Family Historian 3
Interactive Diagrams, Innovations in Chart Output, and a Cornucopia of New Features
LONDON, Wednesday 15th November, 2005. Calico Pie today released details of version 3 of Family Historian, the first first-digit upgrade since the program was launched to great acclaim 3 years ago. The new version is due for release in January 2006, but thanks to a Christmas promotion, and while stocks last, anyone who buys Family Historian 2.1 now from named stockists can get a free upgrade to version 3 when it becomes available (see Christmas Promotion below).
Simon Orde, Managing Director of Calico Pie, describing the new release:
"Many of the new features in version 3 are to do with diagrams. Other genealogy programs call them 'charts' because they only use them for printing as wall charts. Family Historian diagrams are tightly integrated into the main program and are used interactively for browsing, exploring, navigating, data-entry, editing - and, of course, for creating wonderful wall charts. It's easy to learn to use diagrams in this way, and it makes working with your data not only easier, but also much more interesting and fun. You can explore your family tree visually by clicking on buttons to expand and close branches, click-and-drag on boxes to add relatives, re-order spouses and siblings, and so on. And we've done it all with no compromises on the requirements of serious genealogists - such as the need to maintain full source citations for your data.
In version 3 we've made our diagrams both more powerful and more interactive. Previous limits on branch exploring have now gone. Diagrams now automatically adjust themselves both horizontally and vertically when you expand or close branches, and are better laid out. You can click-and-drag to move branches or resize boxes, and the trees (we call them 'smart trees') automatically adjust their layout to accommodate the changes. Thanks to smart trees and other innovations such as 'fixed-point dragging' you can now manipulate chart layouts interactively to achieve results easily that would otherwise be impossibly difficult.
We have made all our diagrams much easier to use, and have added a wealth of new features. You now have much more control over the content, style and layout of text within boxes, and the look and style of boxes and lines. We are especially proud of our All Relatives diagram - still unique to Family Historian - which has been re-worked and greatly improved.
But it's not just about diagrams. Version 3 is a very big release, and includes a cornucopia of other important features too - such as web site creation , shareable CD output, Internet search, Installable Fact Sets, and much more."
Summary of Key New Features in Version 3
- Web site creation - very easy to use, but also powerful and highly configurable
- 'Smart Trees' which automatically adjust themselves horizontally and vertically to accommodate moved branches and resized boxes
- Innovative methods for moving branches and manipulating chart output, including 'fixed point' dragging
- Multi-tree diagrams
- A re-worked and much improved All Relatives diagram (unique to Family Historian)
- A new Everyone diagram
- A wholly new approach to the detection and linking of 'duplicates' in diagrams (duplicates occur when a person is related to the diagram root in more than one way)
- Numerous other diagram enhancements, including much improved support for producing chart output. For example, diagrams can now have any orientation (top-down, left-right, right-left, etc) and can be saved in files.
- Improved usability throughout and a new Navigation Pane
- Shareable CD Output
- Internet Search
- Narrative Report enhancements
- Installable Fact Sets
and much more. To find out more about these features, please see http://www.family-historian.co.uk/whats_new_in_3.htm
For more details about Family Historian generally, please see our web-site at
www.family-historian.co.uk. See http://www.family-historian.co.uk/downloads/whats_new.htm for a description of new features in versions 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3.
Christmas Promotion
While stocks last, customers who buy Family Historian 2.1 now from participating stockists, will be sent a free CD upgrade to version 3 when it becomes available. The CD upgrade will have a recommended retail price of £23.95.
The participating stockists are:
- My History tel. +44 (0)1709 830782 www.my-history.co.uk
- TWR Computing tel. +44 (0)1284 828271 www.twrcomputing.co.uk
- S&N Genealogy Suppliers tel. +44 (0)1722 716121 www.genealogysupplies.com
- Gould Genealogy (Australia) tel. (08) 8396 1110 www.gould.com.au
- Beehive Books (New Zealand) tel. 649 521 1518
Please note that some stockists are combing the promotion with pre-Christmas offers of their own; so now is a good time to buy a copy of Family Historian.
Family Historian Availability
Family Historian is available from specialist genealogy suppliers and mainstream retailers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Within the UK retailers include Amazon, John Lewis and WH Smith. The program is available via eCommerce or Mail Order everywhere in the world from listed suppliers (see www.family-historian.co.uk/suppliers).
Contact Information
Family Historian is published by Calico Pie Limited.
Email: Info@family-historian.co.uk
Web: www.family-historian.co.uk
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