Unofficial Family Origins® Wish List

This page is a running list of the enhancements that members of the Family Origins Users mail list have requested. It's purpose is to document that a feature is desired. Just because something is mentioned here, it does not mean that it will appear in a future release of FOW. This page is not affiliated in any way with FormalSoft, Inc. (the maker of FOW) or Parsons Technology (the distributor of FOW).

The wishes:

On Tue Nov 24 1998, Pat Guimont, email: Patty0802@aol.com wrote:

To have an area to provide family stories and surname history, etc. that would not appear right under the individual or family names when printing out a Book. Kind of like a separate heading maybe at the end of the database somewhere or to have option to "stick it in" whereever we would like to see it appear on our Book Reports.

On Tue Nov 24 1998, Alan Wood, email: awood@se-iowa.net wrote:

Capability to modify print margins. Especially the right margin to allow for binding when duplex printing.

On Tue Nov 24 1998, Trudy Lundy, email: tlundy@plix.com wrote:

Capability for Ahnentafel Numbers but not just as a fact. The old PAF 2.31 had a few key strokes to put Ahnentafel Numbers in the ID Number field and you could toggle back and forth. Some of us work with European researchers and some of us just want Ahnentafel Numbers. It is so easy to keep track of individuals when you have same name generation after generation.

On Tue Nov 24 1998, Cindy, email: cbryant@qtm.net wrote:

I would like to see the ancestors listed when doing a book as Jos Smith Joe Sr, 1, Peter, 2, etc) then when reading the book you'd have some Idea which branches you were reading about with tracing his/her number backwards. I would also like to have the ability to put birthdates in my index, or at least year, or allow me to put what fields I want in the index.

On Wed Nov 25 1998, Keith Thompson, email: Katman01@Worldnet.att.net, wrote:

I would like to see the "TODO" icon change color when the status is changed from Open to Done. I keep these todo items at hand to remind me later on that I have done additional followup, but without the report, I have to open each one to see if I have completed it. The other item would be to show on the header, the children that have been added. When adding a large number (several families have 10 or more), it would help when interupted, to have the last 3 or so shown on the header of the add children window.

On Wed Nov 25 1998, Dick Akins, email: akins@ksu.edu, wrote:

It would be very convenient to be able to specify the default locations for databases, backups, and gedcoms. This would be similar to the way word processors are set up. I keep all these in different folders and have to navigate around every time I want something.

On Wed Nov 25 1998, Frequent User, email: mm1jgscks@hotmail.com wrote:

I would like to see an ALL PERSON tree available in an upcoming version...I would like also to add that the tech support for this program is far superior to any other tech support I have ever encountered. Those kids in Iowa are so pleasant to talk to and they always are willing to help me out even if it is something simple.

On Wed Nov 25 1998, Sue, email: gonfishinmn@yahoo.com, wrote:

I'd like to be able to copy events from one individual to another. Something similar to the existing memorize and paste for sources would be ideal.

On Fri Nov 27 1998, Charlotte, email: cbrennan@primenet.com, wrote:

An index for the cascading pedigree chart. My pedigree chart is 105 pages long and I prefer it to the box chart, but it really needs an index!

On Fri Nov 27 1998, Margo, e-mail: malurvey@juno.com

A global Source Import. There have been several times that I would like to import the main source of the file for each person. When I import a gedcom file from another source, it would be great to have a way to put the Source in somewhere. I'm not exactly sure how it would be best to accomplish it. Also a ditto key for sources would be nice. Like the F8 and F9 key on PAF. I know the memorize button is there but you have to take a lot of steps to get there.

On Sun Nov 29 1998, Marc, email: mirish@midtown.net, wrote:

I would like to have the ability to add some history to the places I've entered so that when I print a book on a family it could include information about what was going on in the places they lived. This is a sort of an expanded timeline feature. For example, you might have an idea if your relative helped found a town or came during a particular migration or whatever. This would make a great program even better.

On Mon Nov 30 1998, Jim, email: JimMorlock@aol.com, wrote:

I would also like to have the Birth and Death dates appear in the Find Person name display list so that the dates can be seen without having to highlight a specific individual.

On Mon Nov 30 1998, Jim, email: JimMorlock@aol.com, wrote:

The first report can be found under Reports > Lists > Family Timelines. For clarity, this report might be re-labeled something like "Timeline - selected people". It lists all facts or events in timeline order for the selected individuals. I would like to see this report improved to show the places where the fact or event occured along with an option to select the types of facts to be included or excluded. Someone else may have already made this suggestion. The second report can be found under Reports > Lists > Place Lists. This report provides a listing of all places with a time line listing of events for each of the places. For clarity, this report might be re- labeled something like "Timeline - Multiple Places" or "Place List Timeline - multiple places. The thrid report can be found under Lists > Place List. Highlight the desired place, select the Print / Report button, and then select the radio button labeled "All events in the highlighted place". This provides a time line report for a single place. For consistency in the method of finding a report, I would like to see this report included under the Reports > Lists menu list. For clarity, this report might be re-labeled something like "Timeline - Single Place".

On Mon Nov 30 1998, Lynn, email: lingbro@pacbell.net, wrote:

In the Report menu, Lists, Descendant list- it doesn't offer choices. It automantically addes b-d dates. There are times I want to add more fields, IE: marriage, event location, etc.

I would like to see a timeline, so I don't have to import to FTM 5.0

On Tue Dec 1 1998, Margo, email: malurvey@juno.com, wrote:

Another wish is that when you make a GEDCOM, it would be nice if you could split a branch off to make another tree. I would like for it to pick up everyone in that branch of the family. The only way to do it now is to ask for ancestors, then go to the end-of-the-line and ask for descendants. It still misses second marriages if there are no children. So if I want all of the families on my mother's side, including the ones that are not related by blood it takes a lot of time to go in and select each one individually. If they could perfect this it would make reports a whole lot easier.

Also I miss my end-of-the-line ancestors report from PAF. What about a Place Sorted List without the events or selected events and then be able to sort them out by state. I know you are supposed to be able to do that with the Reports menu but I find that kind of clunky. Maybe I just don't know how to use it properly.

Another thing is the match merge feature. I wish it would show more information such as marriage date, and it should allow us a second chance to unmerge! (I get trigger happy!) <G>

I can't think of anything else right now, I love FO but I still miss some of the simple things that PAF had that none of the other programs have.

Thanks for letting us get our suggestions out, I think Parsons has done a great job, but there is always room for improvement.

Oh another thing, is there anyway to globally remove the guessing game that Family Tree Maker does on dates for WFT GEDCOMS? That really messes Merging people it takes forever. Again, PAF has the best match, merge program going! It just doesn't get all of the events.

On Tue Dec 1 1998, Judy, email: hoberta@hilconet.com, wrote:

Reference here is to the Descendant, and or, Ancestor list [v6 does desc only] (chart), not Books-

FO allows no choices other than adding or not adding, the spouse-

Pardon the mention but about the only reason I use FTM is because of its descendant chart (Outline) , as it lets you customize it the way you want it to look and what to include. Gives you the choice of including - full dates, b-m-d & locations, or any of the other fields available- for everyone on the chart.

On Thu Dec 3 1998, Chris Wuestefeld, email: chrisw@blast.net, wrote:

I'd like to offer a few suggestions:

Image storage:

• Store any images inside the database rather than in external files. This would make it much easier to organize my work.
• Since I expect you won't do that, at least allow me to specify in some global option a base directory for images, and for each image, just get the location relative to that. For example, the global base might be C:\Genealogy\Images, and my uncle's picture might be stored as Knapp\David.jpg. I need this because I'd like to distribute the database and files, on CD, to my relatives. I can't do this now, because currently it wants all images on drive C:, but the CD will be drive D:
• It seems that once any image is supplied for a person, then some picture must be chosen for any reports that include images. There should be a way to say that for this person, no image should be used. Sometimes I've got a scan of some supporting documentation (e.g., birth certificate) in the images; I don't want that to be printed in a report.

Sources

Sometimes a source is a multimedia file. For example, I might scan a birth certificate. This should be handled not as a scrapbook item for the person, but as a source for the event.

Navigation

• After navigating to child A's family in the family view and switching to the tree view, I can't navigate to child B in the tree view. I suggest a button that chooses an alternate line of descent.
• How about a way to bookmark an individual, so I can jump back to him/her with one or two clicks?

Merge intelligence

While SmartMerge might be an improvement over no help at all, I'm not sure how much help it is. I'd like to add these features:

• Why do we need to walk through a list of non-matches before we get to the first real match, before SmartMerge can be invoked? There should be an option to invoke it right from the start. If there's a large number of people with unknown surname, you wade through a large list of combinations.
• It would be nice to have it (optionally) look at spouse, parent, or child names. Any known LDS numbers should certainly be considered. I've accidentally caused myself a lot of accidental grief with this feature the way it is.
• Typically when I merge, it's to consolidate a new gedcom with my existing database. At the start of this operation, the contents of the gedcom will appear as two separate trees in the same database -- call them A and B. I'd like to be able to say that when merging, the source must be in B and the target must be in A. In other words, a member of A can never be merged with another member of A. This is what's desired, since I already know that the members of A are distinct.

On Sun Dec 6 1998, Paul Smith, email: prsmith@pdq.net, wrote:

I wish that FOW. . .

1. had icons on the Family View/Tree View indicating that there were notes/sources present similar to the To-Do & Multimedia & Address icons.
2. had a list box for children of the screen's root person so you could choose the descendancy line to follow.
3. had a good Time Line (NOT chronological listings)
4. would display/print to the various output devices ALL results of a Find operation.
5. would follow an ancestral line when performing merges. e.g. you merge a child then the system automatically looks at the parents, grandparents, etc. if appropriate until no match is detected.
6. could do multi-level sorts. e.g. list alphabetically by surname and then by given name and then by state and then by county. This could be added to the Search Criteria screen, custom report generator, etc.
7. set and save the page orientation (landscape/portrait) and margins for a given report - esp custom.
8. save ALL reports to file so they could be taken to a print shop for professional/color preparation. (Note that multimedia files would have to be saved also for Photo Charts.)

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On Wed Dec 9 15:31:56 1998, Sue, email: gonfishinmn@yahoo.com, wrote:

I'd like to be able to create my own type of "marriage" event. What I mean by this is an event that creates a link between two people. I can see using it for recording the godparents, sponsors, etc. of a religious event or a unique relationship between two people (they never married, but lived together for xx years).

On Fri Dec 11 09:00:39 1998, Mary Fowler Leek, email: maryleek@ibm.net, wrote:

Photo's inserted on right side on reports... A request I'd like to make is for the photo's to be inserted/displayed on the right hand side of the data, so that the report formatting isn't goofed up. If photo's aren't available for everyone, which is usually the case, then where the occasional photo is plugged in causes the the report formatting to look totally unstructured.

