Ancestral Quest by Incline Software is a commercial Windows genealogy program that has been available for some time. Incline Software released a new version just over a month ago, called Ancestral Quest 2002. This week I had a chance to use the new version and can report that Ancestral Quest 2002 has a number of new features, including at least one feature I have not seen in any other genealogy program for online collaboration.

Ancestral Quest (AQ) shares a "common heritage" with Personal Ancestral File (PAF), produced by the Mormon Church. At one time, the two programs shared a lot of code and were nearly identical. Since that time, however, each has had several new updates created by different teams of programmers. As a result, the two programs evolved in different directions and are now quite different from each other. Nonetheless, the experienced PAF user can still jump into Ancestral Quest with almost no training or "reorientation." Anyone else should need only a few minutes to become familiar with the program.

Ancestral Quest databases remain fully compatible with Personal Ancestral File databases, versions 3 through 5. This is different from other programs that will read PAF databases but then store the data in their own format. With those programs, reading PAF data is a one-time event: you cannot easily move your updated information back to PAF again. By contrast, Ancestral Quest's internal database format is identical to PAF, so both programs can read all the information in your database at any time. You may find that you prefer one program for data entry but the other program for specific reports. That is not a problem with Ancestral Quest and PAF; you can switch back and forth between the two programs, always accessing the one database.

Users of Ancestry Family Tree (AFT) also can benefit from this new version of Ancestral Quest, as it works directly with Ancestry's .aft files. Here again, users of Ancestry Family Tree do not have to convert their data to use Ancestral Quest 2002 and can switch between the two programs at any time.

Opening Ancestral Quest 2002 for the first time, you see an empty pedigree chart waiting for you to "fill in the blanks." Data entry is simple and intuitive at all times. The user is prompted for all the normal genealogy data elements, such as name, date and place of birth, date and place of death, and so on. However, the program features optional fields that all serious genealogists will use..

The list of features of the program's sources database is extensive. You can attach a source to an entire event, or just to a date or a place. You can view all sources for an individual or event on a special summary screen. You can also categorize sources by type. For more information about all the tracking of sources in Ancestral Quest 2002, look at http://www.ancquest.com/aq_sources.htm.

Ancestral Quest 2002 also contains a multimedia scrapbook feature that I found easy to use. You can attach photos, scanned documents, audio (voice and/or music) clips, and video clips. From this list, you can assemble an interactive scrapbook for the individual and choreograph a slide show, including background audio that might be either narration or other sound, such as the individual's favorite song.

The program also has a very long list of printed reports. In fact, the list is much too long to give here. Instead, I will refer you to Incline Software's Web site at http://www.ancquest.com/aqreprts.htm for information about all the reports. Those pages also show examples of all the more popular reports so that you can see them for yourself. Notice that many of the printed reports optionally include pictures.

Ancestral Quest will also create web pages so that you can share your data with relatives around the world. You do not need to be an HTML expert or Web guru to translate your genealogy information to a Web format; Ancestral Quest will do the job for you. You simply upload the result to your personal home pages.

The person who later views your Web pages can go to a desired page based on your ancestors, on descendants of an ancestor, or on any group of individuals and families you choose to share. You can create Web pages using a lot of different options, including whether to make a GEDCOM file available for download, and whether or not to include your scrapbook. You can view a sample site created automatically with Ancestral Quest 2002 at http://www.ancquest.com/sample/index.htm.

The program also simplifies Internet searches for information about your ancestors. You can highlight any name in your database and then, with a click of the mouse, search a long list of Internet search engines for this name. You can even add search engines you find to the list.

Most of what I have described so far was available in past releases of the program. The new Ancestral Quest 2002 adds the following new features:

• The Research Manager is very useful for planning productive research trips to libraries, courthouses, or other repositories where you may find information. You can print out reports before your visit. Let's say that you are working on your great-grandfather's information one evening, and you tell the Research Manager that you want to check the deeds of Penobscot County for any information about this individual the next time you visit the Penobscot County courthouse. Maybe you make a similar entry in the Research Manager database a few weeks later about another individual who lived in the same county. Then, at some future date, you plan a trip to the Penobscot County courthouse. You can first print a list of all the tasks you have assigned yourself for that courthouse visit.
   

• The reports can be filtered and sorted in a number of ways. You can print multiple locations, such as all the places along your research route. Locations can use "wild cards". For example, if you are going to Arizona for a research trip, just enter "Arizona", and any item located within the state will print. However, if you want to limit your search to just Maricopa county, then type in "Maricopa, Arizona". If you want to look only at Tempe and Mesa, then use the list to type in "Tempe, Maricopa, Arizona" and "Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona".
   

