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Genealogy & Family History |
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Frequently Asked Questions Topics
please send us an email at
Getting Started
Editing Your Family Tree
Navigating My Family Tree
Appending GEDCOMs
Match/Merge
Family Access
Printing
Remake Index
Family Time Line
Family Map
What is My Family Tree? My Family Tree is a free online genealogy program that you can use to create, edit, and share your family tree. Because it runs entirely over the internet, there is no software for you to download or install on your own computer. Your family tree will be stored on our servers and you can access it at any time simply by logging into your account. How do I create a new My Family Tree file? Follow these steps to create a new file (start a new family tree):
What information will I see on my pedigree chart? Here is a brief description of each feature you will see on your My Family Tree pedigree chart:
What is an individual record?
An individual record contains information that pertains to a specific
individual contained in your file. This information includes vital
statistics, such as birth and death dates and places, spouse(s), and
notes. There are several ways you can get to an individual record.
First, you can click the person's first name from your pedigree chart.
Second, you can click the Find Person icon
Once you have clicked the person's name, you will be taken to their individual editing screen. From there, you can edit their full name,
gender, and vital information. You can also use the icons in the
toolbar to search our site for the individual, edit information on
their spouse(s) or parents, or add notes and pictures relating to the
individual. For a complete description of the individual editing
toolbar options, click the
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? What is a family group record?
A family group record contains information that pertains to an entire
family. This information includes marriage details for the parents and
the names and birth order of the children. There are several ways you
can get a family group record. First, you can click the family's
surname (last name) from your pedigree chart. Second, you can click the
Find Family icon
Once you have clicked the family's name, you will be taken to their
family group editing screen. On this screen, you will be able to edit
or add information relating to the marriage of the parents. You can add
or remove a parent and add dates and places for their marriage and
divorce, if applicable. You can use the icons in the toolbar to add
children, notes, or pictures to the family. Any notes or pictures
added here should relate to the entire family. Notes or pictures
relating to a specific family member can be added to that person's
individual record. For a complete description of the family editing
toolbar options, click the
How do I add a spouse to an individual Follow these steps to add a spouse:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add parents to an individual? Follow these steps to add parents:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add children to a family? There are two ways to add children to a family:
How do I edit my pedigree chart?
Why can't I see all family members on my pedigree chart? My Family Tree uses a family pedigree chart, rather than the individual pedigree chart you may be used to. On a family pedigree chart an entire family, rather than a single individual, is listed in each place.
Is My Family Tree a free service? Yes, My Family Tree is a completely free service. We will never charge you to access or edit your family tree. When you register a Family Password, your family members can also view your family tree for free. There is no limit to the amount of information that can be stored in your file and this information is under your control at all times. You will need to register an account with us in order to use MyTrees Online, but this account is free. If you have not already done so, you can register now by clicking here. Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree? Yes, if you add at least 60 individuals and 15 families to your MyTrees Online file, you will be eligible to receive one free month of our subscription services. Please note that this is a one time offer . You will be given the free month for the first file that reaches the size limit. While you can have as many My Family Tree files as you like, you will not be given additional free time for building more files. You do not need to do anything to receive this free time. Your account will be automatically credited with the free month once your file has reached the 60 individuals and 15 families limit. (Please note that it may take a couple of hours for the system to register that your file has reached the size limit, so please be patient. You will receive an email when your account has been credited with the free time.) You do not need to upload a GEDCOM of the information. When you use My Family Tree to build your family tree, you are adding the information directly into our site. We already have the it, so you will not need to upload anything to us. However, if you have previously entered all or some of your family tree into another genealogy program, you are welcome to upload a GEDCOM to us. That can save you the time involved in re-entering the information. You will still receive the free month if you choose to upload a GEDCOM rather than building your file from scratch on My Family Tree. For more information on GEDCOMs, click here.
How do I enter details about a marriage? Details about a marriage can be edited from the family group record. You can access this record from your pedigree chart or from either spouse's individual record . Follow these steps:
 allows you to add new children or
edit information about existing children. The Source Notes icon
 allows you to add notes to the
family record. For a complete description of the family editing toolbar
options, click the
 icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
How can I make sure that I have successfully added a spouse to an individual?
Once you have added a new spouse, you should see an Individual Editing
Update message, confirming that your update is complete. You can make
sure that the spouse was successfully added by clicking the Spouse Info
icon
If you do not see the spouse listed on this page, you will need to try
again. Please note that you must have the gender of an individual set
before you can add a spouse. You can set an individual's gender by
clicking the Vital Info icon
How do I add information to a child's record? Once you have added a child to a family, you can add information about that child by accessing their individual record . Follow these steps:
icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? Can I add more than one child at a time?
When you are first creating a new family, using the "Add parents of"
link from your pedigree chart or the Add Family icon
How do I attach a child who is already listed in my file to a family? If you have previously created an individual record for a child and now need to attach that child to his/her parents, you can do so by following these steps:
How do I change the birth order of children in a family? Follow these steps to change the birth order of children in a family:
How do I add notes to document my research? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding Source Notes. For questions about History Info, see How do I add historical/biographical information?
How do I add historical/biographical information? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding History Info. For questions about Source Notes, see How do I add notes to document my research?
How do I add a child to two different sets of parents? You may have individuals in your file who have two different sets of parents, such as in the case of adoptive families. You can attach a child to two sets of parents by following these steps:
 to search for them). Then click the
Parents Info icon
 from the toolbar. That will take
you to the parents editing screen, where you should see both sets of
parents listed. You can also edit information about the parents from
this screen, such as their relationship to the child.
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How can I view both families? Only one set of parents can be shown on your pedigree chart at a time. However, you can see information on both sets of parents from the child's individual record:
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How do I set one of them to Adoptive Parents? When a child is added to a family, the relationship to the parents is automatically set as Natural, indicating a biological relationship. If the child's relationship to this set of parents is other than biological, you can indicate that in the record by following these steps:
Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? No. The privacy of living individuals is very important to us here at MyTrees.com. Our site is designed to hide all information on anyone that it can determine to be a living individual. It determines if an individual is still living by dates. First, it looks for a death date. If no death date is listed, then it will look at the birth date. Any individual for whom no death date is listed and who was born within the last 95 years will be considered living. Their information (including their names) will NOT be displayed in the Ancestry Archive. Please note that if no birth date has been included for the individual, then our site will have no way to determine that they are, in fact, living and their information will be displayed. That is why it is so important to include birth dates for all living individuals. It is also important to note that information on living individuals will appear both when you view your own file and when family members use the family access login to view your file. However, you control who has your family access password, so you can control who is able to view that information. If you have any further concerns about protecting the privacy of living individuals, please contact us at
How do I change the title of my file? The title of your file is what you originally called your file when you created it. Only you will see your title. You can change the title by following these steps:
The title of your file will then be changed.
How do I navigate through my pedigree chart?
What is a Dynamic Descendancy Chart?
The top line of the DDC will show a folder icon
If a child has a family of their own listed in the file (meaning that a
spouse and/or children have been added for them), then you will see
another folder icon
For any child who has a family listed, you will see their spouse(s)
listed below their name. If they have children, the spouse's name will
be preceded by a folder icon
Each generation of the DDC will continue in the same way for up to five
generations. If there is another generation of descendants in that
line, you will see the folder icon
How do I see everyone that is listed in my file?
You can view a complete list of all the names contained in your file by
clicking the List People icon
If you have recently added some names to your file and do not see them
listed, click the Remake Indexes icon
>From this list, you can view a person's
individual record by clicking their name. If you would like to view
that person on your pedigree chart, click the Reset Tree icon
How can I quickly jump to a specific person in my pedigree chart? You can easily jump to any point in your file by following these steps:
Your pedigree chart will then re-display with that individual's family in the first position. Please note that if the individual does not have a spouse and/or children listed in the file then they will be displayed as a child of their parent's family. How do I return to the beginning of my pedigree chart?
How do I use the Reset option? The Reset option, found in the upper right corner of your pedigree chart, allows you to return to a specific point in your file whenever you like. Unless you select a different family, this will automatically be set as the first family listed in your file. You can return to that first family at any time simply by clicking the "Reset" link. You can select a new family to be the default reset point by following these steps:
I have more than one file. How do I view a different file? You can switch between files by following these steps:
You will then be taken to the selected file.
