Can I import little twig Gedcom into an existing Legacy tree?
I'm wanting to switch from Family Tree Maker 2014 to Legacy and at some point I need to cut off building my family tree on Ancestry.com and syncing it to FTM 2014 (to pull in the media). I plan to export from FTM 2014 into Legacy (to pull in the media).
I am almost done with the direct line ancestors (I also record their siblings) through the early to mid-1800's. (comparing entries with source documents and excellent family research done by cousins) I'm not adding the direct line ancestors from the 1700's yet (even though I can "see" them at Ancestry.com) because of lack of documentation and conflicting research.
Can I work on the descendant line for my great-great-great-great aunts and uncles separately at Ancestry.com and then export that particular little Gedcom to Legacy (via FTM 2014 to retain media) and attach it without problem?
That way I could have the best of all worlds. Doing research and documentation in Legacy but still being able to use what ancestry has to offer for distant cousins
TIA, Leslie
Leslie McGuire good question - I don't import GEDCOMs but am hoping that one of the 753 other members can give you an assist. How about it - GEDCOM imports anyone?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can import a GEDCOM into your existing Legacy family tree. Im not sure on the specifics right now sine I am not in front of my computer. I will update this post with more information as soon as I get home.
ReplyDeleteYes you can import Gedcoms. Just go to File -> Import and follow the instructions. You can import a series of "twigs" and link them to other twigs, branches and trunks within Legacy as required. If the twigs overlap, you can also merge individuals to eliminate duplications and keep the various bits of data intact. I think you'll find that Legacy is very adaptable.
ReplyDeleteJust knew we could count on our members - thanks Shannon Thomas and Ed Allard
ReplyDeleteThanks Ed Allard! The only other step I would add is to make sure you view the GEDCOM before you import it in to your existing tree to make sure it looks right.
ReplyDeleteTo add to that Shannon Thomas, if you are importing from another software for the first time, it might be wise to import into a new blank "test" file first and see what the result looks like. There is the potential that not all features will translate exactly as you expect even if the Gedcom looks OK. Once you understand what does and doesn't work (trial and error - going back to your old software and re-exporting your gedcom with different settings and importing into another test file), then you can dump your test file(s) and safely import directly into your main Legacy file. You still might have some cleanup to do in Legacy, but you should then know where to look.
ReplyDeleteIf you run into trouble, ask here. People can walk you through with screen shots, etc. and show you the way.
ReplyDeleteLeslie McGuire I came from FTM. It was so long ago...I'm trying to remember what I did...lol. I think when I imported my FTM GEDCOM everything looked great except for a few events that placed some information into the description field. I think I have most of them cleaned up now but I do come across one once in a while. My media did not come with my import but if I remember correctly it was because I didn't like the FTM named the media so I ended up going with a different system. I'm still linking old media files as I come across them but with my filing structure it is easy to find them when I need to.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Once I gain proficiency with Legacy will I find it to be fairly fast to build the twigs on my tree? I feel at the beginning I will be fairly slow.
ReplyDeleteIf you use Ancestry.com as a working research tree do you accept one hint at a time there, download the document to your hard drive and then put into Legacy? That would keep the two trees somewhat the same.
I only have 2 more direct ancestor lines to look over at Ancestry.com. Then I have to decide if I want to start with the cousins there or come over to Legacy at that point.
After you have used Legacy for a while you will be able to add your information quickly. I use to do one person at a time on Ancestry. I would add the shaky leaf to my Ancestry tree (I just use the default Ancestry citation when adding information to my tree), download the image to my computer, add the information to Legacy, and then create my citation. I found that doing it this way I was all over the place. Then I saw how Randy Seaver and Russ Worthington work on their Ancestry trees and have changed my process. Now I work on one data set at a time and I use the source clipboard to quickly add citations. Also, if I am working on information from Family Search I will create a search list from my Legacy tree and work with a certain group of people on one data set.
ReplyDeleteAs you get in to Legacy more feel free to ask us any questions. If I don't know the answer someone else will or we will try and figure it out.
I'd keep all gedcom imports small and maneagable. The advice here is good but watch out with gedcom imports. I tried a sample gedcom export from Legacy and imported that back into a blank Legacy file and even THAT was not error free! Years ago I made the mistake of importing a large gedcom into my database and I'm STILL cleaning up that mess!
ReplyDelete