MagiKey Article for Utah Valley PAF User Group Newsletter

The following column in the FamilySearch Affiliate News - Michael Helmantoler MagiKey Family Tree (www.themagikey.com) MagiKey Family Tree with Census Tracker is a new windows desktop data management solution. This is a woman owned and operated genealogy software company which is becoming known in Michigan, Washington State and at National Genealogy Conferences exhibitor halls. They are a full featured application that competes with RootsMagic, AncestralQuest, and other Windows desktop genealogical data management systems. MagiKey is FamilySearch certified and has unique research features. TheMagiKey.com website promises to "cut your typing time in half by synchronizing your records or reserving LDS ordinances". The ordinance reservation system lets users reserve family names in batches instead of one person at a time. Instead of developing a unique data storage format, MagiKey reads and saves GEDCOM file formats. This feature allows it to integrate well with other PAF type applications. It is one of the better GEDCOM editors out there with the ability to merge GEDCOM files, translates GEDCOM formats, and globally cleans up place names. They have the option to save files using the same GEDCOM specs as PAF making it easy to go between programs. One unique feature is MagiKey's internal Census Tracker. This utility compares ancestor’s birthdays to census information to highlight discrepancies. The Census Tracker view for an individual calculates and displays the expected age of each family member for any relevant census year. The tool links the census to the entire household using extraction forms specific to each year. By linking census data to names in your database it provides new ways to analyze your data. Things you might want to check out in the trial version are: 1. FamilySearch Access and Update 2. Reserve and request LDS temple ordinances 3. Merge and clean-up using FamilySearch. 4. A To-do List that helps you organize tasks to take to the library 5. Suggest the next steps to research based on missing information and sources. 6. Open the Census Tracker and record extraction forms directly into your database 7. Use the Timeline view to see missing sources for an event 8. Use the Place Index to clean up place names (Change MI, mi, mich, Mich, to Michigan, etc) There are still some rough spots in the interface with new.FamilySearch but it is worth the effort if you want a powerful desktop application. Users of mobile genealogy programs that read GEDCOM files will find this is a means to update and use desktop power to communicate with FamilySearch. Check out a free trial and let me know what your think!