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What's New in Family Historian 8?

Family Historian 8 is here – our most ambitious upgrade yet, with major new features and enhancements across almost every part of the program. This page covers what's new since Family Historian 7. If you're new to Family Historian, or would simply like a full overview of everything the program can do, take the Tour instead.

Features and Enhancements in Version 8

Headline Features

Other New Features and Enhancements

Smart Folders

  • Smart Folders are a major Family Historian innovation and, we believe, a genealogy world first. We are not aware of any comparable feature anywhere else. Smart Folders allow all of your data to be automatically organised into customisable folders, instantly surfacing the interesting and important information that it contains. Smart Folders offer valuable insights and perspectives with records of all types, but perhaps are especially valuable when used with sources and citations. See Next Level Sources & Citations.
  • Every record listing – that is, every tab in the Record Window, and every record selector dialog – now has a pane for displaying Smart Folders, which can be opened by clicking this icon (top-left): Smart Folders Icon
  • Smart Folders are grouped within folder sets. Family Historian comes with a number of standard folder sets, covering all record types and more, and you can create your own custom folder sets to display information organised in whatever way you want.
  • Smart Folders can also be viewed (and custom folder sets can be modified) in the Query Window. In the Query Window, any query type can be organised into Smart Folders, including not just records but also citations, witnesses (shared events) and facts. All query types are supported as folder set types (there are now 15 query types, including 3 non-record query types).

To learn more, see Smart Folders.

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FamilySearch

  • FamilySearch is a nonprofit organisation and website, offering free global resources for all genealogists everywhere.  It has more than 1.7 billion individual records in its main (global) tree.  It is now fully supported within Family Historian.  Users have to sign up for a free FamilySearch account to make use of the functionality.  To learn more about FamilySearch, see the FamilySearch Wikipedia page.
  • FamilySearch has recently introduced the ability to have shared user trees.  You can create your own trees, public or private, and share them in a controlled way with whoever you wish.  User trees are also fully supported within Family Historian. You can upload any project to FamilySearch as a user tree.
  • Individuals in your projects can be (persistently) matched with individuals in a FamilySearch tree – either the global tree or a user tree. You can easily see where the records overlap and differ, and make changes in either direction – updating your Family Historian records from FamilySearch, or vice versa. None of your data is transferred to FamilySearch unless you explicitly opt to do that. You can use FamilySearch as a read-only resource if you wish to. It is entirely up to you, and under your full control.
  • Matching a record does not share any information with FamilySearch, or with anyone else – Family Historian simply stores the FamilySearch Id of the matching record. A colour-coding system makes it easy to compare your record and the FamilySearch record, side by side.
  • You can opt to receive FamilySearch hints about historical records for matched Individuals. It is also possible to receive hints about possible duplication, and/or hints about unmatched Individuals in your projects who may have a match in a FamilySearch tree.
  • You can download entire family trees from FamilySearch – into a new or existing project.
  • There is a new workspace window, the FamilySearch window, specifically for managing FamilySearch searches, matches and updates. You can optionally 'float' this window, so that it can be easily used in conjunction with any other workspace window. Suppose, for example, you are working on a chart and want to see all the information held within FamilySearch trees about a given person, you can view this in the floating window, with no need to switch away from the chart.

To learn more, see the FamilySearch Window.

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New Mapping Tools

  • You can now add shapes – such as lines, polylines, polygons, circles or text – to any map. Areas and regions can be highlighted without obscuring the underlying details. Shapes can be formatted, grouped and ordered with respect to one another. You also have full multi-level undo/redo with all shape edits.
  • When you zoom in or out of a map, the shapes zoom in and out too, exactly like any other map feature, but with special-handling for text. Text shapes are anchored to particular points on the map, and can have callouts, which are lines connecting the text box to their anchor point. You control how text is zoomed so that it appears in an appropriate size in all contexts (see Map Shape Format Dialog: Text Tab).
  • Shapes can be locked in position, so that they behave as if part of the underlying map. A new 'Access' button Access Button on the map toolbar, allows locked shapes to be accessed, so that they can be selected, edited, moved and deleted.
  • Maps now support overlays. An overlay is a way of annotating and marking distinctive features on maps. The program comes with a number of standard overlays, such as the historic counties of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as overlays which mark the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, the boundaries of the Roman Empire, and the boundaries of the U.S. at the start of the Civil War. Easily create your own custom overlays using map shapes (especially polygons and text). All shape collections can be saved as overlays. You can also import Family Historian overlays created by others, or import overlay files in a standard format (geoJSON) from the Internet.
  • Markers (little icons, with various shapes and colours, which are used to mark locations on maps) have been extended to support addresses and have been made more intuitive and easier to use. You can optionally display text for each marker, and there are new features relating to them – such as the ability to mark events within a fixed distance of a specified point.
  • The Marker Set pane has been redesigned to make it easier to view and manage multiple marker sets simultaneously. Marker sets can be copied and pasted, and hidden and shown.
  • Addresses can now be mapped and geocoded (given a latitude and longitude). Unlike places, which are geocoded automatically, addresses have to be geocoded manually. Events can be mapped by address, by place, or by either (‘address preferred’). There is also a new marker set type for Address records. See Do More With Addresses (and Places).
  • You control the opacity of shapes (especially useful with polygons and circles). Multiple shapes can be selected and edited together, and copied and pasted within a map or between different map windows.
  • A new tool for managing overlays lets you clone, rename, delete, simplify, import and export them, and add descriptions. Imported geoJSON overlays sometimes contain far more detail than is needed, which can affect performance; the ‘simplify’ tool removes unneeded detail to keep maps fast and responsive.
  • To view overlays (standard or custom), click “Map Overlays” on the menu that appears when you click the ‘Map’ button Map Button on the main application toolbar. Saved maps are listed under “Saved Maps” on the same menu.
  • To save a map as a Media record or as a JPEG image, right-click anywhere on the background of the map and choose from the “Save Map As” submenu. The same menu lets you temporarily unlock shapes, select all unlocked shapes or text boxes, and show or hide ‘marker text’ (a shortened place or address name shown below each marker).
  • New tools make it easy to do more with map data – such as finding all markers within a specified distance of a given point, shading the search area, and copying the markers’ events to the Results Window for further exploration and analysis.
  • You can save and re-use maps and overlays. Map images can also be saved as Media records or image files, making it easy to incorporate them into reports, books and websites. 

