Choosing the Right Genealogy Program for You

If you are new to genealogy or have been in the business for a long time at some point you will eventually want to buy one of the genealogy software programs that are available for storing all your genealogy information that you have gathered. Having a genealogy program can and will make it easy to enter all of your information where you can keep track of it and you can even put it in a variety of formats. A genealogy program will make sharing your research much easier, you can print a family group sheet or create and send a GEDCOM file to another researcher in minutes.

There are dozens of genealogy programs available to choose from but choosing the right one for you can be frustrating. All genealogy programs offer such a wide variety of options including different types of charts that you can work with, the way they can format your data, the way they help you organize your information and how they can store extra information like scanned photos and documents.

They can even help you stay on track by using a to-do list as you work on each families data or when you are looking for something in particular it will do the work for you. No more sifting through piles of papers.

There is one thing that all genealogy programs have in common and that is letting you enter your family information and being able to view it in several different formats. But the hardest thing is which one to choose. You can go to the library or bookstore and read many of the books that have been published about selecting a genealogy program but basically comes down to what you want to work with and how much you want to spend for a software program. Genealogy programs can run from free to $100, beware that the free programs won't let you have many options or space.

The best way for you to choose the right genealogy program is to make a list of the things you would like to be able to do and then try the programs that are the closest to your needs. This works for new genealogist or if you need a replacement program. Most of the genealogy software companies offer a free or trial version of their programs.

If you are having a hard time making up your mind what you should put on your list, here is some information that will help you.

1. Think of all your genealogy information that you have collected, what do you want to do with it? Here are some things that genealogist have told me when I was just starting out researching my family and wanted a genealogy program. Some just wanted to be able to store names, dates and events, others wanted more like, being able to store photos, audio and video, to be able to create a family Web page or to be able to print out charts.

2. If you are looking for a genealogy program that you can share your information with other researchers then the major ones offer this. You can upload your family tree from your computer by selecting the format you want and some also offer Web page designs.

3. When you are all done tracing your family tree or working on someone else's, do you want to be able to make a book with all the information you have gathered? There are only certain ones that will let you do this.

4. Do you want to be able to print out reports and charts and do you have any certain ones in mind?

5. How do you want to be able to enter your information?

6. What about another researchers sending you a GEDCOM file, do you want to be able to read it in the software program you choose?

7. When you are done researching do you want to donate your research to a research facility like the LDS church? Certain research facilities only support certain genealogy programs.

Time is also a factor when it comes to purchasing a genealogy program. Do you have the time to learn everything that it includes; do you like to read? If you don't like instructional manuals then you might want to go with the simpler program that doesn't have all the fancy features so it is easier to learn.

Trying out several of the genealogy software programs is basically the only way you will be able to tell if you like it or not. Go a head and download one of the free demos and try it. If you don't' like it you can always uninstall the program and try another one. You can also ask around to some of your genealogy buddies and see what they like and dislike about certain programs. The old saying is "you will never know if you like it until you try it."