Merrilee,
In the current version of Family Tree Maker 2012 (believe all versions from 2008 to current may have the "private" setting also) when in a family tree you will see two tabs at the top. One will be marked "Family" and the other "Person." Click the "Person" tab to see the details of that person. When you have done that, on the far right there will be an "Options" pull down. Click on it and you should see "private" listed among other options. Click that to make that person's info private.
Should you wish to make your complete tree private for those still living, instead of using tabs for each person, click on the "File" menu option above those tabs at the top. You should see "Privatize File" listed in the choices. One would use this before creating a GED file to share, for example.
If you have a family tree at Ancestry.com, you can always set a person's data private by clicking on "Edit this person" when in their profile view. Once the page changes you will see an area marked "Status." Simply click the button next to "Living". That will make their data private online so only those with the rights to view info about the living can see it. Those would be yourself and any persons you invited directly to view and/or add to your tree. I should mention that almost all individuals in an online family tree at Ancestry.com that do not have a death date listed in their profile and are less than 100 years old (maybe the number is more or less than 100) will automatically be marked with "Living" next to their Death line. So, generally for those still living, you will not need to set them that way. It appears those without a death date but over 100 years old will not have the word "Living" next to their Death line - it will be blank.
If you are running a very old version of Family Tree Maker or a different family tree program, you may want to look for a "Help" menu item and do a search for the phrase "make private."
Hope this is helpful.
Ed
In the current version of Family Tree Maker 2012 (believe all versions from 2008 to current may have the "private" setting also) when in a family tree you will see two tabs at the top. One will be marked "Family" and the other "Person." Click the "Person" tab to see the details of that person. When you have done that, on the far right there will be an "Options" pull down. Click on it and you should see "private" listed among other options. Click that to make that person's info private.
Should you wish to make your complete tree private for those still living, instead of using tabs for each person, click on the "File" menu option above those tabs at the top. You should see "Privatize File" listed in the choices. One would use this before creating a GED file to share, for example.
If you have a family tree at Ancestry.com, you can always set a person's data private by clicking on "Edit this person" when in their profile view. Once the page changes you will see an area marked "Status." Simply click the button next to "Living". That will make their data private online so only those with the rights to view info about the living can see it. Those would be yourself and any persons you invited directly to view and/or add to your tree. I should mention that almost all individuals in an online family tree at Ancestry.com that do not have a death date listed in their profile and are less than 100 years old (maybe the number is more or less than 100) will automatically be marked with "Living" next to their Death line. So, generally for those still living, you will not need to set them that way. It appears those without a death date but over 100 years old will not have the word "Living" next to their Death line - it will be blank.
If you are running a very old version of Family Tree Maker or a different family tree program, you may want to look for a "Help" menu item and do a search for the phrase "make private."
Hope this is helpful.
Ed