The
Master Genealogist v8 - Free Public Beta
At this time, we
are no longer accepting new participants in the public beta program.
Thank you to all those who have downloaded and installed the TMG v8
public beta in order to help us prepare for the full public release.
Bob Velke
Wholly Genes, Inc.
Caution
By "beta",
we mean that some issues are known to exist or have not yet been fully
tested.
Due to the nature
of beta test, TMG v7 users are strongly advised to load only
a COPY of your data into this
public beta. Make a backup of your TMG v7 data and restore it to the
TMG v8 public beta as described below.
That is, DO NOT
open the only copy of your project with this public beta! The project
will be upgraded to v8 and will thereafter be inaccessible
to TMG v7!
Likewise, DO
NOT enter new data into this public beta with the expectation
that it will necessarily be preserved by an upgrade to the full public
release of TMG v8.
If you do not understand
these warning or are not confident in your ability to isolate your
TMG v7 project from your TMG v8 project, you
are strongly advised to not use this public beta.
Communication
By downloading this
beta release, you agree to send all communication about bugs or other
TMG v8 issues by email to <v8beta@whollygenes.com>.
Posting of TMG v8
public beta bug reports to TMG-L, the Wholly Genes forum, or other
public discussion forum; to the email address of any individual Wholly
Genes administrator, developer, staff member, or beta tester; or by
phone/email or other regular TMG tech support channels would be a
violation of this agreement and make you ineligible for an upgrade
to the full public release when it is available.
Due to the potential
volume of reports about the same issue, however, be advised that you
will not necessarily receive a personal response to your message.
If you do
not agree to these terms, please do not download the TMG v8 free public
beta.
The
Upgrade Process
The TMG v8 Public
Beta installation is independent of any prior TMG installation.
(That is, you can continue to run TMG v7 after the TMG v8 public
beta is installed). Installing and running the TMG v8 public beta
will create new and independent program and data folders as needed.
However, it is very important that you not try to access the data
associated with one program from the other program as they are
not compatible.
Users of TMG
v7 should follow these steps carefully to move and upgrade a COPY
of their TMG v7 data to the TMG v8 public beta folder:
DO NOT
USE A PRE-EXISTING BACKUP FILE.
Run
TMG v7 and access File > Backup...
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On Step
1 of the Backup Wizard, choose "Backup Project"
from the list and click on Next.
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On Step
2, modify if necessary the "Select backup file"
field. It specifies the location and name of the backup file
that will be created.. Make a careful note of that location
and file name and then click on Next.
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On Step
3, make NO CHANGES to this screen. The backup will include
only data and no configuration files that might conflict with
TMG v8. Click on Next.
-
On Step
4, make NO CHANGES to this screen and click on Next.
-
On Step
5, click on Finish.
Run TMG
v8 Public Beta using the Sample project and access File
> Restore
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Navigate
to and select the backup file name that you recorded in Step
2 above.
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On Step
1 of the Restore Wizard, choose "Restore Project"
from the list and click on Next.
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On Step 2, verify
that the restore paths refer to "The Master Genealogist v8".
Make NO CHANGES to this screen. Click on Next.
-
On Step
3, make NO CHANGES to this screen and click on Next.
-
On Step
4, make NO CHANGES to this screen and click on Next.
-
On Step
5, click on Finish.
Changes
In addition to a
variety of bug fixes, TMG v8 includes dozens of new features that
were suggested by researchers. The following is a sampling of those
new features:
The
screen shots were made of TMG v8 running in Windows 7 64-bit with
a variety of screen layouts and color schemes. Your mileage may vary.
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The
right-click menu on the Master Tag Type List.
Click on the image to zoom.
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With
the user-defined colors, the most important data types
are easy to see in a long list.
Click on the image to zoom..
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Tag
Types and Roles
A "tag"
is an independent piece of data: a name, event, or relationship. Some
programs call them "facts" but TMG encourages you to view
your data as evidence and not historical facts.
- Share your tag
types, roles, and sentences with friends and fellow researchers
or copy them between your own projects using the new Import and
Export features.
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Add
a new role on-the-fly.
Click on the image to zoom.
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- Use the right-click
menu to more easily Deactivate/Activate tag types.
