Hi

The latest version of kiwitrees (3.3.1) is now available to download and install.

Get your copy here.

The focus with this release is on bug fixes and a couple of significant improvements to key modules. Upgrading is therefore straightforward, with no special requirements. As always though, follow the Upgrade instructions carefully.

A list of the latest changes and improvements can be found on the Change list. It’s a good idea to read those so you understand what has changed and how it might affect the way you work.

All kiwitrees hosted clients will be automatically upgraded over the next few days. Your site will be placed in “maintenance mode” for the short time the upgrade takes. You will receive an email when that is done and your site checked.

Changes to the messaging system

One of the biggest changes in this release is to the messaging system. This is the email system used by kiwitrees to communicate between you and your members, guide new members through the registration process, and alert you to changes on your site that require approval.

The underlying code has been completely replaced. This ensures the system works reliably with the latest version of PHP (7.1) as well as simplifying code maintenance. It has also allowed the option to send text-only or HTML formatted emails to work properly. In case you haven’t noticed, that feature has been broken for a while now!

New / Improved Census Assistant

This valuable tool, designed to help add detailed transcriptions of census pages to your data has always been restricted to census forms for just a couple of countries.

That has now been fixed and templates added to allow it to work for many more places. Included in this release are templates for Denmark, Canada, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and the USA, as well as updated versions for England, Scotland, Wales, and France.

Read the FAQ page for details on using the assistant. (Note – the FAQ needs updating, but the principles described are still accurate)

Sanity checking

The sanity check tool (Administration > Family tree tools > Sanity check) remains a very popular way to check your data for potential errors; those annoying mistakes like recording someone as born a hundred years after their death!!

New checks added in this release include:

• duplicate marriage

• having children at an extreme age

• duplicate children names

• empty tags

• giving birth before age 14

(But remember, items listed in these checks are not always errors. Check each one before you “fix” it)

I hope you enjoy the improvements