How long have you been a WikiTreer and what brought you here?

Question

Hey WikiTreers :)

I woke up this morning thinking about what a great community we have and I got curious about how others found their way here so I figured I'd ask.

How long have you been a WikiTreer and how'd you get here?

I stumbled across WikiTree back in 2012, back when you had to have an invitation to join.  Tami set up my account for me.  I was one of those people who uploaded a large GEDCOM before I knew better (sorry!).   I wasn't really sure what to do next so I didn't come back to the site for awhile.

For some reason, in 2013, I remembered the site while I was updating some of my other online trees and came back to check it out.  It had come a long way in that year and suddenly the whole concept of the site clicked for me and really resonated so I jumped in and eagerly started participating.

I remember I commented on a post on the WikiTree Facebook page and Chris responded. I thought it was awesome that the guy in charge was responding personally to people.

Anyway, that's how I got here. How about you?

Comments

I have cousins with African heritage, and researching their family trees can be frustrating. Best of luck with your research, Eddie. 

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I think that is a great reason!

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Thanks Alex! It is a task, and I have spent many hours just getting the 978 people in my Family tree. But then it is rewarding when you find out an answer to a medical issue, or that one of your relatives died as a Crusader! don

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Thanks Eowyn! Funny you should mention that. After my late wife of 38 years passed away. I met another Love in my life a little over 300 miles away. She had been adopted as well. When she found out what i had done. she began digging into her past, and found her biological Mother, as well as 3 Sisters she never knew she had. But found out some medical issues that would develop later in her life, that could be explained, due to her biological family history. Although I lost her as well, before we could marry, I am certain the information we found will become useful for her teen twins, later in life. This has been amazing for me, and those close to me. The most of my success is due to Wikitree. And I am thankful for that!

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Back in 2014 when I was 78 years old I started to write down some of my recollections about family history. I knew that I was one of the oldest living family members and that I had knowledge of events in the past that I wanted to pass down to younger family members. I also did a considerable amount of research to verify my own recollections. I was delighted when I discovered Wiki Tree. I hope to give interested family members a place to start their own journey into the past.

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Winifred, that's so great!  I'm sure your family members and descendants will appreciate your efforts.

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Thank you. I have made contact with several relatives through Wiki Tree so it really has been a rewarding experience.

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I couldn't be any newer. I just signed up less than an hour ago, and I'm really looking forward to getting started! I've actually been researching my genealogy for almost 20 years, but I wasn't familiar with WikiTree until now. (I know, shame on me...)

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Kevin you are in for an amazing experience. I had some problems at first learning how to add my references. It gets a lot easier as you learn how to navigate through this. Don't hesitate to ask for help. There is plenty available. This is by far the best website for amateur genealogists. And best of all it's free. Good luck to you.

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Wow, Kevin!  You win for most recently joined :D   Welcome!  Great advice, Winifred, thank you!

Answer 1

I joined in 2013.  At the time I was looking for somewhere to 'tell the story' so what I have discovered isn't lost when I fall off the perch.  When I found the features starting to be introduced associated with DNA testing, that was it, I was hooked and I haven't looked back.  Wikitree keeps coming up with new features and is just getting better and better.  Thanks to all the community who help make this happen!!

Comments

You're a great addition to that community!  I'm glad you joined us. You do awesome work here.

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Thanks Eowyn, you are too kind!  There are plenty out there who contribute way more than I do, especially you!!

Answer 2

December 2012 ... confirmed by Maggie N. ... made my first entry in January 2013 ... that's like 4 years ago and I can't remember what I had for breakfast!  So, how did I find Wikitree ... duh!  And, that's duh on me.

But, it's been a great four years!!  So many great folks here ... I'm still in awe!

Comments

Haha!  It is funny that you remember so much about joining.

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I kind of remember, but those 'facts' came from the Changes stuff on my profile!! lol

Answer 3

June 2011. I started my research in 2006 when we found out that my father had a brother living in Australia.