To learn more, see the Map Window.

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AI Connector: Your AI Assistant, Working in Your Project

  • The new AI Connector is an installable plugin for version 8 that lets Claude, or another compatible AI assistant, work directly with your project data.
  • It’s not just advice and reports. With read-write access, your AI assistant can do real work in your project. It can follow your instructions, read source images, search the Internet and your data, discuss uncertainties with you, transcribe source text and update your records. When it has finished, it can give you a list of the changes it made, for you to check.
  • Just ask. For example: “List all the men in my project who were of conscription age during World War I.” “Here’s a scan of my grandfather’s birth certificate – record everything in it, with a proper source citation.” “Find everyone whose married and maiden names are recorded inconsistently, and suggest fixes.” “Check my whole project for impossible dates and other errors, and go through them with me.”
  • You have full control. Access is only enabled while the AI Connector is running. When you start it, you choose read-only or read-write access. If you allow changes, you can still undo all of them when you close it.
  • It’s built into Family Historian. The AI Connector works through Family Historian itself, using its API (“application programming interface”), rather than editing your project file directly. We know of no other commercial genealogy program with an API comparable to Family Historian’s.
  • It’s entirely optional. Family Historian works exactly as before without it. To use it, you’ll need your own account with an AI service such as Claude, and some features may need a paid plan. Any information the AI reads from your project is sent to that service, so check its privacy terms.
  • For instructions on installing and using the AI Connector, please see the AI Connector page on the Family Historian website.

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Family Historian Mobile: Your Family Tree on Your Phone

  • Family Historian Mobile is a free companion app for Family Historian 8, for your phone. For current availability on Android and iPhone, see the Family Historian website.
  • It puts your whole family tree in your pocket. The app gives you quick, easy read-only access to all your project data – people, relationships, events, dates, sources, citations, pictures and more. You can view relatives in diagrams, and see events marked on maps.
  • The app supports all the latest version 8 data types, including Address records, and fully supports rich-text notes, including tables and hyperlinks.
  • It’s made for version 8. Family Historian 8 can create a compact copy of your project especially for the app, with pictures scaled down to a size that suits a phone.
  • It’s easy to keep up to date. One of the simplest ways to keep the app in sync with your desktop project is to share the data using a cloud drive, such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive.
  • For the latest details and for usage and installation instructions, please see the Family Historian Mobile page on the Family Historian website.

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Do More With Addresses (and Places)

Background: Family Historian allows you to record not only the place of the event (for example: 'Greenwich, London, England'), but optionally also the actual address within that. This can be a literal address ('14 Main Street'), or some other kind of detailed specification of the exact location – such as a hospital name or the plot location of a grave in a cemetery.

  • Previously you could only record the exact map location for places. Now you can do this for addresses too.
  • Previously you could only store pictures and descriptions of places. Now you can do this for addresses too.
  • Within a book or booklet, you can now add a separate section for the addresses mentioned in the book, with images and text. You can also now do this with places.
  • Reports, books, queries, Smart Folders and mapping tools open up a world of possibilities for recording and presenting information about addresses and the people who lived there.
  • Behind the scenes, there is a new record type, Address. Address records are normally linked to a Place record (although they don’t have to be), and all event and attribute addresses are now stored as Address records. Entering addresses works much as before – and when you enter an address, auto-complete offers the addresses already associated with the place.
  • A new Helper dialog lets you choose from the addresses within a given place, and Smart Folders for addresses show them grouped by place.
  • The new Address List report shows text, pictures and, optionally, references for addresses. It can be used on its own, or included in any book or booklet to describe the addresses mentioned in it. The new Place List report is very similar.
  • In reports, queries and all other output, you can now combine address and place text, with duplicate parts removed.

