Clooz Announcement

The following is from Clooz by Ancestral Systems.

Announcement made on Facebook 31 Dec 2015 by Joe Bissett

In December 2011 I saw a notice that Elizabeth Kerstens Kelly had to drop her brainchild genealogy program Clooz for a variety of reasons. As a Clooz user since its initial introduction, I knew the potential of the program for my own genealogy research, so I contacted Elizabeth in hopes that I could take over Clooz. Elizabeth and I reached an agreement, and I became the owner of all future editions of Clooz on 1 January 2013. As soon as my announcement went public, I was contacted by Rich Thomas who was also a long time user of Clooz. Rich possessed the technical programming skills that I lacked, coming from a government career in Information Technology. Given our complementary skills and interests, Rich and I formed the Ancestral Systems LLC partnership. Clooz has grown in capability over the last four years and is currently undergoing a complete rewriting for the next version due to be released Spring/Summer 2016.

During this period my advancing age and personal family health issues began to interfere with my ability to properly support the company and Clooz. Early this fall it became apparent to me that it was time to relinquish my role and ownership in Clooz.

It is with great pleasure (and a little sadness) that I can tell you that on 1 January 2016 Rich Thomas will become the sole owner of Ancestral Systems LLC, and the headquarters will move to Maryland.

I deeply appreciate the loyalty and frequent information exchanges with our valued clients. I have no doubt that the future for Clooz is bright, and that Rich will continue to provide inovative advances for our users.

I will probably pop up from time to time, just to keep my finger on the pulse.

Thanks for all of your support,

Joe Bissett

Ancestral Systems releases Clooz interface to Family Historian

The following is from Clooz.

Ancestral Systems LLC has released version 3.5 of Clooz, a Windows desktop program aiding family history researchers in organizing and tracking all of the document records they collect. Having reviewed all of the information they found, Clooz users can then make educated decisions on which people belong in their family tree. In this latest update of Clooz, Ancestral Systems has added yet another family tree program, Family Historian by Calico-Pie, to the list of programs users can transfer records (people, events, sources) to using Clooz's sophisticated document export tool. The tool assists users by identifying events which can be drawn from the document information they previously entered into Clooz. Sources are transferred, and the newly created events are automatically cited to the source.

Using Clooz, researchers can enter information into the program from various documents in a format appropriate for that document, collect such information from documents that seem to have some possibility of relating to their research question, evaluate the information, and then make appropriate decisions on exporting the person, their events, and source citations to their family tree program. The tedious process of entering all of the information into their family tree program and citing each fact with sources is eliminated. It is all taken care of by Clooz's document export tool. The tool provides the user complete control over every piece of information that is to be transferred from the Clooz document record to the family tree program. Parent child relationships can be designated so that the people will show up in the right families when exported to the family tree program.

                                                                                        

In addition to Family Historian, Clooz also exports data to

Legacy Family Tree, The Master Genealogist, RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, and any other program supporting the import of GEDCOM files. Clooz is able to maintain synchronization of identification numbers for persons imported or exported with Family Historian, Legacy and RootsMagic, making it easy for users to identify matching people in each program.

All registered Clooz 3 users having active update/support services will receive this update the next time they open Clooz 3. Others can find additional information at http://clooz.com, and download a 30 day free trial. Clooz can be purchased at that same site for $39.95.

Clooz News for Roots Magic Users

The following is from Clooz. I haven't tried this yet to see how it works with RootsMagic.

