Tuesday's Tips - My New Favorite Things

I've been using Family Tree Maker for over 10 years and decided after some months of debating with myself that it was time to update to the latest version, Family Tree Maker 2014.  My copy came in a bundle of vacation mail, then sat on my desk for another week before I had time to do the install.  I'm so glad I finally updated FTM.

However, even before my copy of FTM 2014 arrived, I had been reading Russ Worthington's Family Tree Maker 2014 Blog.  Each post discusses one tip or feature of FTM 2014, so when I finally had time to update, I felt Russ's blog was there to help should I run into any big problems.

All of my previous family trees uploaded to the new version without a hitch.  I decided the best way to check out new features was to add a new family tree to hold information I am gathering for a sister-in-law concerning her family.  The process for starting a new tree and adding information was basically the same as in my previous version of FTM.  But I started to do my happy dance when I added the first source for an Ancestry.com census record.  There, on the source template, is now a space for the web address of a source.  It had always been simple to do a copy and paste of a web address and put into the citation detail of a source.  The BIG difference now is that in FTM 2014, your copy / paste becomes an actual link to the web site you used.  This means you can click and return for a closer look at information.  It also means I no longer have to go another copy / paste onto a new screen to return to my original online document or database.  Just click the globe icon (indicated by the red arrow) and I go right to either the original document or the search screen for the document.

All this is part of why upgrading to Family Tree Maker 2014 is one of my new favorite things.