Are you just starting on your genealogy journey? Then Family Tree Maker 2017 will be perfect for you.
With this genealogy software program, you will be able to create and build your family tree in no time at all.
Learn what this program has to offer with this informative review.
Family Tree Maker 2017 Rating and Details | |
|---|---|
| Rating |  (4/5) |
| Platform | Download |
| Compatible | Windows and Mac |
| Features | Charts, Reports, Maps, FamilySync |
| Connects | FamilySearch (FREE) and Ancestry (PAID) |
| Help & Support | FAQs, Online Chat, Email |
| Bottom Line | Most Popular Today! |
| BUY HERE ==> | www.Mackiev.com |
Discussed in this post:
Please check out my Best Genealogy Software Programs where I review the best software on the market today.
And then after that why not head over to Top Ten Reviews where there is a Top 10 Best Genealogy Software of 2018 guide.
Also, after you have finished reading this guide you may like to check out Keith Riggle’s Family Tree Maker 2017 Review.
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Tools & Features
First of all, you may be wondering whether your computer is compatible with Family Tree Maker.
Well, I am pleased to say that this program can be used on either Windows or Mac. Hopefully, I have set your mind at ease with that.
My personal experience with Family Tree Maker!
I have personally used Family Tree Maker and I can say that it is a very easy program for you to use. The simple and elegant layout makes it very easy for you to understand what can be done with the program.
And also working your way around it.
You can start creating and building a family tree with this program straight away. Just start with information about yourself.
First, you will need to enter your name, birth date, and then important places and events in your life.
Then after that, you move on up to your parents and then fill in their information. And then enter details for your grandparents and so on.
Credit: FreeTutorials
Yep, it’s pretty much what you would expect from a genealogy software program.
Very intuitive and easy process!
As I have explained elsewhere on this site you first work with what you know. And that is you!
You then just move up your family tree to your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents if you know anything about them.
If you are like me then you may also want to add siblings along the way. I am fascinated with cousins so adding any brothers or sisters was a must for me.
Doing this can help you whenever you do make contact with a distant cousin.
The whole act of adding relatives and their details is a very intuitive and easy process!
Color coding
This is a very initiative idea that has been added to Family Tree Maker. With this option, you can add four colors to each person on your family tree.
The idea with this is that you can assign different attributes to different colors. So for example, you can say dark blue represents everyone in your family tree that was in the military.
It’s just a clever way of tagging your family tree and I quite like it!
Same-sex relationships
With family dynamics changing in the modern-day, it is great that you do have the option to select same-sex relationships between two people in your family.
Not all genealogy programs today do allow for this so it’s great that Family Tree Maker have this option.
Charts and reports
The program comes with a variety of different charts for you to select from there. There are the usual pedigree, descendant, bowtie, and fan charts, as well as many more for you to look through.
Creating reports is also a must with any program and you can do that with Family Tree Maker. You can create person, family, and relationship reports.
And not only can you create charts and reports but you can easily share them with friends and family.
Books
You may wish to create a book with all the information that you have added to your tree.
Well, I am pleased to say that you can do that with this program.
Add media
I have said that you can create colorful charts, reports, and books with this program. One of the ways that you can do that is by adding pictures of your relatives.
This is great because you can put a face to the person that you are researching.
This can also be beneficial when you are sharing your family history with either relatives and friends. By seeing pictures they can see who you are talking about.
It’s just a way of making a connection!
There is even a built-in Photo Darkroom that you can use where you can restore old family photographs that you have scanned in. With a few clicks, you can brighten up those faded photos.
You can also add scans of documents, letters, wills, etc. These scans can be attached to whichever ancestor that they refer to.
So, whatever you have discovered for a particular member of your family tree you can easily upload it to this program.
Searching for anyone in your tree is easy. You just enter their name and then all of their details will appear. With also all of the scans that you have uploaded for that person.
Maps
When adding information for your ancestors you will be adding places of interest as well. These can be where they were born, where they lived, where they married, and where they died.
All of these places can be viewed on a map. This is great as rather than just having this information presented to you in text form you have a visual representation of your ancestors’ lives.
You are even able to print these maps and also add them to your family history book as well.
There are three different views that you can select from. They are aerial, satellite, or street-level views.
The street-level view is particularly of interest with this program you can view your ancestors’ house as it is today, (if it is still standing of course).
I have mentioned that you can add places where your ancestors once lived. And that’s another great thing about this program as you can create migration maps.
With these maps, you can build up a picture of your ancestors’ lives as they move around the country or even the world.
FamilySync and the Sync Weather Report
You want to be able to work on your family tree when you are out and about don’t you? Well with the FamilySync feature you can do exactly that.
If you are familiar with Family Tree Maker then you may have heard about a similar feature called TreeSync. The FamilySync feature is a replacement and is in some ways an improvement.
