Family tree. Free family tree program - Family Tree Builder Detection on the map
A convenient and to a certain extent free program for independently creating a family tree. The program is integrated with its own website, which helps you search for relatives in family trees built by other users.
Every family, if you look hard enough, will undoubtedly have a very long and interesting history. However, not everyone can remember this story. Moreover, the average person does not even remember all of his relatives.
Usually such memory is limited to memories of grandparents (at most, about someone from the great) ... But the history of a family can stretch its roots far into bygone centuries, and sometimes even millennia!!! Out of interest in ancestors, the science of genealogy emerged - a systematic collection of information about the origin, succession and relationship of surnames and clans. In a broader sense, it is the science of family ties in general.
You don't have to be some kind of scientist to do genealogy. Today, anyone can capture and trace the history of their family. To do this, you need to have some knowledge about your ancestors, a computer and one of the special programs.
I suggest using the program as an example Family Tree Builder. This free application allows you not only to capture your family tree, but even to find your relatives by comparing the family trees of other participants in the international project to which the program provides access.
At the moment, the Family Tree Builder project competes with another international genealogy project, Family Tree Maker:
Comparison of the Family Tree Builder program with the paid analogue Family Tree Maker
The paid project has a slightly larger database, but Family Tree Builder is quickly catching up with its competitor by allowing each user to post information about themselves on their personal website! Thus, it can be considered not only as a separate program, but also as a kind of social network.
However, to access it you still need to install the application, so now we’ll do just that.
Installing Family Tree Builder
Open the downloaded archive and run the installer. In the first window we will be asked to choose one of 35 languages:
Select “Russian” and click “Ok”, after which a standard application installation wizard will appear, in which you specify the necessary parameters, following the prompts.
If everything is done correctly, then after installation you will see the following window:
To continue our work, we will need to go through a free registration procedure on the project website. This will allow you to access features such as publishing your family tree online and searching for relatives.
During the registration process, you will need to fill out several forms. The first one is mandatory:
Here you need to provide your personal information, email address (serves as your login to enter the project) and password to access your account. In the second form, you can optionally fill in the fields with information about your place of residence, after which registration will be completed, which you will be informed about in the window that opens.
Launching Family Tree Builder
Before launching the program, you will be asked to pay for a premium account:
For more than $6 a month, we are offered an improved search for relatives, expanded versions of publishing family tree graphs, as well as the ability to independently work with maps and labels on them. In addition, among other bonuses, the limit on the number of entries in the family tree (online) is lifted and the space for your family website on the Internet is increased.
However, you can do without any frills and continue to use the free version of the program by clicking the appropriate link (see screenshot above).
Program interface
And now the Family Tree Builder working window will open in front of us:
When we first launch the program, it will often give us advice on creating a new family tree project, which will allow us to quickly get used to it. First, we need to select the “Create a new genealogical project” item, and then give it a name in English (can be transliterated).
At this point the preparatory stage will be completed. Now the program will offer to add a family with which the family tree will begin:
To do this, click the corresponding button in the work area and follow the prompts of the wizard that appears. In the first window you will need to enter data about the husband and wife of the family being created:
Here, pay attention to the button with the image of a light bulb next to the “Place” item. By clicking on it, you can clarify the location of a specific settlement so that it is displayed correctly on the world map.
After adding the first family, we will be able to specify the parents of the husband and wife, as well as the children of a given married couple. To do this, just click on the appropriate fields on the genus diagram. If you need to add other family members (brothers, sisters, etc.), then you will need to select the desired option from the “Add person” list:
Pay attention to the left panel with a list of family members. We can reflect this list in the form of a tree, distributed among individual families. This representation can be useful when working with a large family tree:
Adding photos
As a matter of fact, up to this point we have been working in the first tab - “Tree”, however, when you look at the toolbar, you will find several additional sections. And the next one will be “Photos”:
If you created your first posts using the wizard, then you have already worked on adding photos, but if not, then here you will be given such an opportunity. For each family member, you can add several photos, highlighting their faces. And if you want, you can even create a small electronic photo album by sorting the pictures you need in the “Album” section (panel on the left).
