FHF

If I had the rights to make a sidebar banner without fear of copyright infringement, I would make one that had the FamilySearch logo and the words “FamilySearch Fan Girl” below it. In fact, I would enthusiastically wear the same banner design on a shirt. Despite how much I appreciate this online collaborative family tree, I often hear three major reasons why my friends and associates do not want to use FamilySearch Family Trees. The FamilySearch Family Tree is too tangled. I know my stuff is accurate and I don't want folks changing my tree I can't upload my Gedcom file Oh, boy, do I hear you. Finding tangled trees with  crazy and obvious errors can be frustrating; however, the problem often didn't start with FamilySearch. Tangled trees with egregious problems float around in print and online trees. When you've spent hours fixing the problems you've discovered, it's hard to ask you to help fix the FamilySearch Family Tree. So, if you don't have the patience,...

As budding genealogists attempt to use FamilySearch Family Tree, they quickly face the learning curve that’s not as easy as some other online offerings. Learning to add reason statements when making a change, attaching a source, merging people, or deleting a relationship can be overwhelming. But anything worth doing, it’s worth doing well. With FamilySearch Family Tree, three reasons to use the program out-weight the learning curve associated with mastering the mechanics of the program. 1. Public Trees and Public Sources With FamilySearch, there are no private trees. Okay, the private trees are the living individuals you add to the tree. But when we’re talking about the history of deceased persons, no one is private. Though you might want to believe this is blasphemy, look through the eyes of a friend’s story. My friend wanted to work on her family tree using an online service that allowed private trees. She found a match to a private tree that indicated that it had sources. This frien...