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Redesigned Queries

Queries are all about getting answers to your questions about your data: "Which of my ancestors died of cancer?", "Which family members lived in Scotland in the 19th C?". Queries are a powerful tool for getting the answer to any and all of your questions.

  • Queries have been redesigned and are now simultaneously more powerful and easier to use and to understand. Old-style queries are still fully supported and are automatically converted to the new format.
  • The query columns you want are now easier to find and insert. Commonly-used functions (expressions for retrieving complex and derived information) are now listed in the Columns tab – in addition to field names – and can be easily inserted into queries using drag-and-drop.
  • Filters – including filter combinations and conditions – are easier to create and to understand.
  • There is a new window for organising and managing queries, which allows easy selection and filtering of queries, as well as allowing queries to be run, viewed, renamed, cloned, deleted, and imported or exported.
  • There are 9 new standard queries (such as a query to find addresses linked to a given list of Individuals) and 3 new query types – for addresses, witnesses (shared events), and source citations.
  • Queries use a new file format: new-style queries have a .fhqx suffix, rather than .fhq. Old-style queries are converted automatically when they are imported or upgraded.
  • The ‘Rows’ tab has been renamed the ‘Filters’ tab. The old “Add if…”, “Add unless…”, “Remove if…” and “Remove unless…” conditions have been replaced by the familiar ‘AND’ and ‘OR’. Filters can be placed in subgroups, nested to any level, so every possible combination is catered for. Filters are laid out as a tree, with ‘AND’ subgroups coloured blue and ‘OR’ subgroups green. When you add a filter, you are asked how to combine it with the existing filters, and they are grouped automatically. Old-style queries are converted to the new style automatically.
  • A new ‘Subgroup’ tab at the bottom of the Filters tab manages subgroups. Filters can have optional descriptions to make them easier to read (all standard filters have them), and a cog menu option switches between showing descriptions or expressions. A new ‘Insert’ button helps you add column expressions, or opens the new Expression Entry Assistant.
  • In the Columns tab, the Fields list is now the “Fields Etc” list, as it includes commonly-used functions. Column expressions are no longer shown by default, but you can show them from the cog menu. There is a new column type, “Group By”, for use with Smart Folders.
  • You can use drag-and-drop to add, move or copy columns and filters (hold down the Ctrl key while dragging to copy). Moving or copying a filter branch moves or copies the entire branch.
  • The new query management tool lists all queries, with the description of the selected query. You can filter by category or type, show custom queries only, or type some text to find matching queries; click a column heading to sort. Custom queries can be renamed, cloned or deleted, and any query can be run, viewed, imported or exported. Open the tool from “Manage Queries” on the menu that appears when you click the Query button on the main application toolbar, or from the cog menu of the Query toolbar. The button with 3 dots, to the right of the query name at the top of the Query Window, opens a variant of the tool for quick selection of queries.
  • The Query Window can also display Smart Folders, in a pane you can hide or show using the Query Window’s own toolbar.
  • When you create a new custom query, default columns can be inserted automatically (this is ticked by default). There are several new filter operators (allowing all possible negations), and the Query Window dropdown menu is now much faster to display.
  • To open the “Expressions and Contexts of Use” and “Functions by Category” help pages quickly, click the cog menu on the Query toolbar and choose “Query Window Help”.
  • You can now view record links for any Individual, or any other record type, by selecting “Record Links” on the context menu that appears when you right-click on their record in the Query Window: Result Set Tab.

To learn more, see the Query Window and the Query Window tab of the Preferences dialog.

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New All Relatives Narrative Report

  • A major new report – the All Relatives Narrative report – includes all relatives of a subject person, in narrative format, organised by generation, with the youngest generation first.
  • The new report optionally includes a section showing ancestors and descendants of the subject person, for easy reference.
  • Each section on each person includes how they are related to the subject person.
  • When a relation wants to know what information you have about their relatives, you can now just generate an All Relatives Narrative report for them, and send it to them as a PDF file. It's all there.

