Long gone are the days of hand-written pedigree charts and trips to the photocopier. Now inspiring and experienced genealogists can utilize powerful database genealogy software to organize and share family history information. Legacy genealogy software can help you create books, print colorful wall charts and manage your resources like no other program, which is why we gave it our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.
The latest version has mapping with 3D and satellite views, 1200 interview reports, a setup wizard and good backup tools. This new version of Legacy genealogy software also has a relationship calculator that can calculate exactly how two individuals are related, by marriage and direct line. This genealogy software also supports all files types so you can attach image, video, PDF, Word documents or audio files to individual and marriage files.
Legacy genealogy software can be used to search popular online genealogy services such as Ancestry, FamilyLink, FamilySearch, Genealogy, MyTrees and more. And now that DNA tests are accessible and popularized by National Geographic’s Genographic Project and the television show Faces of America, it is nice that Legacy includes the ability to store DNA test information with an individual’s file. It will even store test information as private if you want to keep it confidential and don't want it exported.
Getting started with Legacy genealogy software is easy, choose to import from a GEDCOM file or start a family record from scratch. Add individuals on the Family View or on the Pedigree View; click to pull up the individual’s information. Use the icons to add specific information like spouses, siblings and children. Events can be selected from a drop down menu—you can add ‘as is,’ edit and add, or create a new event to add to an individual. New events are retained in the Master Event List. Both individuals and facts can be marked as private. You will be able to choose to exclude private items from reports and charts. You also have advanced color-coding options available to make it easier to trace ancestor lines. Explore Tools to fully appreciate the flexibility and customization of this product.
Citing where you get information from is important. This genealogy software has a tool called SourceWriter. With this tool you can enter your source information and the software will automatically reformat the information into the genealogy industry standard for footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies. Legacy genealogy software also lets you rate new source information, which helps you keep track of how potentially accurate the data is.
When you’ve added the existing information on your family, it’s time for research. Turn to Legacy’s Research Guidance to accomplish the most research in the least amount of time. You’ll start with a Timeline Review and end with a To-Do List with detailed source tips along the way. Accuracy is essential and Legacy provides tools to help you check facts. At your direction, Legacy genealogy software will produce a Potential Problems Report highlighting inconsistencies like death after 120 years old or possible title in the name field. You choose which problems to check and who to include in the report. Look for it under Reports. You can also use the innovative missing information search feature, which allows you to search your family history and find only those missing a specific piece of information, such as birth place or death date. Use the U.S. County Verifier to confirm the county associated with an event. U.S. county names and boundaries change and protocol says to use the county name as it existed at the time of the event. Find a discrepancy? Legacy will show you a map with the current location superimposed on the corresponding historical map. You make the correction.
Legacy genealogy software includes tools to produce wall charts to display your family tree in a variety of formats, including DNA charts. You can also incorporate Microsoft's Virtual Earth to automatically pinpoint important locations and map your ancestors' migration.
Bonus Features
- Genealogy is about the present as well as the past. Compile an address book and use it to easily print address labels and nametags complete with photos and three-generation pedigree charts. Legacy’s home page automatically posts birthdays and anniversaries from your information.
- The Intellishare option manages group updates to the family file. Assign a Keeper of the Family File to coordinate participants. The Keeper uses Legacy’s Intellishare function to merge and reconcile records at their discretion.
- Legacy Family Tree 7.0 supports synchronization with Pocket Genealogist, the leader in genealogy software for Windows Mobile devices.
The newest version of this genealogy software has a guided setup wizard. The setup wizard can help you whether you are importing files or starting from nothing. If you are starting from scratch you simply enter in as much information as you have then you can go back later and easily add more details as you discover them.
Find an unprecedented number of reports including Descendant Narrative, LDS Ordinances and Temple Ready Instructions, and Family Picture Tree in Legacy’s Report pane. Blank forms are also available. You may save as a PDF file to share electronically or print to your computer.
Legacy genealogy software offers new charting capabilities with a friendly, graphic interface and new types of charts. Choose from a variety of chart formats, including ancestor, descendant, fan, hourglass, bow tie, and even DNA charts. Colorful images illustrate each format. Now it's time to customize the appearance of your chart with themes, colors, text and format, lines, borders and backgrounds. Print from your printer, email, export to a file or order a wall chart from Legacy. Every conceivable option is available.
In the Publishing Center, create books with selected reports. Legacy genealogy software will automatically create a table of contents, index of names, preface page and more. You have control over layout and design. Books and other reports can be sent to your printer or published in the following formats: Text, HTML, Rich Text and PDF. Note: Chart-type reports (ancestor, descendant, timeline, pedigree and lineage) are not printed to HTML. Other reports can be used on a web site or sent as an email message.
Look for the integrated video tutorial in Research Guidance, an informative guide to using this powerful feature. Text help is available on every screen. It’s searchable and provides detailed instruction on specific tasks. Find FAQs, technical support, tips and user forums online. Two volumes of video training CDs and a 336-page manual are available online in the Legacy Family Tree Store.
Anyone can benefit from using this genealogy software. Whether you want to create a family tree chart for sharing with others or import thousands of files, Legacy can handle it with ease. It has powerful search tools and can manage general and research note files up to a million characters. It can even be used to print family history books. We think experienced genealogists and family historians will find that Legacy can perform all the tasks they need to manage large volumes of information.
