Helping Others With Family Tree Without FamilySearch.org Account
I am helping someone in my ward build their family tree. They are older and don't have any access to technology during this pandemic to create a FamilySearch.org account, so that rules out using helper / planner access I think. Is there a way that I can still work on their family tree in FamilySearch.org? Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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@Nick N Thank you so much for being willing to help even in challenging times.
If they provide you with their deceased ancestors you can look them up using the FIND feature in FamilySearch. Then search sources that might be a match and print them. Provide them to your ward member and the two of you can work together to see if they are a match.
Please feel invited to let FSC know how it worked for you. Your input helps others to grow also.😊
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Hey @ShellyR Leavitt1 , thanks for the prompt response and for the encouragement, just trying to help!
I have all of the information to look up their ancestors, and I know how to search records. The issue that I am having is attaching those records to a family tree other than my own.
Just to confirm, they need to have an account on FamilySearch.org in order for me to attach it to their tree, right? There is no other way to "assist" them digitally with their tree? I was wondering if there is a way to create a family tree not associated with another user, just floating around FamilySearch.org.
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@Nick N I suspect you've probably thought of this, but since it isn't stated I'll mention it just in case. If they do not already have copies of those long-forgotten, antique ( 😁 ) pieces of paper called family group sheets and pedigree charts, preferably with the ordinance information on them also since they are members of the Church, get them a small supply and suggest that they fill them out as completely as they can. Then of course you can use the solution mentioned by @ShellyR Leavitt1 of starting with their closest deceased ancestors and beginning to enter them. That way, they'll have a nice, well organized set of paper records to which they can refer once they're able to get to a FHC or other electronic devices to begin working in Family Tree.
I mention the paper records only because I can't remember the last time I heard anyone even refer to family group sheets or pedigree charts, so I wonder if people have forgotten about them. Not too many years ago they were the only way people had of keeping track of genealogical data. You could then retrieve what they fill out, get copies made of them, and then return the originals to them for their records, with both of you filling in what you find on FamilySearch while working with them by phone, and then from time to time perhaps print out family group sheets and a pedigree chart from FamilySearch itself, and give them the printouts. It's always nice to have a hard copy backup of everything anyway, so it wouldn't be a wasted effort for them as they are waiting out the time until the pandemic is over and we can get back to some sort of whatever "normal" will be thereafter.
--Chris
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Thanks @Chris Schmink for the suggestions! I think I will try that. If not, I might try to make some isolated trees attached to a starter person. I appreciate the feedback everyone!
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Hi, It is all one tree, we are all connected at some point. You can start by adding an unrelated person, their ancestor, and build from there, at some point it will connect with the main tree that we are all a part of. The "add an unconnected person" is on your recents tab
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@Nick N I know this is a bit long, but hopefully it covers each of your questions in a start-to-finish manner and relates a couple of different concepts together so you have a better "whole" picture. Just make sure that you understand that when you log into FamilySearch, the FamilySearch computer system is simply blanking out everybody in the gigantic tree that is NOT related to you, and only shows you the part of that one gigantic tree that is connected to you. You began that process when you first logged into FamilySearch to create your own account and entered yourself, and then more connected family members that you either found already in FamilySearch or else added yourself. But when working on behalf of your friends, you'll log into your account as usual but then just "Find" the ID number associated with whoever is the starting person in their portion of the tree (one of their deceased relatives that you either find already in FamilySearch, or create yourself as an "Unconnected Person" (covered in the instructions below). Then you just work on their family lines like you do with your own from that point. Remember, each of us has a personal FamilySearch account, but we're all logging into the same gigantic "everybody's" family tree for the whole world. We merely see our own parts EXCEPT when we look for a person not connected to our own family (again - that's covered below when you "Find by ID").