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Next Level Sources & Citations

  • As mentioned above, Smart Folders offer great benefits in all contexts. But they are particularly useful for organising and displaying information about sources and citations. You can have whatever kind of organisational structure you want. If you use source templates, the standard folder set for Source records will automatically generate Smart Folders that reflect the structure and content of your source templates – including any custom source templates of your own. Each Smart Folder can have its own set of content-specific columns. This again is particularly useful when dealing with sources, where the type of stored information can vary considerably.
  • Used with sources and citations, Smart Folders effectively bridge the divide between splitters and lumpers (see terminology note below): each group gets all the benefits of the other’s approach, with no need to change how the data is structured. The standard folder sets for sources and citations update automatically to reflect changes to source templates, and a new “Source & Citation wizard” can generate custom Smart Folders based on existing source templates, including custom ones.
  • Previously Family Historian has supported two types of Source record: generic and templated.  There is now a third type: free form. Free form sources allow sources and citations to be simply entered in an unstructured way as text, using bold, italics and underline where needed.
  • All source citations, of all types, can now be fully customised in the Citation Window.
  • To customise a citation, click the new ‘Customize’ link in the side panel of the Citation Window. You can simply modify the finished output (using bold, italics and underline), or customise the “Citation Format” – the template for the citation, which can use template codes – or even the “Source Format”. Customising the citation or citation format affects that citation only; customising the source format affects all citations of that Source record. Customisations can be made at the ‘Footnote’, ‘Short Footnote’ or ‘Bibliography’ level. Fields that have not been customised have a brown background; customised fields have a white background. A “Reset” button lets you reset any or all customisations, and the labels in the side panel show whether, and how, each item has been customised.
  • The Bibliography section of reports and books has also been improved and made more flexible. Now you can customise a bibliography entry at the Source record level, and at the citation level. Where previously it just generated an entry for each Source record, now the Bibliography section looks at the complete list of generated bibliography entries and effectively merges all identical entries. This means that lumpers can have multiple bibliography entries for a single source, if they wish to (by associating different bibliography entries with different citations), and splitters can allow multiple Source records to share a single bibliography entry if they wish to do that (see terminology note below).
  • Family Historian 8 introduces a new "prioritize compatibility" export option, which exports full details of source citations using standard GEDCOM fields – so any program can import them, whatever your source type. This matters because GEDCOM (the standard format for shared genealogy data) doesn't natively support source templates, free form sources, or customised citations, so those details could otherwise be lost when exporting to another program. The new option works with all source types – generic, free form or templated, customised or not.

Terminology: In the genealogy world, a 'splitter' is a genealogist who favours having many, detailed Source records to represent real-world sources, where a 'lumper' prefers a small number of large-scope Source records. For example, a splitter might have one Source record for each census entry in a particular census, where a lumper might have one Source record for the entire census. Most genealogists are a mixture of the two.

See also Improved Options for Export of Source and Citation Information and Improvements to Source Templates.

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Diagram Enhancements

  • Graphics update: The underlying graphics engine has been completely reworked with new technology that features faster display of diagrams, and improvements to their appearance. The new technology supports 'hardware-acceleration' which means that it takes advantage of underlying graphics hardware (GPU) to deliver optimum performance.
  • There have been improvements to numerous features of diagrams. For example, there are new display effects for diagram boxes (see Box Features Dialog), you can now create your own custom presets for box appearance (see Diagram Options Dialog: Boxes Tab), there have been improvements to the design of fan charts and pedigree charts, and you now have full undo/redo to all edits with diagram 'shapes' (text boxes, polygons, lines, and so on – see Diagram Elements).
  • You can also control the opacity of shadows and background pictures, and you can export and import box presets (standard looks for boxes in diagrams).
  • You can choose a preferred look for the six most important standard diagrams, based on any standard or custom diagram (“Choose Preferred Look for Standard Diagrams” on the ‘Chart’ button’s menu). The look includes diagram box icons and text, tree orientation and layout, and more.
  • Diagram box icons now use SVG, the vector format widely used across the Internet. You can export icons, and import your own (SVG, PNG, BMP or EMF, although SVG gives the best results). Free SVG icons are easy to find on the Internet, or can be created with free software such as Inkscape.
  • Fan charts have new optional, configurable ‘radial’ lines fanning out from the centre, and a new three-quarter-size layout (the new default), with an optional circle at the root. Dotted crossing lines now appear less often in ‘All Relatives’ diagrams, and only when necessary.
  • Shapes (such as images) can be aligned with one another, and made the same height or width. Improved locking stops shapes being moved or resized by accident.
  • The new “Book Layout Compatibility” option on the Diagram menu makes a diagram fit exactly on a page of any book, or across several pages (see Better Books).
  • Options for every type of diagram can now be changed and reused, and the ‘Restore Defaults’ buttons (including on the Text and Boxes tabs) will set them back. There are also 2 new text schemes: “Birth, Marr, Death (hide details if Living flag set)” and “Birth, Marr, Death (hide name if Private flag set)”.
  • Standard diagrams have been given a new look, incorporating some of the new display features. But you still have easy access to the old look, if desired.
  • Diagrams now work much better with books (see Better Books, next).

