How do I attach a record already in use to another individual?
Why can't I attach the same record to another person in my tree? Sometimes the record contains information regarding either the individual being researched or parents, siblings etc, and I wish to attach it to these people as well but find I can't because it is attached elsewhere. I think sources should be allowed to be attached wherever I feel it proves a connection. I am also unhappy with the fact that other people my use and attach a source to someone who is not in my family tree because of a similar name for example, and I am unable therefore to use that source for my relative for proof. It seems to be a case of whomever gets the source first in this case, and there should be a work around that. Does anyone know how to attach a source that is being used by someone else to your own tree, or attach a source multiple times within your own tree to various individuals to prove a connection? Thanks.
Answers
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I have found that, if you add the source to your Source Box, you can attach it to multiple profiles from there.
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You say:
I am also unhappy with the fact that other people my use and attach a source to someone who is not in my family tree because of a similar name for example, and I am unable therefore to use that source for my relative for proof. It seems to be a case of whomever gets the source first in this case, and there should be a work around that.
The way of dealing with this situation is that (if you are completely sure the source has been attached to the wrong profile) you remove it - and add it to the individual (in your family branch) to whom it does apply. The way you do this is to go to the Sources section of the profile of the individual (to whom it has been wrongly attached), click on "Review Attachments" and then, after providing a reason statement for your action, "Detach". You then have the opportunity to add the (now unattached source) directly to your relative.
As an example, look at the page found via this link: https://www.familysearch.org/search/linker?pal=/ark:/61903/1:1:VRJ2-7TR&id=MMQR-8YV . If you find this source has been attached in error to individuals of very similar identity, detach (from both persons), then click on the "Not your family? Find My Family" link (top right of the page) and - one by one - enter the ID references of the individuals the source should be attached to.
Finally, please remember to remove any tagged data that appears on the main ("Details") page that relates to this record. For example, in this case you would remove the reference (under "Other Information") to the 1871 census Residence. (Click on the pencil icon and then "Remove Residence") Otherwise, other users will be thoroughly confused at finding the individual(s) at the location shown when that fact applies to a completely different individual / couple!
NOTE - Any link that can be provided here (by a Community member) to a FamilySearch "Help" article, explaining the step by step procedure for transferring a wrongly attached source to the correct ID, would be most helpful!
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There is an article . It says Memories, but it also includes Sources. Oddly, it describes a long-winded way of handling this by going to the person to whom the source is already attached, copying the URL, detaching the source, returning to the correct person and adding a new source based on the URL. It doesn't describe the common situation where you are in the source linker and can detach the source directly and attach it correctly (with reasons).
As Paul says, you need to visit the other person's profile before you do that, and clean up that person's profile afterwards.
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Most of the practicalities have been covered by other commenters, so let me address the reasoning, a little.
The structure of FamilySearch's Family Tree and its relationship with index entries is meant to be mathematically "one-to-one and onto": one and only one profile per (deceased) person, and one and only one attachment per indexed person. Both of these structures only work if both the tree and the index are fully complete and correct, which can only really be counted on to be not true, most of the time, so there are workarounds. Most of those workarounds use one or more of the capabilities of your Source Box.
If the error or shortcoming is in the index, for example if the parents weren't indexed, only the bride and groom, then you broadly have two choices: copy the index entry to your Source Box, then attach that copy to the other profiles; or skip the index and attach the image directly as your source (again using your Source Box).
If the error is in the Tree and/or the attachment point of a source, then the best solution is to fix the error. Like most things on FS, there are multiple ways to do this, but I think the best way to fix an incorrect source attachment is to use Source Linker. One way to get to that is to go to the Sources tab where the index entry is incorrectly attached, click the title to expand the source, then click "Review Attachments".
Note that if you know ahead of time that you'll want to attach a particular index entry to multiple profiles, there is an "Add to Source Box" checkbox in Source Linker that will save you several steps in the process.
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