Question

my gedcom is too large to upload, what can I do

Answer 1

Ha ha, I had that problem last week, so... first I deleted 600 people from my tree at ancestry.com, getting rid of the dead wood, so to speak.  And then when I finally got my gedcom under 5000 and tried to import it here, the computer said you can check matches but can't import.  So over at ancestry.com I created separate bite-size family trees (under 100 people per tree) and I've been importing things piece-by-piece, lucky I'm on vacation, almost done now.  This whole process has actually been very useful, as I slowly merge my tree with the group project here -- now I really know how much of my tree is already over here.

Answer 2

If you go to the ADD link at the top right of your profile screen, select the GEDCOM, and then scroll down to Adding a Gedcom, there is a link for SPLITTING which explains the process of why and how to split the Gedcom.  As John stated, it really is beneficial to do this in smaller parts because it gives you an opportunity to reaquaint yourself with your tree, to clean up profiles, eliminate unknowns (unless your have substantial sources/citations for them they should just be noted in related profiles).  See: http:/www./wikitree.com/wiki/Splitting_a_GEDCOM  for additional information.  Happy matching. 

Answer 3

Nae has pointed you in the right direction, if your gedcom expoter is not covered specifically we can probably find out how you should do it and update the help page, let us know  if you need to.

As John has said small is beautifull, wikitree is not like some other sites where you can dump a gedcom for storage, your data will become a part of our tree, you are expected to write the Biography narratives for every profile and handle merge requests and other questions from other users. If your profiles are popular you could have a full time job managing 1000 profiles, easing into wikitree in small steps allows you to see the level of commitment required, you can always pause adding new gedcoms.

Answer 4

I have to agree that smaller is better.  I was going to upload my father's side, then later my mother's side.  That turned out to be too big to manage so I ended up with 4 uploads for each of my grandparents.  It was much easier to verify the data and make a cleaner upload.

I might offer my trick for doing this.  I had everything on Ancestry.com so I downloaded the GEDCOM of everything.  I then import that GEDCOM into some free software (ie. PAF, RootsMagic Essentials) and then export branches from there.  Those free programs have the ability to select which records you want to export into the GEDCOM.  You can then upload those to WikiTree.

PAF is no longer supported by the LDS Church but I found a download here.

RootsMagic Essentials can be downloaded here.

Answer 5

Hi Cheryl,

I came across this question and noticed you haven't ever uploaded a GEDCOM.  Do you still have questions on what to do? I review most of the GEDCOMs and can probably help with yours.  Feel free to send me a private message.

Thanks!