Simple Family Tree for Windows

User Reviews

• Small Simple Fast Load

  Doug6388June 30, 2013

  Pros

  Love it. Love the screen capture feature to make a family tree to email to family members.

  Cons

  Screen capture feature grabs screen that does NOT show all branches, ie - the tree is too big for the capture area. Too bad as some of oldest twigs are eliminated.

  Summary

  Good and free

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• Simple effective layout. Easy to use. Reliable.

  PixiegutsJanuary 22, 2013

  Pros

  Simplicity makes it easy to learn in the first place and very easy to keep using (as I have for about 4 years). Screen is large, easy to read and navigate. Can handle a lot of data for research over the longer haul (up to about 5,000 words notes per individual).

  Cons

  Occasional crashes when trying to enter notes (especially as the notes get longer). An occasional bug with entering some other data. A reboot of the software almost always fixes it.

  Summary

  Excellent free program. Easy to start out with, easy to keep using. Simple is sometimes best.

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• "Ancestry' For Dummies

  andrealityApril 30, 2012

  Pros

  This program would be the only program that doesn't do anything at all. It is for people who want to put in their parents and grandparents, siblings and cousins just to have them in a genealogy format of some kind.

  Cons

  I do not recommend this program for anyone. It doesn't have any features a real family historian would like to have at all; nor a family genealogist. it is the most basic of basic programs ever. Just to keep some names around to make someone happy to say they are doing their genealogy.

  Summary

  If you are going to go to the trouble to keep family names, get something decent to put it all in. You cannot keep photos, records, research info or any other important docs or records in this program. Go to the trouble to look up genealogy programs and see what they can do and what they give you to put in your research notes, scanned docs and photos.

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• I cant use this!

  johanchryslerDecember 15, 2011

  Pros

  None!!!!!!!!!

  Cons

  I downloaded and it turns out that its a win32/installcore.D my antivirus said its a spyware What was that?

  Summary

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• Does the job.

  PipDittonNovember 30, 2011

  Pros

  It's free and allows you keep your information in an exportable GEDCOM form and present a Family Tree Chart.

  Cons

  Personally I would keep all my notes and sources in an RTF format that will last forever.

  Summary

  I was only looking for an editable graphical tree program and had also looked at business flow charters. This program didn't allow me to do what I wanted and I removed it. I have been doing Family History for over 30 years and have my own systems in place. If you are starting out, keep it simple. This program does the job, without being over complicated.

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• Installed but did not work even simply so useless

  Kevin_AHJune 25, 2011

  Pros

  Install works. Looks simple and saves Gedcom files.

  Cons

  First person shows on screen. Subsequent people added do not show unless you select them - but then the first disappears! When you link, goes into loop keeps adding parent as parent to itself ad infinitum.

  Summary

  Something that doesn't work isn't any use even if it is free. I tried it on Windows XP SP3.

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• Perfect for basic data entry; has familiar tree layout.

  nw808gwFMarch 19, 2011

  Pros

  Quickly establish family tree with first names and relationships. Then go back and fill out additional information at your leisure. The vertical tree is what I'm used to seeing and it's easy to add collateral families.

  Cons

  The spouse in-common is not between the current and former spouse. For example, wife is linked to first husband who is then linked to the second husband - what's up with that?

  Summary

  This is perfect if you just want to start with a basic family tree with dob, dod, and dom for parents, siblings, nieces and nephews for several removes. You can easily add your spouse's family without cluttering up your own tree. And, as information comes your way, it is very easy to update or expand your tree.

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• Easy to learn and use. Free is always good if it works.

  75773November 19, 2010

  Pros

  Unlimited family lines and no spam, ads or pop-ups. The more I use it, the more I like it. It's not as complicated as the expensive programs. The program holds the info so you don't have to continually back your info. Did I mention it's Free.

  Cons

  My only negative is that it constructs the family lines vertical instead of horizontal and it doesn't show the middle name without clicking on the individual box.

  Summary

  It does what I need to do and.......it's free. Unless you are a hard core genealogy person this would probably meet your needs.

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• Simple, easy to use, and great for basic research.

  eastbostongmailcomFebruary 27, 2010

  Pros

  Each individual gets their own entry. Uncluttered format. Nice automatic display of the family tree based on any individual. Allows flexibility with multiple marriages. Shows when family trees double-connect. Automatically creates back-up files.

  Cons

  If you put in more than allowed amout of text in the Notes section, the program will just close. (Last change before the crash is always saved.) No way to export out text reports for family members. (I have yet to try the Print Screen feature.)

  Summary

  I collected over 5000 names using this software. Easy to use, free shareware. Too much text in the Notes section causes program to close. Split up text to two or more individuals. No big deal. I did hit a couple errors when I mistakenly typed too fast and then mistakenly added someone as a spouse, who was already married to someone else, and then got an error message that asked me to fix an error using a text editor. (I used Notepad.) If you're not very familiar with GEDcom coding, it can be very confusing. I didn't know how to fix the error, although I tried. In one case I just deleted the individual that had the error, and readded them. If you tend to type very fast, be careful with the Control key. (Several shortcuts have been created, but I didn't mean to use them, a few times, and confused myself.) From each individual's record you can view their Gedcom entry (it took me a while to try this, after entering all the names, pretty much one at a time). Then, if you're getting an error on anyone, you can look at their Gedcom entry, right at their individual box, and at least know which entry need editing. I did most of my editing by using "right click" on each individual's box. Not everyone if comfortable with all the mouse clicks. Software creator updates this pretty frequently. Cool website. Low key. Nice.

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• Doesn't work

  rffanaticFebruary 23, 2010

  Pros

  It's free to try

  Cons

  Lots of bugs. Tree disappears regularly. Lousy interface missing common features like a "View" menu with "zoom" and so on

  Summary

  Don't bother.

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