AN ELEVEN (11) YEAR PREVIOUSLY SATISFIED USER'S REVIEW OF:
Page updated 07/24/08
Return visitors will notice this page has been "cleaned-up" and no longer has any of the comments and links confirming unusable FTM 2008 from the original public beta thru the current version 17.0.0.559.
I and others continue working with a Family Tree Maker development manager whose department reviews our feedback and works toward resolving faults of and problematic experiences with FTM 2008. I am now reviewing, prior to public issue, FTM 2008 Patch 3 RC3, (SP3v3 version 17.0.0.948) and using this page to post my comments.
SP3 v17.0.0.965 was released to the public May 1. There are improvements but, for what I've seen in the test versions and my limited use of v17.0.0.965, a lot more must be accomplished before FTM 2008 equals v16 (FTM 2007). I am now updating my Problems page. One user emailed me that when he upgraded from SP2 (.559) his Vista OS computer crashes but his XP OS laptop upgraded OK.
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This page continues to list most, but not all, problems or failures and missing features of previous FTM versions experienced in the past number of weeks using FTM 2008 versions 17.0.0.948 through 17.0.0.965 populated with small (2,523 individuals) and large (90,927 individuals) files with no media from FTM v16.0.350 GEDCOMs. As mentioned above, all forthcoming resolutions, as well as new problems, will be added to this page as they are confirmed. I invite your feedback regarding your experienced problems and/or resolutions to my problems. |
I recommend you leave comments, both good and bad, concerning the public version of FTM 2008 SP3, version 17.0.0.965. "ENHANCEMENTS" are listed below with the results of my user experiences prior to public release. TNG's more "promotional" accounting of the public SP3 can be accessed at the blog. |
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The following fixes and enhancements are contained in FTM 2008 Patch 3 RC3 (SP3v3 version 17.0.0.948) Problematic items below are in red and detailed with all the remaining problems n the Experienced FTM 2008 Problems page.
Features added since last patch:
Outline Descendant report has Items to Include options Automatic simple backup at shutdown Major enhancements to performance and memory usage for large files - (Does not improve import time or correct date data loss) Ability to copy source-citation at creation for pasting Ability to add nodes in charts to a Marked Node category and modify box settings for these nodes Preparer Information in the footer for charts Options to include spouses and children in filtering and exporting of people Ability to turn off place authority searching when entering place names
Enhancements and Bug Fixes since last patch:
Find & Replace
Clicking stop before results are found messes up what gets found and results in a crash
Web Search/Merge
Crash when changing a place name in web search and then merging Clicking on Create Page Archive before Web Search is completely loaded crashes FTM Source not added to sex fact if default merge settings were changed Added drop-down to select a different source title when editing source
File Merge
Marriage fact of preferred spouse was shown for all spouses in the host file Improved people matching - (Does not improve matching when merging a v16 GEDCOM with exactly the same data as the .ftm file made from the GEDCOM. In addition, the merge time is now much longer - more than 10X!) File merge creates multiple relationships for the same person - (Duplication has been corrected but approximately 22% of identical persons are now added as "NEW" - 529 out of 2460 in test merge!
Copy/Paste Sources
Pasting Link/Copy to a source causes problems with the reference note
Publishing Charts
Made default settings more like FTM 16 default settings. Changes made in Box, Border, and Line Options don't force a chart reload unless necessary. Export to image decreases the resolution (DPI) of the image if the image is very large. Charting uses less memory. Charting draws faster. Saved chart dates and times work for international dates. The User Interface recognizes metric regions and sizes are shown in centimeters or millimeters for Metric regions. Improved drawing and scaling of the "Advanced" layout for Standard Pedigree charts in Poster layout. Background colors stay in synchronization which background images changes and vice-versa. Facts that are description centric, such as AKA, now default to options that are meaningful. Miscellaneous UI changes such as hiding the "Advanced" button when in book layout or not in Standard Pedigree charts. Improved loading time for Box, Border, and Line Options dialog, Fonts Dialog, and Page Setup. Improved pedigree line drawing for special conditions such as parent node smaller than child node in a Standard Pedigree. Improved the restoring of node sizes on reload or opening a saved chart. File dialog restores to last directory used. Quick Print Dialog did not have the correct values in the header control. Selected nodes in charts have "more emphasis" to show that they are selected. Improved displaying of all Shared Facts.
Publishing Reports
RTF output is not easily editable Photo album excludes non-image media items. Title includes primary person automatically for some reports Ahnentafel Report - blank lines between end notes Ahnentafel Report - disappears when checking Use short biographies Ahnentafel report - name and sex fact notes don't display export to RTF, data fields are underlined Individual Report - Name options don't apply to all names Outline Descendant Report - export to RTF includes weird characters Outline Descendant Report - Items to include, include blank facts not working Outline Descendant Report - name of focus person not in title Place Usage Report - missing fact labels Register Report - Also Known As not displaying correctly Register Report - names in all caps Register Report - not seeing Name fact note Register Report and Ahnentafel Report - information repeating Report Titles not updating
Other bug fixes:
People filter updated to be more correct Crash after compact then backing up fixed Gedcom export was doing certain fact types (description only, etc.) Export of living people no longer uses Living as their name. It keeps the name but hides all other facts. "Approximately" or "Approx." should be recognized as "Abt. for dates Britain resolve place name selection of United Kingdom clears field If the history is empty it shows the same names as index Program crashes when you delete a person from the History panel Edit source dialog/Reference note doesn't display citation text when is should |