Ancestral Systems Releases Clooz 3.4 We have an exciting new capability to export GEDCOM files to Roots Magic!   We have very exciting news for RootsMagic users! We have implemented a new user interface allowing Clooz users to move data to their RM file after it has been processed in Clooz. This expanded interface is very similar to our highly successful interface with Legacy Family Tree, transferring the details of a Clooz document or census to an external family tree program. Clooz directly reads information from the RootsMagic database (set as Primary on the External File Links list). However, Clooz is not authorized to write directly to the same database. Therefore, a GEDCOM file is produced by Clooz for the user to import into RootsMagic. Image links are also exported. Clooz is able to maintain synchronization of the record identifiers with the RM file. The Clooz data export function allows designation of new family structures of all generations reflected in a census image and properly adds that structure to the existing RM file. This data export interface is a capability that our Roots Magic users have been hoping for since Clooz 3.3 was introduced. Kudos to our software development team. Assuming you take advantage of the automatic updating capabilities in Clooz, you will see a notification of the available update to version 3.4 the next time you start Clooz.  This version includes an updated Help File (identical to the User Guide) to assist our users in learning how to best use this new capability. A very detailed extract of the revised instructions found in the Clooz User Guide can be downloaded at: http://cloozsetups.ancestralsystems.com/exporting34.pdf We strongly suggest that our users download this extract for study and review prior to using the new data interface with your formal RM file. Clooz 3.4 will update your Clooz data file(s) to the new format the first time it is opened. Although we have not had any file upgrade errors during testing, it is always wise to first make a backup copy of your file(s) before opening in Clooz 3.4. Clooz 3.4 is fully compatible with Windows 10. Some other important new features include: 1) Census summaries exported in Individual remarks have been enhanced with additional information from the census, and in early U.S. census years, birth year ranges. 2) Added the Year field for Microform/CD tab on all sources having that tab. 3) Cause of death is now exported in notes/remarks. 4) Lists, such as the Cities List, now show the Personal File # in the usage list for all items (whether document or document detail). 5) Added the option to skip the Log View popup after successful imports/exports. Please remember that in order to receive this new update your license status must be current, having been started or renewed within the last 12 months. If you have not yet renewed your Clooz Updates and Support account, just click on the following link: http://clooz.com/renewal.php This update continues our policy of providing our users a superior product for supporting their genealogical research and development efforts. Regards to all, Joe   Thank you! Joe and Rich The Ancestral Systems Team

Ancestral Systems LLC 9911 Bexar Road Somerset, Texas 78069-3106 (830) 429-3768

Major Clooz Update 3.3.6 Released

The following is from Clooz.

Major Clooz Update 3.3.6 Released! The New Synchronization Transfer Tool Clooz users have invested a substantial amount of time building their Clooz database and linking it to the people and sources in their linked family tree program. Therefore, Clooz users previously were faced with a difficult situation when a family tree program change is needed, as may happen to our users who have relied on The Master Genealogist, which is being discontinued.

To support this challenge for our users, a new Synchronization Transfer Tool has been added to assist users migrating from one family tree program to another. Users can now transfer the links from one external file to another different file (e.g., a TMG user who linked to their data from Clooz can shift the links to apply to a Legacy or RootsMagic file containing the same identification numbers as the TMG file). Review The Technical Write-Up    Revised Canada 1921 Census Template For our Clooz users who have Canadian ancestors, The 1921 Canadian Census template was updated to more accurately reflect the actual document used in the nationwide Census. The old template matched the Newfoundland census of that same year, when Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada. The old template is now labeled as Newfoundland. The report format for 1921 Canadian Census documents has been updated to handle the changes made in the template. Invalid Entry Filtering Problem Fixed Finally, a problem has been fixed with how Clooz 3.3 handles invalid entries when filtering main grid displays (for example, entering a surname to filter by Clooz ID caused Clooz to crash). Download the Revised Free User Guide

Clooz 4 Development Info Needed

The following is from Clooz.

Information needed for Clooz 4 development

Dear Renee,

Join Mailing List Mac and Linux Users Preparing for 2013 and the Clooz 4 development, we need to gather information on folks who now use a Mac or Linux operating system for their genealogy research. Users report that Clooz 3 runs normally on those systems under various emulator modes. Emulator mode is a less than optimal solution, so our goal is to release Clooz 4 in a native mode for each system, assuming there is a large enough group of folks to make the effort worthwhile. Please update or add your information in our master database. This is very simple to do, and requires only a minute or two. Click the "Spy" to join our mailing list. If you have already updated your information, just disregard this notice. Enter your e-mail address and you will be offered two options. The first is to update your information;  the second is to re-subscribe if you are no longer in our database. For your security, when you click "Submit", you will immediately receive an e-mail with the link to perform the update. Please select BOTH the General Information list and the Mac or Linux list. Your information WILL NOT be shared with any other entity for any purpose. This is a important step to help us develop Clooz into the visionary product that we all desire. We greatly appreciate your help. Please share widely and Tweet to your genealogy followers.

Sincerely, The Ancestral Systems Team