Branching Out: Using Your Genealogy Software to Manage Your Research

Diana and Nicole have been trailblazers in the use of Airtable to document the Research Like a Pro process. But did you know that your desktop genealogy software could also be a powerful tool for organizing and capturing the RLP steps as well? In this post, I’ll share how I’ve adapted the features of RootsMagic to support and advance my research. Note: I’m currently using the most recent version (RM11) but previous versions may also support these ideas.

RootsMagic: A Closer Look

My personal software of choice is RootsMagic, though the concepts I’ll share may apply equally to Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, and other similar programs. RootsMagic is a relational database tool—at its core, it stores information in background tables (People, Places, Facts, Sources, Citations, Media, Tasks, and more) and displays it to you in a user-friendly view.

What makes it powerful is how those tables relate to each other. This is the same reason that Airtable is a step above a basic spreadsheet. Think of a simple sales model: you have customers, products, and orders. Rather than re-entering a customer’s address on every single order, you give them an ID number that is assigned to each order. Address information can be cross-referenced without being duplicated.

Genealogy software works the same way. For example, I have recorded that Elizabeth Rogers appeared on a tax list in Cannon County, Tennessee in 1847. Behind the scenes, that tax list is one of many events in a fact list, and Cannon County is stored as an entry in a list of places. These list items can be created once and used repeatedly. In similar fashion, once I create the source citation for this information, that same citation can be reused across multiple people and events. Edit it once, and the change cascades everywhere it’s attached. This is what makes genealogy software so much more efficient—and accurate—than a basic spreadsheet or a static tree on a website.

A note on cost: At just $40 for a one-time purchase (with optional major updates around $20), RootsMagic is also remarkably affordable. It can sync with Ancestry and FamilySearch trees for hints and updates—though I personally don’t use that feature. Instead, I download copies of my sources and link them directly in my RootsMagic database, periodically uploading a fresh tree to Ancestry (without media) as “cousin bait” and for on-the-go reference. For other software, refer to their product website for pricing.

Document Your Research: Don’t Just Record Facts

Here’s where I want to shift the conversation from data entry to research management. Many genealogists use their software as little more than a glorified family tree, entering names, dates, and places. But these programs are capable of so much more. The real power lies in using them to document and drive your entire research process.

Several years ago, I discovered the RLP method and use it to guide my research. RLP breaks research into manageable steps, and RootsMagic can support every one of them. In the sections below, I’ll discuss each RLP step and how it can be integrated into RM11.

Step 1: Research Objective

RLP reminds us to create a research objective before diving into the records. In RM11, that can be recorded using the task folders. Folders consist of a name field and a longer free-text box to record the details for the folder. I give each folder a naming using a specific naming convention (see below), then record the full text of the objective in the box. Once created, a folder can have multiple tasks associated with it (and conversely, a task can be assigned to multiple folders).

Organizing Task Folders with Naming Conventions

Folders alphabetize by name in RootsMagic, so it pays to be strategic with folder names. In addition to individual folders for each research project, I also have other permanent folders for surnames and places to help organize research ideas that aren’t formal objectives yet. I use the following naming conventions for my folders:

[ACTIVE] – for current projects/objectives (pushes them to the top of the list). Format: [ACTIVE] Last, First – Topic
[HOLD] or [RESEARCH COMPLETE] – I edit the name to replace [ACTIVE] with [HOLD] or [RESEARCH COMPLETE] later. I use “RESEARCH COMPLETE” (rather than just “COMPLETE”) to push finished projects toward the bottom of the alphabetized list.
[FAMILY] – permanent folders for surnames, great for capturing random notes while researching another topic.
[LOCATION] – permanent folders for specific research localities.

Step 2: Analyze Sources and Build a Timeline

The next step in RLP is to review what you already know. Good news, the timeline is automatically created as you build your ancestor’s history in RM! Use the Edit Person view in RM11 to see a chronological list of all facts for your subject. From the Person View, you can also review all sources attached to that person, filtered by event if needed.

Step 3: Locality Research

Understanding the area where your ancestor lived—boundary changes, available record sets, historical context—is essential before you start searching. This research to build a locality guide typically happens outside of RootsMagic, but you can document your findings within the program in several ways. For simple guides, you could add notes to each place. For more complex guides or to take advantage of better formatting, create the guide in your word processing program and link it to the Media field for a place. RM does not store the actual media file within the program, but links to wherever you have it on your computer. As updates are made to the document, the most recent version is always available in RM.

Option 1 – Store locality information in the notes field for each place :

Option 2 – Create a stand-alone document and link within Media field for a place:

Step 4: Research Planning with Tasks

This is where RootsMagic’s task system really shines. Based on everything you’ve gathered so far, identify the record sets you want to search and create a separate task for each one. Link each task to your objective’s folder, and also to relevant people, places, and repositories for easy cross-reference. Assign priority and status and continue adding tasks as your project evolves.

The benefits of taking the time to use tasks are significant:

Breaks the work into manageable steps—small wins feel good when you check off a task!
Allows you to group tasks by strategy (e.g., search all FamilySearch tasks at once).
If a research trip is needed, you can print tasks filtered by repository to create a research guide with space for notes—saving precious time at a remote archive or cemetery.
Provides a permanent record of negative findings, so you never waste time searching the same source twice.
Makes researching in short windows of time much more productive—easy to pick up right where you left off.

Time to go do research!

Step 5: Source Citations

The first step when working any task should be to create a source in the Sources list—before you start searching. Add the citation when you find something (positive or negative), then attach it to the task. When writing reports, you can copy and paste your citation directly from RootsMagic, saving formatting time. RM has customizable source templates so you can adjust the output to your preferred format.

Research Logs

The fields associated with each task serve as a built-in research log. Add notes to the Results field as you work. Update the task’s priority and status as appropriate and create additional tasks as new leads emerge.

You can print tasks associated with a folder as either a Task List (one page per task) or a Research Log (table format). The Research Log format is a great way to review the progress of your research.

Report Writing

For straightforward finds, simply create a new fact on the person’s timeline and attach the relevant source citations. For more complex objectives, consider writing a formal research report in Word or Google Docs. Save it as a PDF, create a source entry in RootsMagic, and attach the PDF as Media. That source can then be linked to any fact on the person’s timeline—or to the person at a general level—making it easy to reference later as you build on your conclusions.

Conclusion

If you’re not yet using desktop genealogy software, I hope this post has given you a reason to explore it. And if you are already using a program, I encourage you to dig deeper into its task and research management features—you may be surprised how much more it can do.

Most importantly, become a researcher, not just a searcher. Following a structured process—like the Research Like a Pro method—will transform the quality and reliability of your family history work. A few practical tips as you get started:

Join Facebook or other online communities for your software of choice to learn from power users.
Try new features on a small project first before rolling out system-wide changes.
Don’t be afraid to experiment—getting the organizational system right takes some iteration, and it’s much easier to adjust early on.

Happy researching!

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