Family Historian User Group

Hi,
If the answer is already in a forum apologies I did try to search for an answer but to no avail. Question; My brother and I live on two different continents but are both working on our family history together, so;
1. Do we each need to purchase a copy of FH?
2. Can we work collaboratively on the same version
3. Will one of us have to manage a master version or apply version control?
thx, Steve

Welcome to the FHUG Steve.

It has occasionally been discussed before but may be difficult to find as people use different terminology.

1. Yes, because the FH licence is restricted to two PC owned and kept by one person.
   See how_to:about#licence_agreement|> Licence Agreement.
2. Yes, it is possible to work on the same cloud storage shared Project, but requires a disciplined approach.
   Only one person at a time must be running FH on that shared Project database, otherwise it will get corrupted.
   See fhugdownloads:synchro|> Downloads and Links ~ Synchronise and Backup Tools for advice on using OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox to synchronise the shared Project database.
   You and your bother will need to use the same cloud storage account (one at a time) to share the Project database.
3. There are other possible ways of working using Project backup/restore/merge but are rather tedious.
   These can be discussed if shared cloud storage is not suitable.

Interesting as I've been pondering the same as I am on the verge of replacing our aging desktop with separate laptops for me and my wife. I am also looking forward to Version 7 being released and was wondering if Calico Pie may offer a "family" licence for a single household. I know that's hard to manage for the software publisher and licences are usually per device, so it looks like I may have to share my device for family history matters as the issue of having two separate licences and keeping each instance synced brings it's own issues.

I think you will able to get away with one licence for the two laptops and synch FH via OneDrive, etc.
The licence says: "you may install it onto 2 computers (and no more than 2) if both computers are owned and kept by you, and no more than one person ever uses the software at any one time."
So if "you" is interpreted as you & your wife as a couple in one household, then that should be OK, in my opinion.
While synched via OneDrive, etc, only one person must run FH at the same time to avoid Project corruption.
If you want a definitive answer then Email Calico Pie.

Many thanks for the prompt and informative response, kind regards