GenSmarts Review by Simon,  Feb 12, 2012

Got this last year to use with RootsMagic. It’s nice that it reads the RM file directly, so it’s always getting the latest updates I’ve made. I haven’t tried any of the reports yet - just been using this online.

Biggest Pro: RM File Support
Biggest Con: none found so far

GenSmarts Review by Jeri J Steele,  Dec 27, 2011

I should live long enough to track down every lead given in the output from GenSmarts! Not only is it linked to a lot of the major websites, it has hooks to the major card catalogs at many libraries. Dallas and FHL are the two major repositories I was using and they were both covered. When it suggests a book at the library it even gives you the call number of the book. It also tells you WHY it recommended that source. It even gets so detailed to say the brother to ancestor lived in this county so you should check this source so it looks beyond just the straight ancestral line. I highly recommend this software for helping you develop a research plan. Aaron also worked with me to get GenSmarts running under Crossover on the Mac. Although it runs perfectly on a Mac under parallels I like being able to run it in Crossover which has less overhead.

Biggest Pro: Bring able to construct ToDos from major libraries and online databases
Biggest Con: Sheer volume of research it lists! Wish I had 52 hrs in a day!

GenSmarts Review by Brett,  Aug 8, 2011

Does a fair job for what it is.

Biggest Pro: Identifies errors and makes suggestions.
Biggest Con: Where suggestions have been actioned, they appeear again when run next time.

GenSmarts Review by Daniel Dillman,  Jan 17, 2011

Gensmarts is awesome. If you’re not a professional researcher (and how many of us are?) then you need Gensmarts. This software uses the computer for what it does best - remembering the details. It takes your GEDCOM file and looks for what’s missing and gives you a listing of what research you need to do to fill in the gaps. Not only that, you can tell Gensmarts what online subscriptions you may have, such as Ancestry.com or Heritage Quest, and it will tell you what records may be on each site for each person in your file and provide a click button to take you to the site. Gensmarts even enters the search queries and parameters for you if it can! Gensmarts even gives you its reasoning for WHY you need to make each search - what data is missing, why it suggests particular locales, dates or databases to search.

Biggest Pro: Gensmarts discovers and remembers all of the research you need to do to fill in the gaps.
Biggest Con: Sometimes the hypotheses for the searches can be confusing, and sometimes Gensmarts is mistaken about whether a particular data item is or is not available online

GenSmarts Review by amiable1,  Jul 29, 2010

Utility for research suggestions. VERY helpful. Not too intuitive, so overload is the norm. Lacks some common sources like NARA.

Biggest Pro: Helpfulness.
Biggest Con: Incompleteness.

GenSmarts Review by Lisa Franklin,  Jul 19, 2010

AWESOME application! Highly recommend! I can sit at a specific genealogy library and the application will tell me what items they have that I should check for for which people in my database and to fill in what blanks! SUPER research tool to get your research FOCUSED and ORGANIZED!

GenSmarts Review by Michael,  Apr 2, 2010

Very unique piece of software - I’ve not seen anything else like it.

Biggest Pro: Lots of research ideas
Biggest Con: I wish it could automatically check the suggestions and just give me the results!

GenSmarts Review by Elizabeth Denes,  Jan 11, 2009

It gives lots of helpful ideas for research. I’m happy with it although since I bought it I haven’t had enough time to use it.

Biggest Pro: Gives good ideas.

GenSmarts Review by John Fowler,  Dec 29, 2008

Program sucks. Research tips not tailored to time frame of person. Most hints do not apply to every individual. Program does not read FTM or notes of other programs. Waste of money and waste of time.

Biggest Pro: easy to install
Biggest Con: time spent updating gensmarts to current research

GenSmarts Review by Tim,  Oct 5, 2008

Reads my Legacy database directly. Great tool for suggestions and ideas/recommendations

Biggest Pro: Reads my database without ged

GenSmarts Review by Annette D. Towler,  Oct 3, 2008

A good research tool, especially being able to upload RootsMagic directly into the software. Lots of choices and will take you directly to your subscription websites.

Biggest Pro: Searching feature.
Biggest Con: not enough time to work on it.

GenSmarts Review by Teresa,  Oct 1, 2008

Am a big fan. Would love to be able to add my own databases, instead of having to wait for Aaron to add them, but the program is a big asset to anyone who is doing serious research and not just name collecting. I use the customize records feature to help me set up tasks for microfilms when I head to the state archives.
But I do agree with Sam. I will never have time to do all the research it suggests. But that’s okay, it keeps me up on what I might want to work on next.

I like that it can be run on a subset of my data as well. That way I am not getting research suggestions on my 14th cousin 3 times removed, but on just my ancestors.

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use
Biggest Con: Not enough hours in the day.

GenSmarts Review by Sam,  Sep 27, 2008

Great little tool for giving you ideas on where to go next.

Biggest Pro: Requires no data entry, easy point and click interface
Biggest Con: More suggestions than I’ll ever have time to follow up on