The Whitacre Genealogy Center - Instructions GEDCOMs

TO CREATE A GEDCOM FILE:

· Go to the oldest ancestor's Family Page [FamPg].
· Create an Outline Descendant report [Outline].
· Click on "Contents" and "# of Descendants to Show" (make sure it's enough - 20+).
· Click on "File" and "Copy/Export Individuals in Outline Descendant Tree".
· Save the file as GEDCOM (*.ged).
· Now you'll have to answer some questions about the type of GEDCOM you want:
............"Destination" should be PAF, "GEDCOM" should be Version 5.5, "Character Set" should ANSI
· Click on the [Fields to Export] button
· Pick which fields you want to send to the user
.............(be careful with privacy info - no SSNs for living people!).
· Click on [OK]
· Click on [OK] again.
· Poof - you've created a GEDCOM file!

TO MAKE SURE YOU GEDCOM FILE IS READABLE:

· Try opening the file with notepad, wordpad, word, etc.
· If creation was successful, your file should begin kind of like this:
0 HEAD
1 SOUR FTW
2 VERS 4.00
2 NAME Family Tree Maker for Windows
2 CORP Broderbund Software, Banner Blue Division
3 ADDR 39500 Stevenson Pl. #204
4 CONT Fremont, CA 95439
3 PHON (510) 794-6850
1 DEST PAF
1 DATE 27 May 1998
1 CHAR ANSI
1 SUBM @SUBM@
1 FILE D:\FTW\Files\NAMES.GED
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5
0 @SUBM@ SUBM
0 @I0001@ INDI

TO OPEN A GEDCOM FILE WITH FAMILY TREE MAKER:

· Click on "File" and "Open Family File"
· Change "Files of Type" to GEDCOM(*.GED) and select the filename.
· If you want to merge it with yours: click [append file] - USE EXTREME CAUTION!!
· If you just want to see the file: click [open] - RECOMMENDED!!
· Give you new file a name (after the conversion it will be a *.ftw file).
· Click on [Save] and choose your options:
............Select "Keep last part...", Check "Delete underscores...", Check "Add spacing..."
· Click on [Fields to Import] and select the fields you want (probably all of them).
· Click on [OK]
· Now you've opened the GEDCOM file and converted it to a FTW file! Have fun!