Step D: Choose Software

Choosing the software you will use to store your genealogical information is an important decision.
The good news, is that there are several good, safe choices for you to make.  That bad news, is that the longer you work with one piece of software, the harder it is to change.  

You've got two decisions in front of you:

Decision 1: Should you use a web site to store your genealogy information, or should you use software installed on your own computer.

Decision 2: Which exact web site or software should you choose to use?

Web sites:

• familysearch.org
• geni.com
• ancestry.com
• etc.

Software systems:

• Rootsmagic
• Legacy
• etc.

How To Choose

Step 1: read about each of the systems above on the internet.  Do Google searches, look at screen shots and strengths an weaknesses.  Decide which are candidates for you to use.  Every system has a free trial you can use.

 

Step 2: for each serious candidate:

1. Take the data you wrote on a sheet of paper and enter it into the system.
   
2. Generate a report or two.
3. Generally explore the software or web site, and see if you like it, and it does what you want.
   

One you have done this for each of your candidates, you should have a good idea of which one you like.

Check Your Answer

After you have spent about a month doing genealogical research, and you have some "real world" experience using your software, then spend a few hours generating the reports you want to see, and generally thinking about the question: do you like your software.

If so, you've made the right decision, and if not, repeat the "how to choose" section, and try again, now that you have more experience.