Review by Patricia Ferdig

I’m a long-time fan of Ancestry.com and their products, and this was not a let down. They have an extensive depth to their products, and allow you to create a wonderful history that you can easily share with others. This is not something that you need to buy ever year, even though they put one out every year. The updates they have done since last year’s release aren’t that substantial that it warrants paying the money for. But every other year or few years, yes. Better editing and searching capabilities, and general fine-tuning make it worth it at that point.

If you’re not familiar with the products, FTM offers your standard build-a-tree and supplies the capability to enter in a large amount of data. It can handle upwards of 2,500 names, allows for records and pictures to be associated with one or several people, and even states the relation between you and the person you are looking at or editing. You can sync the software and the online information easily, but I prefer to leave my separate. I use the free trial that comes with the software to gather as much data as I can. If I even smell something that might be a hint, I grab it up. Once my time is over, I use it to sort through things. If I come across something I need to investigate further, I purchase individual records where I can, or make note of it for the next time I buy it.

If you are looking to get into genealogy, this is a great way to get started. I highly recommend any of the FTM products. They have great support, the members are friendly, and you’ll have cousins coming out of the woodwork!