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Better Books

  • Books can now have "Address List" and "Place List" sections to provide pictures and descriptions of the addresses and places mentioned in the book.
  • There is a new "Pedigree Chart (as booklet)" report. This creates the report as a booklet. You can also now add a pedigree chart to any book. You can revise the pedigree chart options as required at any time (not just when adding the chart to the book).
  • There is much improved support for integrating diagrams with books. You can now edit a diagram even after it has been added to a book. A new feature called "book layout compatibility" ensures that the page layout of charts or diagrams is kept compatible with a given book, so that multi-page diagrams fit perfectly into a given book, regardless of how many pages they use. So, for example, a 5-page diagram will take up exactly 5 book pages. This compatibility is automatically maintained with charts and diagrams that have been added to a book; but even with diagrams or charts that have not yet been inserted into a book, you can adjust their page layout to ensure compatibility with any given book.
  • You can now easily create a scrapbook or photo book, using images and text that you put together yourself. The scrapbook or photo book can be an entire book, or a section of a book (see How to Create a Scrapbook or Photo Book). The Windows snipping tool (now accessible from the Tools menu) allows you to quickly snip parts of a chart, diagram or map.  These can be added to a project as a Media record or inserted directly into a scrapbook.
  • As mentioned above (see Next Level Sources & Citations), the Bibliography section of books (and reports) has been improved and made more flexible.
  • Book indices now index the people in all charts, including tree diagrams, fan charts, pedigree charts etc.
  • You can add a small diagram, figure or map that takes up less than a whole page.
  • If you add a report generated by a plugin to a book, you now get one entry in the book for each entry in the report – so if you select several records, you get one chapter for each. The heading is taken from the chapter heading specified in the book.

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64-bit Architecture

  • Family Historian 8 can now handle much larger projects, and much larger reports, books, diagrams and charts, thanks to a new 64-bit architecture. It also means significant performance improvements in many cases, especially with large projects.
  • Backups have also been enhanced to remove previous size limitations.
  • Family Historian 8 requires a 64-bit version of Windows. Almost all modern Windows computers are 64-bit. To check yours, go to Settings > System > About and look at System type.

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Support for Non-Family Relationships

  • Family Historian has long supported witnesses – that is, non-principal participants in an event, such as the best man at a marriage or a beneficiary to a will.  That support has been extended and made even more powerful.  The new functionality makes it possible to easily record relationships of any kind.  For example, the program now has built-in support for friend lists (a list of all of a person's friends), friendship groups (a group of people who were all friends of one another), and enslavement facts – each of which is a record of one or more people who were enslaved, and optionally also the person or persons who enslaved them.
  • Create your own custom relationships of any kind. These can be one-to-one relationships (something like a marriage), one-to-many relationships (teacher and pupils, say), or many-to-many relationships (friendship groups or enslavement); and the parties can have the same or different roles, as required.

To learn more, see Witnesses and How to Record Non-Family Relationships.

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LDS Church Support

  • Family Historian now has extensive features to meet the needs of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. These features are normally hidden (they only have relevance to LDS Church members) but are enabled by an option on the General tab of Preferences.
  • The new features include support for recording LDS Ordinances (on the Facts tab of the Property Box). Like any other data, this information can be included in reports, books, charts or websites, and explored and analysed using queries.
  • When LDS Church support is enabled, the new FamilySearch workspace window has an additional Ordinances tab for managing integration with FamilySearch with respect to ordinances.
  • Ordinance details on the Ordinances tab can be copied back to the matching record in your project. Click the Reserve Ordinances button to open a web page for reserving ordinances and related temple work for the person in question.
  • The LDS Ordinances report has been updated and improved, and a new “LDS Ordinances” query has been added. Almost all reports, including narrative reports, can optionally include details of LDS ordinances.
  • When LDS support is enabled, the ‘Common Functions’ in the Columns tab of the Query Window include 4 additional options relating to LDS ordinances, for fact queries.
  • All LDS ordinance information and tasks are only available to LDS Church members with suitable permissions in their FamilySearch account.

See LDS Church Features for more.

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New Licensing & Pricing Options

  • We now offer Family Historian as a subscription – either annual or monthly. Active subscribers are always entitled to the latest version of the program.
  • Not sure if it's for you? Why not start with a low-cost monthly subscription.
  • Perpetual licences for version 8 are also available, if preferred.

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New Free Edition

  • The new Free Edition has a much smaller feature set than the full version, but you can use it to view and browse any Family Historian project. And you can use it to make any data changes, additions or deletions that you want. This means that you can give family members copies of your project data and they can install the Free Edition to view it. If they spot any mistakes or omissions, they can make the corrections and return the updated project data to you. You can check their changes and optionally merge them back in, using the Merge/Compare Dialog.  Collaboration and sharing just got that much easier.
  • For a full comparison of the two, please see the Compare Free Edition and Full Version page on the Family Historian website.

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Enhancements to Reports

  • Reports have been significantly improved with respect to the handling of sources, source citations and bibliographies.  These various changes are described in Next Level Sources & Citations.
  • There is a new "Special Text" option on the "Formats" tab of reports, which allows you to specify terms to use for married and unmarried partners in relationships, as well as other similar text details, such as the text to use when referencing a couple's children.  You can also use line and paragraph breaks with such phrases.
  • As well as the already-mentioned major new narrative report, All Relatives Narrative, there is also another new narrative report, Register Report, which uses the traditional 'register style' layout.
  • As previously mentioned, there is also a new Address List report and a Place List report.  Both of these can be used as standalone reports, but both of them can also be used in the context of a book or booklet, to provide details about addresses and/or places mentioned in the book or booklet.