Since there is really just one single tree that everyone contributes to, your difficulty isn't entirely what you think it is, and it's not as complicated as you might think once you understand some FamilySearch concepts. And the other people you're helping aren't required to have a FamilySearch account of their own at all, in order for you to help them. The main drawback to that is if they want to use FamilySearch for the completion of ordinances. Since you said they're in your ward, I'm guessing they're probably Church members. HOWEVER - even with that, there's no current problem. As long as the temples are closed for general use, then no ordinances are being done anyway, but can be added into FamilySearch as the temples start opening back up for general use. At that time, your friends can establish their own FamilySearch account(s), and then either do the ordinances themselves, or they can give their family file cards to you or someone else to do for them (that would be their choice if they print out the cards for themselves, of course).
As for attaching ancestors to "their" tree vs. "your" tree, that is really just an illusion. When you log into FamilySearch, what you see is yourself in the primary spot on the tree giant tree itself (the "everyone's tree"), and then all of your relatives branching from there. The FamilySearch computer system knows who you are because you created your account and entered yourself as "Person #1" so to speak at the time you created your account. Your children, parents, siblings, etc., were then added to "your" tree after that.
The "problem" that comes up is that neither you nor the people you're helping are able to be seen on FamilySearch by anyone other than the person who originally entered them - because each of you is a living person (a privacy feature of FamilySearch, of course). So when you log in, you can see your siblings, parents, etc., even if they're still living - because you are the one that entered each of them (as well as yourself). And as you assist your friends, you may also be entering some living people that connect to the tree. But you will be the only person able to see them in FamilySearch because you're the one that entered them.
As if to complicate things (and it's not really complicated at all once you understand it), if you add your parents when logged into FamilySearch in your own account, and separately one of your siblings ALSO enters your parents as their own, while logged into their account, they will be reserved in a private space just like your entry for your parents is privately reserved. You will have different Person ID's for your parents than your sibling will, because those same two parents are entered in each of your respective private spaces in the FamilySearch computer for your own individual accounts. After your parents' deaths, and once they're marked "Deceased" instead of "Living" in FamilySearch, you can then get together as a family and decide which of the multiple entries for your parents will be the one remaining version of your parents, and the others can then be merged into that one. Then, just like all other deceased ancestors, they'll finally be visible on FamilySearch to anyone looking for them. To avoid problems later when they are deceased, you MAY want to just not add any living persons - let your friends do that once he/she/they get on line for themselves. Again, that discussion would be too much for this time/space.
So circling back to the people you're helping, you just as @MorkKarla#1 has said - find the most recent deceased ancestors for the people you're helping, and work back from there. Alternatively, you COULD start with the actual people you're helping even though they're living (see instructions below for adding an "Unconnected Person"), but I don't recommend it - it can be done, but it gets a more complicated than is worth spending time and space here. So begin with your friend(s)' closest deceased relatives and work back (parents if they're deceased, and therefore possibly already in FamilySearch). Just because they're not related to you, doesn't mean you can't do virtually everying you'd otherwise do with those names than what you could do for your own relatives - deceased or living.
Finally, as @MorkKarla#1 also said, if you can't find your friend's most recent deceased ancestors (parents or grandparents most likely) after searching for them in FamilySearch, look at the menu bar just above your Tree, and click "Recents." At the bottom of the resulting drop-down menu will be "Add Unconnected Person." That simply allows you to enter a person onto the tree even though YOU are not related to that person - assuming they're not connected to someone already in FamilySearch (such as your friend(s)' parents, etc.).
Now keep track of that starting person's Person ID number (the 7-number/character ID associated with each person in FamilySearch). Then all you need to do next time you log in to work with that family is to use the "Find" menu right next to "Recents" on the menu bar, and select "Search by ID" rather than "Find by Name." That will take you right to the starting point for the other person's tree that you're helping to create, almost as if you'd logged into their account.
Feel free to ask questions - that's a lot of new information I suspect, and it may seem a bit confusing at first. But once you've done it just a few times, it will become second nature to you.
--Chris
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Thanks @MorkKarla#1 and @Chris Schmink, excellent insights and suggestions!
Thank you so much for taking the time to so thoroughly explain the system to me and help!!! This helps a ton
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