Being able to display/print the photo caption under the photo in the report would also be very nice.

On Tue Dec 29 08:54:25 1998, Ted Bremer Sr, email: TBremerSr@aol.com, wrote:

I have FOW6 and think its GREAT. Just have a few problems with it. Hopefully they can be corrected/added to the next release.

1. When going to print a report from the PRINT PREVIEW screen, a menu comes up asking what pages to print. This is fine, BUT it doesn't allow me to select the number of copies, print econony style, etc. To do these items, we need access to the PRINTER SETUP screen here at print time, not first going to it thru the file selection screen.
2. For the Birthday and Anniversary List, you can't use selection to run a report on a small section of the tree.
3. When printing Box Charts, the title prefix and suffix only print if you are going with full birth, marriage, and death info. To go with a quick short chart under this mode, NO PART of the title prints. One loses things such as Sr. and Jr. and Dr. etc.
4. When printing a list report for a selected number of people, the selection window is preloaded with 10 generations. All of the other reports will start with 15, and keep what you set it for. When I change the 10 to 15 for my list report, it goes back to 10 the next time I use it. This is a pain in the neck.

On Tue Dec 29 09:35:45 1998, Ted Bremer Sr, email: TBremerSr@aol.com, wrote:

Reading over the above wish list, especially regarding a person timeline, brought back memories of when I kept my genealogy records by hand (UGH! Dread the thought now!). I made up my own forms, being an accountant, to best display the info on a person. What I did was as follows (It still appears as avery good way to display info for a person's life):

All of the events of his/her life were laid out in time sequence, each on a separate line, not flowing like a book. The printed line for an event would start with their age, then the date, then the event description. This way, as you read the report down the page, you would be reading thru the person's life. EG: If a person got their first job at the age of 16, the line might read: 16 1956 He started his first job at the Supermarket. The age would be calculated from the date and the person date of bitrh. Events printed for that person would include their children's main events also. EG: 25 1965 Birth of son Robert. or 48 1988 Marriage of son Robert. (Could even go to print the events of grandchildren, etc.) Carry-over events like this would stop with the death of the person. Printing and reading a report like this REALLY personalizes a person's life. Every person in your family would want a copy of theirs.

On Sun Jan 3 10:29:03 1999, Mayo Heath, email: heathdm@netscape.com, wrote:

Please add support to import photos from PhotoShop 3. You have this in Announcements 7. I use a digital camera but am just learning it so I need to "fix" my pictures with PhotoShop which has its own format and will not save back to jpg.

On Sun Jan 10 06:56:38 1999, Debbe A. Hagner, email: hvgr74a@prodigy.com, wrote:

1. Indication that this person was NEVER MARRIED. 2. Indicate that this family had NO CHILDREN. 3. Source - Primary vs secondary (I would like to see different colors for them.. My goals is to get ALOT of primary records (so when I print the FACT without source) let us have the option without primary or secondary. 4. TODO LIST - The * is still there when the item in done which is frustrating cuz I keep thinking I still got something to do!!! If I don't make myself clear - please ASK!! LOOKING forward to the next release!!

On Sun Jan 10 06:56:51 1999, Dick Flisrand, email: rflisran@smig.net, wrote:

I would like the ability to add addresses (as we now can sources) to reports, as when I send family info to relatives, I would like to include addresses for people in the report.

On Sun Jan 10 07:00:21 1999, Loretta Krumwiede Barlow, email: lorbar@fortwayne.infi.net, wrote:

With regard to the Multimedia file: I would like to be able either to drag-and-drop the arrangement of photos or specify a position in the scrapbook with a code. As I work my way through a collection of family photos, I would like to be able to position the baby picture I just found ahead of the marriage portrait I put in a month ago. I also like the idea I read above of having the caption and the comments (often the caption won't contain all the names of the people in a photograph) print under the photo in a report.

On Sun Jan 10 09:03:34 1999, Gordon Young, email: gyoung@seanet.com, wrote:

With the advent of larger size printers such as the Epson 1520 (17 inch width and up to 44 inch length), printing ancestor and descendant charts with much less fitting and pasting becomes more desirable. It would be of value to be able to put more than six generations on one page, perhaps up to twelve; more if you printed in landscape mode. Margin control is also valuable to allow for different binding allowances. Perhaps paper widths of up to 36 inches could be accommodated for use with various plotters. Paper that is 17 x 22 inches is available in the Seattle are on special order (2 day turnaround) for around $.05 a sheet for 20 lb. The use of 11 x 17 inch paper for inclusion in book type reports could now be very feasible and an attractive feature.

On Sun Jan 10 16:32:27 1999, Nancy Long, email: glong555@aol.com, wrote:

I have the latest FO version 7.01 but still want more: 1. Descendant report: the option of printing a) direct descendants only b) all descendants c) all descendants except the direct descendants in subsequent (this would require user to mark those not to be printed) Why option #3? Say I print out all John Long's known descendants for four generations and I have little information except for my own direct line. I would print that out and place in my research notebook so at a glance in a library, I can see who and what I lack on collaterals. I have lengthy information on my direct line and prefer to put that in a separate section of my research notebook so I can see where data missing on my direct line. I would use option #1 for that. 2. Family Group Sheet-options for printing: a: print basics only (birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial) b: added selected facts as marked for this report. c: print all known facts for this report. d. print all known facts for all FGS reports. The user could have the choice of selecting a,c or d with a quick keystroke. The user should be allowed to determine the defaulted choices so after selecting B and entering the facts to be shown, the user could keep these choices for all FGS until the user decided to change them. Why? To share with others who MIGHT be connected, the user does not have to send EVERYTHING the first time. For those of us who have many facts per person, this makes the FGS very lengthy. We need the option to shorten the report. ADDING facts or a selection of all facts with a single keystroke is much easier than reducing the facts with each report! 3. Family Group Sheet: Give users the option to print a. ONLY the sources attached to the fact fields. b. notes and sources for each fact. Sending notes is more efficiently done by sending a book report in my opinion.

On Sun Jan 10 16:34:15 1999, Nancy Long, email: glong555@aol.com, wrote:

I have the latest FO version 7.01 but still want more:

1. Descendant report: the option of printing a) direct descendants only b) all descendants c) all descendants except the direct descendants in subsequent (this would require user to mark those not to be printed) Why option #3? Say I print out all John Long's known descendants for four generations and I have little information except for my own direct line. I would print that out and place in my research notebook so at a glance in a library, I can see who and what I lack on collaterals. I have lengthy information on my direct line and prefer to put that in a separate section of my research notebook so I can see where data missing on my direct line. I would use option #1 for that. 2. Family Group Sheet-options for printing: a: print basics only (birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial) b: added selected facts as marked for this report. c: print all known facts for this report. d. print all known facts for all FGS reports. The user could have the choice of selecting a,c or d with a quick keystroke. The user should be allowed to determine the defaulted choices so after selecting B and entering the facts to be shown, the user could keep these choices for all FGS until the user decided to change them. Why? To share with others who MIGHT be connected, the user does not have to send EVERYTHING the first time. For those of us who have many facts per person, this makes the FGS very lengthy. We need the option to shorten the report. ADDING facts or a selection of all facts with a single keystroke is much easier than reducing the facts with each report! 3. Family Group Sheet: Give users the option to print a. ONLY the sources attached to the fact fields. b. notes and sources for each fact. Sending notes is more efficiently done by sending a book report in my opinion.

On Sun Jan 10 16:39:38 1999, Ken Farrar, email: farrark@vt.edu, wrote:

I would like FOW to be able to estimate birth, marriage, and death dates based on ancestor and/or predecessor known dates. It would also be nice to have a switch on the reports to allow / dissallow printing of the estimated dates.

On Wed Jan 27 05:13:56 1999, Robert, email: res@null.net, wrote:

I wish for a better editor for handling notes. Mine are imported from PAF. After they are included in HTML generation, they have faulty line overflow and spurious spaces in the middle of text.

On Fri Feb 26 06:08:13 1999, Robert N. Geiser, email: swisstea@bright.net, wrote:

1. Show possible matches in chronological birth order when adding a person - rather than requiring users to memorize everyone in their database. Very important when working with ethnic families where most of the spouses share some similar ancestors. 2. Test age between spouses (within 30), age at death (between 0-100), birthdate to parent's marriage date, etc. not to exclude anything, but prompt to double check your entry and/or sources if you typed a wrong century in. 3. Allow SmartMerge to run unattended for obvious matches instead of stopping at every possible match. 4. Allow the user to automatically assign REFN based on the inputer's initals and the record number. 5. Allow one keystroke or mouse click to sort spouses or children chronologically. 6. When merging two records, keep the best information and combine the notes and sources. If person A has a birthdate of ABT 1782 and person B has a birthdate of 25 SEP 1780 ... keep the complete date ... and keep any links to parents and spouses ... even if record A had the spouse and record B had parents. 7. And multi-user would be nice ... especially over the internet ... so family members spread around the world could work together as a team out of a single database.

On Mon Mar 1 16:09:03 1999, Stan Page, email: stan_page@bigfoot.com, wrote:

I would like to be able to add, delete or modify facts en masse for a group of people that I select. It would help greatly in cleaning up data, marking groups for further action, designating lines of descent, etc. I am seeking a true database-style ability to affect groups of records with a single action.

On Sat Mar 13 14:30:34 1999, Steven M. Manning, email: manning@radiks.net, wrote:

1. Allow more selection before creating a GEDCOM file, for example: when I select the descendants of a person, I would like to include all spouses's parents. 2. At this time, when you open a dialog for selecting a fact, marriage fact is the only one that you can cancel by using ESC. Please apply it to all other facts, not just marriage fact because it would save time by not have to select and delete a fact if I press wrong fact. 3. Auto correction for Date entries (of course, we can override it at any time if necessary). 4. Fix the alphabetic order bug search method. For example, if I type the surname like Derrick and Derrick (adopted), it won't let me look for Derrick and force me to look at Derrick (adopted). If your program indicate Derrick (adopted), why not backspace then it will should recognize Derrick instead of Derrick (adopted). I can give you many examples. Please contact me if you need more information. Thank you.

On Sun Mar 14 10:45:43 1999, DAY, email: sday@telusplanet.net, wrote:

I started Family Origins with 3 families on one data base. I would now like to separate out each family --------------------------------------------------

On Mon Mar 15 08:08:36 1999, Virginia Wegenast, email: Vjwegenast, wrote:

A way to identify direct descendants both in the family group sheets and in the index. Perhaps in bold print. Also a way to do a descendant waterfall chart with only the direct descendants and their spouses.

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On Mon Mar 22 07:33:52 1999, Jim Bard, email: j.bard@worldnet.att.net, wrote:

It would be great to be able to print a ancesterial chart that included "Everyone" not just parients, grandparients, etc. but everyone in the records.(cousins, etc.) "Everyone in the data base on a chart.

