Project: Mentors/Draft How to use WikiTree
Category link of wikitree help
If you don't see what you're looking for here, see the complete Help Page Index or ask for help on our genealogist-to-genealogist (G2G) question and answer forum. You could also post on Twitter (@WikiTreers), Facebook, or Google+.
For a video introduction, click here.
Contents |
What is WikiTree?
WikiTree is a community dedicated to growing a single, shared family tree. Each individual has a profile page giving the important dates in their life, their personal story and any pictures we have about them or their world. We are all entering our family branches into the one giant family tree, eventually our branches will connect.
See About WikiTree for the mission and a few words on the community and organization behind it.
Logging-In
Members can access WikiTree by logging in. If you are not logged in, WikiTree will not know who you are and will not allow you to make any changes. This is the first safeguard to protect WikiTree data and its members.
If you are a current member login here. If you've forgotten your password you can have it e-mailed to you from this page.
If you were invited by a family member or fellow genealogist follow the link in the e-mailed invitation.
Otherwise start by registering as a guest.
Getting Started
For a video introduction, click here.
You can create profile pages for family members at any time after being confirmed as a full member. You could search to see if a person is already on WikiTree but you don't have to. Our system automatically does a search for possible matches when you create a new profile.
Anyone who wants to add more than close family members needs to abide by our community's Honor Code. That's very important.
Now that you have joined Wikitree
As a brand new member, you may feel a bit lost. You have seen your profile page. Each of these pages gives you many links to follow.
A good first step is to familiarise yourself with your profile page.
Adding Information
This is a "wiki" site which means the pages are designed to be easily improved upon. One individual can have many descendants. If several of those descendants are WikiTree members, they may all wish to be involved with updating their ancestor's profile. In a wiki site, this can be easily accomplished.
- Adding family members.
- Special issues with adoptions and multiple parents.
- Special issues with multiple spouses, including ex's.
- Adding biographies, personal memories, and comments.
- Adding links to the body of pages and biographies.
- Adding headlines, lists, and other formatting inside biographies.
- Adding pages for organizations and groups.
- Adding sources, citations, and references. (Please include sources! Primary documentation or information that would allow others to find it is best, but always provide at least some idea of where information came from.)
- Tips for dates and name fields.
- Fishing for information about family mysteries.
- If you've taken a DNA test for genealogy, there is an excellent introduction to WikiTree for genetic genealogy on the DNAeXplained blog: WikiTree and DNA.
Editing and Deleting
Most info on a profile can be edited by clicking the "Edit" tab.
- Merging when there are duplicate pages for the same person.
Inviting Family and Collaborating
- Here's how to invite family members to join you on WikiTree.
- To enable someone to collaborate with you on an individual profile, click the Privacy tab and add their e-mail address to the Trusted List.
- Here's more on Trusted List additions and removals and how to make multiple Trusted List changes at the same time.
- Tips on printing a family tree if your family members aren't online.
Privacy
- You control the Privacy Level on profiles you manage.
- To change the Privacy Level on an individual profile, click the Privacy tab, or make multiple Privacy Level changes at the same time.
- By default, most information about living people and their nuclear relatives is protected so that you need to be on the Trusted List just to see it.
Finding Information
- You can do a Person Search if you know who you're looking for.
- Our Find Matches tool will search for matches in your entire Watchlist.
GEDCOMs, Back-Ups, and Moving Your Family Tree
- If you have family history data on another website or software package, export it as a "GEDCOM" and then upload it here.
- To make a copy of your WikiTree data for safekeeping download a GEDCOM here. This also enables you to move your family tree elsewhere. Not that anyone would want to do that.
Questions and Contacting Us
- If you have a question ask it here.
- Contact us personally if you have a private question or just want to say hello, but please note that we cannot offer customer service. Use the Q&A forum.
This page was last modified 22:37, 23 August 2019. This page has been accessed 152 times.