RootsMagic -- First to share with FamilySearch Family Tree

At RootsTech 2013, RootsMagic was handing out cards with a link to Beta version of their popular genealogy database program, with the important announcement, "The first and only software certified to share data with FamilySearch Family Tree." I got one of the cards and when I got home, I downloaded the updated version to have a look.

Yes, it is true. The program does connect to Family Tree. Not all of the connections are yet complete, such as the fact that it still does not synchronize sources, but this is a real connection. Some other software products have claimed to connect to the Family Tree but are still working through New.FamilySearch.org, not the program on FamilySearch.org. I would expect that this situation will change anytime, with more developers coming online during the next few days and weeks.

With this move, one of few obstacles to cutting off the connection between New.FamilySearch.org and the Family Search Family Tree will evaporate and we will be that much closer to solving the duplication and merging problems with FamilySearch Family Tree.

Here is the connection to the Beta program:

www.rootsmagic.com/tree

Of course it helps if you are already running Version 6 of Rootsmagic and it is not clear what happens if you have a previous version. I would expect that at some point, you will have to pay for the upgrade.

The first thing I noticed while checking out the connection of the new program was a discrepancy between the data in FamilySearch Family Tree and that in my program. When my paternal grandmother died, my grandfather remarried. My data shows the date of that second marriage, but on FamilySearch Family Tree, the notation is that the date pertains to his first wife. I did find multiple marriage dates in Family Search Family Tree for the second marriage, which I corrected, but the note in FamilySearch Family Tree still shows the date as pertaining to the first wife. Here is a screen shot to illustrate the problem:

You may have to click on the image to see the wording. I haven't figured out how to solve this discrepancy, if there is a solution.

So, the connection between RootsMagic and FamilySearch Family Tree may end up pointing out even more data problems that need to be resolved with FamilySearch Family Tree. I did verify that there was a connect between the two programs simply by making changes in FamilySearch Family Tree and seeing them appear in RootsMagic. We need a round of applause for Bruce Buzbee and his team for working through all the obstacles to linking the two programs. This is a great step forward and I would expect that others will shortly follow.