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On Thu Apr 1 11:40:13 1999, Terry Landreneau, email: tnlandreneau@centuryinter.net , wrote:

Whenever I open up FO 7 the status bar is always present. I have to go to the View and check it to remove it. I would like to see this as an option in the program startup, so that I would not have to check it every time.

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On Thu Apr 1 11:40:38 1999, Terry Landreneau, email: tnlandreneau@centuryinter.net , wrote:

Whenever I open up FO 7 the status bar is always present. I have to go to the View and check it to remove it. I would like to see this as an option in the program startup, so that I would not have to check it every time.

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On Fri Apr 16 21:57:26 1999, Guy Desjardins, email: guy.desjardins@videotron.ca , wrote:

I would like to be able to translate the software in french. In all contracts (marrige, selling or other facts), I would like to add a field for the notary and be able to produce a report with a list of contracts of one notary to have a faster search in public archives. I would like also to have fields for godparents in baptism and link them to the database.

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On Wed Apr 21 22:58:43 1999, Ralph Frank De Witt, email: ralphdewitt@email.msn.com, wrote:

Would like the database to automaticly add reference numbers to the reference/id number fact, this should be Ahnentafel Numbers or a number with a user defined prefix or sufix (similar to Family Tree Maker version 6). The database should renumber any recordes being imported into it and renumber when merges and delets take place.

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On Fri Apr 23 11:37:28 1999, Ralph Frank De Witt, email: ralphdewitt@email.msn.com, wrote:

Would like to see the abililty to rotate and filp photo in the scrapebook area of the program. Similar to Ancestral Quest 3.0. Would like to see source documents that are scanned in attached to citation simiular to the Ancestral Quest 3.0 handles them.

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On Wed Apr 28 12:38:03 1999, Gilles Tourangeau, email: gillestourangeau@yahoo.com, wrote:

Would like to have the possibility of printing reports in other than the english language. It would certainly be an attractive marketing strategy to offer FO reports in french, spanish, etc.. I think Brothers Keeper 5.2 and The Master Genealogist (v4) offer this feature. Thanks

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On Fri May 7 14:14:53 1999, Mark Tucker, email: mtucker@iname.com, wrote:

1. A real Research Log that prints like the standard form.
2. Attach photos to families
3. Attach photos to events
4. Attach photos to locations
5. Attach photos to sources

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On Fri May 7 14:19:52 1999, Mark Tucker, email: mtucker@iname.com, wrote:

Be able to format Source references any way you like for footnotes, bibliography, etc. Provide Source templates as documented in "Cite your Sources" and "Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian"

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On Wed May 12 08:39:34 1999, Howard Hickman, email: hmh4sure@compuserve.com, wrote:

Some way to connect a child to the father and to the mother. Childrens names, as sons and daughters, sometimes appear in parents' obituary, but without any genealogical connection to either parent.They may be stepchildren, etc., of one parent or the other. Confirming data may be found later that connects them to one parent but not the other. I now use the Birth event, but it isn't very satisfactory. I'm not inclined to use Father and Mother as events.

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On Wed May 12 08:40:29 1999, Howard Hickman, email: hmh4sure@compuserve.com, wrote:

Some way to connect a child to the father and to the mother. Childrens names, as sons and daughters, sometimes appear in parents' obituary, but without any genealogical connection to either parent.They may be stepchildren, etc., of one parent or the other. Confirming data may be found later that connects them to one parent but not the other. I now use the Birth event, but it isn't very satisfactory. I'm not inclined to use Father and Mother as events.

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On Wed May 12 08:40:52 1999, Howard Hickman, email: hmh4sure@compuserve.com, wrote:

Some way to connect a child to the father and to the mother. Childrens names, as sons and daughters, sometimes appear in parents' obituary, but without any genealogical connection to either parent.They may be stepchildren, etc., of one parent or the other. Confirming data may be found later that connects them to one parent but not the other. I now use the Birth event, but it isn't very satisfactory. I'm not inclined to use Father and Mother as events.

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On Wed May 12 08:41:33 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Sun May 16 15:59:16 1999, Jackson, email: jackson.eagleson@virgin.net , wrote:

My favourite program, although it would be even more helpful if the find date options contained the options for finding INCOMPLETE and APPROXIMATED dated therefore reporting dates like Jun 1890 and Bef 1865 respectivly. This would help greatly in creating a report of events that are still to be proven.

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On Sun May 16 16:01:02 1999, Jackson, email: jackson.eagleson@virgin.net , wrote:

A full screen split pane window for merges, showing as much comparitive information as possible.

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On Thu May 27 21:17:35 1999, Rand Putnam, email: rmputnam@access1.net, wrote:

1. Add ancestors to names in the book report (i.e., (Bill3, Mike2, Joe1) 2. Create a subset of all people associated with a given place 3. Allow the "Select Person" feature to sort by name and date (instead of record number) 4. Allow source citations at the bottom of each page in book report (instead of at the end of the book) 5. Assign a single source to and entire family for a given event at once (i.e., assign a source to all of the births of children in one family with a few keystrokes, like Legacy) 6. Allow seperate notes for each source cited 7. Improve the index feature for the book report. The index for FO 7.01 is very awkward.

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On Thu Jun 3 13:54:30 1999, David Todd, email: David.Todd@Psych.UMass.EDU, wrote:

ToDo list:

allow general ToDo's (not related to an individual)

include a "date completed" field--I'd like to review changes I've made since the last time I distributed info to the family. It would be ideal to have a log of all changes as an option, but key changes could be documented with the ToDo feature if this field were added

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On Sat Jun 12 05:52:29 1999, Cardin Corbit, email: corbit@empire, wrote:

The ability to print file folder labels for Individuals with basic vital statistics. with an option to select individuals or a group of individuals.

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On Sat Jun 19 17:47:14 1999, John Mitchell, email: jsmitchell1@worldnet.att.net, wrote:

As others said,have ancestors numbered in printouts to make it easier to follow the line.Also I carry a pedigree chart when i travel to libraries. It would be nice to have the computer number on the chart so when you change the data you are able to use a person,s computer # instead typing the name. I recently changed from another program and still have a lot to learn, however we do need the ability to split a line from the database if it is not currently available.

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On Sun Jun 20 08:02:46 1999, Helen Bumgardner, email: bhbumgar@gte.net, wrote:

In FOW ver 6 the font in making a book was much larger than the one now in Ver. 7.0. I have checked my manuel and asked others how to change this. It would help all if clear instructions were given to make a change in the font size & type when creating a book. Many need larger type. If this has been asked before someone please let me know. Thank you.

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On Mon Jun 21 18:40:02 1999, Jim Birch, email: JASBIRCH@aol.com, wrote:

I would like a future version of Family Origins to have a "Descendancy Tree" similar to one that Brother's Keeper has. I have found this feature to be very useful for sending information to others who are either non genealogist or to non English speaking people. It is very easy for someone to follow the family line.

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On Wed Jun 23 08:43:44 1999, Herman Geschwind, email: geschwind@aol.com, wrote:

In earlier versions of FoW there was the capability to sort all children globally in correct birth order. With current version we longer have this feature. Would be nice to have it back.

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On Mon Jun 28 12:29:42 1999, Steven M. Manning, email: manning@radiks.net, wrote:

Fix the bug. When you are in Adopted dialog, you might noticed there are two places with same underline S for Specific parents and Source. Please correct the mistake so we can continue to use ALT S for source and ALT [any key] for specific parents. Thanks.

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On Wed Jul 21 19:03:37 1999, Charlotte Dean, email: cdaz@zekes.com, wrote:

Regarding "Cite Your Sources" would like to be able to print book titles in italics.

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On Wed Jul 21 19:04:08 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Wed Jul 21 19:05:51 1999, Charlotte Dean, email: cdaz@zekes.com, wrote:

Regarding "Cite Your Sources" would like to be able to print book titles in italics.

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On Thu Jul 22 16:19:59 1999, Fred McMurray, email: mckay@linknet.net, wrote:

On your photo tree chart, the oldest people appear in the branches instead of the roots where they belong. Is there a way to reverse this? Also there is not enough space to put 14 children. What do we do, just forget that the last two as though they were not born?

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On Sun Jul 25 03:37:21 1999, Martha J. Hicks, email: mjhicks1@juno.com, wrote:

Highlighting all direct ancestors (within the program) for a specified person would be so helpful. I have a large database that includes many families with eight to fourteen children and each family seems to have one or more Mary's, John's, Samuel's, etc. (For example, I can have five or six names that are Joseph Hadley.) It gets so confusing when looking anywhere in the database, (family view, tree view and main index)to remember which was the direct ancestor. It would be so nice to be able to specify an individual for whom all direct ancestors are highlighted everywhere in the database. Thank you.

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On Sun Jul 25 03:45:35 1999, Martha J. Hicks, email: mjhicks1@juno.com, wrote:

How about the date format option of Jan. 1, 1999 (in other words, the standard that is most commonly used with a period when abbreviating the month, and a comma after the day.) In books, it looks rather informal to read Nov 11 1910, whereas the format- Nov. 11, 1910 would give a neater more polished look. Thank you.

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On Sun Jul 25 03:54:36 1999, Martha J. Hicks, email: mjhicks1@juno.com, wrote:

An enhanced check for missing sources would be very helpful. In addition to or rather than having a report of all facts without sources, how about a report that shows any individuals that lack sources altogether. For many people in the database, there are only general sources given, and not one for each fact. That way, we could ascertain those individuals who were truly overlooked in being given a source. ******************************************************** Also, modified registers fail to bold print the name of a spouse for whom there are no facts. It would be nice to have the name bold for these individuals too.

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On Tue Aug 3 14:39:03 1999, Loretta Krumwiede Barlow, email: lorbar@fortwayne.infi.net, wrote:

OK. One more thing. FOWIN 9.0 could have a scrapbook option to print a scrapbook for "Descendants of..." or "Ancestors of..." or both (as in the new hourglass chart).

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On Tue Aug 3 19:22:40 1999, Anne Kruszka, email: apercival@aol.com, wrote:

Support for Ansel characters like other Windows programs, to allow for the special characters that are not included in the ANSI set.

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On Wed Aug 4 04:18:59 1999, Richard Collins, email: rocollins@aol.com, wrote:

I would like to be able to use the windows cut, copy, and paste features. This would make it a lot easier to add information to records and to copy the same information into multiple records.

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On Wed Aug 4 09:46:23 1999, Stephen Fuller, email: GenQry@aol.com, wrote:

Need to be able to designate a 'preferred' date when entering multiple dates for the same event. I often have conflicting information for the same event from different sources, and need a way to not only record both dates but also mark which one I think is correct while doing further research. Along with this, only the preferred date should show on the family view panel and there should be an option for printing both dates or only the preferred date on reports.