What is an append? Append means to add a section of a family tree to an existing file. There are two ways to do this. First, if you have a GEDCOM that contains the information you wish to add to your family tree, you can upload it as an append. That will add the information in the GEDCOM to your file. You can then attach the new information to your family tree by completing a Match/Merge. For more information, see How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Second, if you have found the information in another file on our site, you can download that information directly into your file. For information on how to download information from another file, see How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? If you have found a file on our site that contains information you would like to add to your family tree, you can download up to 6 generations directly to your My Family Tree file as long as you have already received a free month for the file. (For more information, see Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree?) If you have not already received your free month, please continue building your file. Once you have received your free month, you can download information from any file on our site by following these steps:
How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Appending a GEDCOM to your My Family Tree file will add the information to your existing family tree. It will not replace and update your entire file. If you would like to update your file by uploading a new GEDCOM, please click here for instructions. If you would like to add new information to your family tree by appending a GEDCOM, follow these steps:
Why is it so important to run a Match/Mere after appending a GEDCOM? When you append a GEDCOM, the information from the GEDCOM is added to your My Family Tree file. However, the new branch of names will not be connected to your family tree. It will exist separately in your file and will not be displayed as part of your main pedigree chart. Also, there will most likely be duplication between the information from the GEDCOM and the information that you had in your file previous to the append. Running a Match/Merge will allow you to merge any duplicate records, cleaning up your file and connecting the new branch into your family tree. For more information about running a Match/Merge, click here. I received an email saying that my file was corrupted. What caused this and how can I prevent it from happening again? File corruption usually happens when too many appends are done in a short period of time. Some of the appended information did not have time to fully process before the next append was started. Also, when multiple appends are done so quickly, time was not taken to merge each piece into the whole tree. This results in the file becoming corrupted and unfixable. When that happens, the only option is to revert to a previously saved copy of the file. Fortunately, we frequently backup all files stored in our database and are generally able to restore the file to a point before the corruption took place. However, you will then have to redo any changes that were made to the file after that time, including any appends that were done. You can prevent your file from becoming corrupted in the future by waiting 10 minutes between each append and by completing a Match/Merge after each append. This ensures that each append is fully processed and each new branch is correctly linked into your family tree.
You may also want to consider saving a backup of your file before you
begin an append. This will ensure that we do have a current backup,
should we need to restore your file later on. You can save a backup of
your file in My Family Tree by clicking the Make Backup icon
Is there any way to restore my corrupted file?
Yes, it is possible to restore your file to a point before the
corruption took place. There is an option in My Family Tree that allows
you to save a backup of your file. If you have previously saved a
backup, you can restore your file yourself by clicking the Restore
Backup icon If you have not saved a backup of your file in My Family Tree, you can contact us and we will restore your file. We routinely backup all files stored in our database. If you originally uploaded your file as a GEDCOM, we can always restore the original GEDCOM. We may also have more recent backups of your file. If you contact us, we will restore the most recent backup that we have. While it is possible to restore your file, it is far better to prevent it from being corrupted in the first place. Once your file has been restore, please take measures to prevent corruption in the future.
What is a Match/Merge? Match/Merge is the process of finding duplicate records in your file and merging them, so that there is only one record for each individual. There are two Match/Merge options in My Family Tree:
I have the same person listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there are multiple records for the same individual in your file, you will want to merge those duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Person option. You can only merge one pair of records at a time, so if there are more than two duplicate records for one individual, you will need to repeat the process until all the duplicates have been merged. (If there is a lot of duplication in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Branch option.)
Many people are listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there is a lot of duplication in your file, you will want to merge the duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Branch option. (If there are only a few duplicate records in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Person option.)
Here are some things to keep in mind when doing a Match/Merge:
What is the difference between the Merge Person and Merge Branch options?
How can I check to make sure that the duplicate records have been correctly merged? If you have completed a Match/Merge and would now like to make sure that the duplication has been corrected, follow these steps:
I have just Match/Merged an individual. How can I edit his/her record?
Once you have completed your Match/Merge, you can edit the individual
record as normal. First, click the Remake Indexes icon
For more information about editing your file, see Getting Started and Editing Your Family Tree . I accidentally merged two records that were not duplicates. How can I correct this mistake? If you made a mistake while merging records, there are two ways that you can correct the problem. The easiest way is to restore your file to a previously saved version. If you used the "Make Backup" option to save your file before starting your Match/Merge, you can restore your file to the backed up copy. If the mistake only involves one or two records, you may also be able to correct the problem manually. First, locate the record that was incorrectly merged. If you have mistakenly merged two different people into one record, you will probably find that they are now attached to multiple families. They will most likely have more than one set of parents and/or spouses. The easiest way to resolve the problem would be to delete the individual record. That will separate the incorrectly linked families. You can then go back into each family and add both individuals back into your file where they belong. Fixing problems caused by incorrectly merged records can get complicated. If you can not see how to easily correct the problem, you may want to contact us for assistance. We routinely backup all files that are saved in our database, so even if you did not backup your file, we may have a recent copy saved that we can restore. We may also be able to help you correct the problem. You can email us at
How can I restore the backup I saved before starting my Match/Merge? If you used the "Make Backup" option in My Family Tree before starting your Match/Merge, you can easily restore your file to that point. First, make sure that that is what you want to do. You can not undo a restore. Once your file has been restored, you will lose any changes you have made since saving the backup. This should only be done if your file has become corrupted and can not easily be fixed any other way.
If you are sure that you want to restore your file, click the Restore
Backup icon
What is Family Access? Family Access allows your family members and friends to view your file without needing to register an account with our site. When they login using your Family Password, they will be able to view your complete file, as well any personal history or family news items you have created in your account. How do I create a Family Password?
Please note that your family password should be different than your personal password. In order to protect the personal information stored in your account, you should never give out the password that you use to login. It is, however, safe to give your family password to family and friends in order to allow them to view your family tree. Do my family members need to register an account in order to view my tree? No, your family members and friends do not need to register an account with MyTrees.com in order to view your tree. They can view your tree, as well as any personal history or family news items saved in your account, by logging in with your account number and Family Password. A Family Password is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a family password, click here. How do my family members login to Family Access? Your family members and friends can actually use the same login screen that you use in order to log into Family Access. However, they will use your account number and Family Password, which is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a Family Password, click here. Once you have created a Family Password, you can send your family members these instructions to help them log into Family Access (they will need your account number and Family Password):
Will my family members be able to edit or add to my family tree through Family Access? No. Family Access allows your family members and friends to view, but not edit your family tree. As the submitter, you are the only one who can edit your family tree. This allows you to maintain control of your file at all times. If a family member sees something that needs to be edited in your file, they can let you know so that you can make those changes. Will my family members be able to view information on living individuals in my file when they login through Family Access? Yes. When your family members or friends login through Family Access, they will be able to see information on any living individuals in your file. However, since you control who has your Family Password, you control who sees that information. (For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public?)
What records can I print from MyTrees Online? The following types of records can be printed from My Family Tree:
What options will I find on the print screen?
When you are viewing your pedigree chart, you can click the Print Tree
icon
How can I print out records from MyTrees Online? To print charts and records from your My Family Tree file, follow these steps:
What does the Remake Indexes icon do?
Clicking the Remake Indexes icon
I just added new names to my family tree, but they aren't showing. What do I do?
Most likely, the problem is simply that your indexes need to be updated
to include the new names. Click the Remake Indexes icon
The pedigree chart I was working on disappeared. What do I do? If you have logged into My Family Tree and your pedigree chart is blank or not showing the family you are interested in, you should reset your pedigree chart. Follow these steps:
What is a family time line? A Family Time Line is a graphic representation of a family unit's important life events (including birth, marriage, and death.) In My Family Tree, a family unit is a husband and wife and any children they may have had. You can open a time line for any family by clicking that family's surname from your pedigree chart and then selecting the "Family Time Line" link. This will open the time line in a separate pop-up window. Here's an example of what a family time line looks like in My Family Tree:
 As you can see, each family member (beginning with the parents) is listed by name at the left of the time line. Each column represents a decade, progressing from left to right. Along the time line, vital life events are indicated by the following icons:
How do I view the time line for my ancestor's family?