• A new collaboration feature allows multiple family researchers to work on the same files across the Internet in real time. To work with a "Collaboration File", you place a family file on a central server on the Internet, provided by Incline Software. You allow others to access that file. This means that you and your associates anywhere in the world can work together on a single, master file. For example, you would place a family database on this server. Then you would alert appropriate members of your family that this file is available, and give them rights to edit or simply view the data. You and the others then take turns updating this master file. When your cousin updates some information that she has found, you will be able to see that information the next time you check that file out and view it. When you update the family file with information that you have found, your cousin will have access to that information the next time she works with the file. This can eliminate the need to send GEDCOM files back and forth and to merge the two sets of information.

  The collaboration feature is not a true multi-user database. Any one user may work with the file at a given moment. Once he or she completes the planned updates, the file is released so that others may do the same thing. The advantage of storing the data on a centralized file server is ease of access for all involved. All the people involved in adding to this collaboration do need to use Ancestral Quest 2002. If some fellow collaborators only want to view the data rather than participate in updating the data, they can use the free Ancestral Quest 2002 demo program as a viewer. I'll describe the demo program in a bit.

  The collaboration feature inherently provides an off-site backup. Even users not needing to coordinate research efforts can use this feature to store an off-site copy of their data on the collaboration server.

  Initially, the collaboration service is available without charge. Incline Software may decide, with appropriate notice, to charge for this service in the future. Current information will be available when you sign up for this service.

Other new features added to Ancestral Quest 2002 include the following:

• Fan Charts. full, half or quarter circles, with several options including documented charts -- prints up to 13 generations and up to 36" x 36" output
• Global Search and Replace of notes, names, dates, and places
• Spell Checking
• Unlimited notes
• Research Log report
• Documented Pedigree Charts
• Printing source images on reports
• Enhanced Search Center provides better ways to locate individuals and marriages from anywhere in the software
• Name List view -- work from a list of individuals sorted by name, RIN, date or place
• Merge sources and repositories
• Show pictures next to the name on web pages
• Include siblings on Ancestry charts and ancestral book reports
• Quick entry of names and places
• Print most reports to file -- lets you include the chart in a larger work or send a copy via e-mail to an associate
• Page of Testimony. This feature was introduced in a special Jewish edition of AQ 3.0, and is now made available in the main version. This feature allows those with any information on Holocaust victims to record information about those victims and to submit a testimonial page to authorities in Jerusalem.
• Customize the Individual Edit screen
• Bookmark Individuals
• Print a line of descent from a common ancestor
• Add documents to scrapbook collections
• Export scrapbook collections to a GEDCOM file -- the easiest way to share your entire family history with others.
• Create a master source for a GEDCOM import
• Sorted Place list
• Not a Problem – flag records to exclude from the Possible Problem list
• Print lists of sources
• Print all citations of a source
• Print a list of scrapbook items, sorted to taste
• Print odd/even pages
• LDS Enhancements
• PAF 5.x support -- directly view PAF 5 data in Ancestral Quest 2002 and take advantage of AQ's additional reporting, web generation, and GEDCOM export options with your PAF 5 data file
• TempleReady updates – update LDS ordinance information in your family file directly from data generated by TempleReady

Ancestral Quest 2002 has a suggested retail price of $39.95, but is available for a limited time for $29.95 to new users, and for the upgrade price of $19.95 for current users of AQ. It can be purchased online from a secure Web server at http://www.ancquest.com, or by calling Incline Software at 1-800-825-8864 (or 1-801-280-4434).

Best of all, Incline Software is offering a free demo version that also serves as a "file viewer." You can download the entire program at no charge from Incline Software's Web site. Until the software is registered, it runs in "demo mode" and allows you to enter up to 120 individuals. Some advanced features are also disabled in demo mode. However, you can always use the unregistered version of AQ 2002 to view larger databases created by other users. Keep in mind that you can read Personal Ancestral File databases and also view AQ collaboration databases with the free, unregistered version. You can even print reports about thousands of people, should you care to do so. Only the data entry is limited to 120 individuals.

To later activate the full functionality of AQ 2002, you go into the Help menu, select ABOUT, and then click on the Registration button. This takes you to Incline Software's secure Web site, where you pay with a credit card. A Registration Key is then sent to you by email, and you will be up and running with the full version as quickly as you can enter your Key. You do not need to wait for the mailman to bring the software to you.

I spent some time with Ancestral Quest 2002 and found it to be easy to use and intuitive at all times. I manually entered data about a half-dozen individuals, then imported a GEDCOM file of about 3,000 individuals for the remainder of my testing. The charts all worked well. I especially liked the pedigree charts with pictures, similar to the ones seen at http://www.ancquest.com/images/pedchrt.gif.

Despite its ease of use, Ancestral Quest 2002 has the features that demanding genealogists expect in their software. Its reporting capabilities are excellent, and the collaboration feature will be of interest to many people involved in group research projects. Ancestral Quest 2002 is an excellent program for beginners and experienced users alike.

Ancestral Quest