Pam (Cormac) Cormac Smith

Ahh Chris, you're too sweet...I have far too many bad habits too, its an ongoing battle LOL

hi Jane, I completely understand and I hear what you're saying, thanks for letting me know. Have you tried the enhanced editor? It has a lovely way of greying out the inline citations. Another thing that might help is that you could put the ref's on the line below and because of the way that the wiki markup works, the ref would show in the line above when in the view mode. Thank you so much for being a part of this wonderful tree!

All the best in your search Mark! It's a never ending journey - and my humble bit of advice: Don't neglect the side branches - they help verify the info you've collected, lead to all kinds of connections, and they can be so much fun.

Hi J

I know how you feel, it can be a lot to take in when you're new to the site. The best thing is to take it slow, work on one family unit at at time. Explore the site, test everything out....you can't break it, and anything can can be undone (except merges, so always research and collaborate through any issues on those). Don't be shy, there are tons of people here willing to help if you just let them know you need it - the G2G is a super place to find them. I'm always here for you too, if you send me a private message I'll be able to respond via email, then you'll be able to email me anytime. You're never alone here 🦋

Hi Diana,

I think you've come to exactly where you want to be to accomplish this task. I never realised it at the time, but that was what I needed too when I first started out with genealogy. I created files...many of them, and filled them with notes of all the people in my tree, and other peoples tree's too so that I could compare branches to see if there were any matches. I still have those files today, I don't have the heart to throw all that work out. But now that I have started using WikiTree more I realised that I don't need those files anymore. Here at WikiTree I can link to any other webpages on the internet, I can cite sources that are in precious Family Bibles that great aunts hold onto dearly, I can upload treasured photo's or transcribe letters (adding photo's of them too). I don't have to worry about mould or fishmoths or sun fading..it's lovely!

Here's some links that I hope will prove handy for you:

Uploading documents or images

Free Space Profiles (I have used this option to create special pages for letters where I have transcribed them and added photo's of the letters)

Adding links to other pages (either within WikiTree or externally on the web)

For privacy information see this page here: Privacy

I hope this helps!

Kindest regards, Pam

Thank-you so much for the welcome comment. It does make such a difference when wondering how to tackle a mega-website of this sort.

And then, coming to your page I can see lots of encouragement you give and helpful suggestions, like uploading documents and so on. So I just wanted to add my thanks to the pile :>) Laura James Sykes

Hi Carol,

I'm so glad that you decided to upgrade and join us here at WikiTree!

Both Family Tree Maker and Ancestry offer the option to download a gedcom, which you can upload here at WikiTree. But you will still need to do the gedcompare process where you will need to match or reject each profile to other possible matches of profiles already on WikiTree.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to copy WikiTree profiles info over to Family Tree Maker. I usually find opening each site on a separate browser tab and then copying and pasting works quite well.

There is an app called WikiTree Tool Kit which I think might be what you're looking for. If that doesn't help then perhaps searching for, or asking your question in our G2G chat forum will yield more results?

I hope this helps, and have fun!

Hi Pam,

I've just 'found' your reply, sorry. Even though Genealogist A. Scott Atkinson tried to prepare his class, inspire us to step up to WikiTree, assure us that this step was our best place to store our proven work, I admit to being overwhelmed. Thank you for that now valued 'Greeting.' I'm grateful for each and every helping hand! And I'm intrigued at your comments/request/command to have your work, at your demise, bequeathed to those named others......my goodness.....I had no thought to what happens to submissions upon the passing of the contributor. Where is that guidance? I didn't see anything of that ilk in the Tutorials.

Hi Carol,

WikiTree is known for having quite a learning curve, so don't feel alone there. I'm here for you any time (just send me a private message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can), there really are no silly questions!

That bit at the bottom of my bio is called an "Advance Directive" - you can read more about those here

There are loads of really great guides/help pages. They can be found in the little menu at the top right under the title "help" which can be found by hovering your mouse over that word. Then a drop down list appears where you can click on "help index" or "help category" depending on which layout you prefer.