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Improved Expression Entry Assistant Tool

  • The Expression Entry Assistant tool is an improved version of the old Data Reference Assistant tool.  The old tool only helped with entry of data references.  The improved version also helps with the entry of functions – hence the name change.  Frequently-used function calls are grouped in a section labelled "Common Functions", which lists useful function calls that are relevant to the context.  There is also a sub-section below labelled 'Counts' which stores a list of function calls that can be inserted for returning a count of different things, such as a count of a person's parent families, spouses, research notes, etc.
  • No understanding of functions is required to use the function expressions.  Just select the one you require and press 'OK' to insert it.  The behaviour of each function expression is explained in a box below the list when you select the function call.
  • The Expression Entry Assistant tool is available in all contexts where the old Data Reference Assistant tool had been available.  The "Common Functions" section is available in all contexts in which functions are supported.

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Improved Options for Export of Source and Citation Information

  • Support for exporting source information has been improved.  Generic Source records use standard GEDCOM fields; so exporting generic Source records (and source citations relating to them) in GEDCOM format is not a problem.  However, GEDCOM currently has no built-in support for free form Source records or templated Source records.  Also, Family Historian allows all source citations to be customised, at either the Source record level, or at the citation level, and GEDCOM currently has no built-in support for this either.  So Family Historian offers a mechanism (called "prioritizing compatibility") to ensure that source citations, can be correctly transferred via GEDCOM, using standard GEDCOM fields, not just to another copy of Family Historian but also to other genealogy programs – even if those other genealogy programs only support basic GEDCOM functionality, and do not support free form sources, templated sources, or customisation of source citations.
  • There are 6 possible choices with respect to non-generic source-handling:
    • No special action
    • Prioritize compatibility
    • Copy source/citation details to first note
    • Copy source/citation details to new note
    • Prioritize compatibility & copy details to first note
    • Prioritize compatibility & copy details to new note
  • If you take any option that includes prioritizing compatibility (that is, the 2nd, 5th and 6th), Family Historian will copy details of footnote citations, as they would appear in reports, to generic source and citation fields.  This should ensure that any genealogy program which supports GEDCOM sources and citations, will have the full, correct citation details – even for sources that were originally free form, templated, or customised.  For this reason, you are usually recommended to select an option which includes this feature.
  • The functionality relating to prioritizing compatibility is not needed, and has no effect, if the GEDCOM is to be imported into a copy of Family Historian, version 8 or later.  However, even here, it does no harm to enable it, which is why prioritizing compatibility is the default option.
  • As well as, or instead of, prioritizing compatibility, Family Historian also offers the option to copy fields from templated Source records and citations, and/or customised source citation details, into a note, attached to the Source record or citation.  Both Source records and citations can have multiple notes.   Family Historian supports all such notes, but some other genealogy programs may only support one note per Source record or citation.  For this reason, you can choose between copying the details into the first note associated with each Source record or citation (by appending the details to the existing note, if there is one), or by copying the details into a separate (new) note.
  • If your project does not contain any sources and citations based on source templates, and does not have any free form sources or customised source citations, these options are not applicable.

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Improvements to Source Templates

  • Smart Folders allow source templates to be grouped and presented in meaningful ways.
  • Thanks to 'Auto' Smart Folders, source templates now add significantly more value.  This is because, within Smart Folders for source records and source citations, folder groupings correlate with source template categories, and source template fields are used as columns in the displayed folders.
  • There is a new button "Adjust Field Order" in the Source Template Definition Compare Dialog (the dialog which allows you to compare a source template definition with its equivalent Source Template record) which is enabled if the fields are not in the same order, and can be used to change the order of fields in the Source record to match that of the Source definition or vice versa.

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Customisations for the Focus Window and Other Improvements

  • You can now customise the Focus Window, by adding up to 2 additional lines each of fully customisable text, to parent and grandparent boxes. 
  • You can also add an additional column to the children listing, with a fully customisable heading and text.
  • The Focus Window can now display an optional FamilySearch icon for records that are matched to the currently selected FamilySearch tree (if any).  Click on this icon to view match details in the FamilySearch window.
  • You can now also optionally display place information for child births and deaths.
  • You can now view record links for any Individual by selecting "Record Links" on the context menu that appears when you right-click on their record.

