Family Tree Checker

25/11/2025

RootsMagic 11 $20 upgrade offer is back.

Over the past 10 years, RootsMagic has proved to be a leading light in the genealogy software market and this latest version continues the trend.

05/02/2025

RootsTech is back • 6–8 March 2025 • Online access is free • Register at the link below

A family history conference. An on-demand learning library. A way to grow closer to the people, places, and stories that matter most. RootsTech is all that and so much more. Join us as we celebrate together the joy of connection.

13/09/2024

Here are a few red flags that you can look out for to prevent yourself from getting involved with the wrong research!

13/02/2024

Have never done - looks interesting

Claim Your Free Registration to the RootsTech 2024 Online Event!

17/12/2023

Do you know where your tree backup is?

RootsMagic is having a sale through 12/23. $25 for the latest version or $20 for an upgrade.

It syncs with Ancestry (and FamilySearch) and preserves your media files, attached documents, etc. onto your computer. It has a slew of useful tools (at no extra charge) like a tree checker and various reports and charts. It also consolidates hints from Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, and FindMyPast into one spot for you to examine (if you have accounts there).

For MyHeritage, there are some other alternatives. There is their free Family Tree Builder software and their $5/month cloud backup service.

14/12/2023

Family Tree Magazine's annual 'Best of' lists are out. There's something in there for everyone. The following three links take you to their Best Genealogy Websites, Best State Websites, and Best Websites for Beginners. Maybe you'll discover a new site for your research!
https://familytreemagazine.com/best-genealogy-websites/
https://familytreemagazine.com/best-state-genealogy-websites/
https://familytreemagazine.com/websites/25-best-genealogy-websites-for-beginners/

With so many genealogy websites available for your family history quest, how do you know which sites are the best? Leave it to our genealogy experts!

13/04/2023

I see the topic of what resolution to scan photos at come up quite frequently.

Too much resolution, and you've got crazy large files; Too little, and the quality of the result is compromised.

It's complicated, but can be distilled down to a few basic guidelines. One key question is are you planning to enlarge the photo or not? And, if so, by how much?

Here are two excellent, and brief, articles on how to decide.

https://familytreemagazine.com/photos/resolution-rules-of-thumb-for-scanning-old-family-photos-and-documents/

https://www.scantips.com/basics08.html

22/03/2023

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT 📣 400,000 burial records, dating from 1840 to 1937, are now digitally searchable through our new Burial and Vital Records database!

SEARCH NOW: https://bit.ly/burial-records-gw

Anyone, anywhere, can now search Green-Wood records by name, lot, place of birth, cause of death, undertaker, and more. It's a fascinating look at history, accessible right at your fingertips. The database is the result of a massive undertaking to transcribe and digitize a series of sixty handwritten ledgers from the Cemetery archives known as the Burial Registry.

It's the first project of its kind to make detailed, historic cemetery records completely searchable and free to the public. This project was made possible through generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

01/03/2023

FamilyTreeChecker.com has been updated to prevent certain crashes and eliminate several spurious warnings.

03/10/2022

FamilyTreeChecker.com has been updated to prevent crashing when faced with certain GEDCOM file corruptions (e.g., person missing a name, event missing an event type). Also, all accented characters are now accepted without generating warnings about invalid characters.

15/08/2022

https://familytreemagazine.com/research/using-reverse-genealogy-to-overcome-brick-walls/?fbclid=IwAR1oyKo69EfMJ9BatHO0vtKHLTJib01rxejR3Lel2YnLCkAPrboz79mFVEg

Reverse genealogy is a great technique for dealing with a brick wall. Learn how working backward in census records helped solve a mystery.

06/07/2022

A couple of good refreshers on verifying hints -

o https://familytreemagazine.com/strategies/fact-check-family-trees/

o https://familytreemagazine.com/research/online-family-tree-hints/

Determine if the information you find in online family trees (such as those at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and MyHeritage) is accurate.