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On Wed Aug 4 09:56:44 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Wed Aug 4 10:02:45 1999, Stephen Fuller, email: GenQry@aol.com, wrote:

When recording data related to weddings, burials or funerals I often would like to record not only the location (city, county, state) but also site information (name of church, cemetery or funeral home). It would be nice to have a separate field for this data. A field for recording the name of the person officiating (minister, priest, justice of the peace, etc.) would also be nice.

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On Wed Aug 4 13:40:06 1999, Mark Daly, email: markd@city-net.com, wrote:

I would like to see a report that shows the medical history of a selected person. Perhaps it would be based off a list of selected event tags (including user-defined tags) or maybe medical information on hereditary diseases, etc. could be built into the program so the report is a true medical history. Or, a combination of both. A more advanced feature might be analyzing trends several generations back (if info is available) to indicate risks the person should be aware of.

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On Sat Aug 7 11:11:55 1999, Harold Littlejohn, email: hltljohn@att.net, wrote:

The newest Version of PAF 4.0 has the option to "Append to Names" a Custom ID, instead of a record number. This is really handy. It lets me match ID's with my written records. Would be nice to see this feature added to FOW.

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On Sun Aug 8 04:51:59 1999, Eugene Belair, email: embelair@aol.com, wrote:

Provide a direct descendant list from my gggggrandfather to me without listing all of his descendants.

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On Sun Aug 8 14:01:56 1999, Thomas L. Smithson, email: smithson@up.net, wrote:

The ability to change the drive or directory of all images at once, so that the program will retrieve photos even if you move them from C drive to ZIP drive to CD-ROM.

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On Mon Aug 9 15:40:46 1999, Lawrence Bass, email: lnbass@arlington.net, wrote:

I’ve been trying to figure out how to print a “book” from the Family Origins Ver. 7 that will include all the descendants of the end-of-line ancestors for an individual but have been unable to do so. What I would like to do is select an individual and then select all the end-of-line ancestors for that individual. From there, I want to select all the descendants of the end-of-line ancestors and print a “book” of those descendants along with an index. The best that I have been able to do is select one of the ancestors and print a “book” of the descendants of that ancestor along with an index. Then I can select another ancestor and repeat the procedure. I end up with a separate “book” of each end-of-line ancestor along with a separate index for each. This will necessarily cause duplication of some of the individuals in the “books” even though I limit each printout with the number of generations choice. What I would like to get is one “book”, with one index, that includes all the combined descendants of each end-of-line ancestor assigned to the proper generation level without duplication of individuals. Attempting to combine the “books” using a word processor hasn’t been a viable answer because the “books” assign each of the persons to a generation level and the generation levels don’t necessarily correspond. I would appreciate any help regarding this matter.

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On Thu Aug 12 14:29:45 1999, Anne Kruszka, email: apercival@aol.com, wrote:

I would like to be able to insert Soundex codes while working on TO DO lists. Right now, you have to close that down, go into Calculator, figure out the soundex code and then go back into the TO DO list. VERY time-consuming! A nice little button to insert Soundex Code would be nice!

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On Mon Aug 16 10:34:03 1999, Paul E. Feick, email: pfeick@networld.com, wrote:

I'm using FOW Ver. 7. I'm used to having an Anniversary Search in ROOTS II in DOS which is very Handy. Entering a Date would show All Events for that Date, Birth, Marriage, Death, etc.

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On Thu Aug 19 19:11:52 1999, Tom Wilkerson, email: wilkersn@tfs.net, wrote:

Global Search & Replace

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On Thu Aug 19 19:14:55 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Sun Aug 22 13:34:02 1999, Duane Barton, email: duane_barton@yahoo.com, wrote:

2 requests: 1. Add aliases (AKA's) to the lookup list 2. Summarize end notes by page. Currently in 8.0, you can either process in extreme detail ( 1 note or ibid for each reference) or extreme summary (on reference to each source). I would like a note generated once when a new reference to a page is found and all subsequent references to that page have the same superscript. Currently my end notes out weight the content 3 to 1 in my reports.

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On Tue Aug 24 07:22:05 1999, Vicky Miller, email: vmgeneal@pacbell.net, wrote:

I am using Family Origins ver.8 and love it. I have several suggestions that would be very helpful: Enlarge the "Merge Duplicate Individuals" window so that more of the family relationships can be viewed without scrolling down. Also, on the "Find Duplicates to Merge" options, currently there is an option to ignore entries with no surname. It would also be helpful to have the option to ignore entries with a surname, but no given name. Some sort of automatic date range entry estimator for entries without dates would be helpful, perhaps with a screen for accepting the entry or not and an option for accepting all entries. This would also make the analyzing duplicates easier by having some point of time reference, since the tree is not viewable in the duplicate window. A screen to add several children to a family at once in a list format would be helpful for entering large families. Have an option when exporting GEDCOMS of direct ancestors or descendants of an individual, that you could choose how many generations out from the "main" tree you would like to include. For example: direct ancestors and their children AND two more generations down (second or third cousins, second or third cousins once removed, etc.). This would be very helpful, and each person could choose how distant they want to list relatives. You now have the "Hourglass" tree. Have you thought about having an "Hourglass" type Book in the report section? Hope these ideas are useful. I would sure like to see some of them in upcoming patches, versions, or even supplemental add-on software.

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On Thu Aug 26 13:50:58 1999, Robert Manson, email: robman@digitalexp.com, wrote:

Has the problem with "word splitting" at the end of a line in the "Book" print-out been corrected as an update for 8.0?

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On Sat Aug 28 18:01:24 1999, Frank Powell, email: nfpcdp@feist.com, wrote:

Ditto to Stan Page's request. I merge in a lot of files from off the internet as I'm sure many others do. Keeping duplicates weeded out is a major task.Being able to add a global reference to the searchable place list would be most helpful. After cleaning up a downloaded file a global reference could be added. After importing this file into one's main file, the 'find a person' option could be used to locate each newly imported name to check for duplications and mergeable files.

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On Sun Aug 29 09:50:55 1999, Tony Peregoy, email: tperegoy@mindspring.com, wrote:

Please add the ability to indicate three types of relationships: 1) Known or proven 'solid line' which is currently in FO, 2) Probable 'dashed line', and 3) Possible 'line of small circles'. The types Probable and Possible should allow multiple family connections to show areas being worked on. Anyone who has worked in genealogy long enough knows how these would help.

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On Sun Aug 29 09:53:04 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Sun Aug 29 10:01:49 1999, M. Dow Lambert, email: mdowl2@ixpnet.com, wrote:

I wish you would modify the multiple database drag and drop feature to actually drop the data into position in the receiving database, similar to the system used in the Legacy genealogy program. Your system is fine if you are moving a new name, but when it is a duplicate you then have to merge records to combine the data. I have used several versions of FOW for several years, and have looked forward to this feature. Thank you for including it in version 8.

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On Sun Aug 29 13:39:52 1999, Candy, email: tazeq@aol.com, wrote:

I have been with the Family Origins genealogy program since it first came out in DOS. I love it! There is only one teeny tiny thing I would like to see added.

I have noticed a pattern in one of the lines that I am following where there are illegitimate children. Parents never married, and children are usually the product of a very short relationship. I would like to see a way of this info being added, without having to 'create' a marriage event (which would be totally false)...and then listing it as a divorce...(again totally false).

These children would still be 'half-siblings' to the parent's other children...but of a totally different relationship.

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On Tue Aug 31 17:40:37 1999, Erik Jensen, email: erikjensen@home.com, wrote:

Let's get FO ported to a Unix type OS. It could Linux, FreeBSD or perhaps Solaris. I run all three. FreeBSD is the most stable.

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On Tue Aug 31 18:26:03 1999, John P. DuLong, email: dulongj@habitant.org, wrote:

Family Origins, with one exception, meets almost all my needs for a genealogy computer program. The exception is the lack of italics and bold in the notes and sources. It is impossible to meet the style and format guidelines for proper documentation without highlighting the titles of books and journals. Please consider adding this feature in version 9. Thank you.

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On Thu Sep 2 02:49:00 1999, Bob Bermel, email: bbermel@cgocable.net, wrote:

1.Include a 'scrapbook' for places. 2. the ability to link/launch original documents and replies to the correspondence log.

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On Fri Sep 3 20:18:55 1999, Mark Schears, email: schears@usa.net, wrote:

1). Under File, create a list of up to 5 databases that one can choose, similar to Word or Excel. Also, make this user selectable. 2). When creating Web pages, allow for a hyperlink for an html selection. It would be nice to have the link active when I put my homepage on my FOW web pages! 3). Please allow for web output of Modified Register Book reports to contain the photos, similar to the way the pictures appear if I were to print the Book out!!! --------------------------------------------------

On Sun Sep 5 13:34:07 1999, Dan Parry, email: WelshMN@earthlink.net, wrote:

Currently still using FO 7.01, awaiting delivery of FO 8.0. I would like to see the ability to attach multimedia files to Events and Places in addition to people. In addition, some capability to use subdirectories for multimedia files so they can be shared with others more easily. If I keep all the files for one branch of the family or one surname in a particular subdirectory, I can copy them and give to other family members much more readily. I believe I have seen these suggested in earlier wishes, but want to add my support for this idea.

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On Mon Sep 6 16:11:14 1999, Win Apel, email: winapel@micron.net, wrote:

I just upgraded from Family Origins 7.0 to 8.0. I created a Web page (including clicking the box "Include Photos?"), and uploaded it. It looks fine, except that none of the photos are there. I did not have this problem with Version 7.0. Thus, I wish photos worked ini 8.0.

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On Mon Sep 6 16:11:37 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Mon Sep 6 16:11:58 1999, Win Apel, email: winapel@micron.net, wrote:

I just upgraded from Family Origins 7.0 to 8.0. I created a Web page (including clicking the box "Include Photos?"), and uploaded it. It looks fine, except that none of the photos are there. I did not have this problem with Version 7.0. Thus, I wish photos worked in 8.0.

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On Tue Sep 7 15:37:23 1999, Diane Miles, email: milesd@norwich.net, wrote:

I'm currently using the 8.0 version of Family Origins. I would like to have the choice of what color to use when printing out the family tree in hourglass form. Another feature I'd like, is when doing a print out of the book, to have the person's name and generation number in superscript and then in brackets the male decendents with the generation number in superscript. Another wish is to have the option of printing a specific family group sheet or marking multiple family group sheets in the database to be printed.

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On Tue Sep 7 19:16:20 1999, Spencer Laird, email: mlaird1@san.rr.com, wrote:

I would like to see Census data entry forms as part of FO. After entering the data from the Census into the form it could then be linked to an individual and/or family. When printing it would print all census liked to the family and/or individuals in the family if that option was selected. Also the would be a long and short form of the Census when printing.

