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Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) Reviews

 
Please note that Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) has been discontinued and is no longer available. You can read our old review of Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) below, or check out the rest of the Genealogy Software we've reviewed.

Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) image

 
Editor's Overall Rating:
Average User Rating:
(based on 19 reviews)

Category: Genealogy Software (AKA Family Tree Software)



Editor's Review Costs & Features Videos User Reviews
 
Average User Rating:
(1.3 Stars) based on 19 reviews


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Average User Star Ratings:

Features:
Photo and File Management:
Web Integration:
Ease of Use:
Ease of Installation:
Customer Support:
Value for Money:
Overall Star Rating:

Users' Overall Ratings Distribution:

5 Stars
0 Reviews
4 Stars
0 Reviews
3 Stars
1 Review
2 Stars
3 Reviews
1 Star
15 Reviews

Only 5% of Users Recommend it



19 REVIEWS AVAILABLE
PAGE 1: Displaying Reviews 1 - 10 of 19
No longer #1
08 December 2015
Reviewer: Sue From Oregon from Near Portland, OR

104 of 213 people found this review helpful

An official email from Ancestry has notified the users of FamilyTreeMaker of their decision to "stop selling FTM as of Dec 31, 2015". All features of their software will continue to function until 1 Jan 2017 to sync to Ancestry trees online; customer care will also go away for FTM on same date.
More info on Ancestry blog: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/12/08/ancestry-to-retire-family-tree-maker-software/

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SOFTWARE if your main objective is to research online in order to sync w. FTM.

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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FTM 2014 wins title of Most Frustrating Software.
01 November 2015
Reviewer: Frustrated from Westbank, BC Canada

153 of 266 people found this review helpful

Good Points: Lot of information to find people to add to online tree. Ease of copying source information to online tree. Great source of photos online. Like synching option (when I can open FTM). Good Reports.

Cons: I have used FTM for several years. I can't open the 2014 FTM program (Win 8) to access database. I followed the instructions on how to reset FTM - works some times, other times, does not open.

Even if closed properly, still comes up with error message: FTM did not close properly. Even when it does open, it frequently freezes.

Useless piece of Software. I have purchased Legacy 8 - much better.

Good bye FTM. Don't have a nice day.

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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Looses connections to notes
23 April 2015
Reviewer: Ghsyms from Burlington, Ontario, Canada

357 of 466 people found this review helpful

I have been using Family Tree Maker for years up to the 2014, and I love the ease of writing books because it generates the table of contents, the place usage and the index, and it automatically resizes photos for 1 to 25 per page and multiple pages if necessary. You simply create an outline of the charts, reports and photo albums you want, and the program automatically includes changes and generates a PDF file of the book contents.
However, I am very disappointed with its losing connections to data, and its impossible to tell when and where these errors occur. It often generates a second unknown spouse married on the same date with the same ID number as the real spouse.
A year ago when I last merged files, it lost all notes in the source file. It sometimes loses notes for random people and the note portion of sources, so it does not keeping the info I have entered.
Web Integration is discounted because 2 relatives in different cities can NOT make changes on their FTM and have it appear of the other person's FTM. They have to... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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Worthless Software
31 December 2014
Reviewer: Bob Jones from Charleston, SC

122 of 204 people found this review helpful

One need only note the variance between the "experts" review (5 stars) vs. every single other person who actually purchased and tried to use the software (1 star). Useless software, needs "patch" after "patch" from the 3rd party software company that manages this for Ancestry.com. They have to make changes to your computer to try to get the software to work, that will screw up your computer. Only a fool would purchase this junk.