Welcome to WikiTree Carol, I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do!

Thanks Erin, I wish you all the best too!

I'm glad that you made it back, and I'm here if you need me. Don't be shy to explore as much as you can..there is a lot here. I 💚 that you love accuracy as much as I do LOL

Ahh thanks SJ and the Appreciation team 🤗

You all are just too awesome!

I hope you do too Eleanor 🍀

My pleasure T, and I'm sure that you're going to make many more WikiTree friends 😊

My pleasure Neil, I love the newspapers - I know they're not great sources and need to be supplemented with birth, marriage and death records, but they sure do add some interesting bits. I have Campbells in my tree too...pretty cool to meet a possible cousin :)

Have a super day!

Hi Edgar, I think you have too ;)

My pleasure Marion, and yip..it looks right to me, she's now married to John.

Have a lovely evening/morning.

Thanks a ton Bob! It's been a fun journey and am looking forward to writing more.

Hi Gaile,

My absolute pleasure, I love greeting and am lucky to get the opportunity to do so. I'm really glad that I got to welcome Adam. I'm so excited that he gets to learn so much about his family, and what a family it is! He's going to be very proud...how lovely!

And thank you so much for being a part of that journey for him, for adding him as manager to those profiles, and especially for offering to help him. Stories like these are what makes it all so wonderful, and you have plastered a smile not only on Adams face, but on my own too.

Have a beautiful day, and I hope we chat again soon.

Thanks a ton Mary, that sounds like interesting research! I did a quick search on familysearch for our new guest and found a tree which had just one contributor and linked to it in a message, I'm hoping she contacts the contributor as I'm sure they will have much to discuss. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question, especially since the US is not an area that I'm very familiar with in my own research.

Have a lovely day.

Kindest regards, Pam

My absolute pleasure Gerdina, I'm so glad that you've come to join us here at WikiTree. We have a lovely community of South Africans here and many of our pre-1800 ancestors are already on here so I'm sure it won't take you long to connect your branches. If you need any help at all please don't be shy to let me know.

Welcome to WikiTree!

Hi Sharon,

You need to create the line of ancestors until you meet up and connect with JosHitzReiff 1653-1750, then the connection finder will show the relationship. Start by adding your parents, or even just the relevant parent to help you get there, then add your parent's mother/father and so on until you reach the first already created ancestor so as not to create duplicates.

I hope this helps, if you have any problems or questions along the way don't be shy to let me know.

Hi Julie,

My pleasure! I'm glad you're making your way around WikiTree. I'm here for you anytime you need me.

Hi Lyn, I'm so glad that you've come to join us here at WikiTree! I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do, and I wish you all the best luck in your search, I love meeting new relatives and finding more about our ancestors too.

My pleasure C. Welcome to WikiTree, I'm glad that you've come to join us! WikiTree can be a little bit of a learning curve as you first start out - so never be shy to ask any questions. I hope you enjoy WikiTree as much as I do.

That's fantastic Sabine, I'm so glad that you've come to join us! We have a lovely G2G chat forum (that covers everything from appreciation, encouragement, research assistance, and just plain old chit chat), some great projects (from locations and time periods or events to biography writing, notables and so much more). Some interesting or helpful extensions, apps and tools (...like the RootsSearch Tool ~ really handy), and things called Free Space Pages (like profiles but for things instead of people). I learn something new all the time.

It's lovely to meet you too!

Thank you Marty. What you say is so true - it's load's of fun...beware though, you might end up getting as hooked as the rest of us before you know it LOL. Rabbit holes are real!!

There's tons of really great things on WikiTree so just give a shout anytime you want to learn something new. Welcome to WikiTree, I'm glad you've come to join us.

Hi Janice,

My pleasure and I'm really glad that you've come to join us. I'll be here anytime you need me.

Hi E,

I thoroughly enjoy the WikiTree YouTube channel too, and try to catch it every week. It's great getting to know the community and I pick up little tips and tricks from it all the time.

