Thursday, November 4, 2010

Create An Online Family Tree

Creating an online family tree is easy and so beneficial.  I use Ancestry.com (which I think is the most popular) but you can use any online site you wish.

Creating an online tree allows you to quickly organize your work.  Although, I do recommend that you keep some type of file on your computer as well.  Have you ever gone to a site that you had used before only to see "Page can't be found".  What a disaster that would be!  All your hard work gone!  Make sure you stay organized with the files on your computer.  Create folders to separate families and folders within that to organize the data you have compiled.  Anything that is related to your direct line, make sure that you download a copy to your computer.  Keep a tree on your computer as well.  You don't need any fancy programs to do this, word works great!  Learn how to use the numbered bullets so your tree will look something like this.
1. Patrick Mahoney
1.1 Thomas Mahoney
1.1.1 Lawrence Mahoney
This allows to reader to follow their line backwards.  Also, make sure you include information such as birth, death, marriage, interment, and any important info such as "fought in the civil war".

There are 2 important reasons to start an online family tree.  The 1st reason is:  Ancestry.com continuely uses the information that you supply and the information that you have found to search for possible matches.  The 2nd reason is:  Other researchers will know that you exist.  I have found several cousins this way.

DON'T WASTE ANY TIME!  START YOUR ONLINE TREE TODAY!

2 comments:

Gay said...

What a super tip. Love your blog. I am just getting started finding my mountain roots that lead to Monroe, (now WV) in 1799.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I find your post very informative. Thank you for making family trees intriguing and enjoyable to read for everyone.