The developers snuck a new feature into Legacy while I wasn't looking. This is something the beta testers have had for some time. They probably knew it was in the current update and are probably laughing at me right now. Yesterday someone emailed in a request for the very same feature so I sent an email to the developers asking them if they planned to release this in an update. Their response, "We already have." So what we have is an "Easter Egg." So what is the new feature? It is called the Realtime Hint Processing Monitor.

Before I show you what this is, you need to make sure that you have Hinting turned on.  Go to Options > Customize > View > Option 8.13 and select your preferences. Now open the Family View. At the bottom on the screen you will see your three Quick Bookmarks. Notice that they have numbers in front of them. It is the Number 1 that you need to be focusing on. 

(click image to enlarge)

Now double click that number 1 and this is what will pop up:

(click image to enlarge) 

Close - Closes the monitor window
Stop Hints - Turns off the background hint timer, thus stopping the processing of pending hints
Restart Hints - Restarts the background hints
Start Over - Erases all the current hints in the Hint file and starts over from scratch, adding individuals who are shown on the screen as you navigate through your family file
Refresh (the icon below Start Over) - Re-gathers all the hints currently in the Hint file

To make it official, we have now added an entry in the Help File explaining what the Process Monitor does but the feature itself is still a bit hidden which makes it fun. 

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG^® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.

We have another great new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) for you to download. It's mostly a maintenance update which provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. It does not yet resolve the known issue with mapping. Thank you for your patience with that and please watch for a future update with that resolution. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the May 21 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.

This webinar covers two powerful matching technologies from MyHeritage in depth. You'll understand how to best use them to benefit your research.

Join us and Shahar Bitton for the live webinar Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 2pm Eastern U.S. Register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day. When you join, if you receive a message that the webinar is full, you know we've reached the 1,000 limit, so we invite you to view the recording which should be published to the webinar archives within an hour or two of the event's conclusion. 

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

Not sure if you already registered?

Login to view your registration status for this webinar (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

Test Your Webinar Connection

To ensure that your webinar connection is ready to go, click here.

Can't make it to the live event?

No worries. Its recording will be available for a limited time. Webinar Subscribers have unlimited access to all webinar recordings for the duration of their membership.

About the presenter

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. Check at www.java.com.
6. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
7. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
8. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This Friday enjoy "West Florida Pre-1830: The History, the People and the Records" by Sharon Monson. If you're not a member, remember the webinar previews are always free.

West Florida Pre-1830: The History, the People and the Records

A small area of land possessed by several countries, West Florida encompassed parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Early records are plentiful.

About the Presenter

The recording of today's webinar, "The First 5 Things to Do with Your New Test Results” by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D. is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

View the Recording at FamilyTreeWebinars.com

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 27 minute recording of "The First 5 Things to Do with Your New Test Results” is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. Or watch it at your convenience with an annual or monthly webinar membership. 

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 705 classes, 942 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,133 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

The recording of Tuesday's webinar, "Developing Good Research Habits” by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/BCG for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

View the Recording at FamilyTreeWebinars.com

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 11 minute recording of "Developing Good Research Habits” is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. Or watch it at your convenience with an annual or monthly webinar membership. 

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 704 classes, 941 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,133 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

This just in from MyHeritage:

We are happy to release a new layer to your family history experience on MyHeritage: the Health Family Tree. This is a free feature, currently in beta mode and initially available to all MyHeritage users who have taken a MyHeritage DNA test or uploaded DNA data to MyHeritage, and who manage a family tree with at least 7 people in it. It will be made available later to many more users.

I haven't had time to explore it yet, but it sounds like something we could all use. Learn more about it in this article.

You've just received your test results, now what should you do? Together we'll examine some of the first things you should do with your new test results.

Join us and Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D. for the live webinar Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 2pm Eastern U.S. Register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day. When you join, if you receive a message that the webinar is full, you know we've reached the 1,000 limit, so we invite you to view the recording which should be published to the webinar archives within an hour or two of the event's conclusion. 

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

Not sure if you already registered?

Login to view your registration status for this webinar (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

Test Your Webinar Connection

To ensure that your webinar connection is ready to go, click here.

Can't make it to the live event?

No worries. Its recording will be available for a limited time. Webinar Subscribers have unlimited access to all webinar recordings for the duration of their membership.

About the presenter

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. Check at www.java.com.
6. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
7. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
8. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Tuesday's Tips provide brief how-to's to help you learn to use the Legacy Family Tree software with new tricks and techniques.

Ahnentafel Numbers (Beginner)

In a previous article, How to Create an Ahnentafel Report, I explained how to strip down an Ancestor Book Report to create a whole new report which is a great reference tool.  I spoke briefly about the Ahnentafel numbers that are in the Ancestor Book Report. The numbers preceding each ancestor's name follow a set pattern and they are easy to calculate. You will always be #1 in the report, your father will be #2, and your mother will be #3. You can look at anyone on the chart, no matter how far back in time, and calculate what their father and their mother's numbers will be. If you double the person's number you will get their father and if you double their number and add 1 you will get their mother. But what about calculating in reverse?

