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Gen 108 - Family Search - Shared Family Tree Beyond the Basics

Hint: Family Search has many different ways to skin a cat. The following is but one way to use it. Play with it an see how you want to use it. The following instructions are fairly basic. The Family Search help screen is very helpful should you need further instructions.

1. How to Edit. Editing something such as a date is simple. If you have better information, click on the edit button and make the changes. Be sure to enter why your information is better and a source if you have it. If you change your mind there is an undo feature. Please don’t be afraid to edit. It is easy and it is easy to undo mistakes.

Hint: Don’t quibble with other researchers. If they have 1783 for a birth date and you think it is 1784, just let it be (unless you have solid proof you are correct).

2. How to merge. Merging is a little trickier. One has to be a little more careful. You can find records to merge in two ways. First, if you are on an ancestor on your tree in the Person Tab, look to the right for a tools menu. Sometimes Family Tree will suggest “Possible Duplicates” (records that need merging). If it does, click there and review the record for a merge. Otherwise, when you use the find feature on your second screen as suggested above, you will often spot records that need merging. The procedure here is move to the ancestor on your tree and view the person tab. Then click on the “Merge By ID” tag and enter the ID of the duplicate that you found in paragraph 6 above.

Once you get to the merge screen there are two columns. The left side is what is kept and the right side is what is discarded. On the right side you can accept or reject the new information. (If they are the same, I choose reject.) Work your way down the right side, then click on merge. The next screen lets you add notes and finalize the merge.

Hint: The Shared Family Tree is a Wiki. If gathers information for a variety of records and other users. The first time you look at an ancestor, the file is likely to be very fragmented and loaded with duplicates. If you spot duplicates, merge them out. It will clean up the database and make it easier for all of us to use. Until you get the hang of it, start with a duplicate you are very confident about an merge it out.

Warning - Merge Technique. Merge out the least informative ID # (In most cases, you can switch positions and control which ID survives). You would not want to merge out an ID # that was loaded with information into an ID # with very little information.

Hint: Removing or replacing parents can be very tricky. Be careful. To edit a parent, find your ancestor in the person view. In the child portion of the screen, you will notice a pencil icon. Click on that icon. You will then have a choice to remove or replace the father, the mother or the child (both father and mother). Click on the appropriate Remove or Replace and you will then be given a choice to Remove or to Replace. Make your changes and save them. Please remember to state why you made this change.

Hint: If your ancestor and all the siblings have the wrong parents, make the changes to each one of them.

3. Exporting data from Family Tree. Sorry, you cannot do it. But you can print a variety of nifty charts.

4. Watch List. There is a “star” that you can check to mark a person to watch. I suggest using that feature on your pedigree ancestors. Someone may try to make seriously bad changes and you will want to know about it right away.

5. Finding relatives to collaborate with. On the right side of the person screen, there is a list of recent changes. Below that, you can expand the list to “Show All” and find out who is actively entering data. You can then send them a message. You can send a message even if their email is not listed. The Family Tree program will forward it.

6. Collateral family members. A final note on collateral family members not in your direct pedigree line is in order. If you have gathered information on these other family members, please take the time to enter them. This can be a huge help to others. Another researcher taking this step made it possible for me to solve a dead end that stumped me for 40 years.

This can be a little time consuming, but it is fun and the payoff can be HUGE.

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