FamilySearch will soon release a feature called “hinting.” With this powerful tool, the site will automatically search for records that match people in your family tree. When you go to an ancestor’s page we will show you what we have found just for that person amongst our vast collections of records. That’s right—FamilySearch does the searching, and finding, for you!
The high quality matches the site finds will automatically be provided in the new Record Hints box added to the ancestor page in FamilySearch Family Tree. No more looking through hundreds of search results. The system does the heavy lifting for you!!! It really is that easy!
When launched, this new hinting feature will go through the vast FamilySearch database of records and find the records for you that hinting thinks might be about your specific ancestor. Just click and confirm the ones that are correct! We think you’ll be impressed.
The new hinting technology, along with other new quick attach features we’ve added (see the links at the end of this article), will give you the ability to quickly attach records to multiple ancestors at once, and will really make finding and adding ancestors to your tree a fantastic experience.
To take advantage of this powerful new feature when it is available, there are a few things you can do now to prepare to make this new hints feature really work:
- Register and login. Make sure that your username and password work.
- Check your data. The better your ancestors’ data is, the better we will be able to match records and provide you with good hints. Check names, dates, places, relationships, and so forth.
- Add any new data to your tree as you find it. The more data you have on your ancestors, the better will be the likelihood of a quality hint. So, if your tree looks a little bare, add what you know, and fill in as much as you can. It will definitely help.
These features combine to make family history so much easier. All you will have to do to use it is:
- Put what information you know about your ancestors into your family tree.
- Review the record hints we find for you.
- Click to attach the ones that are correct. (We think that most of them will be!)
If there are other people on the records, we will even help you find more about them. We’ll also help you find people on the records that are missing from your family tree. When you click to easily add these new people, voila!, you now have new sources added to your family tree!
In fact, look what users are saying who have seen a preview of our new search tools:
LOVE this new addition to searching, matching, and adding ancestors. Thank you, thank you!!!
-Torie G.
This is so unbelievably wonderful. I can't quit working on it. Amazing--so easy!
-Terry C.
Every time I use it, I like it more! It even thinks for me, and it lets me make changes as needed in the “reason” box. I'm excited to show (others) this new feature.
-Ginny B
I Love This Feature of adding sources SOOOOO Much!!!! I just attached a family of 9 children in just a few minutes. Thank you so much!!!
-Connie B.
This is a wonderful addition. Clean and extremely helpful. It will save a lot of time and keystrokes!
-Mike S.
Remember, hinting is matching. We will match data from your records with the FamilySearch database, but we do it with our powerful servers and state-of-the-art data algorithms. It could take years for you to do what we will do for you in a matter of a few minutes. So take the hint and get started now so that you can get the most from this new FamilySearch feature that will be coming in just a few weeks.
You may also want to check the following blog articles that explain some additional new tools that have recently been released that help support this great new feature:
- A New Way to Attach Sources to Family Tree: The New Source Feature—Part 1 of 2
- A New Way to Attach Sources to Family Tree: The New Source Feature—Part 2 of 2
- Two Great New Updates to the New Descendancy View
We hope you’ll be as excited about hinting as we are!