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Improvements to the Records Window and Record Selector Dialogs

  • The Records Window now supports Smart Folders (see Smart Folders).
  • Records Window columns now support left, centre and right alignment (right click on the Records Window and choose 'Configure Columns').
  • A new option, in Preferences Dialog: Records Window, allows you to sort Null values last.  This is enabled by default.
  • You now have one-click toggle sort on columns in the Records Window and many other lists.  That is, you can click a column to sort; and then click it again to reverse the sort.  Records Window columns show the direction of the sort with a little grey triangle in the column heading.
  • The first column of the Records Window is 'locked' by default, so you can scroll sideways without losing context.  This means that it becomes practical to show far more columns in the Records Window than was previously the case.
  • Text filters in the Records Window have been improved and now support wildcards (* and ?).  All filtering is on text anywhere within the field, except that you can use ^ at the start or end of a text filter, to indicate that it must match the start or end (or both) of a field.  There is also a new filtering option if you want text filters to always match the start of fields. 
  • The above options are all available both in normal mode and when displaying the contents of Smart Folders.
  • You can now view record links for any record by selecting "Record Links" on the context menu that appears when you right-click on the record (this applies not just to the Records Window but to the Focus Window and other contexts).
  • You can now filter on the content of Research Notes in the Research Notes tab.
  • You can now use drag-and-drop to add, move or copy columns, in the Configure Columns Dialog.
  • You can now press Ctrl+A to select an entire list, or Ctrl+Shift+Home and Ctrl+Shift+End to select from a given point to the start or end of the list.

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New Search Tool for Projects, Backup Files and GEDCOM Files

  • For searching for projects, backups and standalone GEDCOM files (GEDCOM files that do not form part of a Family Historian project). 
  • The new tool can be accessed from the 'More Tasks' button on the Project Window.  It can search your entire computer, the documents folder, or a user-specified folder.
  • There are menu options for restoring backups (including old-style 'zip' backup files), opening projects or GEDCOM files, and changing the default project or default project location.

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New Backup and Restore Settings Tool

  • "Settings" means modified or custom fact type definitions, queries, diagrams, reports, and text schemes, as well as record flags, language packs, diagram box icons, accent files, plugins, program preferences and configurations, and much more.  All settings can be backed up to a file, for easy transfer to another computer.  The new tool can be accessed from the 'More Tasks' button on the Project Window.
  • For advice on moving Family Historian to a new PC (with settings) see Moving Family Historian to a New PC.
  • If you install version 8 on a computer that already has an earlier version installed (see Parallel Installations of Different Versions) your settings will be automatically copied to the new installation.  This is another application of the same technology.

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Improvements to the Media Window

  • Individuals, families, places, sources, facts, source citations and submitters, can all be linked to pictures and other media items.  Previously, with individuals, families, places, and sources, you could create these links from either end.  That is, you could link either from the data item to the media item (for example, by adding the link in the Media tab of the Property Box), or from the media item to the data item (by clicking 'Add Frame Link' or 'Add Simple Link' in the Media Window).  With facts, source citations and submitters, however, the link could only be created from the data item to the media item, and not from the media item to the data item.  Both ways of creating these links are now supported.  That is, if you click 'Add Frame Link' or 'Add Simple Link' in the Media Window, you will be able to create all of these kinds of links.
  • You can now also link addresses to media items, and, again, the link can be created either from the address to the media item, or from the media item to the address.

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Easier, Quicker Data Entry, and Improved Usability Across the Program

  • Previously Family Historian supported auto-complete on many fields, such as Place, Address, Occupation, Religion, Group/Caste and National or Tribal Origin.  Now Family Historian additionally supports a new feature called auto-list for all of these fields and more.  Auto-list means that as you start typing, Family Historian will display a dropdown list of values (of the relevant field type) that match the characters you have typed so far.  If you see the value you want in the list, you can click on it, or use the arrow keys and press Enter or Tab.  In tests, this made data entry significantly easier and faster.
  • In version 8, there is now full multilevel undo/redo on all changes (including additions and deletions) to shapes in the Diagram Window (see Diagram Enhancements).
  • There is now also full multilevel undo/redo on all changes (including additions and deletions) to shapes in the Map Window (see New Mapping Tools).
  • When saving queries, charts, reports, etc., you can now see a list of existing items of the same kind, so that you can easily avoid existing names, and remind yourself of your preferred naming conventions.
  • You now have a progress dialog with a cancel button which appears when loading slow-to-load reports, and in other contexts.
  • Drag-and-drop is now more widely supported.  For example, you can use drag-and-drop to add, move and copy columns and filters in the Query Window, and when configuring columns in the Records Window.  See Drag-and-Drop to learn more.
  • As mentioned earlier with respect to books, the Windows Snipping Tool on the Tools menu makes it easier than ever to copy images.  And there are now also more options for inserting copied images into the program (see Web Clipping).
  • In many contexts, including the Records Window, the Focus Window and elsewhere, you can now view record links for any type of record, by selecting "Record Links" on the context menu that appears when you right-click on their record.
  • Other usability improvements with respect to record lists and the Records Window are described in Improvements to the Records Window and Record Selector Dialogs.

