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Gigatrees - First impressions

 I just started playing with Gigatrees (v 5.4.2) by Tim Forsythe. www.gigatrees.com

To quote the Gigatrees website:

"Gigatrees was designed by and for genealogists to create feature-rich, easy-to-navigate family trees. However, it can also be used by non-genealogists to create responsive websites and blogs. Gigatrees is also completely free."

I was looking for a program to publish my family tree (Pedigree, etc.) as a website. I had tried various programs, Roots Magic and others, and found the results to be limited and, frankly, a bit amateurish in appearance.

I downloaded Gigatrees and have been please with the results. BUT NOTE, its not for the casual user with no experience with computers. More on that later.

But first, below are some screen shots of the preliminary results after about a day of work:


Home screen

Home screen with sidebar expanded



Pedigree (or "Tree" as it is called)


People sheet (a lot not shown including a fan chart and timelines)


Collections


Now: On to those first impressions:

PROS:

  • Impressive functionality, but I have just scratched the surface. There are DNA, Location, Census and other functions available. 
  • GEDCOM compatible - uses your GEDCOM to build the site.
  • Very "professional" looking results.
  • Multiple themes available.
  • Updatable. If you make changes, just reload your GEDCOM. All the customizations are already saved in the user config file. 
  • It's FREE
CONS:
  • Not for the computer illiterate. You need to edit an .xml file to set it up and to make custom changes. Basic knowledge of XML is not required but it is helpful.
  • Documentation is sparse. Although there is some documentation accessible via the website and the blog, it is a bit spotty. I had to brush up on my XML and do a bit of trial and error. For example, there are multiple themes available. The default is theme.b.  I had to infer there was a theme.a and a theme.c (and maybe more) and I had to re-run (essentially recompile) the program to see what they looked like. This is not a complaint, after all, its free!
  • Some functions need to be put on a full webserver to work. It does generate stand-alone .html, but for many of the functions to work you need to be on a hosted webserver.
CONCLUSIONS:

I LIKE IT. I'm going to invest more time to learn the program, engage a hosting service, get a domain name and publish my site.



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