If the family you wish to view a time line for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
How do I use the time line links? When you are viewing a time line for a specific family, you can use the following icons to view a time line for the families of either the parents or married children:
How can a family time line help my research? Time lines are an excellent way to keep track of what information you have already gathered about an individual or family, and what information you still need to find. The first rule of genealogical research is to start with what you know, so that you don't end up duplicating research that you already have. The new Family Time Line feature makes it easy for you to see, at a glance, what vital information you still need to find for a specific family.
In addition to pointing out what information you do or do not have about a family, a time line can also point out incongruities in your research. For example, if you look at the sample time line above, you'll notice that the first child, Samuel, is shown as having be born eight years before his parents were married. Since that would make his mother only eleven years old at the time of his birth, we can assume there is some kind of error. In this case, a typo switched his birth year form 1821 (a year after his parents' marriage) to 1812. Also, if you look at the pattern of childbirth in this family, you will notice a gap of eight years between the third and fourth children. While it is possible that there were simply no children born between those years, it is likely that we are missing a child or two. It would certainly be worth looking into.
What is a family map? Family Map is a feature that uses the information in your file to display your ancestors' important life events on a current world map. When you are viewing your file in My Family Tree, just click on the surname of any family and select the "Family Map" option. A separate pop-up window will display a Google Map of the world. Vital life events for each member of the selected family will be marked with a special icon.
This is a sample of what you might see on a Family Map:  How do I view a family map?
If the family you wish to view a family map for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
Here is a sample family map: Once your family map is displaying, you can move around and view details using the following navigation icons:
Why won't my family map display? If you have clicked on the family map option but either nothing happened or the window that popped up was blank, here are a few suggestions:
How can a family map help my research? Maps are an essential part of genealogical research. Here are just a few ways that the Family Map option in My Family Tree might be useful to your research:
|
Enter a title for your new family tree. This title is for your own use only. No one
else will see it. It should be something unique to help you distinguish
this file from others you may create in the future.
button
button. If you click this button, no information will be
saved for this family. You will be taken to an empty pedigree chart.
You should use this button only if you do not wish to actually start
entering information at this time. Otherwise, you can create your first
family record by continuing to follow the below steps.
button to save this information to your file.
default reset point.
Family group - In
each position on the pedigree chart, you will see a family group. The
names of the parents of this family will be displayed, along with their
birth and marriage years and places. The links and icons in the family
group allow you to view and edit information on the family, as well as
individual family members.
Husband/Wife first
name - Clicking the husband or wife's first name will bring up an
edit menu. The example to the right shows an edit menu for the husband
of our sample family. Clicking the "Edit John" link will allow you to
edit the husband's individual record.
Surname -
Clicking the family's surname (last name) will bring up an edit menu.
The example to the right shows an edit menu for our sample family.
Clicking the "Edit Doe Family" link will take you to the couple's
family group record, where you can edit information on their marriage
and children.
- You can click this tree icon to
reset your pedigree chart with that family listed in the first
position. If the family is already showing in the first position, no
change will be made.
- The
couple icon allows you to reset your pedigree chart so that a married
child of the current family is listed in the first position with
his/her spouse. When you click the icon, a Display Married Children
menu will appear, listing each child of the current family who has a
spouse. In the example to the right, clicking the "Display Johnny & Ann
Doe" link would cause the pedigree chart to reset with Johnny and Ann
in the first position.
-
Clicking the children icon will bring up an Edit Children menu. From
this menu you can go to each child's individual record by clicking
their name. You can also use the "Add new child" link to add additional
children to the family.
- The DC icon allows
you to view a Dynamic Descendancy Chart. This chart allows you to view
all of the descendants included in the file for the parents of the
family. You can click the name of any descendant listed in the file to
view his/her individual record, or the name of a descendant's spouse to
view their family group record.
- When this icon appears next to a family
group, it indicates that the work for this family has not yet been
completed. You can change the status of the family group by going to
the family record and clicking the "Work Not Completed" icon listed in
the toolbar. That will change the status to Completed.
- When this icon appears next to a family
group, it indicates that the work for this family has been completed.
You can change the status of the family group by going to the family
record and clicking the "Work Completed" icon listed in the toolbar.
That will change the status to Not Completed.
from the toolbar to select the
individual from a list of every name contained in your file.
from the toolbar to
search for the family. Third, you can click the List Families icon
from the toolbar to select the
family from a list all of the families contained in your file.
from the toolbar.
This will bring you to the
spouse editing screen. There are two ways you can add a spouse. First,
you can add a new spouse who is not currently listed in your file.
Select the "Add new spouse" option and enter the spouse's first and
last name. Then click the
. That will reset your pedigree
chart so that the individual and his/her family is listed in the first
position.
Once the individual is
displaying on your pedigree chart, you should see a "Add the Parents
of" link in the next position. Click this link to add the individual's
parents. (Note: If the individual is being displayed in the third
generation on your pedigree chart, the add parents link will not
appear. Click the tree icon
Once you have clicked the
"Add the Parents of" link you will be taken to a screen where you can
create a family record the individual's parents. You will find that the
individual will already be listed as a child of this family. The
father's surname will also be filled in (you can change it if
necessary). Fill in the remaining name spaces for the individual's
parents and siblings.
to return to your pedigree chart.
You can then add another child following the same steps.
Once you are viewing the family
group record, where you will see information regarding the parents'
marriage, click the Children Info icon
Once you have clicked on the
person's name, you will be taken to an individual editing screen, where
you can edit their name and vital information. You can also use the
icons in the toolbar to edit other information, such as spouses,
parents, and notes. For a complete description of the individual
editing toolbar options, click the
Once you have clicked on a
family's surname, you will be taken to a family editing screen. From
there you can edit information regarding the mother and father and
their marriage. You can also use the icons in the toolbar to edit other
information, such as children and notes. For a complete description of
the family editing toolbar options, click the
You should now be on the
family group editing screen. You can add basic details about the
marriage (where and when the couple were married and, if applicable,
divorced) right on this screen.
from the toolbar.
Once you have clicked
the child's name, you will be taken to their individual editing screen.
>From there, you can add or change the individual's name and vital
information.
from the toolbar, you can add up to
ten children. However, when you are adding more children to a family
that already exists in your file, you can only add one child at a time.
But you can add as many children to each family as you need.
You will now be on the child
editing screen. Select the "Attach child" option.
You will now be on the
child editing screen. You will see a list of all the children currently
attached to this family. Select a child who is listed out of order by
clicking the circle to the left of his/her name.
This will take you to the
source notes editing screen. The first options you will see are the
source note tags. These tags help you to organize your notes by
information type. For example, to document information regarding an
individual's birth you would select BIRTH from the General Tags. That
will place "BIRTH:" on the next available line of your notes. You can
then add the documentation after the tag.
button. Clicking this button will bring up a smaller pop-
up window, which will show you what your notes will look like with any
formatting you have included.
from the toolbar.
This will take you to
the biography editing screen. The first options you will see have to do
with including pictures in your biography. If you have uploaded any
pictures of the individual or family, you can add them to the
biography.
.
button. Clicking this button will bring up a smaller pop-
up window, which will show you what your biography will look like with
any formatting and/or pictures you have included.
button, which will give you some tips on using a few basic
HTML tags.
This will take you to an Add
First Family editing screen. Enter the parents' names, as well as the
names of any children not previously entered into your file.
This will take you to
the parents editing screen, where you should see both sets of parents
listed. You can also edit information about the parents from this
screen, such as their relationship to the child.
This will take you to
the parents editing screen, where you should see both sets of parents
listed. Select the circle to the left of the parents for whom you wish
to change the relationship status.
from the toolbar. This option will
appear when you are viewing your pedigree chart.
This will take you to
the File Selection page. Select the file you wish to rename from the
"Select Existing File" scroll box.
You can move navigate through your family tree using the
tree 
A Dynamic Descendancy Chart,
sometimes abbreviated DDC, shows you five generations of descendants
(children, grandchildren, etc.) for a selected couple. You can view the
DDC for any couple shown on your pedigree chart by clicking the DDC
icon 
, "Dynamic Descendancy Chart for:", and then the names of
the selected couple. The line that goes down from that folder icon will
branch off for each of the couple's children. So, in our example to the
right, you can see that John and Alice Kendig had sons named John,
Isaac, and Henry.
next to their name. Isaac does not have a family listed in the file.
from the toolbar. That will update
the indexes of your file to include the recent changes. Then click the
List People icon 
Return to the file in
the Ancestry Archive and look directly below the pedigree chart to find
the download area.
button.
from the toolbar. This option will
appear when you are viewing your pedigree chart.