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On Fri Sep 10 07:52:41 1999, Marcia D. Melnyk, email: mdmelnyk@mediaone.net, wrote:

Would like to have pedigree charts automatically numbered (correctly) regardless of whether you have information in the field or not. Because FO only numbers charts that continue onto a subsequent chart, every time you find that next generation it changes tohe numbers on ALL charts. I am not aware of any genealogical program that does this and it would be great if FO could be the first! I teach genealogical clases all ove the US and every person that I have recommended FO to has loved it! Keep up the great work, Bruce!

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On Fri Sep 10 18:55:53 1999, Rosamund Ann Ball, email: wrencd6@intrepid.net, wrote:

A way to cut down on the print sizes of specific names...or an option to add a second line to the name on a pedigree chart. When you're working in the Middle Ages/Dark Age Europe, when people had no last names and were identified only by the lands they ruled, the names can get quite long... I can print out 12 generations w/out trouble, but if I do more than that, then I have to go back in and edit the names by hand...a name that appears as "Richard de Bohun, Earl of Such-and-Such" simply can't be handled by the present print options. Help for us medieval history nuts, please!

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On Fri Sep 10 18:56:29 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Fri Sep 10 20:25:12 1999, Pat Dunn, email: patd@proaxis.com, wrote:

A way to deal with Quaker dates without converting them. It has always been advised to write them as they are written. Example: With FO, 4-19- 1737 becomes 19 Apr 1737. There is always a chance of making errors with conversions and calculations.

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On Sat Sep 11 20:41:40 1999, Ruth Christ, email: ruth-christ@uiowa.edu, wrote:

It would be very helpful if the AKA names were included in the search list and as cross references in indexes. Among Norewgians, it is not unusual to find that a person went by several names during their lifetime. New immigrants in particular often alternated between use of a farm name and their father's or their own patronymic or an anglicized form of any of the above. It would probably be necessary to have the form for AKA entry divided by surname, first name, etc., just as the primary name is done.

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On Mon Sep 13 19:48:27 1999, Evan, email: Estolb7395@aol.com, wrote:

To be able to save ancestor (pedigree) and other charts as an ascii file to be able to email info.

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On Mon Sep 13 19:48:46 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Mon Sep 13 20:13:38 1999, Betsy Grovenburg, email: bmbg@juno.com, wrote:

I work at a Family History Center and many of us are real "converts" to Family Origins. We talk about it frequently and recommend it constantly. Great work! We have discussed our wishes and here are a few of our most pressing needs: 1. Please make a "print" button to print out all associated events (with person name & #) for a specific place in the Place List Manager, just as you have done for the Source Manager. (See Rand Putnam's wish for same thing on 27 May 1999.) 2. We REALLY would like to have the ability to link one note to one source in an individual's event list. Example: Under birth event I want to list 3 different sources, a parish baptismal record (which gave a birthdate), a mid-wife's birth date notation, and a family bible reference. Two of these examples are considered "Primary" sources, the other is probably Secondary. However you currently have only one screen for notes - so all the notes for each different source are lumped together (and they are conflicting), with no way to differentiate them without restating the source name on the notes screen -- which becomes a very messy option in the Book and Website formats...! Example: 5 Jan 1777 - (Midwife's date & Family Bible) 15 Jan 1777 - (Baptismal Record)

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On Mon Sep 13 20:16:58 1999, Betsy Grovenburg, email: bmbg@juno.com, wrote:

Thanks again... More wishes: 1.PLEASE give us the option to allow/disallow the printing of a note on each and every note screen. Currently I am using a user-defined event called "hidden note" to put in "sensitive" information that is necessary for research, but not desirable for printing out... 2. Please give us the option to print source citations at the bottom of each page in Book or Web report (instead of at the end of the book). I don't mind seeing "Ibid." and having to go back a page to figure out the reference.

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On Mon Sep 13 20:21:04 1999, Betsy Grovenburg, email: bmbg@juno.com, wrote:

A wish from the Tuesday staff at the FHC: From the Source Manager screen allow a "select individuals/family" option to assign that source and it's citation, coupled with an event you can select, to a group of people. Example: I use a user-defined event called "1850 Census" that lists the date & place a person is shown in the 1850 US census. It prints out saying: "He was listed in the 1850 US Census enumerated on (DATE) at (PLACE)." (Very useful in a timeline setting) Then I would like to select all those people who have that exact event, date/place, & source citation and have the program insert that event and source at once to all of them... Nice, yes?! : )

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On Mon Sep 13 20:29:17 1999, Betsy Grovenburg, email: bmbg@juno.com, wrote:

Please allow an italics font for book titles. Putting in a field for such things as churches, cemeteries, etc. associated with places, would be a nice feature. Example: "Prefix Field:" St. John's Church Cemetery ... "Place Field:" Norway Township, Wright County, Iowa. Prints out as "St. John's Church Cemetery at Norway Township, Wright County, Iowa. (With Option to use "in" instead of "at"). PS. I love your place list manager & source manager (and global search/replace). I was able to convince my dedicated PAF-using mother to switch over to FO because of them. Another friend who used FTM for years & years (another dedicated genealogist) also switched because of these features.

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On Wed Sep 15 19:23:04 1999, Peggy Hooper, email: hooperhous@earthlink.net, wrote:

I am using version 8.0. Still wishing for a way to select a specific source and see all of it's citations, not all the sources and citations at once. I would also like to be able to add and remove individuals from this specific citation list. I would also like to select a group of people and assign a source. I just love using Family Origins!

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On Mon Sep 20 20:34:17 1999, Arthur L. Ridley, email: ridley331@juno.com, wrote:

This may already be somewhere in the myriad of requests. When adding children from a long list of children it would be helpful to be able to see who the last child entered was, I frequently get lost, especially when called away from the terminal in the middle of adding children.

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On Mon Sep 20 20:42:51 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Mon Sep 20 20:48:52 1999, Arthur L. Ridley, email: ridley331@juno.com, wrote:

On Register reports, immediately after the name of the individual, a list of first names of the direct line back to the ancestor selected as #1 on the chart (possibly with the ancestor's number by the name.) It would make it easier for the reader to tell at a glance from which line the individual is descended. Possibly make this feature an option.

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On Wed Sep 22 15:22:35 1999, Curtis L. Van Vark, email: cdvanvark@kdsi.net, wrote:

My great-Aunt wanted me to print a book by following family lines rather than by generation. I tried to customize this in a book but failed. If it is possible that would be great.

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On Thu Sep 23 10:13:24 1999, Dora A. Black, email: dblack9690@aol.com, wrote:

1. The program should do "back-generation" -- give the names of bloodline parent, grandparent, etc, OR at a minimum give the parents names; i.e., John Doe (son of Jim Doe and Mary Buck). 2. Birth dates (and birth place, too, preferably) be given for ALL children in when listing children in the book journal report. Currently birth dates are only given for those children whose lines are not carried forward but birth dates should be listed for all children. I have both Family Origins and Family Tree Maker. I could abandon FTM in an instant if these two items were written into the Family Origins program. The FTM program (Ver. 6.0) has so many programming errors that it's a joke (I started with FTM Ver. 4.0 and each succeeding version has had so many errors that I need to get a better program). These two items are the only thing keeping me from returning to the Family Origins program -- the individual summary and Family Group Sheet are excellent!

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On Thu Sep 23 19:07:35 1999, , email: , wrote:

I would like be able to give my cousins a genealogy CD that would have the Family Origins viewing interface. This would allow them to easily browse thru the family tree and view all the information and pictures in my ".fow" file.

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On Mon Sep 27 08:55:02 1999, Steve Page, email: steve.page@lineone.net, wrote:

The emigrated fact prints out back to front. My understanding is that Emigration means to leave rather than arrive, which is the context you have it. It is presumably focused from the point of view of those of you in the US who emigrated from Europe!

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On Mon Sep 27 08:56:22 1999, Steve Page, email: steve.page@lineone.net, wrote:

I wish the scrap book stored relative paths rather than full. It causes no end of problems when moving the database to other drives, or trying to run it of a CD.

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On Mon Sep 27 08:58:51 1999, Steve Page, email: steve.page@lineone.net, wrote:

It would be handy if the Todo list could have a pick list or standard template of usual things to do. Then when adding a new person, a standard list of tasks (e.g. search 1841 census, search Pigotts etc) allowing it to be used a tool for directing research.

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On Wed Sep 29 08:20:53 1999, Dan Spier, email: dandaspier @juno.com, wrote:

I am just updating to FO 8.0. I wish that you could print out a report that showed the relationship of any two people. I am frequently asked "How is he/she related to me"? I then have to manually print out the common ancestor, and the two paths down showing each individual and their spouses until I reach each individual. I label each level downward (siblings, first cousins, second cousins, including removals, etc.). The same thing is done when the relationship is a straight line (such as GGGG Grandfather) but this is more obvious. It would be great it Family Origins would do this automatically!

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On Sun Oct 3 16:20:23 1999, Donald Tucker, email: dtucker@gwi.net, wrote:

I would like to see FO finally do the Register type report correctly. At present the only birth dates which appear are those for children not carried forward. All the genealogy journals both NEHGS and modified register always give the birth dates for all the children when listed under the parents. It is very annoying to have to search through pages to try to see the birth dates. When we look at families we need to be able to see the children and their dates at a glance. Many journals and programs also give the death date as well, but that is not as critical. This should be very easy to correct and could be done as patch not a major upgrade.

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On Thu Oct 7 16:49:22 1999, Alison JOnes Agins, email: aliagins@aol.com, wrote:

First, I LOVE FO! I've had mine all along and use it to work in although I do have FTM as well. You keep improving and this forum may be why! I wish that when I made a gedcom file that I could copy photos to send along as well. I wish that there was a button on the family page that would take me straight to an edit page for my FO web site. I wish there was a choice to delete an entire line going back with the click on one person. Boy! would that help! Well, there might be more, but, I'm fighting with the web site trying to get it set up.

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On Tue Oct 12 19:45:19 1999, Mike Thompson, email: mthompson83@alum.mit.edu, wrote:

I would love to have the ability to create family facts/events. Many family histories include a statement like "In 1843, the family traveled by wagon to a new homestead in Indiana."

Adding a "Moved" event for just one parent (probably the father) is not good becase a report or a traversal of the database that does not include that person will miss the fact. Plus it would not be clear, without a note, that the event applied to the whole family.

Putting the event on each spouse and all children that were living at the time is not a good solution either. When you need to change/correct the details of the fact, you have to change each instance. In a book report, especially a decendent report, seeing the same fact repeatedly is tedious.

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On Tue Oct 12 19:57:22 1999, Mike Thompson, email: mthompson83@alum.mit.edu, wrote:

The problem list report is a wonderful feature for catching data entry errors and source discrepencies. Now it just needs the ability to ignore "confirmed" facts. For example, a problem is reported that a child was born before their parents marriage. The researcher double checks the sources, maybe finding additional ones, to confirm the information. The user needs the ability to mark the facts as "confirmed", so that when the problem listy report is run in the future, the false positives will be suppressed.