My uncle was born before my grandparents were married and he was given to someone to take care of him. She then decided to take him to Kenya where he grew up and got married. He then immigrated to Australia.

My goal was to give him his family history on my next visit. I also found 4 wonderful cousins that I never knew existed. We now see each other at least every 2 years. We have even had 2 holiday trips together to Thailand!!

Comments

Wow, what an amazing story!! I love to hear about families that are reunited.

Answer 4

I joined WikiTree December 2014. I found it whilst researching a name, and liked the concept of one tree. Browsing the site, I found g2g, and was amazed at the level of co-operation there was, and the drive to get things right. That suited me fine. I cut a small gedcom from my own research site, and uploaded it. Spent time cleaning it up, and then started expanding it, and eventually linking it into the tree. It was a steep learning curve, as it was quite different to what I had been doing, but now it is the norm for me.

It has been a great experience. I have Notables on my watchlist, and one was even selected as profile of the week, and everyone dived in and wrote a great biography. Collaborating with another wikitree'er I am researching a One Name Study, which is also on my line, and because of that experience I have started a ONS for my own surname. This actually sorted out a family story for me. My Dad always talked about a cousin who emigrated to Canada. I had tried for years to find that person from his (Welburn) side of the family with no Joy. From working on this ONS, I found this person on his Maternal (Rosling) line. Funny I never though about a cousin having a different surname.

Comments

I like your WikiTree story! It sounds like you've figured out how to use it best for you.  That's great. There is a learning curve for sure, thanks for sticking with it!

Answer 5

I've been a WikiTreer since July 2015. Two things brought me here. First is WikiTree's stated requirement for credible sources for all profiles. Second is its certification process for different eras of genealogical time.

Comments

Nice! We debated those certifications quite a bit but I think overall they've been great for the tree.

Answer 6

I started in the late summer of '16.  This is a helpful question for understanding my own motivation.  My grandparents loved family history - trying to understand the messiness and wonders of our family.  They spent 20+ yrs gathering details, traveling, and searching.  When they passed, there was little interest in the materials they gathered, so their papers and archives devolved to me as the family history geek.  I am sensing interest in the upcoming youngest generations so wanted to make sure this data became available to them (as they are adept digitally, more so than with paper).  

The open access of wikitree is wonderful. I use the subscribed family tree programs to find sources,  but I like to document it all in wikitree.  I love the weird connections with others in the community which expand a tree; and that this data will b available to others, especially family members who are trying to discern why do the things we do.   Not too complex...

Comments

That's great, D. It's similar to Chris Whitten's story in a way. He found himself being the one who was getting all the papers, etc, and wanted some way to share it and so WikiTree came to be (that's my simplified version)  :)  I hope the upcoming generations in your family do find an interest in what you are doing!

Answer 7

I have been on &off  for awhile. Was not really sure if it was a good idea. You know that old saying if it is to good to be true then it not. Or something like that. Then one day  I just started reading and searching  on Wikitree.

The more I found out about my family the more I got on the Tree. At first I took some replies or help from others like they were bossing  me or pushy. Then I found a cousin Y`ay  on the tree. We have been talking to each other and she has been  a great help. As with the others who have helped me. But, some who have been on along time or are  leaders or whatever forget they were newbies too and come across as demanding. But, I just let it slide off. lol This Tree is sooooo much better then others. I love  how the format  is set up. IT looks so personal when you go to each  other`s page.. I love the idea that other people can merge  or invites a merge.I am still learning alot . The way the Nav. page is set up where you can go to your page and see the tree with each person from you on up all you have to do is click on that person`s name if you want to work on their information. Also, I like the idea where you can thank a person for putting information on the tree. Or if they corrected something on their page. Even though we know people are thankful for this, however, it is nice to get a thank you sometime to show it. It is free too. That part kind of  made me wonder about the tree .  But , after checking it out I was okay with putting the info. on .  I found out that my bloodline goes from Royal to Abe to Butch Cassidy to St. Patrick . All walks of life.lol Amazing. Makes you wonder . Now when I watch a show / history channel or discovery I think I can kind of relate to that  in away.