With this feature, you can have your tree on several computers, (TreeSync only allowed you to have one tree synced to Ancestry).
That way you are not tied down to a particular place, i.e. if you are working at your parent’s house on your family tree then you can sync what you have added and that new information will appear in your tree at home.
Of course, there will be an occasion where there may be an issue when syncing your tree. And that is why Family Tree Maker has come up with the Sync Weather Report.
This ‘weather report‘ as they called it tells you whether syncing may be dangerous or caution is advised when doing this process. If everything is ok then a green window will appear.
Connecting to Genealogy Search Websites
Every family history software program these days will give you the ability to connect with a genealogy search site.
And that’s no different with Family Tree Maker as you will be linked to both FamilySearch (a free site), and Ancestry (a paid subscription site).
Connecting with both of these is a great way for you to build your family tree. The reason is that as you add ancestors and their information to your tree then hints will appear.
These ‘hints‘ as they are called will show you records that may contain your ancestor and information about them.
They are called hints because given the information that you have put into your tree it is probable that the search site’s records match up to that information and have records for your ancestor.
Connecting to FamilySearch is great because they have millions of genealogical records that you can freely access. It is the world’s largest free genealogy site.
On the flipside is Ancestry where you will need to pay a subscription to access the records. You can still see that there are records there it’s just that you need to hand over your money to see the record.
Ancestry may not appeal to you in that regard but let me tell you that with this site there are billions of records.
So, the chances of finding your ancestor on this site are far greater than FamilySearch.
It’s worth considering anyway.
Pros & Cons
Pros
✔ Stunning user interface that makes it easy to use
✔ Connects to FamilySearch (FREE) and Ancestry (PAID)
✔ Sync trees to web
✔ Get web hints
✔ Same-sex relationships
Cons
❌ No connection to other genealogy search sites
My Final Thoughts
Family Tree Maker is a very popular choice for many family historians. As I mentioned in this review it is the program that I used to extensively build my family tree.
Even though Ancestry no longer develops this program the new developers Mackiev have done an excellent job of retaining its qualities and also adding tools and features that improve it.
I look forward to seeing what other improvements that they will make.
You can decide whether you want to purchase a Single User or Family Package.
The former will allow you to install the program onto at most two computers, whereas the latter allows you to install it onto up to three computers.
Do I recommend it?
Yes, I do recommend Family Tree Maker 2017. It is an easy program to use that will help you to immediately build your family tree.
What do you think?
If you decide to buy this software program then please come back and let me know what you think of it. I would love to hear how it is working for you.
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Thank You and Please Leave A Comment
I hope you enjoyed this Family Tree Maker 2017 review and how it can help you. If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.
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I had a version of Family Tree Maker years ago and at some point, needed to upgrade (new PC? I forget). I am not sure now why I wasn’t able to get “Family Tree MAKER” and ended up with Family Tree HERITAGE. While similar, the old program could spot duplicate people for me, and the merging was easy. It also had a variety of report types and layouts (including fan) that I could print or save. The Family Tree HERITAGE program has fewer options and can’t seem to create PDFs and certainly no Word docs. It sends me to download a PDF viewer but doesn’t follow through. Stuck in a loop. Its ancestral charts are straight text without even bold or italic and could only be viewed on a wide screen. Some people *like* to be syncing to an online tree (e.g. Ancestry), but I prefer to work on my tree locally only and research Ancestry from outside the program. If I download Family Tree Maker 2017, assuming it can import my file in GED, is synching to Ancestry optional? And do they allow a variety of reports to be saved and printed, using Word, RTF, and PDF?
Thanks.
Hi Sue,
Thanks for the query. You don’t have to sync with Ancestry. I use a software program independently of Ancestry. I use their records but don’t have a tree on their site. I like to keep my tee on my computer.
I can see that you can create RTF and PDF reports, but not Word.
Hope this helps.
I downloaded my FAMILY TREE MAKER 2017 but I cannot open it. Please help me. Sincerely, Marlou Watson. Email – mrselvis@aol.com.
Hi Marlou,
What seems to be happening exactly?
You could try the Family Tree Maker Support Center
I purchased Family Tree Maker 2017 last year. Is it possible to get instruction book?
Hi Rita, thanks for the query.
I found on the Mackiev site, (developers of FTM), that they have a Companion Guide, but that is for the 2019 edition.
I did find this Companion Guide for Family Tree Maker as a PDF file, but it predates the 2017. It may help though.
You could contact Mackiev Technical Support and they can direct you.
Hope this helps and please let me know how you go.