Not having this ability makes it hard to pick out new errors, if you have a large number of "errors" which really are not.

Also any time a fact is changed, it should clear this setting so that it will be rechecked when the report is run again.

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On Tue Oct 12 20:08:27 1999, Mike Thompson, email: mthompson83@alum.mit.edu, wrote:

The ability to jump directly from a report to a person/event. When you are reviewing a report on the screen and you locate a person that you want to edit, it would be very nice to be able to double-click on the person in the report and have the system jump directly to the person (preferable while keeping the report window available.

Ask any user of Quicken for an example of going from a report directly to a transaction record in an account.

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On Wed Oct 13 13:56:26 1999, Lynna Kay Shuffield, email: friday@argohouston.com, wrote:

The fact for DIVORCE does not appear on the Family Group Sheet Report. When you send a Family Group Sheet to someone to "fill in the information" not having the Divorce fact show up is not good because if they don't think about it or see it, they usually forget about adding that info. So, you have to go back and specifically ask about divorce info.

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On Thu Oct 14 04:20:02 1999, Martin R.J. Cleaver, email: Martin.Cleaver@BCS.org.uk, wrote:

Where can I buy a copy of FO in the U.K.? Mail-order is fine but when I got to shoptlc it does not tell me what I will pay for having it shipped over! Furthermore, shoptlc only provide a 1-800 number that I cannot call from the U.K. (By the way, did you know that FO is rated the #1 product in the Genealogy Software section by deja.com users - see http://www.deja.com/rate/list_items.xp?CID=11318&PCID=11167 ). I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy...

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On Fri Oct 15 10:18:27 1999, David Pine, email: david@club-air.com, wrote:

I want to distribute a family history CD-ROM to members of my family and I would like to see a feature on FO that would help with the Creation of a CD-ROM. IT would be nice to be able to create a live, interactive presentation complete with photos, sound, and other multimedia (as well as general information and text).

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On Sun Oct 17 11:14:40 1999, Betty Stokes, email: bdsjh@hal-pc.org, wrote:

The ability to use tabs on the note pages. I use the census fact and type the census in the note. I can never get it to line up.

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On Mon Oct 18 23:56:23 1999, Ernest Feil, email: efeil@pacbell.net, wrote:

To copy and paste everything

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On Sat Oct 23 09:32:51 1999, Barbara L Richardson, email: joatmon7@netdirect.net, wrote:

I would like to see 5 or 6 Generation Fan Pedigree charts. I have seen these on other programs and they look quite elegant! Also when you bring up the find list of individuals, why can't you type in who you are looking for instead of having to scroll all through them. I have over 4,000 names and this is very time consuming. This would be very convenient for merging individuals. Thanks. Barbara

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On Sat Oct 23 12:28:08 1999, Lynn Farmer, email: lynn@lynnfarmerphoto.net, wrote:

MY WISH LIST....... 1.) I believe that Family Orgins is the only major genealogy program that does not have improbable date checking as data is being input. 2.)Inputing dates...It would make it much easier if Family Orgins would enter the month in the same manner that the place list works. 3.) I would like to see the WHOLE Fact list as being editable.  I would like to delete MANY of the items there that I will NEVER use.

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On Sun Oct 24 15:48:30 1999, Lyle A. Knox, email: laknox@uswest.net, wrote:

On Nov. 25, 1998, Dick Akins asked for one of the things that I've been wishing for since I first started using FOW, the ability to list a default directory for FOW to start looking in. Nearly a year later and you still don't have it. Very annoying to have to go through several steps just to locate other d.b.s. Another wish that has come up just recently, is that when you print out a family group sheet, while it does include other spouses, it doesn't include any children from those other spouses. Again, annoying and time-consuming when you're trying to print out forms to give to others to fill in and give back. A =feature= I'd like to see added is a simple check box on the main data entry screen that would put a tag in the general notes to show that this person is alive; preferably a user-definable tag. This would obviate the need for much typing of notes for those of us who use "cleaning" software to remove personal info on living people. Another thing I'd like to see is an expansion of the dimensions of the wall chart. 15 feet is just way too small. It's my paper and my wall, why does the size of the chart have to be limited? One last thing; SmartMerge isn't really very smart. I ran it three times when I decided to merge my 9 different d.b.s and still had several hundred that needed to be merged. This is causing me to spend many hours going over records by hand. Merge also creates way too many matches on records that are obviously not related in any way. Other than these, I have no complaints about FOW. It's a very friendly program.

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On Mon Oct 25 18:34:41 1999, Rick Sterling, email: fow@rickster.org, wrote:

I use 3 genealogy programs currently. FOW 8.0, PAF 4.0, and Generations 5.2. I use FOW for data entry and general database administration of several databases with from 1200 to 23,000 persons. I use the other two programs for the additional reports they can create. I have been using FOW since 5.0. I do like the new features in 8.0 but feel there could have been a few more ... ;-) I'll do these one topic at a time. Merging: When bringing up the "Explorer" please allow a user to use Control-left mouse click to highlight-select multiple duplicate names simultaneously for a merge operation. This methodology typically presents same named duplicates adjacent or near each other and would allow a very fast and efficient merge of 2 or more records. When dragging and droping a record between two databases DO NOT reset the database to the HOME record. It is VERY frustrating to have the program "HELP" me out when I don't need the "HELP". I have yet found an instance where I needed to go to the HOME record after a drag and drop... typically ( 99% of the time ) I then need to do a merge or add the new record as a parent or child of an existing record necessitating lots of extra clicks and keystrokes to get back to where I was working. Which brings us to .... When working with two databases allow the user to drag and drop a record between databases and enquire if a merge and/or SPLICE operation should be initiated. This presupposes that the program is context sensitive and 'KNOWS' the position in the receiving database that the user dropped the record on. When two or more databases are displayed, allow the user to right click on a record and present additional options "MERGE - TO" "MERGE - FROM". The program would bring up the two records in the individual merge panel after the second record is selected. Allow merging and/or splicing between databases. To make merging records easier add a "Synchronize Display" function/command/mode so that when working with 2 views of the same database the windows could be synchronized in some fashion. The ability to 'synchronize' two different databases would be very powerfull. A simple methodolgy would be to have the user establish a 'common root' and then have the program slave either window to the other using the same relative movements. Movements to fathers or mothers only might be required. The user should be able to turn off NAG prompts about 'backing up database' before a merge if they desire. As a disabled person I am constantly looking to remove nonproductive program prompts that just make my task harder or longer.

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On Mon Oct 25 18:45:56 1999, Rick Sterling, email: fow@rickster.org, wrote:

RELATIONSHIPS:

The current relationship calculator is cute but basically useless as the data presented must be hand copied ( Please use the windows standard select - copy - paste functions on ALL windows. Never second guess the usefulness of screen data for the user. )... a relationship REPORT would be VERY useful.

The Kin list report is too all inclusive currently ... allow the user to provide target records. ie. Report all blood relationships between A and B and who the common ancestor C is.

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On Mon Oct 25 20:21:43 1999, Joseph Thomas Richardson, email: jtrichardson@worldnet.att.net , wrote:

Keeps getting better and better-- I love 8.0-- keep it coming! But I definitely have a lot of wishes-- some of which bug me so much I'm about ready to program them myself! But of course, I don't have the time for that, so all I can do is wish. :) One in particular that I was thinking of just the other day: a Place Name Manager. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought of that. It sure would be nice to have a utility to organize the place names database. I was thinking of something like a cascading "tree" (sorry, I'm not up on my jargon)-- set up like a directory tree or object tree or such, with "folders" to contain various hierarchies of places-- e.g. Country > State > County > City > Location. So, say, if I was going on a trip to Granville County, North Carolina, I could go into my Place Name Manager and print a list of all the cemeteries in the sub-structure of "North Carolina" > "Granville County"; or even better, add a simple search, and have it a return a list of all the DUTTONs and FRAZIERs buried in cemeteries in Granville County, North Carolina. I think ya'll probably get the idea. It sure can be a hassle to have to go through the Place Names list and pick out each location you want to do something with-- even with the great new ability to search it! (Thanks!) Also, as a part of this same package: when entering Place Names for Facts, the user could choose an "Advanced" option, and receive a form by which to directly specify each of the location fields. Or, by default, a simple string parser could be employed to separate the "long" Location field into the different fields. (Options could specified in the Program Options or Database Options menu for defaults for the parser, e.g. a bit "Assume Country='U.S.' unless otherwise specified?" And, wow! It could even be linked into the wonderful Place Finder to "positively identify" place names as they are entered! That would open up a whole new world of possibilities, wouldn't it? Those nasty spelling errors could be corrected as they are made (that option could be disabled if it gets too annoying, of course), county names could be suggested when they are unknown, and your place names could automatically be placed into their proper classification. And, gadzooks! If all of your place names are linked into the place finder, why not allow for a mapping feature? Something I've always wanted to do is print out a map showing the migration patterns of my family-- a point on the map for the birth and death places of each successive generation. Or for other facts, as one sees fit. One could map the residences of each of his living cousins-- a *must* for family reunions! Whew! I could go on for hours! I hope somebody reads this and gets a lightbulb-- I know I turned on quite a few for myself just in the process of writing this. I'll be back in the future to post more.

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On Tue Oct 26 12:41:30 1999, Elda O'Connell, email: emoconnell@unidial.com, wrote:

I wish V 8.0 did proper wordwrapping. I am finding many instances of split words - like all but the last letter on one line, the last letter of a word on the next. This never happened in any of the earlier versions of FO - what happened? It makes a very poor-looking report and is also hard to read. Also - couldn't some of these wishes be removed from this listing? Seems like many of the first ones I had to page through were already accomplished. Thanks.

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On Thu Oct 28 18:52:25 1999, Marilyn, email: MMacMurph@aol.com, wrote:

When printing a book of ancestors, I would like the option of including at least the marriage and possibly the children of the first geneneration. I would also like to have pic references for places and sources.

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On Thu Nov 4 16:09:16 1999, Larry Lister, email: thelisters@tds.net, wrote:

I would like to see the "search select fields" expanded to include Sources. This would be useful in creating a gedcom file based on the source.

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On Fri Nov 5 18:33:33 1999, Martha S. Millington, email: martisiq@mtco.com, wrote:

Tech support

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On Wed Nov 10 23:14:17 1999, Lyle Knox, email: laknox@uswest.net, wrote:

This is a second go-round for me. I'd like to have the option in printing reports to include a spouse's ex'es or the fathers of step-children. I have no children myself, but have 2 step-daughters and unless I do a family printout of my wife's ex'es, neither one of them will show up. =My= ex will show up if I do a family printout; why can't I have the option of showing my wife's ex'es (and families) as well? As I'm coming up on a Thanksgiving day reunion and will be printing out family group forms for filling-in of missing data, it would be very handy not to have to print out 2, 3 and even 4 reports on some who might attend.