In addition to photos, you can also add short videos, audio recordings and documents related to a specific family member!
Search for relatives
The next button - “Matches” - allows you to compare information about all members of your family with the contents of online databases for identical records, which may indicate a relationship with other network users!
Who knows, maybe you will be lucky to find your distant relatives...
If no matches were found, try a more thorough search using the following button:
Everything is simple here too. You can try to search for all the people in the tree, which can take quite a lot of time, or you can search for matches for each family member separately. However, there are some requirements and restrictions on the use of this search method. The requirements include the need to dub the first and last name in Latin, as well as the availability of additional information (date of birth, place of residence, etc.) in English.
The limitation of the free version is the inability to view search results (we will only see whether matches were found and how many there are).
Genealogical tree design
A truly useful and enjoyable feature is the ability to decorate your family tree:
To access this function, use the “Graphs” button. By clicking it, we can select the desired type of tree and then design it according to our preferences. For example, here's what an ancestor plot might look like:
The finished template can be slightly (or even completely) changed using the “Styles” and “Options” sections. “Styles” provide the opportunity to completely change the appearance of the family tree by choosing one of several possible design options. And “Options” allow you to customize certain decorative elements in the selected style. You can print the finished family tree or save it in JPG or PDF formats.
There is also a paid function for ordering poster printing, which you can give as a souvenir to your loved ones!
If you do not need aesthetic delights, but just want to get clear information about your relatives, then you can use the “Reports” section:
For example, using the “Relationships” item, you can see how related you are to which family member.
The next item - “Maps” - will allow you to trace all geographical coordinates associated with your family:
And finally, the last functional button is “Publish”. This button opens a wizard for uploading your data to the Internet and then creating your personal family website:
On this site you can trace your entire genealogy, add media content related to your family, and also maintain a small family blog. In addition, you can visit the blogs of other network members, and also get access to some entertainment features. Among the latter, it is worth noting the “Memory” game (we select pairs of photographs of our ancestors), as well as services for searching for similarities with celebrities and determining who the child is more like:
Pros and cons of Family Tree Builder
The only drawback is the need to connect to the Internet. However, if we consider that the number of users without access to the Internet is rapidly decreasing every year, then this circumstance can also be interpreted as an advantage.
After all, with the tools that this program has, we can not only create a detailed family tree of our kind, but also search for relatives on the Internet, communicate with other network users, exchange photos and videos, and even write our own blog.
Try working with Family Tree Builder, and you will find that creating a family tree can be not only routine, but also a very pleasant and exciting process;)
P.S. Permission is granted to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
Creating and maintaining your family tree is a visual way to know and remember your predecessors. This is important not only for you, but also for your children. With the help of a family tree, you can clearly explain to them who your distant relatives were and who you are.
You can add the date of birth or death, photos, contact details, gender and other important data to each member of the family tree. For each person you can add a spouse, children, parents, brothers or sisters. The created tree can be saved as a graph or report with further printing option for easy viewing. The Family Tree Builder program is in Russian, very convenient and functional. The program is shareware. The free version, although it has limited functionality, is completely sufficient for ordinary purposes. In the paid version (Family Tree Builder price is $75) you can publish up to 2500 names, there is an annual Premium subscription on the developer’s website, more complete graphs and maps.
Possibilities:
- export your tree to Excel;
- creating graphs and reports;
- saving graphs and reports in convenient formats and the ability to print;
- synchronization with the developer’s website for publishing the pedigree;
- search for relatives from more than 65 million registered users;
- adding accurate information to each person (full name, date of birth or death, information about spouses or children, photographs, etc.).