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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Ancestry needs to fix the raft of problems!
08 October 2014
Reviewer: Aussie Possum from Australia

155 of 304 people found this review helpful

Having started with 2009, then 2012 I purchased an upgrade for 2012. The troubles started.. computer crashes, media files which don't load but provide some fancy icon which when clicked brings up an endless list of censuses not identifiable. On purchasing new laptop a few months later, purchased Treemaker 2014. Wouldn't load properly , screen resolution issues, missing font and on accessing back up file from 2012 indicated there was a corrupt file. No choice it seems but to lose the tree! After years of work am less than impressed. On contacting ancestry, buck passing at the best... and suggestions to uninstall and re-install, even a request to access my laptop remotely? ( I DONT THINK SO???) Request a refund.. response is all they can do is pass on sentiments and provide hollow apologies. I have advised them of the several hundred dissatisfied customers who have posted one star ratings and as they are now aware of the issues ( may or may not have been before but am sure I am not the only person to lodge a complaint with them) , unless they can feed back to me within the week will be taking this... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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FTM 2014 unstable and not suitable for sale to the public
18 September 2014
Reviewer: Alan from USA

170 of 316 people found this review helpful

A rating of 1 is an overstatement. I want to spend my time recording family history. Instead it is spent recovering from crashes that corrupt the database. I have used FTM 2009 and earlier versions for many years without issue. FTM 2014 is unstable and not suitable for sale to the public.

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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Downloaded software serial number is only good for two weeks
24 August 2014
Reviewer: Bad Software from San Francisco, CA, USA

176 of 304 people found this review helpful

Had trouble with FTM 2014 so un-installed and tried to re-install but got a 'serial number not found' error. Called Ancestry support and was told the serial number from their third party vendor is only good for two weeks so I can't install since I purchased a year ago. I originally purchased from the Ancestry store which directed me to the 3rd party web site.

I have never heard of software only being good for two weeks. The customer service agent kept saying the first screen stated this but her saying it doesn't make it so. I started ordering again to see the first screen and there is nothing about the serial number only being good for two weeks. It only states you must download the software within 30 days. What a rip-off company since they are not willing to make it right.

Did they not think people would have computer problems?

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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FTM 16 was a better product than 2011 and later versions
26 July 2014
Reviewer: Old Geezer from MIddletown, MD

164 of 288 people found this review helpful

I purchased my first FTM program before 2005, and thought that it handled family data quite well. As the versions were updated, I found that version 16 with WIN XP did just about everything that one could ask for a genealogy program. I actually wrote to the folks at FTM and said that they had a real nice product, and I would continue to support them by buying the entire set of data they had for sale. At about $300/year, I was pretty happy. Then FTM decided to introduce their latest program that was compatible with WIN 7 and that made my FTM 16 slightly incompatible, but usable. I commented and asked that maybe the program was becoming too sophisticated for an older person (me) and that they could offer a version that worked like FTM 16 - no frills, but very user friendly. Sorry, but no was the answer. So, I continued to buy each new version, hoping that sooner or later, they would offer a more user friendly product. Now, I have purchased FTM 2011, 2012, and 2013 and I just keep getting more and more confused with the windows that tell me a lot, but I have... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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This software went from good > bad > worse > horrible.
18 June 2014
Reviewer: Greybear from Herkimer, NY

146 of 307 people found this review helpful

I've used Family Treemaker sine 1998 when it was by Broderbund. Ancestry has done nothing but destroy what was a very good, easy to use program. Today I found out that I can't access my Family Treemaker 2012 because Ancestry.com is having problems. Apparently, my info isn't stored on my computer but on Ancestry's servers. They say they're working to resolve the problem but in the meantime I can't even look at my data.

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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Does not upload old version files correctly
06 May 2014
Reviewer: John from Dayton, OH

177 of 346 people found this review helpful

I originally had Family Tree Maker 2006. I got a new computer with WIndows 7. Every time I opened TFM it said there are known compatibility problems with this software. I could go ahead an open it and it seemed to work fine. But I decided to update to FTM 2014. I uploaded the old file to the new version. Then I started checking things and I found that none of the facts behind people (wills, census data, misc data that I noted about them) etc was there. I checked around in the program and finally found an area that seems to have all of the facts in one place, but they are not associated with any specific individual. I contacted Ancestry.com and got this message:

When transferring files from older versions of the program to the newest version, not all formatting will stay the same. This is probably why your notes ended up in the Sources tab and did not stay attached to the people they were tied to in Family Tree Maker 2006. Unfortunately, there is no tool built into the Family Tree Maker 2014 program to tie these notes to... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Family Tree Maker (by Ancestry.com) to a friend.



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