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On Fri Nov 12 04:08:52 1999, Willi-Martin Jaeger, email: Jaeger.w.@t-online.de, wrote:

i'm looking for a Germen Version from the Family Origins 8.0 Deluxe

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On Sun Nov 14 12:44:17 1999, Mark Young, email: LLMYoung@AOL.com, wrote:

I've been using Family Origins since it first came out in the 1.0 version. I've upgraded through the 3.0, 5.0, 6.0 and my current 7.0 versions. I've been very satisfied with it as a whole. I do have two suggestions: 1) Figure out a way of linking children, born out of wedlock, to both parents without being forced to the extreme of creating both a ficticious marriage event and subsequent fictitious divorce. 2) Back around ver 5.0, the To Do List was capable of being printed as a comprehensive list for all individuals in the database. Ver 6.0 lost this ability. To Do Lists could only be printed for individuals. I would like to see the comprehensive list capability restored. It was very useful when conducting research at a specific library. Simply type in the research locale and everything needed to be checked there for all individuals in database was printed out.

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On Tue Nov 16 20:34:51 1999, Fred Snell, email: fsnell@mediaone.net, wrote:

Just installed Family Origins 8.0 and it looks good. But it appears to default to "My Documents" for the data files. Would be nice for it to "remember" the last directory for a task like opening files. Also to backup to A:, I need to navigate a lot of menus to get there. Great product otherwise.

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On Wed Nov 17 06:27:19 1999, Lew Horne, email: Lewhorne@aol.com, wrote:

I would like to see an ALL PERSON tree available with the ability to "trim" the tree by adding / subtracting individuals or family branches.

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On Wed Nov 17 07:31:12 1999, Robert Clay, email: Robert_W_Clay@prodigy.net, wrote:

I would like to see a print feature that would allow you to print odd and even numbered pages separately.

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On Sun Nov 21 14:54:38 1999, Stephen Sams Barranco, Sr., email: sbarranco@worldnet.att.net, wrote:

I would like Bruce to add the scrolling feature of the mouse to FO8.

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On Mon Nov 22 02:43:10 1999, Randy Scott, email: randykar@ipa.net, wrote:

I am currently using the FO 8.0 upgrade. The books report generates the occupation fact in a backwards manner, (example) "he was a in 1884 in farmer". It always gets the occupation and date field turned around. It apparently does this with other fact fields, like religion. Any way of correcting this myself or do I have to wait for the next upgrade? Maybe there is a patch? However, all in all, FO is a good program.

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On Mon Nov 22 17:31:36 1999, chuck adams, email: chucka2@gate.net, wrote:

Creat a report writer as found in familytreemaker where you can add text pages, indexes, table of contents, etc., inorefer to compose a comprehensive report. Add the feature to the report so you can trace surname ancestors. Enhance the test editor so you can set margins and justify text.

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On Mon Nov 22 17:32:16 1999, chuck adams, email: chucka2@gate.net, wrote:

Creat a report writer as found in familytreemaker where you can add text pages, indexes, table of contents, etc., inorefer to compose a comprehensive report. Add the feature to the report so you can trace surname ancestors. Enhance the test editor so you can set margins and justify text.

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On Mon Nov 22 23:44:27 1999, Jeffrey Kemp, email: jpkemp@wantree.com.au, wrote:

RE: FO v7.0 (btw FO's great, previously had v4) - The book report looks good except when photos are printed including multiple spouses & no children, it lists "... married [2nd spouse] on [date]" right next to the photo of the first spouse - a bit confusing. Also, may I reiterate the wish for an ALL PERSON family tree report. This preferably would come with a graphical UI that allows you to move person blocks around the page, and the connecting lines to their parents and children would be maintained.

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On Wed Nov 24 13:39:21 1999, Mike Dekarske, email: mike.dekarske@bigfoot.com, wrote:

Allow an image to be attached to any "Fact". Then when you show the scrapbook for a person, all images attached to that person's facts can be displayed.

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On Thu Nov 25 11:02:06 1999, Emily Palmer, email: esp@qadas.com, wrote:

I agree wholeheartedly with Marcia Melnyk's comments above about the pedigree charts and how they're numbered. Even if there is no continuing information on a person, the line should still be numbered so that when you do fill in the missing data you won't have to print out all the charts again. I haven't been able to figure out why none of the software programs do this! FO should be the first! I've used FO for more than five years now and love it. Every once in a while I check out other programs, but I always end up coming back to Family Origins. Keep up the good work!

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On Thu Nov 25 14:54:08 1999, Mary Marvin, email: mjlynn@aol.com, wrote:

I'd like to have the ability to print a family tree photo chart that includes more than 12 children. I have relatives with 13 and 14 children (same parents) and there's only room for the first 12 children. If there is a work-around to printing all of the photos, please let me know. Otherwise, I'd like the option added.

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On Fri Nov 26 07:52:44 1999, , email: , wrote:

PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!! I REALLY NEED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just updating to FO 8.0. I wish that you could print out a report that showed the relationship of any two people. I am frequently asked "How is he/she related to me"? I then have to manually print out the common ancestor, and the two paths down showing each individual and their spouses until I reach each individual. I label each level downward siblings, first cousins, second cousins, including removals, etc.). The same thing is done when the relationship is a straight line (such as GGGG Grandfather) but this is more obvious. It would be great it Family Origins would do this automatically!

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On Fri Nov 26 07:54:07 1999, , email: , wrote:

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On Fri Nov 26 07:54:51 1999, , email: , wrote:

PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!!PLEASE!!! I REALLY NEED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just updating to FO 8.0. I wish that you could print out a report that showed the relationship of any two people. I am frequently asked "How is he/she related to me"? I then have to manually print out the common ancestor, and the two paths down showing each individual and their spouses until I reach each individual. I label each level downward siblings, first cousins, second cousins, including removals, etc.). The same thing is done when the relationship is a straight line (such as GGGG Grandfather) but this is more obvious. It would be great it Family Origins would do this automatically!

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On Thu Dec 2 15:39:34 1999, Terry Turner, email: terryt@iaccess.za, wrote:

SMARTMERGE - is not quite so smart! Here in South Africa we are trying to build a complete South African database for research. Our first step was to download the IGI for Africa, a total of some 375,000 names. But with the duplicates (each child downloaded has 2 parents, 10 children downloaded give you 20 parents etc etc) the file contains about 900,000 names. I wish there was some way to tell SMARTMERGE what fields to compare when merging records, as many of the duplicates are only names and spouses, no dates or anything else. Or maybe sks could write a utility to do this.

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On Sat Dec 4 22:08:50 1999, Mark Schears, email: schears@usa.net, wrote:

I wish that there was some way to have FOW automatically create a .zip file of the pictures that I have attached to the people in my database. Specifically, I want to be able to find out how many people in a specific persons descendants listing; to be able to put these into a .zip file for transfer to other programs/relatives. I have to do this manually now, weeding out the names.

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On Wed Dec 8 09:09:05 1999, David Martin, email: dgmartin@bellsouth.net, wrote:

Be able to mark several individuals and apply a source, fact, etc. to them. Also, it would be nice to be able to export a GEDCOM file that only contains the descendants of a particular person, or a particular person's ancestors.

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On Sun Dec 12 11:11:10 1999, Mary Jo Bassham, email: mbassham@home.com, wrote:

1.I have updated my hard dive twice now and bith times I reload my Gedcom file into the new drive, I have to go thru the find list and create a MARRIAGE for those who have no Marriage date. Shouldn't it be fixed so it is done just like those who have a marriage date. 2. I several family lne in one file. Would like to be able to split off the diffrent family lines and have them deleted from the original file, but leaving the connecting person(s).

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On Mon Dec 13 11:24:08 1999, Curtis Van Vark, email: cdvanvark@kdsi.net, wrote:

I would like to have the ablility to make personal notes of an indivudual or list of sources that would not be printed with a book compilation. This information could concern divorces, adoptions, previous marriages, or children born out of wedlock. With this ability you could complete or better understand the information you have without creating friction with you relitives.

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On Tue Dec 14 11:53:36 1999, Fred Ramsey, email: framsey@home.com, wrote:

I wrote a 368 page genealogy book on my family. It included footnotes, bibliography and index. I want to get it into Family Origins Two things would help. 1)Use of a full word processor, such as Word 7, inside the notes so we can center, page, paragraph, border, etc. 2)Unlimited note length. Currently it is limited to about 29 pages of type.

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On Wed Dec 22 16:41:21 1999, Larry Lister, email: thelisters@tds.net, wrote:

I would like to be able to create GEDCOM files by sorting on a source (i.e. include or exclude everyone with this source in any or all of the fact types).

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On Mon Dec 27 09:05:47 1999, Mark Gerdes, email: arkansas@bigfoot.com, wrote:

An XML standard for genealogical data and Family Origins adoption of it.

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On Mon Jan 3 13:05:06 2000, Robert Dugan, email: vklink@hotmail.com, wrote:

I'm using 8.0 now. I would love to have HTML generated for "family page"-like browsing. The ancestor/descendant trees or nice but it would be nice to browse facts on people that aren't direct ancestor/descendants. The "all people" list sort of gives you this but it isn't organized very well. Also, it would be nice to declare a certain facts private (eg: SSN) instead of ALL facts for a living person. I don't mind posting some of my living person facts to the web, but not all. Overall, a great program though.

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On Mon Jan 3 20:43:52 2000, Tim Farr, email: tf@srjh.emery.k12.ut.us, wrote:

I would like photos to print on the right side of the page in the ancestor book for a cleaner looking printout and also include the spouse and children of the first generation. Also some features on the LDS side such as Copy previous entry or from sibling or from one of the parents. Also better navigation in the tree window would be very nice. I have tried many programs and have decided to stay with this one.

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On Wed Jan 5 06:05:22 2000, Terry Simonds, email: fsimonds@gate.net, wrote:

At the main screen, it would be very helpful if the "Individual Note" and "Family Note" icons on the toolbar at the top could be modified to indicate whether or not there were any data contained in them. Maybe an asterisk (*) or color change...

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On Sun Jan 9 10:00:37 2000, Douglas White, email: drwhite@uci.edu, wrote:

In Options/Program Options/View I would like to be able to click / / Display Occupation of highlighted person or more generally / / Display additional fact type(s) (when clicked the list of fact types that can then be clicked would appear) I am a social science research making heavy use of FOW

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On Mon Jan 10 16:12:03 2000, George Lloyd, email: george_lloyd@prodigy.net, wrote:

I have three wishes, in rder of priority: 1. A switch to mask birth dates, etc. This would really help prepare a report/GED files for publication. 2. A version of FO that wuld run on LINUX! 3. A version of FO that would run on a MAC -- the only resaon I'm still running a Windows platform is because there is no genealogy program for LINUX. nor a good genealogy program for MAC.