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Custom Fact Flags

  • Version 7 introduced the ability to set flags on any fact (event or attribute). Facts could be flagged as Private, Preferred, Tentative or Rejected.  Now in version 8 you can create your own custom fact flags.
  • Custom fact flags are set in the 'All' tab of the Property Box, as follows:  when viewing the relevant Individual (or Family) in the Property Box, switch to the 'All' tab.  To set a flag for a given fact, right-click on the text of the fact field in the left-hand side of the 'All' tab, click on 'Set Flag' in the dropdown menu that appears, and select the required flag.  If the flag does not yet exist, click on '<New Flag>' on the same menu to create it.
  • Custom fact flags can be referenced in queries, Smart Folders, columns, report fields, or elsewhere, like any other flag or field item.  They can also be accessed, created and set or unset by plugins.

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Improved Support for High Resolution Monitors

  • Sometimes graphics features and icons could previously have appeared to be small when displayed on high resolution monitors. Numerous improvements have been made throughout the program to ensure that graphics and icons are optimally sized.

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Parallel Installations of Different Versions

  • Family Historian 8 can now be installed alongside your existing installation of version 7 (or whichever earlier version you have), so you can try it out without having to give up your old version.
  • When you first open a version 7 project in version 8, you’ll be asked to upgrade it, and a snapshot of the project as it was is kept automatically – so you can always go back.
  • If you install version 8 on a computer that already has an earlier version of Family Historian installed on it, your settings will be copied to the new installation (see New Backup and Restore Settings Tool for more details).
  • Take care, though: don’t edit the same project in different versions of Family Historian, as this could lead to data loss. You will be warned if you try to.

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New Features and Improvements for Power-Users

  • There is a new special plugin type called a "Smart Folder Plugin", which gives great flexibility in creating Smart Folders.  It uses a single entry-point: FH_GetSmartFolderData (see documentation in the Plugin Help).
  • There is a new Lua object in the Family Historian API: Named List.  A Named List object is used to access (but not update) a Family Historian named list.  The Named List object has the following methods:
    • GetName
    • GetItemCount
    • GetItem
  • The new Address records are fully supported, and there is a new value type: "address".
  • There are 5 new API functions, including 3 that relate to named lists.  The new functions are:
    • fhGetNamedListCount
    • fhGetNamedListByIndex
    • fhGetNamedList
    • fhOutputNote
    • fhGetResolvedText
  • All Family Historian plugins that use Lua libraries must now use 64-bit versions of those libraries, as Family Historian itself is now 64-bit (see 64-bit Architecture).
  • The FHR_Requirements title field in a plugin report is now properly honoured (see also Enhancements to Reports).
  • 21 new "built-in" functions (that is, functions used as expressions within the program) have been added – see New Functions (added in version 8) for details.  Several of these functions are used in the new Smart Folders, and some of them are used in the new support for functions in the Expression Entry Assistant tool.
  • A new parameter has been added to the fhGetFlagTag function, to allow custom fact flags to be accessed and created.
  • The Plugin Help has been extended and improved.  There is a new section "Item Pointers: Confusions and Pitfalls to Avoid", which is recommended reading for all plugin authors.  There are also new sections describing the new functions and new plugin type.

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And More...

  • There is now an option to match on Unique Ids, when doing a File Merge/Compare. 
  • Creating and editing Unique Ids has also been enhanced.  Previously you could use the Record Identifiers Tool to generate Unique Ids for all Individual records in a project, that do not already have one.  Now you can also generate Unique Identifiers for particular Individual records.  To do so, on the 'All' tab of the Property Box for an Individual, right click on the Individual's name and choose Add Field, Add Miscellaneous, and finally Add Unique Id.  Then click the Generate button on the Helper dialog, to generate a Unique Id for them.
  • Improved import from RootsMagic to allow address details to be imported, including latitudes and longitudes of addresses etc.
  • There are a few GEDCOM fields which are supported in Family Historian – in that you can use them if you wish to – but which are 'deprecated' in the sense that we discourage you from using them.  These are mostly fields which are only included in the GEDCOM specification to make life easier for some less sophisticated genealogy programs.  An example would be a separate field for storing 'Surname'.  This field is only there for the benefit of programs that are unable to handle surnames within the context of the full name, as Family Historian can and does.  In the past, users who came across these fields were often confused about why they were there.  In version 8 these fields are now automatically 'suppressed', meaning that they won't appear on menus.  However, if your project already makes use of these fields, they will still appear in the 'All' tab of the Property Box.  You can, as an advanced option in Preferences, opt to not suppress them if you wish.
  • Problems that could sometimes arise when using Family Historian with multiple monitors have been addressed.
  • There is better support for low-level editing in the Records Window or All tab of the Property Box.  The right-click menu now has a special submenu for handling the 'Data' field in Source records and in source citations.
  • Users can now separately choose different toolbar sizes for the main window versus dialog windows.  So you can have big toolbars for the main window and medium toolbars for dialogs, if you wish, for example (see Preferences Dialog: Display tab).

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