You will then be taken to
the append GEDCOM screen. Select whether the GEDCOM was created using a
Windows, DOS, or MAC program.
Select the drive and folder in which your GEDCOM is
saved.
button.
from the toolbar. This option
appears when you are viewing your pedigree chart.
from the toolbar. (This
option appears when you are viewing your pedigree chart.) That will
restore your file to the backup copy. Assuming that the backup was
saved before the corruption took place, that should solve the problem.
Merge Branch - This option will automatically scan your entire
file and then show you possible duplicate records one pair at a time,
allowing you to decide whether or not each pair needs to be merged.
This option is useful if you have recently appended a GEDCOM or
downloaded information from another file on our site into your family
tree. It allows you to connect the new information into your tree by
merging those duplicate records. You can also use this option if you
know there are a lot of duplicate records in your file.
Merge Person - This option
allows you to select two specific records to merge. You should use this
option if there are only a few duplicate records in your file.
This will take you to the
Individual Match/Merge screen. Here you will see two "Individual Record
Number" fields. Each 
If you do not know the
IRINs for the duplicate records, click the "Browse" link next to the
first field.
When the results
appear, you will see a list of names of people in your file who have
that last name. You will notice that each name has a number listed next
to it. This is the IRIN for that record. Next to the IRIN, you will see
the person's birth date, if you included it in their individual record.
button to merge those records. The page will reload so
that you can merge another set of duplicate records.
button. That will clear the form so that you can start
over.
button.
This will take you to the
Match/Merge Query Screen. You will see a "Starting surname" field. You
have two options on this screen:
button.
You will now be shown the
first pair of possible record duplicates. For each record, you will see
the IRIN (individual record number), name, birth date, birth place,
spouses, and parents. Consider all of this information and decide
whether or not these two records refer to the same individual.
from the toolbar. This
option appears when you are viewing your pedigree chart.
Follow these steps to create a
Family Password:
This will take you to an
Update Personal Information screen. Locate the password area. There are
two fields-one for your personal password and one for your family
password. Enter a unique family password.
button to save the change.
from the toolbar to reach the print
options screen. Here is a brief description of each of the options:
Generations - Below
the Select Display Type option, you will see a scroll box. This allows
you to select how many generations you would like to include on your
record. You can print out up to forty generations at a time. The print
display will begin with the family currently listed in the first position on your pedigree chart.
Optional records
- The next two options are additional records that can be added to
your print display. They include Family Group Records and an Index. For
more information on these records, 
Select Font Size
- This option allows you to select how large the text will be on your
record. The default font size is 3, but you can select 2 or 1 for smaller
text and 4 or 5 for larger text.
- When you click the Create Display button, your record
will be created, using the options you have specified. The record will
be displayed in a separate tab or window.
Select Page -
This option allows you to jump to a specific page in a previously
created display. If you have already created a print display and now
wish to view a particular page, simply enter the page number in the
Select Page field and click the
button.
This will take you
to the print options screen. Select which 
The record will then be
displayed in a separate window or tab. You will notice that this is a
text only version of the record, so that it can easily be printed. To
print out a copy of the record, use your browser's print option. This
can usually be done by clicking the File menu and selecting Print.
- Birth
- Marriage
- Death
When you are viewing your
pedigree chart, you can bring up a family time line by clicking on the
family's surname. This will bring up an Edit Family menu. From there
click the "Family Time Line" link. The time line will then appear in a
smaller pop-up window.
- If
parents have been listed for either spouse currently displayed on your
time line, a blue up arrow will appear next to his/her name. Click on
this arrow to be taken to the new time line.
When you are viewing your
pedigree chart, you can bring up a family map by clicking on the
surname of any family. This will bring up a Edit Family menu. From
there, click the "Family Map" link. The family map will appear in a
pop-up window.
Map type: You can select
whether to view your Family Map as an illustration or as an actual
image taken by satellite.
Arrows/mouse: You can move
around the map either by using the arrows in the upper left or by
clicking and dragging anywhere on the map.
Street view: If you
grab the icon of the little orange man and drop him somewhere on the
map, you will be shown a street view of that location. A fun way to see
what your ancestor's hometown looks like today!
Zoom: You can zoom in or out
by using the slider on the left side of the screen. You may need to
zoom in to see all of your event markers.
Event marker: Each of these
markers indicates a vital life event for at least one family member
occurred at that location. Click on the event marker to see details of
what event(s) took place at that location.
|
Frequently Asked Questions Topics
please send us an email at
Getting Started
Editing Your Family Tree
Navigating My Family Tree
Appending GEDCOMs
Match/Merge
Family Access
Printing
Remake Index
Family Time Line
Family Map
What is My Family Tree? My Family Tree is a free online genealogy program that you can use to create, edit, and share your family tree. Because it runs entirely over the internet, there is no software for you to download or install on your own computer. Your family tree will be stored on our servers and you can access it at any time simply by logging into your account. How do I create a new My Family Tree file? Follow these steps to create a new file (start a new family tree):
What information will I see on my pedigree chart? Here is a brief description of each feature you will see on your My Family Tree pedigree chart:
What is an individual record?
An individual record contains information that pertains to a specific
individual contained in your file. This information includes vital
statistics, such as birth and death dates and places, spouse(s), and
notes. There are several ways you can get to an individual record.
First, you can click the person's first name from your pedigree chart.
Second, you can click the Find Person icon
Once you have clicked the person's name, you will be taken to their individual editing screen. From there, you can edit their full name,
gender, and vital information. You can also use the icons in the
toolbar to search our site for the individual, edit information on
their spouse(s) or parents, or add notes and pictures relating to the
individual. For a complete description of the individual editing
toolbar options, click the
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? What is a family group record?
A family group record contains information that pertains to an entire
family. This information includes marriage details for the parents and
the names and birth order of the children. There are several ways you
can get a family group record. First, you can click the family's
surname (last name) from your pedigree chart. Second, you can click the
Find Family icon
Once you have clicked the family's name, you will be taken to their
family group editing screen. On this screen, you will be able to edit
or add information relating to the marriage of the parents. You can add
or remove a parent and add dates and places for their marriage and
divorce, if applicable. You can use the icons in the toolbar to add
children, notes, or pictures to the family. Any notes or pictures
added here should relate to the entire family. Notes or pictures
relating to a specific family member can be added to that person's
individual record. For a complete description of the family editing
toolbar options, click the
How do I add a spouse to an individual Follow these steps to add a spouse:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add parents to an individual? Follow these steps to add parents:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add children to a family? There are two ways to add children to a family:
How do I edit my pedigree chart?
Why can't I see all family members on my pedigree chart? My Family Tree uses a family pedigree chart, rather than the individual pedigree chart you may be used to. On a family pedigree chart an entire family, rather than a single individual, is listed in each place.
Is My Family Tree a free service? Yes, My Family Tree is a completely free service. We will never charge you to access or edit your family tree. When you register a Family Password, your family members can also view your family tree for free. There is no limit to the amount of information that can be stored in your file and this information is under your control at all times. You will need to register an account with us in order to use MyTrees Online, but this account is free. If you have not already done so, you can register now by clicking here. Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree? Yes, if you add at least 60 individuals and 15 families to your MyTrees Online file, you will be eligible to receive one free month of our subscription services. Please note that this is a one time offer . You will be given the free month for the first file that reaches the size limit. While you can have as many My Family Tree files as you like, you will not be given additional free time for building more files. You do not need to do anything to receive this free time. Your account will be automatically credited with the free month once your file has reached the 60 individuals and 15 families limit. (Please note that it may take a couple of hours for the system to register that your file has reached the size limit, so please be patient. You will receive an email when your account has been credited with the free time.) You do not need to upload a GEDCOM of the information. When you use My Family Tree to build your family tree, you are adding the information directly into our site. We already have the it, so you will not need to upload anything to us. However, if you have previously entered all or some of your family tree into another genealogy program, you are welcome to upload a GEDCOM to us. That can save you the time involved in re-entering the information. You will still receive the free month if you choose to upload a GEDCOM rather than building your file from scratch on My Family Tree. For more information on GEDCOMs, click here.
