Free time is a bit disrupted being so close to Christmas, but I have been able to continue creating a small tree to try out the features in Family Historian.

A few days ago, I showed how to either import a tree or create a new tree. I love that the interface looks so much like Family Tree Maker:

Family Historian Focus Window – box on left

It is a bit difficult to see (click to enlarge the image), but underneath the child Johanne Elisabeth Molin, there is a live link to add more children to this family. Just below the blue child box, there is another link (Add More Relatives for Hans Niclas Molin) in case I want to add family members of her father. I should add in here that there seem to be multiple ways to accomplish the same task, but since I am just learning my way around, I am sharing the paths I am taking with each step.

Once I click to add a child, the data is added in the box in the upper right corner, again similar to Family Tree Maker. In the bottom right corner is the source citation box, but I am leaving that step until a bit later.

Notice the caption I added to the image above – Family Historian calls the large box with the family information in it the
Focus Window.” The boxes, top and bottom, on the right with the areas to add vital records dates and complete a source citation are considered one work area and are called the “Property Box.”

Here is a close up of the property box, but just the top work space:

Individual Data Entry Space

There are several tabs right above Anders Molin’s name – Main, Facts, Notes, Media and All. The “Main” tab is the view that you are seeing.

The “Facts” box has created a list of the facts that I have entered so far for Anders:

Facts About Anders Molin

In essence, the facts list is a timeline of important events in Anders’ life. He and his family have been somewhat elusive to find in Sweden’s records, so I love this feature. I have a quick summary of what is known about him, including that his occupation was master mason.

The next box, “Notes,” I also love. I have always added a lot of information in Family Tree Maker in the notes section. Often, the notes include source citations (I never used templates), but I include extraneous pieces of information. In the case of Anders and his wife, Sara Brita, I had a very important note recorded – I don’t know if they divorced, but they had definitely gone their separate ways by 1786. Anders was a couple hundred miles away from his wife (ex-wife?) and children in Marstrand, Sweden. The rest of the family was in southern Sweden.

Look what happened when I went to enter this note to attach to Anders:

Notes in Property Box

I clicked in the box with the green + sign and three choices come up – Add a Note about Anders MOLIN, Add Shared Note for a Couple and Add Link to Note Record. In this case, the note referred to information important for research on both Anders and Sara Brita. I clicked to Add Shared Note for a Couple and my note is now linked to both of them. Love it!

The next tab in the Property Box is “Media.” Again, there are three choices:

Media Tab

I can Insert from File, Link to Existing Media Record OR Paste Copied Image! I chose to Insert from File and collected an image of the Moving In record for Anders Molin when he settled in Öved, Sweden in 1777. A new box opens:

Anders Molin’s Moving In Record

The image is in the middle of the box. The Title box is the name of the image as I originally saved it. Directly underneath is Picture Note. In the bottom right corner of the Media tab box, there is an option to Use Note as Caption, which I ticked. I then added “Anders Molin, Moving In, Öved, 1777” in the Picture Note box. Now when I display this image, that caption will be displayed under it.

If this was a photo of Anders and I wanted to link it to his face, that option is in the bottom left corner, Link to Face.

Next, I click OK and the image is attached. I will go back another time and explore the other options on that page.

So far, I haven’t needed the Users’ Manual at all. It’s been very simple. I will be writing a few more posts about Family Historian 6 because I want to try out the feature that maps residence places, tags faces in photos and, of course, I need to try out the source citation property box.

The next Family Historian 6 post will go online after Christmas. If you haven’t yet looked at their website, but are becoming intrigued by what you are seeing, go to Family Historian and download the 30 day trial version. Unlike some free versions of software, this one is a full-featured program so you won’t get any messages saying sorry, you need to purchase the program to use this or that feature.