Recommended software to create Gedcom files?
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I'm going to install PHPGedView on our family collaboration web site.
I would like to provide my members with a short list of good/best/free applications they can use to create the GED files.
So if anyone has had some good results or like a particular package please share that information.
Thanks,
Dave
You can not have all three you know.
Legacy (free version) is quite good. However your choices are wide as most packages support gedcom export. If you are intending building a single "big" tree, then it might be best to start by checking what people are currently using.
Personally I use Family Historian, but that is quite expensive, its big advantage is that it uses GEDCOM files all the time, so it is very quick to update the web site from it.
The genealogy program that you use really depends on your personal preference based upon the way you do genealogy research.
The most popular genealogy programs are PAF, Family Tree Maker, and Legacy. They all support the same features and have very similar interfaces.
As you move into the more serious genealogy research crowd, the toolset expands but researchers have complaints about all of them. Lately, a lot of people are touting the merits of The Master Genealogist.
This is why there are so many genealogy programs. There isn't one particular program that can really meet the need of the hobby genealogist as well as the professional family historian. Most people try a few and choose the one that has a particular interface feature they like or that they find is the easiest to work with.
Unfortunately the commercial programs focus on making money instead of really producing a good genealogy program with the features people need and the open source community (which has the potential to make the best genealogy program ever) has yet to rally together around a program and produce something that can really compete with the commercial products.
I think that the best genealogy program has yet to be created and it will be a whole new ball game once GEDCOM v6 is released. You are going to see a whole new set of players entering the arena, and a lot will drop out of the game.
I use 2 programs because no one program seems to do everything i want.
To get a good conceptual understanding of my family tree i use genopro www.genopro.com which uses genograms to display the family history.
Unfortunatly it is limited in terms of using source information.
This is where PAF (www.familysearch.org) comes in useful. It is very easy to note where every piece of family history information information came from.
The creaters of PAF are also in charge of the GEDCOM standard.
In the end it might be best for you to download alot of the family tree programs and see which one best suits your needs.
I use Family Historian as well (http://www.family-historian.co.uk/index.htm). I would say its primary strength is its flexibility in how data is entered.
Of course, I've found that as a beginning genealogist, too much flexibility is a bad thing ;-) I've found myself "inventing" standards for source notes that may or may not prove to be useful long term.
I have come across a product that appeals to me. It seems to have some interesting features. I think storing the information in a database would be a good design. It allows the user to download information as a GEDCOM file as well.
http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php
I'll check out the ones you suggest as well.
Thank for all the help.
Dave
There's also a wide choice of software for Mac users too.
Most cuurent programs (Mac & PC) will import & export to GEDCOM 5.5 format ... albeit with some irregularities.
My favorite at the moment is GEDITCOM on the Mac which works with GEDCOM files natively and is 100% compliant. http://www.geditcom.com
Mark