How do I enter details about a marriage? Details about a marriage can be edited from the family group record. You can access this record from your pedigree chart or from either spouse's individual record . Follow these steps:
allows you to add new children or
edit information about existing children. The Source Notes icon
allows you to add notes to the
family record. For a complete description of the family editing toolbar
options, click the
icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
How can I make sure that I have successfully added a spouse to an individual?
Once you have added a new spouse, you should see an Individual Editing
Update message, confirming that your update is complete. You can make
sure that the spouse was successfully added by clicking the Spouse Info
icon
If you do not see the spouse listed on this page, you will need to try
again. Please note that you must have the gender of an individual set
before you can add a spouse. You can set an individual's gender by
clicking the Vital Info icon
How do I add information to a child's record? Once you have added a child to a family, you can add information about that child by accessing their individual record . Follow these steps:
icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? Can I add more than one child at a time?
When you are first creating a new family, using the "Add parents of"
link from your pedigree chart or the Add Family icon
How do I attach a child who is already listed in my file to a family? If you have previously created an individual record for a child and now need to attach that child to his/her parents, you can do so by following these steps:
How do I change the birth order of children in a family? Follow these steps to change the birth order of children in a family:
How do I add notes to document my research? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding Source Notes. For questions about History Info, see How do I add historical/biographical information?
How do I add historical/biographical information? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding History Info. For questions about Source Notes, see How do I add notes to document my research?
How do I add a child to two different sets of parents? You may have individuals in your file who have two different sets of parents, such as in the case of adoptive families. You can attach a child to two sets of parents by following these steps:
to search for them). Then click the
Parents Info icon
from the toolbar. That will take
you to the parents editing screen, where you should see both sets of
parents listed. You can also edit information about the parents from
this screen, such as their relationship to the child.
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How can I view both families? Only one set of parents can be shown on your pedigree chart at a time. However, you can see information on both sets of parents from the child's individual record:
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How do I set one of them to Adoptive Parents? When a child is added to a family, the relationship to the parents is automatically set as Natural, indicating a biological relationship. If the child's relationship to this set of parents is other than biological, you can indicate that in the record by following these steps:
Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? No. The privacy of living individuals is very important to us here at MyTrees.com. Our site is designed to hide all information on anyone that it can determine to be a living individual. It determines if an individual is still living by dates. First, it looks for a death date. If no death date is listed, then it will look at the birth date. Any individual for whom no death date is listed and who was born within the last 95 years will be considered living. Their information (including their names) will NOT be displayed in the Ancestry Archive. Please note that if no birth date has been included for the individual, then our site will have no way to determine that they are, in fact, living and their information will be displayed. That is why it is so important to include birth dates for all living individuals. It is also important to note that information on living individuals will appear both when you view your own file and when family members use the family access login to view your file. However, you control who has your family access password, so you can control who is able to view that information. If you have any further concerns about protecting the privacy of living individuals, please contact us at
How do I change the title of my file? The title of your file is what you originally called your file when you created it. Only you will see your title. You can change the title by following these steps:
The title of your file will then be changed.
How do I navigate through my pedigree chart?
What is a Dynamic Descendancy Chart?
The top line of the DDC will show a folder icon
If a child has a family of their own listed in the file (meaning that a
spouse and/or children have been added for them), then you will see
another folder icon
For any child who has a family listed, you will see their spouse(s)
listed below their name. If they have children, the spouse's name will
be preceded by a folder icon
Each generation of the DDC will continue in the same way for up to five
generations. If there is another generation of descendants in that
line, you will see the folder icon
How do I see everyone that is listed in my file?
You can view a complete list of all the names contained in your file by
clicking the List People icon
If you have recently added some names to your file and do not see them
listed, click the Remake Indexes icon
>From this list, you can view a person's
individual record by clicking their name. If you would like to view
that person on your pedigree chart, click the Reset Tree icon
How can I quickly jump to a specific person in my pedigree chart? You can easily jump to any point in your file by following these steps:
Your pedigree chart will then re-display with that individual's family in the first position. Please note that if the individual does not have a spouse and/or children listed in the file then they will be displayed as a child of their parent's family. How do I return to the beginning of my pedigree chart?
How do I use the Reset option? The Reset option, found in the upper right corner of your pedigree chart, allows you to return to a specific point in your file whenever you like. Unless you select a different family, this will automatically be set as the first family listed in your file. You can return to that first family at any time simply by clicking the "Reset" link. You can select a new family to be the default reset point by following these steps:
I have more than one file. How do I view a different file? You can switch between files by following these steps:
You will then be taken to the selected file.
What is an append? Append means to add a section of a family tree to an existing file. There are two ways to do this. First, if you have a GEDCOM that contains the information you wish to add to your family tree, you can upload it as an append. That will add the information in the GEDCOM to your file. You can then attach the new information to your family tree by completing a Match/Merge. For more information, see How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Second, if you have found the information in another file on our site, you can download that information directly into your file. For information on how to download information from another file, see How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? If you have found a file on our site that contains information you would like to add to your family tree, you can download up to 6 generations directly to your My Family Tree file as long as you have already received a free month for the file. (For more information, see Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree?) If you have not already received your free month, please continue building your file. Once you have received your free month, you can download information from any file on our site by following these steps:
How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Appending a GEDCOM to your My Family Tree file will add the information to your existing family tree. It will not replace and update your entire file. If you would like to update your file by uploading a new GEDCOM, please click here for instructions. If you would like to add new information to your family tree by appending a GEDCOM, follow these steps:
Why is it so important to run a Match/Mere after appending a GEDCOM? When you append a GEDCOM, the information from the GEDCOM is added to your My Family Tree file. However, the new branch of names will not be connected to your family tree. It will exist separately in your file and will not be displayed as part of your main pedigree chart. Also, there will most likely be duplication between the information from the GEDCOM and the information that you had in your file previous to the append. Running a Match/Merge will allow you to merge any duplicate records, cleaning up your file and connecting the new branch into your family tree. For more information about running a Match/Merge, click here. I received an email saying that my file was corrupted. What caused this and how can I prevent it from happening again? File corruption usually happens when too many appends are done in a short period of time. Some of the appended information did not have time to fully process before the next append was started. Also, when multiple appends are done so quickly, time was not taken to merge each piece into the whole tree. This results in the file becoming corrupted and unfixable. When that happens, the only option is to revert to a previously saved copy of the file. Fortunately, we frequently backup all files stored in our database and are generally able to restore the file to a point before the corruption took place. However, you will then have to redo any changes that were made to the file after that time, including any appends that were done. You can prevent your file from becoming corrupted in the future by waiting 10 minutes between each append and by completing a Match/Merge after each append. This ensures that each append is fully processed and each new branch is correctly linked into your family tree.
You may also want to consider saving a backup of your file before you
begin an append. This will ensure that we do have a current backup,
should we need to restore your file later on. You can save a backup of
your file in My Family Tree by clicking the Make Backup icon
Is there any way to restore my corrupted file?
Yes, it is possible to restore your file to a point before the
corruption took place. There is an option in My Family Tree that allows
you to save a backup of your file. If you have previously saved a
backup, you can restore your file yourself by clicking the Restore
Backup icon If you have not saved a backup of your file in My Family Tree, you can contact us and we will restore your file. We routinely backup all files stored in our database. If you originally uploaded your file as a GEDCOM, we can always restore the original GEDCOM. We may also have more recent backups of your file. If you contact us, we will restore the most recent backup that we have. While it is possible to restore your file, it is far better to prevent it from being corrupted in the first place. Once your file has been restore, please take measures to prevent corruption in the future.
What is a Match/Merge? Match/Merge is the process of finding duplicate records in your file and merging them, so that there is only one record for each individual. There are two Match/Merge options in My Family Tree:
I have the same person listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there are multiple records for the same individual in your file, you will want to merge those duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Person option. You can only merge one pair of records at a time, so if there are more than two duplicate records for one individual, you will need to repeat the process until all the duplicates have been merged. (If there is a lot of duplication in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Branch option.)
Many people are listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there is a lot of duplication in your file, you will want to merge the duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Branch option. (If there are only a few duplicate records in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Person option.)
Here are some things to keep in mind when doing a Match/Merge:
What is the difference between the Merge Person and Merge Branch options?
How can I check to make sure that the duplicate records have been correctly merged? If you have completed a Match/Merge and would now like to make sure that the duplication has been corrected, follow these steps:
I have just Match/Merged an individual. How can I edit his/her record?
