Читать книгу Genealogy For Dummies - Helm April Leigh - Страница 8

To help you get a better idea of how genealogical software installed on your personal computer can help you organize your records and research, and to help you figure out what features to look for in particular software packages, this section examines how to use RootsMagic, a popular genealogy program.

You can download a free trial version of RootsMagic Essentials software and install it on your computer:

1. Open your web browser and go to the RootsMagic site at www.rootsmagic.com/Products.

2. Scroll down to the RootsMagic Essentials section and click the Free Download button.

3. Complete the information fields, including your name and email address. Enter your email address again in the Verify E-mail field shown in Figure 1-3.

4. Select the checkbox if you want to receive emails from RootsMagic.

5. Click Download.

The instructions for downloading the product appear. Be sure to click on the correct version for your computer’s operating system. There are two versions – one for Windows and the other for Mac.

6. Click the RootsMagic Essentials Installer link.

The software downloads to a directory on your computer.

7. To begin the installation, double-click the downloaded file.

When we installed it, the filename was RM7Setup.exe. The RootsMagic Setup wizard pops up with a license agreement.

8. Read through the licensing agreement. If you agree to its terms, click the I Accept the Agreement option and then click Next.

In the window that appears, choose where to have the RootsMagic Essentials software stored on your computer.

9. Identify where to store the application and then click Next.

The Select Start Menu Folder field appears. This enables you to identify where to put shortcuts for the program. The default location is a folder called RootsMagic 7.

10. If you want the shortcuts listed in RootsMagic 7, leave the default location in the field. If you prefer to have shortcuts in another folder, browse and select the folder or enter the location.

11. Click Next.

The Select Additional Tasks window opens. If you want to set up any additional tasks (such as creating a desktop icon for the program or downloading a place database for geocoding and gazetteer components), select the appropriate checkbox.

12. Click Next.

The final information for the installation appears.

13. Review the installation information and, if everything looks correct, click Install.

When the software has finished installing, the Completing the RootsMagic Setup Wizard box appears.

14. If you want to open RootsMagic now, select the Launch RootsMagic checkbox and click the Finish button.

A window opens welcoming you to the software and asking you to identify which version of the product you’re opening.

15. Click the RootsMagic Essentials – Free Version link.

FIGURE 1-3: Information fields for the RootsMagic install.

Now that you have the RootsMagic Essentials software installed on your computer, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty and start entering data. When you open the application for the very first time, you get a RootsMagic News window containing links to various announcements and stories of interest to RootsMagic users. If you want to read any of these, you can click the links; otherwise, just click Close.

When the RootsMagic News box closes, you see a Welcome to RootsMagic screen. To begin your family tree, follow these steps:

1. Click Create a New File.

A box appears, enabling you to do several things:

• Identify the new filename.

• Determine the location for the file.

• Set options, including the date format for the file, whether to display a number after a name, whether to display surnames in all capital letters, and whether to set up and support some additional fields for the Latter-day Saints and FamilySearch family tree support.

• Choose whether to start a file from scratch or import data from another program.

2. Enter the new filename in the New File Name box, set any of the optional formatting items, and identify whether you’re starting a new file or importing an existing one; then click OK.

In our case, we’re starting a family tree for the Abell family, so we entered Abell as the filename. We set the date format and selected the option for starting a new file.

3. Click OK.

The database is created and the Pedigree view opens, as shown in Figure 1-4.

FIGURE 1-4: The Pedigree tab.

You can start entering information about yourself in the Pedigree page (presuming that you choose to start with yourself). Then you can add information for four additional generations.

Completing the Pedigree Page

Usually, it’s easiest to enter information about yourself, your spouse, and your children, and then work backward through your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. After you complete your direct lines back as far as you can, enter information about each of your siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins, and other relatives. Always enter as much information as you can in each of the fields in the Add Person dialog boxes. Follow these steps to fill in the Pedigree page:

1. Select the Click to Add a Person box in the Pedigree page.

The Add New Person dialog box appears, and then you can fill in details about yourself or an ancestor.

2. Complete the Add New Person box and click OK.

Type the first and middle names in the Given Name(s) field and the last name in the Surname field. Then complete the remaining fields to the extent that you know the biographical facts about that person. Remember to use your maiden name if you’re female – regardless of your marital status. Of course, we want to set a good example in this book when it comes to privacy for living relatives, so rather than typing information about one of us, we type in Matthew’s great-grandfather, William Henry Abell.

After you click OK, the Edit Person dialog box appears.

3. Complete the Edit Person dialog box and click Save.

You can add more facts about yourself or an ancestor by clicking these buttons in the Edit window – Notes, Sources, Media, and Address. You can also add or delete facts by clicking the appropriate button and then following the prompts in the Fact Types box that appears. After you finish adding the details, click Save.

Make sure that you use the four-digit year when you enter dates in RootsMagic. If you inadvertently use only two numerals for the year, the software accepts the year as is, leaving it ambiguous for anyone who references your database in the future.

4. Click Close.

After you’ve entered your first person, you can click the next person box you want to complete or click the Add People to the Database icon on the toolbar and enter information for people related to the individual, such as spouse, children, and parents. You can keep track of family units by clicking the Family tab. We add more people to RootsMagic and discuss how to source information in Chapter 2.