The How-To pages link that was posted by Pip on your profile page at upgrade are brilliant, they'll explain everything that you need to know to get a great start on WikiTree. When you've been able to create your brick wall ancestor's profile and all his/her immediate family members that you know of, post your question to the G2G forum. Complete the profile as best as you can, and fill the biography with as much detail as you have about what you know, and also what you don't know, where you've looked and haven't found records, and any family stories..all this can help other researcher's in solving the mystery. Locations are very important too. When you post your question in G2G there is an extra box for you to paste in the URL for your ancestors profile, this is very handy as other WikiTree'ers will be able to click the link in your post and will be taken straight to your ancestors profile. There is also an additional box for tags, great tags would be surnames involved, locations and "research_assistance".

Never be shy to ask any questions, I'm here for you and happy to help wherever I can.

I'm so glad that you've come to join us here at WikiTree and I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do. Welcome aboard E! I hope to see you around.

Ah, thank you Jan 💙

It's always a real pleasure!

Hi I'm finding this site commplicated

Hi Darren, Don't worry ~ you're not alone, I hear this all the time. And for myself the same was true for a long time after joining. Then I really learned a lot from discovering all the goodies in the little menu bar at the very top right of your screen. Then I joined a few projects, and some people showed me some things that I hadn't really looked at before...then before I knew it I was (and still am) discovering all kinds of gems hidden in the plain look of wikitree. The best thing you can do to start with is read the how to pages that were posted on your page at upgrade. Next....ask questions, don't ever be shy, the more you ask the more you will discover. We try not to overwhelm new people with too much info, and we're also never sure of what your interests are. But if you tell someone what you'd like to learn more of they'll know what info to pass along. Your profile page is also a great place to store some of these handy links, especially while you're still figuring your way around. The best piece of advice I can give ~ ask questions ~ definitely. We're all volunteers here, and I think that's the best kind of service...it's driven by passion!

I'm glad you've come to join us here at WikiTree, and I hope to see you around.

Hi I'm having trouble trying to find out my dad's real father is. I have tried asking living relatives but they won't tell me because they were told not to tell anyone by my dad's mother. That's where I have hit a brick wall!

I'll post a comment on your page with some links for the DNA Project, I think DNA might just help you solve your riddle. Good luck!

My pleasure Donna, I hope the links for the GEDcom pages helped.

Ahh Jan, that's very sweet of you to say. I'm glad that I'm your greeter too! It's my pleasure, besides you're easy to teach as well as a quick and determined learner. I hope that you enjoy WikiTree as much as I do.

Thanks Mark, I'll do that, I've been wanting to join the Scotland Project.

Have a super day, and thanks for messaging me.

Hi Cynthia,

I love find a grave too! and I'm really happy that you are finding your way around WikiTree so well.

Sorry, I'm not sure why the merge wouldn't work..but not to worry as I have now initiated the merge and the request should come through to you soon.

Let me know if you have any further hassles.

Kindest regards, Pam

Hi Gail,

I have Rhodesian ancestors too, and would love to help you. Just send me a private message with the details and we can see what we can find.

Chat soon, Pam

Hi Barry

When on your dad's profile, look at the large green tabs, they turn yellow/orange when your mouse hovers over them.

Green/yellow tabs

Click the tab labelled "Images". A new page will open. Now just below the same large green tabs will be "Do you have a photo or source image for YOUR DADS NAME [YOUR DADS WIKITREE ID]? Click here to upload it." Click on the "Click here to upload it" A new page will open where you can select a photo and enter in the details. For a source: At the bottom of the page select the radio dial button for source. Save.

As you get used to wikitree you'll probably want to learn about free space pages, as this is another way to upload sources and photo's to your tree...but more on that later, Just give me a shout anytime you're ready and I'll show you how to do that.