Once you have completed your Match/Merge, you can edit the individual
record as normal. First, click the Remake Indexes icon
For more information about editing your file, see Getting Started and Editing Your Family Tree . I accidentally merged two records that were not duplicates. How can I correct this mistake? If you made a mistake while merging records, there are two ways that you can correct the problem. The easiest way is to restore your file to a previously saved version. If you used the "Make Backup" option to save your file before starting your Match/Merge, you can restore your file to the backed up copy. If the mistake only involves one or two records, you may also be able to correct the problem manually. First, locate the record that was incorrectly merged. If you have mistakenly merged two different people into one record, you will probably find that they are now attached to multiple families. They will most likely have more than one set of parents and/or spouses. The easiest way to resolve the problem would be to delete the individual record. That will separate the incorrectly linked families. You can then go back into each family and add both individuals back into your file where they belong. Fixing problems caused by incorrectly merged records can get complicated. If you can not see how to easily correct the problem, you may want to contact us for assistance. We routinely backup all files that are saved in our database, so even if you did not backup your file, we may have a recent copy saved that we can restore. We may also be able to help you correct the problem. You can email us at
How can I restore the backup I saved before starting my Match/Merge? If you used the "Make Backup" option in My Family Tree before starting your Match/Merge, you can easily restore your file to that point. First, make sure that that is what you want to do. You can not undo a restore. Once your file has been restored, you will lose any changes you have made since saving the backup. This should only be done if your file has become corrupted and can not easily be fixed any other way.
If you are sure that you want to restore your file, click the Restore
Backup icon
What is Family Access? Family Access allows your family members and friends to view your file without needing to register an account with our site. When they login using your Family Password, they will be able to view your complete file, as well any personal history or family news items you have created in your account. How do I create a Family Password?
Please note that your family password should be different than your personal password. In order to protect the personal information stored in your account, you should never give out the password that you use to login. It is, however, safe to give your family password to family and friends in order to allow them to view your family tree. Do my family members need to register an account in order to view my tree? No, your family members and friends do not need to register an account with MyTrees.com in order to view your tree. They can view your tree, as well as any personal history or family news items saved in your account, by logging in with your account number and Family Password. A Family Password is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a family password, click here. How do my family members login to Family Access? Your family members and friends can actually use the same login screen that you use in order to log into Family Access. However, they will use your account number and Family Password, which is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a Family Password, click here. Once you have created a Family Password, you can send your family members these instructions to help them log into Family Access (they will need your account number and Family Password):
Will my family members be able to edit or add to my family tree through Family Access? No. Family Access allows your family members and friends to view, but not edit your family tree. As the submitter, you are the only one who can edit your family tree. This allows you to maintain control of your file at all times. If a family member sees something that needs to be edited in your file, they can let you know so that you can make those changes. Will my family members be able to view information on living individuals in my file when they login through Family Access? Yes. When your family members or friends login through Family Access, they will be able to see information on any living individuals in your file. However, since you control who has your Family Password, you control who sees that information. (For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public?)
What records can I print from MyTrees Online? The following types of records can be printed from My Family Tree:
What options will I find on the print screen?
When you are viewing your pedigree chart, you can click the Print Tree
icon
How can I print out records from MyTrees Online? To print charts and records from your My Family Tree file, follow these steps:
What does the Remake Indexes icon do?
Clicking the Remake Indexes icon
I just added new names to my family tree, but they aren't showing. What do I do?
Most likely, the problem is simply that your indexes need to be updated
to include the new names. Click the Remake Indexes icon
The pedigree chart I was working on disappeared. What do I do? If you have logged into My Family Tree and your pedigree chart is blank or not showing the family you are interested in, you should reset your pedigree chart. Follow these steps:
What is a family time line? A Family Time Line is a graphic representation of a family unit's important life events (including birth, marriage, and death.) In My Family Tree, a family unit is a husband and wife and any children they may have had. You can open a time line for any family by clicking that family's surname from your pedigree chart and then selecting the "Family Time Line" link. This will open the time line in a separate pop-up window. Here's an example of what a family time line looks like in My Family Tree:
As you can see, each family member (beginning with the parents) is listed by name at the left of the time line. Each column represents a decade, progressing from left to right. Along the time line, vital life events are indicated by the following icons:
How do I view the time line for my ancestor's family?
If the family you wish to view a time line for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
How do I use the time line links? When you are viewing a time line for a specific family, you can use the following icons to view a time line for the families of either the parents or married children:
How can a family time line help my research? Time lines are an excellent way to keep track of what information you have already gathered about an individual or family, and what information you still need to find. The first rule of genealogical research is to start with what you know, so that you don't end up duplicating research that you already have. The new Family Time Line feature makes it easy for you to see, at a glance, what vital information you still need to find for a specific family.
In addition to pointing out what information you do or do not have about a family, a time line can also point out incongruities in your research. For example, if you look at the sample time line above, you'll notice that the first child, Samuel, is shown as having be born eight years before his parents were married. Since that would make his mother only eleven years old at the time of his birth, we can assume there is some kind of error. In this case, a typo switched his birth year form 1821 (a year after his parents' marriage) to 1812. Also, if you look at the pattern of childbirth in this family, you will notice a gap of eight years between the third and fourth children. While it is possible that there were simply no children born between those years, it is likely that we are missing a child or two. It would certainly be worth looking into.
What is a family map? Family Map is a feature that uses the information in your file to display your ancestors' important life events on a current world map. When you are viewing your file in My Family Tree, just click on the surname of any family and select the "Family Map" option. A separate pop-up window will display a Google Map of the world. Vital life events for each member of the selected family will be marked with a special icon.
This is a sample of what you might see on a Family Map: How do I view a family map?
If the family you wish to view a family map for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
Here is a sample family map: Once your family map is displaying, you can move around and view details using the following navigation icons:
Why won't my family map display? If you have clicked on the family map option but either nothing happened or the window that popped up was blank, here are a few suggestions:
How can a family map help my research? Maps are an essential part of genealogical research. Here are just a few ways that the Family Map option in My Family Tree might be useful to your research:
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Frequently Asked Questions Topics
please send us an email at
Getting Started
Editing Your Family Tree
Navigating My Family Tree
Appending GEDCOMs
Match/Merge
Family Access
Printing
Remake Index
Family Time Line
Family Map
What is My Family Tree? My Family Tree is a free online genealogy program that you can use to create, edit, and share your family tree. Because it runs entirely over the internet, there is no software for you to download or install on your own computer. Your family tree will be stored on our servers and you can access it at any time simply by logging into your account. How do I create a new My Family Tree file? Follow these steps to create a new file (start a new family tree):
What information will I see on my pedigree chart? Here is a brief description of each feature you will see on your My Family Tree pedigree chart:
What is an individual record?
An individual record contains information that pertains to a specific
individual contained in your file. This information includes vital
statistics, such as birth and death dates and places, spouse(s), and
notes. There are several ways you can get to an individual record.
First, you can click the person's first name from your pedigree chart.
Second, you can click the Find Person icon
Once you have clicked the person's name, you will be taken to their individual editing screen. From there, you can edit their full name,
gender, and vital information. You can also use the icons in the
toolbar to search our site for the individual, edit information on
their spouse(s) or parents, or add notes and pictures relating to the
individual. For a complete description of the individual editing
toolbar options, click the
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? What is a family group record?
A family group record contains information that pertains to an entire
family. This information includes marriage details for the parents and
the names and birth order of the children. There are several ways you
can get a family group record. First, you can click the family's
surname (last name) from your pedigree chart. Second, you can click the
Find Family icon
Once you have clicked the family's name, you will be taken to their
family group editing screen. On this screen, you will be able to edit
or add information relating to the marriage of the parents. You can add
or remove a parent and add dates and places for their marriage and
divorce, if applicable. You can use the icons in the toolbar to add
children, notes, or pictures to the family. Any notes or pictures
added here should relate to the entire family. Notes or pictures
relating to a specific family member can be added to that person's
individual record. For a complete description of the family editing
toolbar options, click the
How do I add a spouse to an individual Follow these steps to add a spouse:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add parents to an individual? Follow these steps to add parents:
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? How do I add children to a family? There are two ways to add children to a family:
How do I edit my pedigree chart?
Why can't I see all family members on my pedigree chart? My Family Tree uses a family pedigree chart, rather than the individual pedigree chart you may be used to. On a family pedigree chart an entire family, rather than a single individual, is listed in each place.