- Many new default
roles and sentences have been added.
- Specific roles
can be disabled/enabled to control whether you'll see them on the
data entry screens.
- New projects
include expanded tag labels ("Immigratn"->"Immigration")
for easier readibility.
- Specify a background
and foreground color for each tag type label. The label will be
shown in those colors on the Tag Box, Associates Window, and other
contexts.
- On the Tag Entry
Screens, the list of roles includes "<New>" which
will let you add a new role on-the-fly. The same option is available
on the Witness Entry Screen.
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Add
Multiple People at One Time.
Click on the image to zoom.
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Add
a New Family.
Click on the image to zoom.
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Add Multiple People
- A new screen
allows you to add multiple people at the same time in a spreadsheet-like
environment. Now it is much easier and faster to enter a list of
siblings or children, e.g., from a will. Just down-arrow or click
to get a blank row for another person.
Cite a source and it is automatically linked to all of the new names
and events.
- A variation
on this screen allows you to add a new family to the project.
A special column allows you to specify the relationship of each
person in the family.
- A <Setup>
button allows you to specify the data types (i.e., columns) to enter
for each person.
The Report Writer
TMG v8's reporting
engine has been completely re-written with the principal purpose of
supporting the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Vista (as well as
continuing support for Windows 7 32-bit, Vista 32-bit, Windows XP,
and Windows 2000).
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New
Printer Setup
Click on the image to zoom.
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The revision process
has allowed us to lift some previous restrictions while adding some
great new features. For instance:
- Output to word
processor formats (as well as screen/printer) now support all Windows
fonts.
- A variety of
new page sizes (ledger, A4, A5, etc.) are now supported.
- The user has
full control over top, bottom, left and right margins (0.0"
- 4.0").
- Pedigree charts
can now be sent to word processors (as well as directly to screen/printer).
- ANSI Text file
(as well as ASCII) is now supported.
The new screen preview
includes some handy new features:
- Search for text.
- Mark and copy
text, e.g., for pasting into an email.
- 8 preset zoom/unzoom
levels (25% to 200%)
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Photos
and footnotes in output to the screen.
Click on the image to zoom.
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- Toggle between
"Draft View" and "Print View" mode.
- View output from
more than one copy of the same report type.
Screen preview also
now supports some features which were previously only available when
output to a word processor, including:
- Embedded photographs.
- Real bottom-of-the-page
footnotes.
- Page numbering
styles.
- Full justification.
Color-Coded
Report Output
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Output
with user-defined colors and "Accents".
Click on the image to zoom.
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- User-defined
color changes can be embedded in memos in order to highlight specific
words or phrases in reports.
- The user can
also specify foreground and background colors for each type of text
(surnames, given names, dates, places, memos, etc.).
- Alternatively,
output names in colors according to the current screen "Accent"
which is based on personal characteristics.
For example:
- Show the names
of my ancestors in red ... or
- Use red, green, and blue to distinguish people who were buried
in each of the three counties that I plan to visit on a research
trip ... or
- Highlight names of people for whom I have low sureties or weak
citations ... or
- Show all surnames but redact (i.e., black on black) the given
names for a few specific people ... or
- Use colors to
identify people whose photograph or tombstone I haven't yet found.
We're sure that
you'll think of other ways to put these new features to good use!
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Sorting
the
Master Source List.
Click on the image to zoom.
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And
other features that users requested...
- Sort the Master
Source List by the number of times each source is cited.
- Optionally show
the Date and Sort Date columns at the same time on the Person View.
- Right-click menu
options include other new options to make data entry easier and
faster.
- Filter by the
number of DNA tests for each person.
- Filter by the
flag values of a parent.
- A new button
resets the default options on a report.
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Right-click
on the
Person View.
Click on the image to zoom.
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- Updates to the
GenBridge™ direct import technology.
- Enhancements
to the HTML output.
- New and updated
web searching features.
- and more...
Known
Limitations
At this time, support
for WordPerfect output is not yet implemented.
To
Download the TMG v8 Public Beta
At this time, we
are no longer accepting new participants in the public beta program.
Thank you to all those who have downloaded and installed the TMG v8
public beta in order to help us prepare for the full public release.
Bob Velke
Wholly Genes, Inc.