Many of the 1700 and 1800 South African profiles have been done so it probably won't be long until you have your branches attached to the greater South African tree. In SA we have some unique ways of working on WikiTree, a particular one is to please use the correct Country Naming as was used at the time of the event. Another one is Name fields on profiles. When posting questions to G2G that relate to South African profiles or sources use "South_Africa" as one of your tags as this will help researchers particularly interested in South Africa to see your post (do type the underscore).

Here’s a great page to help with resources South African Roots Sources, and maybe you'd like to join the South African Roots Project

I'm here to answer any questions, so please don't be shy.

I'm so glad to have another South African on wikitree! Happy hunting.

Hi,

I have uploaded a death cert as an image but want to link to it (The uploaded image) from the source reference (The number one source below) Is that possible?:

↑ Source will be added by B Greyling by 24 Nov 2020.

Hey Barry,

I'll send you a private message, look for it in your email box.

It's a pleasure Simon, I'm happy to help anytime, you know how to find me! Have a super weekend

Hi Pam,

I have just found from MyHeritage site a family connection with one of your site members who is asking for information regarding his great great grandparents who lived in England in the 1800s. We share these great great grandparents. His great grandmother and my great grandfather being sister and brother. I told your WikiTree member( Mr Graham Bain) this and offered to him further information regarding the Church family history. He ask if I would join WikiTree and put a family tree on the site but I seem to be struggling to be able to commence entering a tree. Colin Church

Hi Colin,

That is fantastic news! I'd love to help in anyway that I can, and I am so glad that you have come to join us here at WikiTree.

The first thing you need to do if you want to build a tree on the site is to upgrade to Family Member by adding your genealogy communication preferences. No worries here, as upgrading is free, as is everything on WikiTree.

I hope this helps, if you have any other questions please don't be shy to ask. I wish you all the best in the collaboration between you and your new found family member and wish you many more to come!

Take care, Pam

Hey John,

You've done exactly what you need to do when you need help. How can I help you? I'm here anytime you have a question, and I'm not the only one..there are quite a few of us around! Reply to any message from the greeters or mentors who post a comment on your profile page or message any one of them directly. As time goes by you'll get more greeters posting messages to your profile.

I hope this helps, and don't be shy to ask any questions

Kindest regards

Pam

Thanks Ronel,

I'm so proud of our team..we're doing well. GO BOKKE!!!

Thanks Ronel,

Looking forward to it!

Hi Pauline

I'm so glad that you've come to join us here at WikiTree!

Yes, you can load your ancestry tree on here if you export it as a GEDcom and then upload the GEDcom here on WikiTree. A little tip of advice - do small batches.

Here is a link to Ancestry's instruction on downloading a GEDCOM from Ancestry. It takes some time to download a GEDCOM. Once it has downloaded, you can then upload it on WikiTree. It will take some time to upload and you will get a message emailed to you when it is ready. The GEDCOM will not automatically populate your tree. It generates a GEDCOMpare report which you work through, either accepting or rejecting, suggested matches. This link is very helpful when working through your report GEDCOMpare Process. This is time-consuming, though can be worth it in the end. Unlike other sites, where there are many trees, WikiTree is a single tree, so checking before uploading will save you the effort of having to merge duplicate profiles later. This process allows you to look for existing profiles that can save you a lot of time later.

Once you have completed the match/reject review in the GEDCOMpare process, an Add button will appear beside the remaining records in your GEDCOM. That Add button will let you create new profiles without having to type everything. It is still a one by one process because the data needs to be reviewed for completeness and sources.

See this tutorial GEDCOMpare process, it's written by one of our mentors and I found it wonderfully helpful.

I hope this helps, any problems please let me know

Take care Pam

Thanks Ronel, I unfortunately couldn't catch it live but was able to watch it later. Great advice and was totally worth watching.

Have a super evening

Hi Catherine,

I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to see your message down here..I'm really sorry we didn't chat! So how is your research going, were you able to find out anything about your Cormac? We should compare notes if you're still interested

Thanks so much for reaching out

Kindest regards

Pam