How are ancestor identification numbers assigned

BobWard74

How are ancestor identification numbers assigned

Wayland K Adams

Hi Bob Welcome to Family Search Community and posting your question about identification numbers (ID).

An ID number:

• Shows on all tree views, on person cards, and on the Person page
• Usually appears near the person's name
• Is automatically assigned when a new record is created
• Does not provide information about the person or the source of the information
• Does not change for a given record

As stated, ID numbers are automatically assigned and contain no information about the person or the source of information. You shouldn't try to infer any thing about the record relative to the ID numbers.

Hope this helps.

BobWard74

Based on my own research an ID (person) has been attached to a family tree and appears to be inaccurate. Data for the person do not match the tree (name, birth date and place, pouse, etc.). How would I resolve?

Chas Howell

@BobWard74, Basically we all can fix & correct wrong issues ourselves to the one shared tree. Could you post the PID or a screen shot and give a little more detail about the problem? With a more clear understanding of the issue you will get better focused responses on how you can correct various issues. I'm thinking you just need to remove an incorrect relationship but maybe not. There could be reasons why that person is attached that you are unaware.

Wayland K Adams

Hi Bob For each record there can be 2 areas of basic genealogical data. 1) vital information such as Name, birth date and place, death date and place, sex, christening, burial date and place. These can all be edit by going to the person page (individual record) and clicking on edit or the pencil icon. Changes to the vital information should be based on sources. Normally we would not change the name on a record to match the other vital information, rather change the other vital information to match the name. 2) Relationships. There are two type of relationships, parent/child and couple relationships. These relationships are also shown on the person page under the family members section. These relationships can be edited by clicking on the pencil icon next to the appropriate relationship. They can be modified or removed. Relationships are what tied families together. If a person is in the wrong family, then the relationship can be removed. In addition to the basic information, there are many other things such as memories, sources etc. which can also be edited.

Here are links to instruction on how to modify the basic information about a person.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-change-vital-information-in-family-tree

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

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/img_auth.php/2/26/FT-09_Correcting_Relationships_in_Family_Tree_A_Mann_2016-2909214-I_Oct_2016_JMR.pdf

Also remember that at the upper right, there is a circle with a question mark. That will lead you to the help center where you can search for additional instructions on information. Hope this helps.