Comments

That's a wonderful perspective, Mary, thanks for sharing!

Answer 8

I've been contributing to WikiTree for about 2 years now.  I found it while trying to find shared ancestors for distant cousins identified through shared DNA segments.  I was fortunate to have a fairly comprehensive family tree assembled by grandparents, aunts, and uncles; and I devised family tree software for my old Commodore 64 computer more than thirty years ago; but I became increasingly frustrated trying to compare family trees on the various web services requiring a subscription for access.

I found WikiTree about seven years after I started editing Wikipedia, so the data entry format was a fairly easy transition; and I encourage all my DNA cousins to participate because of the ease of finding our shared ancestors, and the possibility of finding someone else who has done the distant research rather than trying to assemble a tree through individual effort.

Wikiconference North America last year in San Diego included a discussion about the advantages and potential problems of integrating WikiTree and Wikipedia.

Comments

Awesome. Having previous experience on another Wiki does seem to help people grasp the WikiTree concept more quickly and use it a little more easily. Thanks for encouraging your DNA cousins to participate. That's awesome!

Answer 9

I joined in September 2016 after checking it out for a client who was interested in putting her tree here.  At first, I thought, this site wants you to sign an honor code in order to join and they are picky about your sources?

But once I started looking a little deeper, I joined and was immediately hooked!  Then, once I volunteered I couldn't get enough.  My only wish is that I hadn't uploaded two big GEDcoms.  I am still cleaning up that mess!

Now, I am bringing my clients here as a place to have their tree available for the family and to connect to the bigger tree.

Comments

You're great, Em!  Especially in our Greeters and Mentors projects! I'm glad you found us.

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Aw shucks!  Thanks Eowyn :-)

(BTW:  I am not actually part of the Mentors Project.  Mentoring just comes with the territory of several other projects)

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Methinks perhaps you should consider being a Mentor some time ;)

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Methinks I doth have too many irons in the fire as it is ;)

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Methinks I completely understand that! ;)

Answer 10

Wow - you made me look... November 2014. It's been almost 2 1/2 years since I joined WikiTree, and it's been an interesting journey. I guess I was looking for a site that was free, had some decent features, and I stumbled across it in a list of genealogical sites. I thought "why not" and gave it a try. I'm a techie, so I wanted to try out all the cool features - and uploaded a sizable Gedcom in the early days. What was even MORE FUN was that it wasn't even mine (LOL)! I found one that contained much of my family's ancestry and thought it would be a good way to get things started. Boy was I wrong...

I think I've got most of those errors corrected, profiles merged, and lack of sources cleaned up, but just when I think I've done the last of them... another pops up. Oh well. I will say that the One World Tree concept is very intriguing, as there are other sites that claim to be trying such a thing, but so far WikiTree seems to be the only one that appears to be actively working towards it. I have made many mistakes along the way and have done my best to own up to them and fix them, no matter how much of a pain in the rear they might be. It's a learning process to be sure. Either way, glad to be here and discovering more about my family and other families through our collaborative efforts to constantly improve things on WikiTree.

Comments

Great thoughts, Scott, you're a super addition to our community!  You've done so much to help improve our Notables their connections.

Answer 11

I am coming up on my 4th anniversary with Wikitree, I started in April 2013.   It all started with a couple of problem branches and the need for some help.   The first person I met on Wikitree was Maggie N.  I loaded a couple of GEDCOMS, tried to find help for my family and the "holes", but sort of faded away after a couple of weeks....then....

In May, I broke my ankle, I mean BROKE it.   I was laid up for 2 full months, and that is when I realized that what you give to Wikitree comes back.   I had done a lot of research on the "Virginia Lees" and went about "correcting data", adding sources I had found and helping others with that family.   (I am not related to the Virginia Lees)  And pretty soon, others were helping me!

