Ancestral Quest 12.1 Available to Sync with NFS

Renee's Note: I found the following email on FHCNET from Gaylon Findlay stating Ancestral Quest 12.1 is now available to all, and able to sync with new FamilySearch. This is the first commercial product available to sync with NFS. In the coming months we will see FamilyInsight, RootsMagic and Legacy offer their own versions.

All:

We know that many PAF 5 users and Family History Center consultants are anxiously awaiting the release of FamilySearch Certified PAF Add-ins to help them synchronize PAF 5 data with the Family Tree of new.FamilySearch.org. Incline Software released Ancestral Quest 12.1
over a month ago to a limited group, and we are now ready to open up access to any PAF 5 user who would like to synchronize their PAF 5 data with new.FamilySearch.org, and to any Family History Center that would like to have a copy of AQ 12.1 avaliable for their patrons.

Things you should know about this certified PAF add-in:

• Incline Software gave a copy of the AQ source code to the LDS church in 1999, from which PAF 4 and PAF 5 were derived. So if you are familiar with PAF 5, and you use Ancestral Quest 12.1, most of it will feel very familiar to you.
• Even though AQ 12.1 is a full program that could replace PAF 5, you can also use AQ simply as an Add-in for PAF 5. If you don't care to use all the features of AQ, simply use the new features that synchronize your PAF 5 data with new.FamilySearch.org and ignore the rest of the program. After you install AQ to your computer, you will find it listed in the "Tools" menu of PAF 5. You can use this tool, and focus on AQ's menu labeled "FamilySearch" to synchronize your PAF 5 data with nFS.
• You can download LDS ordinance data directly from NFS into your PAF file. You will find this easier than using the old methods of searching through the IGI to update your temple data -- in part because the FamilySearch team has already combined many of the duplicate records that used to exist in the IGI.
• You can try AQ 12.1 for free for 60 days. After the 60 days, you can continue to view your PAF 5 data with NFS IDs, you can continue to link your PAF records to NFS, and import Family Lines from NFS without purchasing a key to fully unlock the program. To otherwise exchange data between your PAF file and NFS, you would need to purchase a key after 60 days. Family History Centers are granted a free license to activate AQ on all the computers in their center. If you would like to receive the unlock key for your center, send a request to ancquest@ancquest.com.
• There are screens to let you quickly link any of your PAF 5 records with their corresponding records in the Family Tree of new.FamilySearch.org
• You can use some extra options in the Advanced Filtering to determine which of your records are linked to nFS and which are not
• You can import new records and data directly from nFS into your PAF 5 file
• You can upload your PAF 5 records and data directly to nFS
• You can download ancestral lines from NFS directly into either a new PAF file, or into your existing PAF file. This will include all LDS ordinances for these people. (This feature will continue to be free, even after the 60-day trial expires.)
• If you download LDS ordinances labeled "Ready" -- indicating that they can be submitted for temple work, you can quickly find these records using the Advanced Filtering by searching for "Any Ordinance Date" matching "Ready".
• AQ 12.1 has been out of beta testing for 6 weeks, now, and is being released to the third phase of its roll-out.
  

To download a copy of this new FamilySearch certified PAF add-in, go to this web page:

www.ancquest.com/Ver12-1Info.htm

Whether you already have training on how to use the new.FamilySearch.org or not, you will certainly have questions about how to synchronize your PAF 5 data with the Family Tree. We recommend that you watch the tutorial we have provided for PAF 5 users. It is available on this page:

http://www.ancquest.com/Ver12-1Tutorials.htm

Be aware that the FamilySearch team is expected to provide us with additional processes (called APIs) that will allow AQ to give you more options in the near future. For now, AQ 12.1 provides the tools you need to start linking your PAF 5 records with NFS.

In the near future, AQ will also provide these other capabilities not yet in the program:

• Allow you to download sources from NFS into your PAF 5 file (AQ will let you view the NFS sources now, but you cannot yet make them part of your PAF 5 file)
• Allow you to create a source for each record or piece of information you download into your PAF 5 file from NFS
• Allow you to separate improperly combined persons in NFS
  

Of course, you can only use these new features in AQ if you have an ID on the new.FamilySearch.org site. This means that most people in Utah and the Pacific northwest cannot yet use them, but we know that those of you who do have access to NFS will be excited to start using these tools immediately.

Good luck,

Gaylon Findlay
Incline Software