Kind regards,
Owain
Thanks for the review. This is a great program.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you like the program.
hello, we got a new windows 10 set up in our office and my profile didn’t come over from the old computer. I don’t know how to access family tree maker where I had my tree. I don’t even know the edition I had. im sure it was an old one. where can I go to at least access my tree, even if I have to reset my password. I don’t remember paying for family tree maker. thanks for your help
dawn
Hi Dawn,
Sorry to hear that. Best option would be to contact .
Hope this helps and please let me know how you get on.
Kind regards,
Owain
Hallo
I have just a major Crash and have lost my copy of Family Tree Maker I had 2017 can you tell me how to get it back my email is ianthomson426@btinternet.com
Hi Ian,
Sorry to hear. At least it wasn’t your FTM genealogy files, that would be a pain to restore them.
To restore FTM 2017 head on over to the FTM 2017 Replacement Center.
Just fill in your details and someone from Mackiev will get in touch with you.
I wish you all the best.
P.S. I have emailed you these details as well.
Owain
Question: can I download from Ancestry without uploading my older research back to them?
Hi Linda, this Uploading and Downloading Trees article may be of help to you.
Please let me know how you get on.
Kind regards,
Owain
I have had The Family Tree Maker 7.0 for years. My daughter surprised me and purchased The Family Tree Maker 2017. She transferred all my data to it. It omitted the places of burial. How do I find that info on this new version. Also is there an instruction book?
Hi Reba,
Thanks for dropping by. You can add burial information. Please check out this link that will show you how to:
Cemetery report using the Historic Place Name feature
Here’s the Companion Guide.
Hope this helps and all the best .
Owain
After a long googling, I am now leaning towards Family Tree Maker for Mac. Your article did an excellent write-up on this app. I do have one question. FamilySync. Wife and I have our laptops. Obviously, we have a different lineage. Can we have this software installed on both laptops (MacBook Pro), and when I input my lineage, it will sync with wife’s? Likewise, when wife input her lineage, it will sync to my laptop?
Hi there,
Thank you for enjoying my review. I’ve just looked into your query and I think you shouldn’t have a problem synching both trees. I can see that that is possible with FTM 2014 and I shouldn’t think that it will be an issue with FTM 2017.
But to make sure you could contact Software Mackiev with this query.
There is the Single User package where you can install the software on two computers, but this is just licensed for one person.
There is though the Family Pack that can be installed on up to 3 computers and can be used by the whole household.
I’ll have to update my review with this information, so thanks for your query.
Hope that I have helped you. Please let me know how you get on.
All the best,
Owain
When you say FTM is synced to Ancestry (to which I belong, with 3 trees):
1. Is it bidirectional, so that you can rapidly or instantly transfer all the Ancestry data to FTM?
2. When you search through Ancestry, is it a smooth transition of data to FTM?
3. Are the FTM charts adjustable as far as vertical top down, bottom up, horizontal, etc?
thanks
Hi Joel, thank you for your queries.
1. With the FamilySync feature you can easily transfer data between the two.
2. When I’ve used FTM I have been able to effortlessly search through Ancestry.
3. If you’re referring to how many generations you can have in the chart then yes you can set these parameters.
Hope I’ve answered your questions.
Hi Owain, thank you for the review. This is something that I want to introduce my sister to. She has been working on a family tree for a long time now and I think it’s time it was done electronically. She is going to love the user-friendly interface.
All the best,
Brian
You’re welcome Brian. When I was very new to genealogy I got right into it with Family Tree Maker. The simple and easy to use interface just make it so much smoother for me to get into this new hobby for me.
Hi Owain, This is really the best Genealogy Guide I have ever seen. You have done an amazing job. I have quite a number of friends who are busy with their research and I will be recommending your site to them. Have also shared it with Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc. So worthwhile. Best wishes. Jill
Thanks Jill. That is very kind of you for sharing my site with your friends. There is plenty of helpful guides and tips here, as well as product reviews. I’ve also recently added a FREE section where I have compiled all of my posts concerning free resources and tools. I’m sure that they’ll love that.
Definitely an interesting product, didn’t even know that these programs could do so much. I like how they can connect to search sites such as Ancestry. That will surely help me even more with building my tree.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes definitely Savita. Connecting to sites such as FamilySearch and Ancestry is great as you can find records concerning your ancestors. Also, you do not have to have two separate windows open as you can work on your tree and search for records all in the one window.
This looks like a good start for anyone who wants to build a family tree. I know that there are many people who have their family genealogy elude them, due to families losing touch. This software looks like a good one to try.
Yep glad you agree Sean. It is a great program to start your genealogy journey. It is the program that I used when I first started to trace my family history and I still use it 🙂
Thanks for the well-detailed review.
Just wondering though where in the world can this be used. Is it solely for the US? Or is it worldwide?
I am convinced that this program is a good choice for me.
Thank you again.
Hi Stefan,
Sorry for not adding that in my review. As it is a download it can be used anywhere in the world.
All the best with your genealogy research.