Lesson 2 - Help
Thank you to Maynard Hammond who taught the class while I was out of town. Since we will be spending the first several weeks learning FamilySearch, he went over what is available on the Help Section.
Get Help is located on the right hand side of the screen, just about your name. The menu that opens shows several choices. On the left, the videos at the top are very helpful in getting started in FS. Below that is the Help Center. This is the place to go to get answers to your questions. Next down is the Learning Center. There are hundreds of videos about all sorts of things related to genealogy and research. The right side of the menu box allows you to ask questions directly to a person, via messaging, phone, or live chat.
Lesson 3 - Partners and Pedigree Charts
Partners - go in the Get Help section, click on Help Center, then scroll down to Partners. Open Our Partners. The partners listed offer a free account to those who have an LDS account. This was part of the agreement when FS agreed to share records with these pay sites. Click on the account you would like to join and follow the screen instructions. If you have problems, be sure to contact me.
We did not discuss the "Other Partners" on the list. This is the app gallery and you can explore that part on your own.
Pedigree Charts - From the home page, click on Family Tree on the menu at the top of the page.
The menu
just above the pedigree chart on the left has symbols for the various pedigree
views. When the symbol is clicked, the name of that view appears, as
well as the pedigree chart in that format.
Landscape View - This is the default view and is the most
useful when doing basic research. It shows you as the center person,
with ancestors to the right and descendants to the left. This view was
recently updated and now shows more information than before. Each
square on the chart is a family unit, with husband on the top and wife
on the bottom. All standard genealogy pedigree charts are in this
format. The male line above and the female line below.
Marriage information, portraits, ordinance information, hints and other
notices all show. In addition, a small arrow that points down by either
a husband or wife name indicates that there are additional spouses. To
see what the notice icons are, just click on them and a box will open
with information. If you do not want all this additional information to
show, click on the "Show" button on the top right and a list of items
that can be excluded will appear. The last item on the list is "Invert
colors" which allows you to have a dark background with white letters or
a light background with black letters. Choose the one that is easiest
for you to see.
An arrow at the end of any pedigree line indicates that there are more
generations. Click on the arrow to open the next screen. When you
reach the end of a line, the next generation family box will say Add
Husband and Add Wife. If you know the next generation, you can add from
here. Remember these are the parents of the last generation known, but
they are the husband and wife of the family unit. Don't let the
terminology confuse you.
Portrait View - This shows the chart in a vertical rather
than landscape style. It does not show all the information that is
shown on the landscape. Any pictures are larger and only birth and
death years are shown. It is a nice visual chart, but is not useful for
researching.
Fan Chart - This shows the chart in a fan view, which is
helpful for seeing four additional generations at one view. Any missing
pieces show up clearly. It is also a nice chart for printing out. In my personal opinion, these are the generations that should be researched first. This is a good view for seeing what is still missing.
Descendancy Chart - This chart shows the descendants of a person. This can be very helpful in finding names not completed for the temple.
Tree - Regardless of the view you choose, you will appear
as the root person, or the beginning person. To change the beginning
person, click on the name of the person you want. A small box will
open. At the bottom of the box, there are two choices: Tree and Person.
By clicking on Tree, you will move that person to the root position.
This is especially useful when working on the descendancy view.
Your assignment for this week is to play around with the pedigree charts so you become comfortable with working with them. Remember, the landscape view is the most useful when actually doing research.
I will be out of town next week, but Brother Hammond will be there.
Thanks.
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