Genogram Builder vs WinGeno

The two WinGeno editions save differently

WinGeno 2.0 separates its browser editor from its installed edition. The browser is useful for evaluating the controls. Use the installed app for a chart that has to survive closing the page, or for a PDF submission. The Windows, macOS and Linux downloads are listed separately on the WinGeno site.

Genogram Builder saves edits in the browser on that device. A JSON backup gives you a copy you can reimport, and an account adds an option to save a chart to the account. This distinction matters if you work on a borrowed computer or switch devices midway through an assignment.

Check a required symbol before committing

The original WinGeno site documents a different release with a different feature set. This comparison uses the 2.0 download page and its current split between desktop and browser. Check the symbol or relationship line specified by your assignment in the edition you plan to use.

The installed WinGeno edition is free and lists PDF and PNG export with a legend. Genogram Builder offers free browser editing and reserves SVG and watermark-free PNG and PDF for paid accounts.

Keep the editable file and a reference copy

Keep the original WinGeno file in its native format and export a PDF from the installed app. Use that copy to transfer people and family connections into a new genogram. Check the dates and line meanings against the original legend before exporting the rebuilt chart.

Test a desktop handoff with a family case

Use the same fictional three-generation family in both tools. Luis and Inés have an adult daughter, Mara. Mara and Dev have two children who live with them. Give one grandparent an approximate birth year and add an annotation that explains why it is approximate. Start with the partnership and child lines, then add a single relationship line that your assignment or office actually uses. This makes the trial about a chart you might keep working on, including details that are easy to lose when a file changes hands.

In WinGeno, open the installed edition if the outcome is a native file you can reopen later. Create the people, select each pair for a partner connection and add their children through the corresponding family controls. Save the native file, close the chart and open the saved file again. Ask a second person to trace both children back to Mara and Dev from the reopened chart. That check will catch an attachment to the wrong adult before you repeat the trial with a larger family.

Build the same family in the browser editor using its Person and Connect tools. Review the labels and use Export to save a JSON project backup once you have signed in. Reopen that backup through the import control and check that the chart still contains all three generations. You can then decide whether the day-to-day copy belongs on a particular workstation or in the browser where you edit it. Record who will keep the backup and where it can be found a month later.

Check the PDF at the size readers get

For a class hand-in, try the final file before making the complete family. In the WinGeno desktop print setup, choose the paper size and decide whether the legend should print. In Genogram Builder, open the print dialog and check the chart at the page size you intend to send. A tall chart may fit a portrait page and still have tiny names if a wide sibling group sets the scale. Check the left and right edges, the youngest generation and the smallest label.

Add a one-sentence caption in the report explaining the purpose of the chart, then check whether the legend still fits beside or below it. If the recipient only needs a diagram in a report, keep the PDF or image separate from the editable file. A later correction to Mara’s birth year is easier if the person responsible for the chart can reopen the original project. Decide which copy is for reading and which copy stays available for editing before you hand either one over.

Choose a setup that fits your workspace

An installed editor fits a workflow where one person maintains native files on a computer they can use every week. The relevant question is whether the institution allows installing software and whether another person who receives the native file will have the same edition. For a lab or shared workstation, ask where downloads and saved files go and whether they are removed when someone signs out. Use a fictional chart during this check.

The browser editor fits when you want to begin on a borrowed computer or compare a few charts before setting up a desktop program. Keep an editable backup when working on a device you will not use again. If you try the WinGeno browser edition to compare controls, do the test before collecting details you want to preserve, because that edition keeps the work in memory. Treat the two WinGeno editions as distinct choices when saving and printing matter.

If your existing records already live in WinGeno, keep the native source files and move one example first. Compare the copied chart against the original for every family connection, date and relationship mark. Make a list of the details you still need to enter by hand. A team can then estimate how much work remains and decide which charts are worth moving, based on its own records and reporting needs.