How are changes to my family tree created by others?

ElaineMorehouse

After not working on my family tree for awhile I was surprised to discover that nearly an entire branch of my tree had been completed! However the new additions do not match with my family information. What happened? How do I secure my data for my tree so it can't be changed?

Cris D McBride

Elaine,

Many times guests of FamilySearch/Family Tree have missed a little understanding of the way FamilySearch/Family Tree functions as it is quite different from many other genealogy programs. FamilyTree was designed to be one single tree shared by all users with all users having the same ability and rights to change any information in the tree that has been added by other users.

It is also highly recommended that any change and correction be accompanied by valid documentation and sources so others can understand why information has been changed or added.

With it being only "one tree", each user does not actually have "my family tree". There are many users of FamilySearch/Family Tree that do keep another version of their family records in another online program in which no one can touch it or perhaps even view it. The advantage of Family Tree is that others do "touch it" and often do add information that makes records more accurate and complete.

There is information within the link here that details a number of suggestions to help minimize the introduction of errors by other guests of Family Tree:

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-can-i-prevent-other-people-from-making-inaccurate-changes-to-family-tree

If you have other needs or questions, please reply to this Community feature.

DianaHawks

Hi Elaine.

How do you secure your data in Family Tree so it cannot be changed? Afraid that is not possible, because unlike many other genealogical databases, Family Tree is an open database. Though this has its disadvantages, being open to all means that you can expect to be able to enlarge your family connections through the help of others who are related.

In your situation, mismatches can be corrected.

Here are some useful Articles from the Help Center (learn to make good use of this feature to help you do so many things! Just click on the ? inside the circle - and present your problem)

1. What is the purpose of Family Tree? (search for :purpose)

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/what-is-the-purpose-of-familysearch-and-family-tree

1. Correcting incorrect relationships (search for: parent child)

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-correct-parent-child-relationships-in-family-tree

Hopefully you are also keeping your data in a private database and one that connects to FamilySearch. You are able to find many such databases in our Solutions Gallery. Here is the link:

https://partners.familysearch.org/solutionsgallery/s/list?category=family_tree_management

Hopefully these suggestions will assist you in keeping "your" tree manageable