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On Thu Jan 13 10:31:45 2000, John Friede, email: jafriede@attglobal.net, wrote:

FO 6.0 & 8.0 do not take into account that the person is still living when reporting a person's religion in a book. For example, instead of saying "he is baptist", it says "he was baptist".

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On Fri Jan 14 09:49:14 2000, Randy Scott, email: randykar@ipa.net, wrote:

When attempting to use "my briefcase" to update or move files back and forth between my desktop and laptop, you can move an FOW Gedcom or a FOW zip file without any problems, but not the standard FOW file. When attempting to do so, an error message is received which has only part of the file name in it. However, when performing the same procedure with FTM, it runs smoothly and error free. Any ideas? I still love FO though!

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On Mon Jan 17 11:30:25 2000, Dick Willet, email: RLW4@msn.com, wrote:

I wish the powers to be would keep us more informed of what is going on. Latest patches, updates, etc. Everything seems to be done "hit or miss". Also, if the server is not working why does the program upload the program? OR, why can't the upload be fixed that if something happens it will stop and restart where it left off.

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On Thu Jan 20 09:24:34 2000, John P. DuLong, email: dulongj@habitant.org, wrote:

I would like to see a network version of Family Origins with record locking. I now have a network in my home and my wife and I both use Family Origins. We are cousins so it makes since to keep our data in the same database. All the computers in my house are networked. It would be great if my wife and I could work on the same Family Origins database, but different records, at the same time. As it now stands we have to keep backing the data up on disk, restoring it to one machine and not using it on the other. It is awkward. Also, would you please add the capability to use italics and bold in the notes and especially the sources. Thanks for the great tool

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On Mon Jan 24 07:28:59 2000, Hans Albeck, email: hans.albeck@teliamail.dk, wrote:

I propose by this to connect multilingual facilities to Family Origins, especially concerning reports and schemes for printing. --------------------------------------------------

On Mon Jan 24 07:41:03 2000, Hans Albeck, email: hans.albeck@teliamail.dk, wrote:

I propose by this to connect multilingual facilities to Family Origins, especially concerning reports and schemes for printing. I myself would prefer danish language.

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On Mon Jan 24 18:17:19 2000, Jackie Wilson Smith, email: jaws64@eaglecom.net, wrote:

I discovered FO in December by downloading the trial version and knew immediately this was the program for me! I had been a die-hard PAF user for 7 years, and there are features I still love about PAF, but FOW fulfills 97% of my dreams. The remaining wishes are:

Source Usage (or Cited) Report This report should allow one, all or any number of selected sources to be printed, with a listing below of the individuals on which that source is sited. This would allow for correcting errors in source citation. The means of selecting the sources to print should be the list of sources but with the ability to Control-Click to select non-adjacent sources or Shift-Click to select a range of adjacent sources.

Explorer 1. Recognize characters typed after the comma. When a database contains over 200 individuals with the same surname this would be more efficient than scrolling through the entire list. 2. Allow user-entered (or defined) "comparisons". 3. Allow the find results to be saved and returned to at a later time.

"Marriage Fact" The marriage fact should have a "status" option. This option could have the following options: Married Never Married* Divorced Annulled Partners^ *As I read through the previous "wishes" I noticed others who also don't like to create an artificial marriage fact. The "Never Married" status would correct that problem. ^In this day & age, many couples are partners for many years, but never marry - see Marriages below.

Marriages Okay, people will object to this, but I have to say it: every genealogy program MUST adapt to the times. And this means recognizing same-sex Partnerships/Lifetime Commitments. Children are adopted by and/or born to same-sex partners. Unless softwares are brought up to date, how are we to document these "families"?

Gedcom Creation When selecting people to export, add another section to the pop-up window called "Selected individuals" which displays those individuals already marked. It also needs to display a "counter" of how many individuals have been selected. Also needs another option in the "Mark Ancestors" pop-up that allows Direct ancestors, their children & spouses.

Those are my "original" thoughts. However, I really liked Joseph Thomas Richardson's 10/25/1999 suggestions about the Place Name Manager. I love the idea of a mapping feature, although I believe this would best work as a supplemental feature either as a sub-program or a stand-alone program that utilizes the FOW database.

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On Wed Jan 26 20:03:26 2000, Michael L. Dolsen, email: thelineagekeeper@alaska.com , wrote:

1. Availability to create PostScript files so to print on large format printers. i.e., HP 3500C large format printer. 2. Be able to change color of font anywhere within the database to use color codes to indicate particular areas need further study. A way of creating a reminder notice to ones self. More later.

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On Sat Jan 29 05:58:00 2000, B. Sue Foy, email: bsuefoy@myriad.net, wrote:

I would like a nickname field on the individual edit screen that could be used as an option in the "book" report or on calendars. To have the full formal name on the calendar seems a bit stiff and some family members may not even know a person by anything other than a "nickname". FTM has this feature & it is nice. I am a long-time Family Origins user (since version 1.0) and love it. Have converted several of my genealogy group who love FO because of its user friendly screens.

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On Sun Jan 30 10:13:42 2000, , email: , wrote:

Since Bruce, the MAGNIFICENT, added record numbers to FO 8, it would be nice to be able to print them on Individual summaries and/or group sheets so that you can go directly to add or correct

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On Tue Feb 1 08:45:10 2000, Arthur Smith, email: artsmith@interpac.net, wrote:

Report line entry link to individual's record. I'd like to see the ability to click on a line entry on a report, and have that person's record appear for review or correction.

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On Fri Feb 4 12:42:53 2000, Jack W Wise, email: jwwise@texas.net, wrote:

A true graphical timeline, not a chronical listing. A slide show or printout of all pics in album form Export to ancestral file

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On Fri Feb 4 14:48:26 2000, Martha J. Hicks, email: mjhicks1@juno.com, wrote:

Being able to see a list of individuals who are entirely lacking sources would be nice. (Since many individuals are just given one general source when one source supplied all their data, instead of a separate source for each fact.) Also, when given the chance to sort children after entering a family, it would be nice if, in addition to being shown each child's name and birth date, there could be a M (male) or F (female) next to each name. That way we could double-check that we entered it correctly with a glance for the whole set of children.

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On Sat Feb 5 22:53:59 2000, Timothy Cole, email: timcole@colescorner.com, wrote:

I would like the ability to sort all entries by city, township, county, and state and also by year. Sometimes, in my research, I recognize a township name and remember that I've added other ancestors with that same township. Maybe a pattern will develop that will help further research or tie families together, pointing to companion migration, etc.

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On Sun Feb 6 16:56:06 2000, Carol Deatherage, email: Rumberc@aol.com, wrote:

My wish would be to be able to print the marriage list. If I want to go to the list then to my file, I have to reorder the marriage list. Why not make a print button there so I can print it, so I have a working list to take with me when I do research?

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On Mon Feb 7 17:01:53 2000, Thomas A. Stobie, SFO, email: stobie@sprynet.com, wrote:

I saw your list, and have a few to add.

1. Sources of Sources and Notes 2. Automatic added of event sources when bring in and/or copying from a GEDCOM or another file. Similiar to what is down for the people sources today in such cases. 3. Family Merge, that uses family information and merges whole familiies (multi-generation) mostly automatically. 4. The ability to link different FOW databases. 5. The abilty to disable the marriage list feature (Too often, I click on this by mistake, and have to what a few minutes for it to complete before I can cancel it.) 6. The ability to include grandparents of spouses in reports (in addition to the parents that are already included) 7. The ability to include event data on parents of spouses. 8. Notes on places. 9. Intelligent place management, that recognizes abbreviations, location containment, such as this city within this county, etc. 10. The ability to mark any data as non-publishable to handle the people who really do not want their data published at all. 11. SmartMerge to consider who the parents of the potential mergees are. 12. Quick way to clean up events or other data loaded in a new GEDCOM, maybe searching by source or by event type. 13. Upfront Identification of GEDCOM, its possible flaws, and automatic cleanup as much as possible. Examples: fixing Uppercase only names, identifying non-recognizable events, and seeking input on how to handle them. 14. Publication of the database format of Family Origins so that those who know how to, can access the data directly. 15. The ability to rebuild the index when it gets corrupted.

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On Wed Feb 9 07:55:24 2000, Bruno, email: j.bruno.coon@airmail.net, wrote:

It would be nice to have 1) a setup option that allows you to use the editor of your choice for editing notes, perhaps the Windows default editor for "txt" files. 2) Allow a special character or token that would prevent some sensitive research notes from being printed. 3) Allow marriages to have reference numbers (MRIN in PAF) that appear on the report header and marriage so that family members doing research without a computer can easily reference a specific family group using only the printed reports. 4) Allow navigation directly to a family group or individual via RIN/MRIN numbers to easily update changes made and returned via faxed report.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:05:49 2000, , email: , wrote:

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:51 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:52 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:53 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:53 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:54 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:06:55 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sat Feb 12 16:07:22 2000, Duane Baysinger, email: dbaysinger2@juno.com, wrote:

That the book print feature would have a cover page that would support a photo and text.

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On Sun Feb 13 03:32:27 2000, Ray Kennedy, email: rkfamtree@att.net, wrote:

The New Family Origins 8.0 has a wrapping problem on the "book" report. I cannot find a fix for Family Origins 8.0 can anyone help me?

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On Sun Feb 13 08:25:40 2000, Chris & Joy Barrett, email: C.M.Barrett@tesco.net, wrote:

I would like the ability to print out descendant charts in the British "drop down" fashion please. The American style is difficult to follow.

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On Mon Feb 14 18:09:02 2000, Sherron Moore, email: sherronw@searnet.com, wrote:

1. reverse the order of this wish list so that we can see the most recent additions first. 2. eliminate "wishes" that are more than 6 months old. 3. I'd like to be able to read or print all events that happened in a particular year or time frame, i.e., all events in my data base that occurred in 1740; all events in my data base that occurrec between 1860 and 1865.

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On Tue Feb 15 11:44:01 2000, Ken Farrar, email: farrark@vt.edu, wrote:

I would like a "logical check" built into FO to check dates AS THEY ARE ENTERED. It would take the new date and see if it was possible, i.e., not before a birth or after a death date (burial must be on or after the death date). It could possibly compare the new date to that of a parent and/or child so that a person's birthdate was not after that of their child or before their parents' birthdates or after the death of their mother, etc. The user should be given the option of changing the date or accepting the date, similar to the possible person duplication check made when entering a new person into the database. This would help tremendously it preventing (or at least minimizing) the old "typo" errors. Maybe the parameters in the "Problem Report" could be used for the date entry checks.

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On Tue Feb 15 13:22:32 2000, John Feagin, Sr., email: feagin@home.com, wrote:

I would like FO to fix the "disappearing screen" syndrome. Many times when I merge two individuals such as in the case of du