Someone sent me an email asking about these numbers. This person had numbers that are pretty large because his pedigree goes back many generations. The Ancestor Book Report/Ahnentafel Report does label the generations but just looking at the numbers doesn't tell you that path of the relationship, or do they?

If you have never visited Stephen P. Morse's Webpage you have been missing out. He has an eclectic collection of some of the most useful information/tools to help with your research. One of his tools is Decording Ahenentafel Numbers in One Step.

Here is a screenshot from my file:

(click image to enlarge)

If I run number 1299 through Steve's calculator I get:

Relationship: father's mother's father's father's father's mother's father's father's mother's mother

What fun! You can of course get a more detailed look at the path by using Legacy's Relationship Calculator which will be a focus of a future article. You can get a sneak peek by going to Tools > Relationship.

Find tech tips every day in the Facebook Legacy User Group. The group is free and is available to anyone with a Facebook account.

For video tech tips check out the Legacy Quick Tips page.  These short videos will make it easy for you to learn all sort of fun and interesting ways to look at your genealogy research.

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG^® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.

I am a big supporter of FamilySearch’s Family Tree. Yes, there are some inherent problems with a collaborative tree but I think the pros outweigh the cons. The biggest complaint researchers have is that other people can change data that they have submitted. There are a couple of things I want to say about that.

• All of your research should be on YOUR computer. You should not be using FamilySearch as your genealogy database program. I think it is a mistake to use FamilySearch that way. People can change what is on FamilySearch but no one can change what is on your personal computer. You can easily sync to FamilySearch using one of the authorized programs (I of course use Legacy) which gives you full control over what is uploaded and downloaded.
• They aren’t “your” ancestors. These ancestors belong to other people too. Here is a fun Descendants Calculator. I set it at 5 generations, 25 years per generation, and 4 for an average number of children (a very conservative number). This person would have 3,905 descendants.  I am sure more than one of these descendants is a genealogist.

Here are a few suggestions on how you can help make the Family Tree better:

If you don’t know what you are doing you can mess it up for everyone else  
This is my biggest pet peeve. People get excited and try to make changes to the Family Tree without taking the time to educate themselves on how everything works. Adding people, merging people, and deleting people affects EVERYONE who has those ancestors in their tree.  The very best training I have found is the Riverton FamilySearch Library Handouts (look for them under the Family Tree heading). There are 11 pdfs you can download to your computer to read and use as a reference. They include screenshots and Riverton updates them as needed. These are the handouts I use when I give a presentation on FamilySearch (with permission). 

Take the time to address the possible duplicates
A lot of people don’t address possible duplicates. They have FamilySearch ID (FSID) ABC-1234 in their tree and they only worry about updating this FSID. All of the programs that can sync will present you with a list of possible duplicates. If you are working directly on the FamilySearch website you will also be presented with a list of possible duplicates. The two mistakes you can make are not combining duplicates when you should and merging people haphazardly when you shouldn’t. If there is any question, don’t merge. Please see the Riverton Handouts for more information.

Please add your sources
Other researchers need to know where you got your information because if it conflicts with what they have and you don’t have a source, chances are they are going to update the person with their information knocking your data off. FamilySearch only allows you to "tag" sources to the vital events. I like to use the "Reason this information is correct" box for sources. I can copy and paste my source from Legacy into that box and it will show up with the event instead of at the bottom with the tagged sources. I think this make it easier to know which source goes with what.

Take advantage of the Discussions area
This is a great place to post your theories for other researchers to ponder and then add their thoughts.

Take advantage of the Notes area
This is where you can add information that won't fit in the Events area. You have the opportunity to add some explanatory notes and transcriptions.

Be amazed by the Memories tab
Distant relatives you have never met have photos that you don't have and you just might find them here. If the submitter hasn't given blanket permission to use the photo please don't forget to ask for their permission. If you have old photos I encourage you to upload them to FamilySearch. I put a copyright statement in the Description field that says the photo can be downloaded for personal use. If it will be used in any other way they need to get my permission first. Be aware that if you upload a photo you have given FamilySearch the right to use the photo as they see fit. All of this is explained HERE.

Make sure your email address/contact information is correct
Nothing is more frustrating to a researcher than not being able to contact a contributor.

If you use Legacy, here is the training information you need: Legacy FamilySearch Training 
If you use one of the other programs that can sync, check to see if they have specific training materials that address both how you use the Family Tree in general and how to use their program specifically to sync. 

Take the time to educate yourself on how FamilySearch's Family Tree works so you can help other researchers make it better for everyone. I am sure that you too will be one of those people who benefits.

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG^® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.