Family tree software: FAQs
What does family tree software do?
You can share your tree with others or even print it out
Essentially family tree (or genealogy) software is a way of organising the information you hold about your ancestors and presenting it in a chart form commonly known as a family tree. You can then share your tree with others or even print it out.
Will family tree software help me to trace my ancestors?
The software itself is really just a database for storing and presenting the information you’ve gathered yourself. However, many software packages and websites also provide links and subscriptions to information sources such as censuses and records of births, deaths and marriages. Websites like Genesreunited also allow you to get in touch with distant relatives and pool information on your shared ancestors.
Can the software check that the information I put in my tree is accurate?
The short answer is no. However, many packages let you notate where sources come from. However, they won’t check sources for you.
Do I have to have the same software as the people I want to share my tree with?
You’ll be able to share your tree with others regardless of what software you’re using provided you save your data as a GEDCOM file. This is a commonly used genealogy file format.