Comments

I mean, I'm not saying that I'm glad you broke your ankle. But I am saying that I'm glad you had a reason to get invested in WikiTree!!  You're a super star and your help with members that are having a hard time is immeasurable. You're amazing.

Answer 12

Since early 2014.  Uploaded a moderate GedCom and then did a lot of editing to the point now with the added entries, I only have one error reported out of 1402 entered,  That is going to force me to get into the pre-1500 group to correct a location spelling error. Love working on several branches from my main tree that includes my sisters children and their ancestors.

Comments

Nice, Gene, that's awesome. Only 1 error!  Very cool.

Answer 13

I joined April 2012. Genealogy had been an interest of mine for years. (It is a ladies prerogative not to mention how long!) Let's just say I searched many a role of micro fiche! Enough said.

 I had accumulated quite a volume of information and  was searching for a user friendly site, with hopefully an element of permanency, where my family, and someday my descendants, could have access.  

The "early" days of Wikitree were a learning process for all. I for one made the HUGE error of not entering bio's and sources on each profile. My thought process at the time was to say the least flawed,(I'll come back and do all sources at once) and I have been playing catch-up ever since on my sources! Not to mention bio's!! Needless to say as new profiles are entered they are complete.

  The GROWTH of wikiTREE has not been surprising to me. I have had new correspondence with many, many cousins. It is an excellent concept and it is FREE! It has grown in leaps and bounds in all aspects and I am so very pleased to be a little part of it.

Thankyou for this site.

Amy Hubley-129

:)

Comments

Awesome, Amy! We joined about the same time. I'm still working on cleaning up the profiles I originally uploaded back then.   Thanks for the kind words about our site!  We're glad you found us and have stuck around for so long! :)

Answer 14

I joined in August 2015, after stumbling upon an interview with Chris Whitten on the Clue Wagon blog.  Being a member of the Baha'i Faith, I believe in the oneness of humanity, so I was totally down with the goal of building a single family tree.  Also, unlike so many genealogy communities I've been part of, we are actually encouraged to collaborate and share information!  What a concept!  I signed right up.

I love this place!  I love the fact that there are constant attempts to improve things, and community consultation about the big changes.  I love that cousins have found me via profiles I've created here.  Even got my mom to join, not long ago. :)  Did I mention I love this place?  hehehe.

Comments

I couldn't tell. Do you love this place?  :D   Seriously though, you are a great WikiTreer and I love what you do for the Greeters and Mentors projects. Thank you!

Answer 15

In 2013 A cousin, I had not seen in probably 70 years contacted me. I'm now 81 so it was along time past. We talked and  eventually got around to Family He and his wife traveled around the country checking on the Rader surname and started a tree. He was kind enough to show it to me. Behold I may have hunted  on or near the Adam Rader farm owned by Adam Rader, born 1727. The farm is in Timberville VA.. This excited me to look further and poking around the Net. I came across Wiki-Tree. took a look not knowing what to look for and clicked on The Forum. "Oh My God" the first question was "does anyone have info on  Samuel Milton Adamson?    Wait that's my Great Grand father on Mom's side of the family.  I'm Hooked, and finally found the source of the question. My adopted cousin I never knew I had. Since then I have found Aunts and Cousin's all around the country. I now have over 900  entries and counting.  The sad part is that the original question is yet to be answered.  "Info on Samuel Milton Adamson"  who were his Parents??  Rader-282

Comments

Wow, Samuel, what a great story!!  I always love to hear when someone gets reunited with family they didn't know they had. Hopefully one of these days someone will finally be able to answer that original question!

Answer 16

I will have been on WikiTree for 2 years on May 15.

My dad put a lot of time into tracing out his cousins (his father was one of 11 children) and keeping in touch with them. I remember helping him to set up his notes in a flat-file DOS database called File Express. 

