Sunday, November 05, 2006

Family Atlas Genealogy Mapping - You heard it here first

Family Atlas Genealogy Mapping - Original Link

Glad to see your write up. I have been looking for a software tool that would help with this process. I just ordered the software and am looking forward to using it soon as well as reading any future followup you have on the software.

Curious if Family Atlas shows period maps from the past or even train/road/migration routes? This could be very helpful to Genealogy enthusiasts.

I actually have been using GoogleEarth for the same task - mapping my ancestors around the globe - but this can be very manual. Nice thing is you can send the kml/kmz GoogleEarth files to friends, researchers, etc.

Someday it would be great if we could integrate the capabilities of photo/imaging technology with family tree database software, GPS/mapping into one small handheld device, like a PDA/smartphone.

Brian Sanders

Posted by: Brian Sanders November 03, 2006 at 09:41 AM

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Family Atlas uses the current country / state / etc boundaries rather than period maps. This is an area we can look into.

Family Atlas will let you export the marker sets you create to Google Earth, so you can import your data, create your markers, then create the .kml file for Google Earth.

Posted by: Bruce Buzbee November 03, 2006 at 03:18 PM

SandersFamilia.Com Genealogy Website - Updates 11/5/2006

All,
If you have been to my website, www.sandersfamilia.com as of November 5, 2006, you would have noticed a dramatic change in the "home page". I recently added a most excellent program called "The Next Generation" or TNG 6.0, written by Darrin Lythgoe (see http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php). This software has some powerful features, all integrated into the package, that allows the user the ability to "see" the family connections in many ways.

Here are some of the key features:
Descendancy Chart: See an individual's descendants in graphical "box" style, with photos (where they exist).
Pedigree Chart: Move smoothly back and forth among your ancestors without refreshing the page.
Media: Can link media directly to events and places. Videos and sound recordings are supported too.
Albums: Photos, histories, or other media in an "album" to create experiences around specific individuals, families or other topics.
Timelines: See lifetime events for each person on your timeline chart, plus add events for any date in history.
Bookmarks
Latitude & Longitude
New Menus
Spam Control
Security: Passwords are now encrypted with MD5, making them impossible to decipher.
Search

One definite bonus for me is the fact that you can manage your DB of names a lot easier. Therefore, after a short evaluation of the software, I finally have approved it for use on my site and integrated it as the centerpiece and conerstone. Let me know what you think.

Brian