Is My Family Tree a free service? Yes, My Family Tree is a completely free service. We will never charge you to access or edit your family tree. When you register a Family Password, your family members can also view your family tree for free. There is no limit to the amount of information that can be stored in your file and this information is under your control at all times. You will need to register an account with us in order to use MyTrees Online, but this account is free. If you have not already done so, you can register now by clicking here. Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree? Yes, if you add at least 60 individuals and 15 families to your MyTrees Online file, you will be eligible to receive one free month of our subscription services. Please note that this is a one time offer . You will be given the free month for the first file that reaches the size limit. While you can have as many My Family Tree files as you like, you will not be given additional free time for building more files. You do not need to do anything to receive this free time. Your account will be automatically credited with the free month once your file has reached the 60 individuals and 15 families limit. (Please note that it may take a couple of hours for the system to register that your file has reached the size limit, so please be patient. You will receive an email when your account has been credited with the free time.) You do not need to upload a GEDCOM of the information. When you use My Family Tree to build your family tree, you are adding the information directly into our site. We already have the it, so you will not need to upload anything to us. However, if you have previously entered all or some of your family tree into another genealogy program, you are welcome to upload a GEDCOM to us. That can save you the time involved in re-entering the information. You will still receive the free month if you choose to upload a GEDCOM rather than building your file from scratch on My Family Tree. For more information on GEDCOMs, click here.
How do I enter details about a marriage? Details about a marriage can be edited from the family group record. You can access this record from your pedigree chart or from either spouse's individual record . Follow these steps:
allows you to add new children or
edit information about existing children. The Source Notes icon
allows you to add notes to the
family record. For a complete description of the family editing toolbar
options, click the
icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
How can I make sure that I have successfully added a spouse to an individual?
Once you have added a new spouse, you should see an Individual Editing
Update message, confirming that your update is complete. You can make
sure that the spouse was successfully added by clicking the Spouse Info
icon
If you do not see the spouse listed on this page, you will need to try
again. Please note that you must have the gender of an individual set
before you can add a spouse. You can set an individual's gender by
clicking the Vital Info icon
How do I add information to a child's record? Once you have added a child to a family, you can add information about that child by accessing their individual record . Follow these steps:
icon at the right of the toolbar or
click
here.
Please note that it is important to enter birth dates for all living individuals. Our system will not display information on living individuals to the public, but the only way we can identify living individuals is by referring to the dates listed in your file. For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? Can I add more than one child at a time?
When you are first creating a new family, using the "Add parents of"
link from your pedigree chart or the Add Family icon
How do I attach a child who is already listed in my file to a family? If you have previously created an individual record for a child and now need to attach that child to his/her parents, you can do so by following these steps:
How do I change the birth order of children in a family? Follow these steps to change the birth order of children in a family:
How do I add notes to document my research? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding Source Notes. For questions about History Info, see How do I add historical/biographical information?
How do I add historical/biographical information? You can add two types of notes to your My Family Tree family tree: Source Notes, which allow you to document your research, and History Info, which allows you to enter historical or biographical information. Here we will discuss adding History Info. For questions about Source Notes, see How do I add notes to document my research?
How do I add a child to two different sets of parents? You may have individuals in your file who have two different sets of parents, such as in the case of adoptive families. You can attach a child to two sets of parents by following these steps:
to search for them). Then click the
Parents Info icon
from the toolbar. That will take
you to the parents editing screen, where you should see both sets of
parents listed. You can also edit information about the parents from
this screen, such as their relationship to the child.
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How can I view both families? Only one set of parents can be shown on your pedigree chart at a time. However, you can see information on both sets of parents from the child's individual record:
I have added a child to two sets of parents. How do I set one of them to Adoptive Parents? When a child is added to a family, the relationship to the parents is automatically set as Natural, indicating a biological relationship. If the child's relationship to this set of parents is other than biological, you can indicate that in the record by following these steps:
Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public? No. The privacy of living individuals is very important to us here at MyTrees.com. Our site is designed to hide all information on anyone that it can determine to be a living individual. It determines if an individual is still living by dates. First, it looks for a death date. If no death date is listed, then it will look at the birth date. Any individual for whom no death date is listed and who was born within the last 95 years will be considered living. Their information (including their names) will NOT be displayed in the Ancestry Archive. Please note that if no birth date has been included for the individual, then our site will have no way to determine that they are, in fact, living and their information will be displayed. That is why it is so important to include birth dates for all living individuals. It is also important to note that information on living individuals will appear both when you view your own file and when family members use the family access login to view your file. However, you control who has your family access password, so you can control who is able to view that information. If you have any further concerns about protecting the privacy of living individuals, please contact us at
How do I change the title of my file? The title of your file is what you originally called your file when you created it. Only you will see your title. You can change the title by following these steps:
The title of your file will then be changed.
How do I navigate through my pedigree chart?
What is a Dynamic Descendancy Chart?
The top line of the DDC will show a folder icon
If a child has a family of their own listed in the file (meaning that a
spouse and/or children have been added for them), then you will see
another folder icon
For any child who has a family listed, you will see their spouse(s)
listed below their name. If they have children, the spouse's name will
be preceded by a folder icon
Each generation of the DDC will continue in the same way for up to five
generations. If there is another generation of descendants in that
line, you will see the folder icon
How do I see everyone that is listed in my file?
You can view a complete list of all the names contained in your file by
clicking the List People icon
If you have recently added some names to your file and do not see them
listed, click the Remake Indexes icon
>From this list, you can view a person's
individual record by clicking their name. If you would like to view
that person on your pedigree chart, click the Reset Tree icon
How can I quickly jump to a specific person in my pedigree chart? You can easily jump to any point in your file by following these steps:
Your pedigree chart will then re-display with that individual's family in the first position. Please note that if the individual does not have a spouse and/or children listed in the file then they will be displayed as a child of their parent's family. How do I return to the beginning of my pedigree chart?
How do I use the Reset option? The Reset option, found in the upper right corner of your pedigree chart, allows you to return to a specific point in your file whenever you like. Unless you select a different family, this will automatically be set as the first family listed in your file. You can return to that first family at any time simply by clicking the "Reset" link. You can select a new family to be the default reset point by following these steps:
I have more than one file. How do I view a different file? You can switch between files by following these steps:
You will then be taken to the selected file.
What is an append? Append means to add a section of a family tree to an existing file. There are two ways to do this. First, if you have a GEDCOM that contains the information you wish to add to your family tree, you can upload it as an append. That will add the information in the GEDCOM to your file. You can then attach the new information to your family tree by completing a Match/Merge. For more information, see How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Second, if you have found the information in another file on our site, you can download that information directly into your file. For information on how to download information from another file, see How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? How do I add information from a file in the Ancestry Archive to my own family tree? If you have found a file on our site that contains information you would like to add to your family tree, you can download up to 6 generations directly to your My Family Tree file as long as you have already received a free month for the file. (For more information, see Will I get free subscription time for building my file in My Family Tree?) If you have not already received your free month, please continue building your file. Once you have received your free month, you can download information from any file on our site by following these steps:
How do I append a GEDCOM to my My Family Tree family tree? Appending a GEDCOM to your My Family Tree file will add the information to your existing family tree. It will not replace and update your entire file. If you would like to update your file by uploading a new GEDCOM, please click here for instructions. If you would like to add new information to your family tree by appending a GEDCOM, follow these steps:
Why is it so important to run a Match/Mere after appending a GEDCOM? When you append a GEDCOM, the information from the GEDCOM is added to your My Family Tree file. However, the new branch of names will not be connected to your family tree. It will exist separately in your file and will not be displayed as part of your main pedigree chart. Also, there will most likely be duplication between the information from the GEDCOM and the information that you had in your file previous to the append. Running a Match/Merge will allow you to merge any duplicate records, cleaning up your file and connecting the new branch into your family tree. For more information about running a Match/Merge, click here. I received an email saying that my file was corrupted. What caused this and how can I prevent it from happening again? File corruption usually happens when too many appends are done in a short period of time. Some of the appended information did not have time to fully process before the next append was started. Also, when multiple appends are done so quickly, time was not taken to merge each piece into the whole tree. This results in the file becoming corrupted and unfixable. When that happens, the only option is to revert to a previously saved copy of the file. Fortunately, we frequently backup all files stored in our database and are generally able to restore the file to a point before the corruption took place. However, you will then have to redo any changes that were made to the file after that time, including any appends that were done. You can prevent your file from becoming corrupted in the future by waiting 10 minutes between each append and by completing a Match/Merge after each append. This ensures that each append is fully processed and each new branch is correctly linked into your family tree.
