Attaching Documents In Family Tree More Efficiently!

The Following blog post on Family Search by Robert Kehrer, explains some of the new features in Family Search Family Tree. Specifically it tell us about the drop down menu in the pedigree views and how to use the attach feature that has been improved to allow us to attach a document to several people in Family Tree whose names appear on the that document.  I am in the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City today.  First order of business has been to review the Family Search blog for updates.  This one came on a while back but is an important one.

July 14, 2014 By Robert Kehrer

Lots of new features have been added to Family Tree recently. Each one is helpful, but together they make family history easier than ever.
Tip: If you’re trying to involve others in the great adventure of getting to know their ancestors, teaching them to use Record Hints could be the way. Why not do it now?
Here’s an easy way to use the new Descendancy view, Record Hints, and Attach a Source features to simplify your efforts to connect with ancestors.

The Descendancy View Shows You Record Hints Icons

1. Go to the Descendancy view.

• On the pedigree, in the upper left corner, on the View button, click the down arrow.
• Click Descendancy. By default, you appear as the person in the main position.

2. Move an ancestor to the main position.

• Above your name, click the Expand link. More generations of ancestors appear.
• Click the Select button for the ancestor you want to put in the main position.
• To choose an ancestor even more generations back, repeat the process (click the Expand link, and click the Select button for the ancestor).

3.  Display all the descendants of the ancestor.

• Scroll down the page, clicking all of the arrows that point to the right (>).

This displays the person’s spouse and children and their Record Hints icons.
Record Hints Shows You Records for Your Ancestors

1. Scroll down the page again, and look for Record Hints icons.
2. To see the Record Hints for a person, click the Record Hints icon.
3. Review the records from the Record Hints list.

• To review one record at a time, click your ancestor’s name above the record.

•  To see information for all the records, click Show All at the bottom of the list of records. The system shows you Family Tree information for the person and information from the indexed records. If the information matches your ancestor, click the Review button for the record. After you select a record to view, FamilySearch.org displays the Family Tree record on the right and the information from the indexed record on the left.

The New Attach a Source Feature Adds Sources, Information, and New People to Your Family Tree

1. Compare the person’s Family Tree information with the information in the indexed record. If the indexed record has extra information that isn’t in Family Tree, you will see a +Add link after the information

2.  If the indexed record matches the person you are looking for, attach the record:

• To add the new information to Family Tree, click + Add.
• In Reason to Attach Source, add the reason you feel this is a record for the person in Family Tree.
• To add the source to your source box, click Add Source to Source Box. The system adds a check mark and adds the source to your source box.
• Click the Attach button. The system attaches the record to the person in the tree.

3.  If the indexed record does not match the person you were looking for, click the Not a Match button.
Once you attach the source to the original person you looked for, the Attach links for the other people in the indexed record are displayed.

• An Attach link means the system found a possible match in Family Tree.
• An Add link means the system didn’t find the person in Family Tree. (Click Add to add the person to Family Tree. See “Add a Person to Family Tree” below.)
• A Detach link means the record is already added as a source to the person in Family Tree.

1.  To attach the source to the person in Family Tree, click the Attach link.



If the indexed record has extra information that isn’t in Family Tree, you will see a + Add link after the information. The reason statement you already created appears in the reason box.
2.  To add the new information to Family Tree, click + Add.
3.  If you want, change the reason statement.
4.  To add the source to your source box, make sure there is a check mark by Add Source to Source Box.
5.  Click the Attach button.
6.  If there are more Attach links, click each link to add the source to those people in Family Tree.
Using the Source Feature to Add a New Person to Family Tree
When you review the possible matches, you may find a person with a + Add link.



In this example, the death record listed James Trussell as the father of Reuben W. Trussell. James Trussell was not in Family Tree.

1. To add a person to Family Tree, click the + Add icon. The system displays the information that will be added to Family Tree. You can add to or correct the information.

IMPORTANT: The system looks for possible duplicates before it lets you add a new person. If it finds a possible duplicate, it will present the duplicate for you to review before letting you create a new person.

2. Click Living or Deceased.

IMPORTANT: The system won’t let you add the person to Family Tree until you click Living or Deceased. If the person was born more than 110 years ago, you can click Deceased. If the person was born less than 110 years ago, unless you have a record or personal knowledge that the person is deceased, you must click Living.

3. Click Create New Person.

The person is added to your tree.

4. Add the reason you are attaching the source to the deceased person in Family Tree, indicate whether you want to add the source to your source box, and click Attach.