How does one use the helper code? My nephew has created an account and he wants access to my tree.
Best Answers
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Yes. Helper mode makes it possible to see someone's tree, without using that person's own login information.
He shouldn't need access, though, if he is related. He would add in whatever living family he has to connect to the same dead ancestors that you have. Then he would be able to see all the same dead ancestors.
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this (the helper mode) only works for LDS members. Ae you LDS?
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@mabbit mabbit
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Firstly ...
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As you (or, your nephew) can 'see' the "Help Others" function/feature/facility, you (or, your nephew) must be a Member of the Church ...
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Secondly ...
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The "Help Other" function is NOT the way to go ...
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Finally ...
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FYI
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We do not have our OWN "Tree" in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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We ONLY have "Branches" (ie. Ancestral" lines), that are interconnected, in this SINGLE "One" World "Tree", for all of us, that is "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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Now ...
That said ...
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As you are BOTH "Living" Users/Patrons ...
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You; and, your nephew, WILL have to "Added" SEPERATELY (and, 'Yes' as DUPLICATES) the "Living" individuals/persons that connect/link you together in your respective 'FamilySearch' Accounts ...
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Basically, you; and, your nephew, have to "Build" a "Bridge" of the "Living" individuals/persons that connect/link you together in your respective 'FamilySearch' Accounts ...
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Once, you have built that bridge; then, when you come to your FIRST Common "Deceased" Ancestor your "Ancestral" lines will connect/link together into one ...
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Let me explain ...
[ Please bear with me ... I am very verbose ... that is my 'Style' ... ]
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We do not have our OWN "Tree" in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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We ONLY have "Branches" (ie. Ancestral" lines), that are interconnected, in this SINGLE "One" World "Tree", for all of us, that is "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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"Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' is NOT like 'On-Line' "Websites" (eg. "Ancestry_com"; or "MyHeritage_com"; or, the like); and/or, 'standalone' personal (computer) programmes (eg, the OLD, now no longer supported, "PAF"; or, "Ancestral Quest"; or, the like).
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We DO NOT have "Private"/"Personal" 'Trees' in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' like other 'On-Line' "Websites"; and/or, 'standalone' personal (computer) programmes.
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We do not even, own; or, manage; and, are NOT even responsible for, the "Deceased" individuals/persons in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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"Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' is built on a "Open Edit" Platform - hence, why any registered User/Patron can "Edit" (ie. Add, Delete; and/or, Change) ANY "Deceased" individual/person in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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You can certainly "Merge"/"Combine" any "Deceased" individual/person in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' with another "Deceased" individual/person in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch', regardless of who the User/Patron was that initially created those "Deceased" individuals/persons; as, they DO NOT reside with the User/Patron who initially created them - they are "Public".
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If fact, you can ONLY see "Deceased" individuals/persons in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'; except, with this 'rider', that you can ALSO only see "Living" individual/person in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' that YOU created; as, they reside in your "Private Spaces".
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No other User/Patron can see ANY "Living" individuals/persons that were created by another User/Patron; as, they ONLY reside in the "Private Spaces" of the User/Patron who created them.
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We CANNOT even see the ACTUAL Record in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' of our IMMEDIATE Family (eg. Spouse; Children; Parents; Siblings; ETC; Etc; etc) if they are "Living"; and, they have their own 'FamilySearch' Account.
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Of course, you can create your "Living" Family members; and, record them in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'; but, they will ONLY be seen by you:
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▬ You cannot "Share" them with any other User/Patron.
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▬ You cannot "Merge"/'Combine" them with any other "Living" individual/person residing in the "Private Spaces" of another User//Patron.
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There is CURRENTLY no mechanism in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' for Users/Patrons, to "Share"; or, "give permission" to "Share", the "Living" individuals/persons in their own "Private Spaces" with/between other/another User(s)/Patron(s).
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There are a myriad of "Privacy" Laws within the many various Countries and Unions throughout the World - it is a nightmare to negotiate.
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"Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' is used in many Countries and Unions throughout the World; and, as such, must adhere to the myriad of "Privacy" Laws throughout the World.
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Hence, "Privacy" is one of the reasons that we cannot "Share" the "Living" individuals/persons in our own "Private Spaces" - it is NOT the ONLY reason; but, certainly has a bearing on the matter.
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Another factor is that such would have to be 'Coded'/'Programmed' into the Programme that is "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch'.
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'Yes', these "Living" individuals/person in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' WILL, in fact, in many (most) cases will be "Duplicated" - unfortunately a necessary situation that currently cannot be avoided.
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I know that there are "Duplicates" of the "Living" ME - at least, one for my Wife and each of our Children, not to mention my other ("Living") extended Family members.
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Here are some "Knowledge Articles" in 'FamilySearch' in regard to "Private Spaces" and "Living" individuals/persons:
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What is a private space in Family Tree?