You may also want to consider saving a backup of your file before you
begin an append. This will ensure that we do have a current backup,
should we need to restore your file later on. You can save a backup of
your file in My Family Tree by clicking the Make Backup icon
Is there any way to restore my corrupted file?
Yes, it is possible to restore your file to a point before the
corruption took place. There is an option in My Family Tree that allows
you to save a backup of your file. If you have previously saved a
backup, you can restore your file yourself by clicking the Restore
Backup icon If you have not saved a backup of your file in My Family Tree, you can contact us and we will restore your file. We routinely backup all files stored in our database. If you originally uploaded your file as a GEDCOM, we can always restore the original GEDCOM. We may also have more recent backups of your file. If you contact us, we will restore the most recent backup that we have. While it is possible to restore your file, it is far better to prevent it from being corrupted in the first place. Once your file has been restore, please take measures to prevent corruption in the future.
What is a Match/Merge? Match/Merge is the process of finding duplicate records in your file and merging them, so that there is only one record for each individual. There are two Match/Merge options in My Family Tree:
I have the same person listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there are multiple records for the same individual in your file, you will want to merge those duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Person option. You can only merge one pair of records at a time, so if there are more than two duplicate records for one individual, you will need to repeat the process until all the duplicates have been merged. (If there is a lot of duplication in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Branch option.)
Many people are listed more than once in my file. How do I correct this? If you have noticed that there is a lot of duplication in your file, you will want to merge the duplicate records together using the Match/Merge Branch option. (If there are only a few duplicate records in your file, you may want to consider using the Match/Merge Person option.)
Here are some things to keep in mind when doing a Match/Merge:
What is the difference between the Merge Person and Merge Branch options?
How can I check to make sure that the duplicate records have been correctly merged? If you have completed a Match/Merge and would now like to make sure that the duplication has been corrected, follow these steps:
I have just Match/Merged an individual. How can I edit his/her record?
Once you have completed your Match/Merge, you can edit the individual
record as normal. First, click the Remake Indexes icon
For more information about editing your file, see Getting Started and Editing Your Family Tree . I accidentally merged two records that were not duplicates. How can I correct this mistake? If you made a mistake while merging records, there are two ways that you can correct the problem. The easiest way is to restore your file to a previously saved version. If you used the "Make Backup" option to save your file before starting your Match/Merge, you can restore your file to the backed up copy. If the mistake only involves one or two records, you may also be able to correct the problem manually. First, locate the record that was incorrectly merged. If you have mistakenly merged two different people into one record, you will probably find that they are now attached to multiple families. They will most likely have more than one set of parents and/or spouses. The easiest way to resolve the problem would be to delete the individual record. That will separate the incorrectly linked families. You can then go back into each family and add both individuals back into your file where they belong. Fixing problems caused by incorrectly merged records can get complicated. If you can not see how to easily correct the problem, you may want to contact us for assistance. We routinely backup all files that are saved in our database, so even if you did not backup your file, we may have a recent copy saved that we can restore. We may also be able to help you correct the problem. You can email us at
How can I restore the backup I saved before starting my Match/Merge? If you used the "Make Backup" option in My Family Tree before starting your Match/Merge, you can easily restore your file to that point. First, make sure that that is what you want to do. You can not undo a restore. Once your file has been restored, you will lose any changes you have made since saving the backup. This should only be done if your file has become corrupted and can not easily be fixed any other way.
If you are sure that you want to restore your file, click the Restore
Backup icon
What is Family Access? Family Access allows your family members and friends to view your file without needing to register an account with our site. When they login using your Family Password, they will be able to view your complete file, as well any personal history or family news items you have created in your account. How do I create a Family Password?
Please note that your family password should be different than your personal password. In order to protect the personal information stored in your account, you should never give out the password that you use to login. It is, however, safe to give your family password to family and friends in order to allow them to view your family tree. Do my family members need to register an account in order to view my tree? No, your family members and friends do not need to register an account with MyTrees.com in order to view your tree. They can view your tree, as well as any personal history or family news items saved in your account, by logging in with your account number and Family Password. A Family Password is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a family password, click here. How do my family members login to Family Access? Your family members and friends can actually use the same login screen that you use in order to log into Family Access. However, they will use your account number and Family Password, which is different than the password you use to login to your account. For instructions on how to create a Family Password, click here. Once you have created a Family Password, you can send your family members these instructions to help them log into Family Access (they will need your account number and Family Password):
Will my family members be able to edit or add to my family tree through Family Access? No. Family Access allows your family members and friends to view, but not edit your family tree. As the submitter, you are the only one who can edit your family tree. This allows you to maintain control of your file at all times. If a family member sees something that needs to be edited in your file, they can let you know so that you can make those changes. Will my family members be able to view information on living individuals in my file when they login through Family Access? Yes. When your family members or friends login through Family Access, they will be able to see information on any living individuals in your file. However, since you control who has your Family Password, you control who sees that information. (For more information, see Will living individuals in my file be displayed to the public?)
What records can I print from MyTrees Online? The following types of records can be printed from My Family Tree:
What options will I find on the print screen?
When you are viewing your pedigree chart, you can click the Print Tree
icon
How can I print out records from MyTrees Online? To print charts and records from your My Family Tree file, follow these steps:
What does the Remake Indexes icon do?
Clicking the Remake Indexes icon
I just added new names to my family tree, but they aren't showing. What do I do?
Most likely, the problem is simply that your indexes need to be updated
to include the new names. Click the Remake Indexes icon
The pedigree chart I was working on disappeared. What do I do? If you have logged into My Family Tree and your pedigree chart is blank or not showing the family you are interested in, you should reset your pedigree chart. Follow these steps:
What is a family time line? A Family Time Line is a graphic representation of a family unit's important life events (including birth, marriage, and death.) In My Family Tree, a family unit is a husband and wife and any children they may have had. You can open a time line for any family by clicking that family's surname from your pedigree chart and then selecting the "Family Time Line" link. This will open the time line in a separate pop-up window. Here's an example of what a family time line looks like in My Family Tree:
As you can see, each family member (beginning with the parents) is listed by name at the left of the time line. Each column represents a decade, progressing from left to right. Along the time line, vital life events are indicated by the following icons:
How do I view the time line for my ancestor's family?
If the family you wish to view a time line for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
How do I use the time line links? When you are viewing a time line for a specific family, you can use the following icons to view a time line for the families of either the parents or married children:
How can a family time line help my research? Time lines are an excellent way to keep track of what information you have already gathered about an individual or family, and what information you still need to find. The first rule of genealogical research is to start with what you know, so that you don't end up duplicating research that you already have. The new Family Time Line feature makes it easy for you to see, at a glance, what vital information you still need to find for a specific family.
In addition to pointing out what information you do or do not have about a family, a time line can also point out incongruities in your research. For example, if you look at the sample time line above, you'll notice that the first child, Samuel, is shown as having be born eight years before his parents were married. Since that would make his mother only eleven years old at the time of his birth, we can assume there is some kind of error. In this case, a typo switched his birth year form 1821 (a year after his parents' marriage) to 1812. Also, if you look at the pattern of childbirth in this family, you will notice a gap of eight years between the third and fourth children. While it is possible that there were simply no children born between those years, it is likely that we are missing a child or two. It would certainly be worth looking into.
What is a family map? Family Map is a feature that uses the information in your file to display your ancestors' important life events on a current world map. When you are viewing your file in My Family Tree, just click on the surname of any family and select the "Family Map" option. A separate pop-up window will display a Google Map of the world. Vital life events for each member of the selected family will be marked with a special icon.
This is a sample of what you might see on a Family Map: How do I view a family map?
If the family you wish to view a family map for is not currently
displayed on your pedigree chart, use the List Families icon
Here is a sample family map: Once your family map is displaying, you can move around and view details using the following navigation icons:
Why won't my family map display? If you have clicked on the family map option but either nothing happened or the window that popped up was blank, here are a few suggestions:
How can a family map help my research? Maps are an essential part of genealogical research. Here are just a few ways that the Family Map option in My Family Tree might be useful to your research:
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