Principle of operation:
To use the program in Russian, during the installation process you need to select Russian from the list of languages. After installation is complete, you need to register on the program developer’s website or log in using your existing login. To start working in the program, you need to create a new project (Ctrl + N), after which you can start adding people to the family tree: you must enter their full name, date of birth (death), gender, marriage and its status. After creating a person, you can create their spouse, children, and parents to make the family tree as accurate as possible. You can now create graphs and reports to easily view your pedigree. Graphs can be saved in PDF or JPEG format, and reports can be saved in RTF, PDF and HTML formats. You can print a saved graph or report for easy reference. Thanks to synchronization with the manufacturer's website, you can send data to your personal page on the Internet. On the manufacturer's website you can search for possible relatives from over 65 million registered users. If you encounter difficulties with the program, you can open the Family Tree Builder user guide, which is located in the Help - User Guide menu.
Pros:
- a powerful program that allows you to create a family tree;
- simple and convenient interface;
- the ability to download Family Tree Builder for free;
- Availability of Russian-language localization.
Minuses:
- The free version has limited functionality.
Family Tree Builder is a powerful tool for creating a family tree quickly, easily and free of charge. Working in the program is very convenient due to the presence of Russian-language localization. Family Tree Builder has a paid version, but for basic purposes the standard free version of the program is quite sufficient.
Family Tree Builder is a free program for building a family tree. For money you can purchase a paid account, which provides additional features. Data can be exported and imported using the popular format for genealogy programs GEDCOM.
The Family Tree Builder program offers enormous opportunities for searching information about relatives. If you wish, you can search for relatives using the MyHeritage Research service, which is connected to a huge number of genealogical databases. In addition, Smart Matches technology allows you to find matches in other people's trees, with matches measured as a percentage. This way you can unexpectedly find distant relatives.
You can add detailed information about each person, including a photo, place of birth, description of appearance, video materials, biography, contact information and much more.
You can print a tree report at any time, and you can choose which data to display. Advanced options for searching for relatives will appeal to those who decide to download Family Tree Builder for free. You can search not only by parameters, but also by the similarity of faces in photographs. This was made possible thanks to facial recognition technology.
Not many people can boast that they keep a family tree, much less know many members of their family who lived several generations ago. Previously, you had to take posters, albums and photographs to fill out your family tree. Now it’s easy to do this in the Family Tree Builder program much faster and be sure that all the information will be preserved for centuries.
This procedure must be completed, since many actions take place through the site, and having your own account will secure the data and save its online copy. You don’t need to enter a lot of data here, just your first name, last name, password and email address, which will be useful for authorization and password recovery.
But in the next window you will have to type some text. Please indicate your place of birth, age and zip code. This will help you find matches by comparing with other users of the program if you want to.
Quick Start Wizard
Now the fun begins - creating a family tree. When you launch it for the first time, this window is displayed, where you can choose to create a new project, load an existing one, or open the last loaded project. If you are a new user, then start creating.
Adding Family Members
Now we need to create the first family members. For example, you and your wife. Enter the required data in the lines provided for this purpose. In addition, you can add photos, if available. If the couple is married, then you can indicate the day of the wedding and the place where it happened. Everything is translated into Russian, so there should be no problems filling it out.
Tree display
The Family Tree Builder main window displays a tree with detailed information about each person. It is adjusted and opened by double-clicking the left mouse button. You can also add new family members, change tree styles, and edit the display by generation. Please note that a person can have his own profile on the site; it opens by clicking on the button provided for this.
Adding media files
You probably have family archives, photographs, video or audio recordings associated with someone personally, or these are general documents. They can be placed in a program, distributed into albums, or assigned to one of the family members. This is done very simply, and after the download is complete, everything is immediately available for viewing. Separately, it is worth mentioning the point "Interconnections", which will be filled in if there are any connections with another tree.
Coincidences
Millions of users have installed this program, created their tree and synchronized data with the site. After filling out the fields, you should go to this window to look at the match table. The site will offer possible options for family ties, and you can refute or confirm them. Please note that this will only be available after syncing with the server.