Dad died in 2005, but I kept a copy of his database for years, meaning to start working on it myself "when I have time", which probably would have been "never" if I hadn't seen A.J. Jacobs' TED talk about the Global Family Reunion. So I decided to get out Dad's database and do something about it. The next question was: "how?"

I looked at free-standing genealogy software, but the Mac options I found didn't look terribly inspiring, and besides, I didn't want to keep this stuff in yet another silo for somebody else to dig into (or not) after my death. 

Jacobs recommended Geni, and I really liked the concept of a single family tree, so I tried it, but all of the hints that they offered me during my 30-day free trial were for the wrong people. Now, there were some hints that they wouldn't show me without me paying them, even during my free trial, so it may be that those hints (or some of them) were actually accurate, but the fact that all the ones they did show me for free were wrong didn't do anything to convince me to give them my money. (I found the same on Ancestry.) (Besides which, I have a deal with my wife: I'm allowed to pursue genealogy as a hobby, as long as I don't let it turn into an obsession, and the line between "hobby" and "obsession" is whether I spend money on it.)

Then I found WikiTree, and I loved it from the start. I like it that it's really free, rather than offering "free" accounts and then bombarding me with messages to upgrade my nearly-useless free account to a premium account with all the bells and whistles that don't actually work on my free account. I really like it that (eventually) I was able to link my family to the main tree, so I could say that I was only 37 degrees from A.J., or Kevin Bacon, or Her Majesty the Queen. I like it that people care about accuracy in their trees, and are not willing to accept anybody's unverified word for it that they're descended from the Plantagenets or whomever. (Although I will freely admit that that insistence on accuracy in sourcing and everything else has forced me to up my game considerably, and I'm still working on it.)

Tips I picked up here have helped me to push back Dad's genealogy another couple of generations, and have also helped me to fill out other branches of my tree, although I still have a ton of work to do.

 

 

Comments

That's awesome Greg, we've gotten some great WikiTreers here stemming from AJ"s Global Family Reunion!  You're certainly one of them.  Thanks for all you do here.

Answer 17

I started on WikiTree a year ago this mid July. I stumbled onto while trying to find verification of something one of my first cousins had on her ancestry tree...I learned over a year ago they don't always have facts, but  a lot of make you spin your wheels in the way wrong direction guesses. One of the relatives had a WikiTree profile that Google put as options in my search, and I thought "hmmm....why not..." clicked on it and I was wowed by the fact that there was verifiable information that my cousin (who has been doing the family genealogy for the LDS for at least 40 years) had it totally wrong! We've not been the closest and when I showed an interest in helping (30 years ago she acted like she was the only one qualified to work on it) so I was thrilled that I had a leg up on her. (I'm very competitive.) I signed up because I love the commitment to authenticity and verifiable sources. Plus it's so much easier to get help from other people here than on Ancestry though I still maintain my subscription (figure someone needs to have an accurate tree in the family).

Comments

T, love your humor! I'm glad you found us!

Answer 18

ive been a wikitreer for 3  years,i joined because i wanted a place to have my family tree and found that it was easy,and you could keep pictures,bio'os,and the best part is you can click your way around  your tree easy.

Comments

Nice Craig, thanks for housing your family history in our branches.

Answer 19

I first signed up in Jan 2013, but didn't do anything with my account. I think at the time I thought WikiTree wasn't so relevant to me as it seemed to be mainly US-focused. Being Australian and with pretty much all the rest of my research in the UK, I wasn't quite convinced how WikiTree would suit me. However I was encouraged to look at it again in January this year, and haven't looked back. Lots of work to be done on WikiTree both in Australia and the UK, so I'll never be bored. Great work by all those who have got the site to where it is now.

Answer 20

I'm pretty sure I found WikiTree the same way I found any other resource; somewhere in search engine results.  I stuck with it because it is (by far) the least mercenary genealogical resource I have ever seen online.  Here's hoping it never becomes a subsidiary of you-know-who.