How to use this site

There are a number of ways, but the search function provides the most straight forward method. The advanced search form allows you to enter information about the individual you are looking for and presents you with a list of possible matches from the databases. The search form can be access from just about every screen by either selecting "Search" from the main icon bar or selecting "Search People" from the "Find" drop down box. You might also want to try looking at the surnames in the database if you do not have a clear picture of who you are looking for.

Once you locate an individual, the easiest method is to click the Ancestors tab (blue arrow). This will show you this particular individual's paternal and maternal ancestors in a list format. The view the ancestors in a graphical format, select the "Standard" view (green arrow). Once you have the ancestor chart displayed, you can click the arrows located at the far right ancestor if you need to see additional ancestors (yellow arrow). Also, you can change the number of generations displayed on one page using the "Generations" drop down (red arrow). But be careful, too many generations can create a graph that is difficult to view on a computer monitor. There are a number of views to choose from ("Standard", "Compact", "Box", "Text", "Ahnentafel", "Media", "PDF" and "Map"). Hint: use the "Compact" view if you are wanting to view more than four generations.

You will find that each screen provides a wealth of information. In addition to simply getting a list of an individual's ancestors on the "Ancestors" tab, you can view information on one of those ancestors' family by hovering over the down arrow below their box.

An individual's descendants can be found the same way you found the person's ancestors. There is an additional tab on the individual's page that says "Descendants." Much like the "Ancestors" tab, this also has several views. The default view is the "Text" view. The additional views are "Standard", "Compact", "Register" and "PDF". The Standard view behaves very similar to the "Standard" view on the "Ancestors" tab. Another added feature of the "Text" and "Register" views is the ability to track the descendancy from the main individual to a specific descendant. If you click the chart icon (blue circle), it will generate the descendancy chart.

Yes, the "Relationship" tab will show a graphic display of all people between two relatives. To use this function, locate the first individual and then press the "Relationship" tab. Then, use the find button to locate the second person to be displayed. Once you have two people selected, click the calculate button to display their relationship.

The "Suggest" tab allows you to send corrections, updates, comments or any other information to the administrator. Information on which individual you are referencing is automatically attached to the message when you make a suggestion using the "Suggest" tab. If you plan on making a lot of suggestions, you are encouraged to use the guest login. You can log in to the site using "guest" as both the user name and password and you will be given more options for suggestions. After logging in, you will notice a little paper and pencil icon next to various events. Clicking these will open a more robust suggestion box for that specific event.

Yes, there are a couple ways. One way is to click the "Print" link from the main icon bar. This will give an HTML formatted website similar to what you regularly see minus the various headers and footers. It also has a "Print" link in the top right hand corner that will send the page to your local printer. Alternatively, there is a "PDF" link below the tabs. Clicking this link will pop open another box that allows minimal customization. No additional changes need to be made. Clicking "Create Chart" will create a PDF document that contains the information on the screen.
Both the "Print" link and the "PDF" link are available on multiple screens. The "PDF" link contains different options depending on what screen you are trying to print, however accepting the defaults will usually give you what you are expecting.

These let you access additional information that is contained in the database. You can hover your mouse over each to see the types of detailed information that is available on the site. There are many powerful features in these drop downs which are accessible from any page on the site. For instance, from the "Find" drop down, you can select "Places" and see every place that is mentioned in website. Or, select "Dates" to search the entire database for events that occurred on a particular date. Or, select "Cemeteries" to view cemeteries that are set up in the system, many of which contain headstones for individuals in the database. The "Media" drop down contains all the pictures, documents and headstones that are available in the database. The "Info" drop down provides a lot of information about the database such as recent changes, some rather elusive people, various reports, site statistics, and more.

Bookmarks on the site function very similarly to the bookmarks on your internet browser. For instance, if you frequently check the list of people with the "Smith" surname, you can click the "Add Bookmark" link from the main icon bar on that page. That will add a bookmark to this page to your profile. You can access your bookmarks at any time by selecting the "Bookmarks" link from the "Find" drop down box. Please note that due to the method in which these bookmarks are stored, they can only be accessed using the same browser on the same computer. This means, bookmarks made while on your home computer cannot be accessed from your work computer.