Creating a graph
Think your geological tree is complete? Then create and save your own graph that displays all the detailed information. The Charting Wizard will help you with this. Choose one of the many tree style options that suits you best. Under each of them there is a description, which will also help you decide on the choice of style.
Family members table
If you need to get a text version of the tree with detailed information about each person, then you should create a special table that will be generated automatically. All data will be distributed across rows and sections, which will make use more comfortable. The table is immediately available for printing.
Detection on the map
After indicating the places where an event occurred or a family member lives, detailed information about this place immediately appears using an Internet map. Each point is displayed separately and displayed in a list that you can navigate through. To view this data, you must be connected to the Internet, since the map is downloaded from the Internet.
Synchronizing a project with a family site
This is a very important process, since such a connection will help to detect matches with other trees and will save all the data for a long time. Use the program even during synchronization - it works in the background, and this process goes through four stages, information about each is displayed in this window.
For example, family statistics are available immediately after synchronization. There are many graphs and tables shown there that will help in compiling some information. You will find other functions in the section "Web site", which is located on the program control panel.
Every genealogy researcher of some kind comes to the conclusion that all the accumulated information needs to be somehow structured and displayed in a convenient form. And now there are many software solutions for creating a family tree. The free Family Tree Builder program can be called one of the best among similar solutions for creating a family tree. With its help, you can enter information about persons, add photographs and other documents, draw up reports and generate beautiful graphs of all persons of the family.
To work with Family Tree Builder, free registration on the developers' website is required. We launch the program and go through the procedure, after which we create a project. For greater data security, you can publish the project on our family website located at MyHeritage.com. In addition, this will allow you to show your family tree to everyone. The saved project is located in the folder Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\MyHeritage\Project_Name\Database and file Project name with extension .zed.
When the main program window opens, click the link Add a family to begin entering data for family members. You can start with the most ancient known representatives of the genus. The data entry window is divided into two parts, here we enter data about the husband and wife. For each, we indicate the last name and first name, date and place of birth, email address, death notes, date and place of marriage, as well as status: married, divorced, separated, widower/widow, engaged, partners, friends. By the way, Family Tree Builder supports three types of calendar (Gregorian, Hebrew and French Revolution) and allows you to quickly convert dates between them.
After adding a family, the program prompts you to add information about their son or daughter. Here the procedure is no different from that discussed earlier, so let’s move on to other functions of the program.
After adding information, we will see cards for each family member with connecting lines. Lines emanate from the cards of the spouses to the cards of their children, and so on from generation to generation... Here is brief information about the persons, it can be changed by pressing a button [Edit].
You can attach multiple photos to each family member card in Family Tree Builder. It is advisable to add supporting information to the photo, for example, a title, the date of the photo and the place where the person was photographed. In addition, a photograph can be associated with another family or person, fact or source.
Button [Photos] opens a list of all photos in the toolbar. There are a lot of tools for selecting images, filtering by type (photos, documents, video/audio), viewing in the form of a table or mini-images.
Particularly interesting is the function of creating a family tree in the form of a beautiful graph. To create a family tree, click the button [Schedule] and select the chart type. For example, this is what a vertical graph of the descendants of the selected person looks like:
The appearance of the family tree in Family Tree Builder is easily customizable. Not only are there three styles for designing people on the chart, but many parameters can be configured manually. These are fonts for each text field, photo size, restrictions on the number of generations displayed, graph location, design, customization of displayed facts about the person, background and frame color, connecting line style. The program provides a variety of header border styles.
The family tree generated in Family Tree Builder can be saved in JPG or PDF format.
In addition to the graphical presentation, the program may provide several text reports (button [Reports]). We can view and save in RTF, PDF or HTML formats a table of family members, ancestors or descendants, chronology, general information about descendants, addresses.
Characteristics:
Interface language: Russian, English, etc.
OS: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7
File size: 25.5 MB
License: free, paid registration available for additional features
