Family Tree Maker (TM) FAQs & Tips
Tips and answers to frequently asked questions about Broderbund's family tree maker genealogical program.

  1. Can I export just one line of descent from my file? 
  2. Why does FTM persist in indexing Uncle Fred by his middle name? 
  3. How can I import just the individuals I want from a WFT pedigree, without doing it one-by-one? 
  4. I'm entering a lot of data from one source. Is there any way to reduce the number of keystrokes to enter all those citations into FTM? 
  5. On my charts some individuals have either a [1] or [2] in front of their name.  What is the significance of those numbers? 
  6. How can I clear the "FamilyFinder" search file? 
  7. What are all those CTL+ALT+SHIFT thingies? 
  8. How can I find all the individuals who have (or don't have) More About Notes? 
  9. I have an error in my file. How can I find the individual causing the problem? 
  10. A person in my file is missing from the Index of Individuals page. 
  11. Why can't I change the format on the Kinship report when I use the Book function? 
  12. Why are some lines of descent not included in various reports? 
  13. What is a "spouseless relationship"? 
  14. Is there a way to delete the tag "spouseless relationship" from the spouse listing? 
  15. How can I get Uncle Fred's spouses to print in the right order? 
  16. Help! The tabs on my Family Page are blank! 
  17. What are half uncles and aunts? My kinship report has come up with this and I don't understand.  
  18. I discovered that two people already in my file married each other. How do I "hook them up"? 
  19. Is there some way to have a Central Repository of Sources, to be used in several FTW files? 
  20. My Family Finder Report (FFR) is 300 pages long! How can I make it less unwieldy? 
  21. I suddenly find that I have 300 sources in my file, most of them duplicate WFT entries. How did this happen, and how can I fix it? 
  22. I often accidentally open a backup file. Can't I put them out of the way in a different folder? 
  23. My Ancestor Report says that I am my own 6th cousin. How is such a thing possible? 
  24. What does "3 generations removed" mean? 
  25. What good are those Automatic Reference Numbers? 
  26. How do I create a Custom Book Item? 
  27. I'm constantly fiddling with my printer controls, and forgetting what I had set them to. Is there an easier way? 
  28. My Outline Descendant Report won't fit on the page. I've made the font as small as I can read and FTM still barks at me. Help! 
  29. What is a Custom Report, and how can I set one up? 
  30. Can I change the appearance of the Family Page? I find the entry data hard to read. 
  31. How can I change the size of FTM's windows? 
  32. What is this "drag & drop" that everyone keeps talking about? 
  33. What is the FTW.INI and how do I edit it? 
  34. How does the "Include Individuals" dialog work? 
  35. Can I enter so-called "same sex" relationships into FTM? 
  36. On Descendant Trees, the line connecting the offspring is sometimes drawn from the husband, and sometimes from the wife. What's going on? 
  37. Why is the Marriage Date sometimes displayed with the husband and other times with the wife? 
  38. In Descendant GenRpts, why do some children appear in the next generation, and others do not? 
  39. How can I make spouse's information (birth, death dates, &c) appear in my Descendant GenRpts?
  40. Should I arrange my genealogical data in one large file or many smaller files?
  41. I recently saw a NGS-style genealogy report that included a line that so-and-so "died dead." What's up with that?
  42. FTM doesn't provide a "file description" field so how can I document my files?
  43. What are FTM Books, and how do I make one?
  44. How can I exclude Notes when I send my files to others?
  45. What are GEDCOM files and how are they used?
  46. How do I position an image in a Book Text Item?
  47. Do you have any data entry tips?
  48. How can I maintain a common style across all my FTM files?
  49. How can I prevent FTM from making a Master Source citation every time I import a file?
  50. How can I find all the citations that refer to a particular Master Source?
  51. The endnotes in my FTM reports are cluttered with many repetitions of the same citations over and over. How can I make FTM reuse citation numbers in the endnotes?
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© 1999 Roderic A. Davis, 2nd
All Rights Reserved
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01AUG1999
"Family Tree Maker" is a trademark of Brøderbund® Software, Inc.
Neither this site nor its author have any connection with The Family Tree Maker program or its owner. Advice and suggestions offered here are to be used at your own risk. Your mileage may vary. Batteries not included.
Email: dav4is@yahoo.com
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Roderic A. Davis, 2nd
P.O. Box 118
Hyde Park, NY 12538
USA