As you discover and connect your ancestors, you see that others can add to or modify information you contributed.
We believe that, as more people work in Family Tree, the tree grows. With growth, we hope it becomes more accurate. We created several tools to help our users work together.
When other users find sources and reason statements, they are less likely to replace good information with less accurate information.
Collaboration tools in Family Tree
- You can follow up to 4,000 tree records that interest you. To follow an ancestor, navigate to the person page. On the right of the name banner, click Following. To see your list and changes, click Family Tree and then Following.
- Latest Changes shows changes to a person's tree record. On a person page, scroll down until you see the Latest Changes panel on the right. Click Show All to see the full list.
- Sources help users trust the information they see. To see attached sources for a tree record, go to the ancestor’s Person page. Near the top of the screen, click Sources.
- A reason statement explains a change or contribution to an ancestor’s record. Add reason statements wherever you add information.
- The brief life history provides a quick summary of an ancestor's life. A life history can help others know if the person is their ancestor. Find the life history at the very bottom of the Details tab on a person page.
- From a person page, click Collaborate to use the discussion tool or note tool. Click + Add Discussion to start a conversation about a shared ancestor with everyone else who visits the ancestor's page. Or click + Add Notes to record insights, conclusions, or questions that do not seem to fit anywhere else.
- When creating notes, you can select the alert note check box. This marks a note as an alert note and will warn other users when they go to the person page to double-check the note and other sources before making any changes.
Work together on the tree
Other users sometimes allow us to publish their email address or other contact information. Use it to contact them directly. Or send a FamilySearch message to any FamilySearch user.
As you collaborate with other users in Family Tree, please be courteous and respectful.
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