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Who can see my living relatives in Family Tree?
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Here is a good place to start, with how things work in "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch' (and, other programmes as well):
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Introducing The Family History Guide
https://www.familysearch.org/ask/learningViewer/733
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Introducing The Family History Guide
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The Family History Guide
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I hope this helps.
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Brett
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It could be used that way, but it is not intended to be used that way. It is designed for someone to assist someone else in doing work or explaining how to do something to them. If you give that helper code to your nephew, it is very close to the same thing as him logging into your account, only it doesn't involve you giving him your password (which would violate your user agreement for using FS). If he does go out and makes a bunch of changes in the FSFT, I believe that all those changes will be marked with YOUR name and not his. So if he makes any mistakes, all of the messages and questions about it are going to come back to YOUR account.
FS please correct me if I'm wrong here.
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Yes they do.
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The public view of the changes will show the person's account (for whom you are helping). However, on the back end of the software, it is also recorded as the person who is making the changes. So if Jeff is helping Dennis. Dennis' name will show up publicly for other users to contact about any changes. However, Jeff's name is attached to all those changes as well.
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Answers
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Thank you. Where does he enter the code?
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I am pretty sure that you are correct as to who gets recorded as making the update.
note however - my understanding is the helper has to be LDS
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"under the covers" yes
but if there is no public view then the only people who can see that are the database admins.
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I like that. If a person's account were to get hijacked, it would leave footprints. Excellent!
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only if it was hijacked via the helper mode
but not if it was hijacked from the normal login
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@JeffWiseman JeffWiseman
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Jeff
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What 'Amy' advised, I did not even know/realise ...
But, I just did some 'homework'/checking ...
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FYI
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Here is a "Knowledge Article" in 'FamilySearch':
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How do I use the Help Others link in Family Tree?
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Where, among other things, it ALSO clearly states:
Quote:
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Although you do not see it, the system also tracks the fact that you were acting as the person's helper. It does not display your contact information anywhere that other users can see.
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Good to know ...
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I have always missed that ...
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You learn something new everyday ...
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Just for info ...
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Brett
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Thanks for the confirmation on that Brett.
But what's really exciting at this point is that the system appears to be working exactly the way that it should be in this area :-)
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That link is no longer working
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the link is valid
HOWEVER - I believe it is a link that only works for LDS users
(because the content of the link only applies to LDS members)
only LDS users can act as helpers - that is by design.
if you are LDS - make sure you are logging on with your LDS credentials.
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Brett
Thanks for the useful summary you have provided, which should hopefully reach your actual help function at some point. I understand that this tool currently only offers two tiers of access; private and public. The helper function is only available to someone belonging to a specific Christian denomination (I am not going to query this but accept it's the choice of the institution funding the tool for reasons not important to me right now. I am not of the Christian faith and do not intend to change religions in order to access this function if thats okay)
I work in requirements for IT projects and wish to share some observations here
There is a NEED by people to collaborate on living individuals, that form part of an overall tree, that is NOT being met by current functionality, I hope you agree?
By not providing a formal way of meeting this need, you are thereby indirectly encouraging an alternate solution (sharing passwords misuse case). Yes, I accepts ts&cs state do not do this, and I am sure you read and analyse the general ts&cs of every website you sign upto, but hopefully you accept that a fair number of people will not be following the rules.
That said, can you please advise if you have ANY plans or approaches you are planning on to address the NEED? Do you have a feature request tracking tool you share with users?
Cheers
Hiro
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I believe that the "Help Others" function is only available to church members. As such, the knowledge articles are also typically only available to church members.
For the system to know if you are a church member, you must first be logged in before you can see those types of knowledge articles.
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There are two issues here that are limiting to this capability:
1) The FamilySearch FamilyTree database like those that preceded it was initially intended for reducing duplicate work in the temples (i.e., it was initially designed to handle deceased persons only). The addition of support such as sources and such on living persons is fairly recent and is still evolving.
2) We have received enough feedback on the old GetSatisfaction.com forum (now the "Ideas" area of this community) from FS employees over the last 2-3 years on this subject to know that FS really does see the need and has an interest in supporting some kind of collaboration functions for work on living persons. However, international laws regarding the handling of personal data for living persons is becoming much more strict and FamilySearch must abide by all of those laws since the FSFT is accessable globally. If there is an appropriate way to perform this type of sharing, FS will likely implement it.
I (like Brett) am not an employ of FS and have no rights to speak for them, so these are all just informed opinions.
Also note that FS does not provide any type of feature request tool available to people on these forums. And since we don't get a lot of responses on these items it is hard (if not impossible) to know what they are developing at any given time.
However, note that the "Ideas" area of this community is the best place to report tool problems and improvement suggestions
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