product becomes FT Certified go to this link: https://familysearch.org/products . The graphics are a little confusing. When the product because FT Certified it will have a small check mark to the left of their name.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!



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