How do I leave notes to myself in Family Tree?

Louis Larson Jr

How do I leave notes to myself in Family Tree? Such notes could relate to unresolved questions, suggestions for further action, or comments relating to continuing research.

CDBurk

@Louis Larson Jr

Hi Louis. If you go to the personalized home page at FamilySearch, you should see a section on the lower right side of the page titled "To-do List" . I have found this a perfect place to leave notes about what I would like to accomplish with my next visit to the FamilySearch site. There is a box to check off each item you complete. If you don't dismiss the items you check off, they will remain for you to review in the future, but they will no longer be in the primary position once completed. The following knowledge article from our Help Center discusses the various fields on the home page and does mention this section.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/what-features-are-on-my-home-page

Another place where you can leave notes for a specific ancestor would be available through the ancestor's details page. There is a Collaboration link at the top of each person's details page which will allow you to enter Notes and Discussions that can be seen by others who are also related to your deceased ancestors. Why there is also a Collaboration link for living people. please remember that your living ancestors are part of our personal contributions which are only available for you to see. To learn more about entering Notes and Discussions, I hope this additional article is helpful.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-add-notes-to-a-person-in-family-tree?articleVariant=member

I hope these two suggestions are helpful as you continue to work in Family Tree. Bless you with your continued family history efforts.

Chas Howell

One thing I like about the To Do List is that when you enter in a PID number it becomes a Link

Paul W

@Louis Larson Jr

I use "Notes" in the Collaboration section of any individual in Family Tree. I title them with headings like "Marriage of John Smith", etc. If this, or any other event / item is yet to be found, I would list the sources / places I had already checked to avoid duplication of searches at a later date. Make sure you add these individuals to your "Following" list (preferably adding a label to identity a family branch, etc), so you can find them again if you move on to another family branch..

If there are general issues / outstanding items in your genealogical research, I would create a document (Word or similar) and make a suitably arranged list there. Obviously, you could print it or just keep it open when working on your family tree. Naturally, as issues are resolved, you can just delete the resolved items, and add additional ones as you go along.

Family Tree does not have to be used to record all information and it is always recommended that you back-up your family tree in another program - free versions of which are easy to obtain. So, don't rely on Family Tree for maintaining all your notes and records - there are plenty of other ways and places to keep these.

Louis Larson Jr

Thanks to each of you who responded to my question.

I'll study and implement each of your suggestions.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🙂

Louis Larson Jr

With regard to using Notes and Discussion items, tested and found that Notes can be viewed, edited, and deleted by others, whereas Discussion items can be viewed but neither edited nor deleted by others.