Using the Family Tree Interface
This family tree file was created in 2005, so it needs some work. For our website, we are using PhpGedView that can be updated by anyone in the family. To get Help while using the program, click the icon on the top right. You can also find the Users Guide at: http://wiki.phpgedview.net/en/index.php?title=Users_Guide. Since nobody reads the instructions anymore, I will explain the basics here!
You can access the family tree at: www.ourherd.org/familytree/
If you do not login, you cannot see the records of anyone who is living! I have set up a general username: family and your password is what I sent in an email. (Hint: R--------). Click on the Lists Icon, then choose Individuals from the drop down menu. When you reach the record you are looking for, there will be a small window called Options for individual. From there you can print out or just look at all kinds of charts.
Photosgraphs. For 16 years, I have been collecting photographs of family members and searching for a way to make them available to the entire family. As of April 2011, only a few photos have been put on this family tree website as a trial. More will follow. A good example of what can be done is the record for Letha Weary. To see all the photos in an individual record, click the Media tab when looking at the record. To see all the photographs on the site, click the green icon at the top of the page called My GedView Portal, then Manage Multi Media. These photos are not in high enough resolution to make good print outs, so the entire project is being redone in higher resolution. Higher resolution photos for printing are available upon request from thecarolb@verizon.net.
Adding a Family Member is probably the most important question to deal with. Basically you click on the Close Relatives tab on the Individuals screen. Make your changes, additions, corrections, etc. They will not immediately show up on the tree until they are approved by me!! The program will generate an automatic email letting me know changes have been made. If you want more privileges, email me so I can authorize them. I have included an article from the wiki describing the process in more detail.
To add a new person, add a close relative to an existing person in the family tree. Generally one adds a spouse, father, mother, or child. A new person can be added in the Close Relatives tab on the Individuals screen, or from a Family screen by clicking to add a child, husband or wife. Adding a child, father, mother or spouse will create the new family if it did not exist already. This because the relationship has to be created when adding the new person and a relationship only exists within a family.
Adding a new spouse will create a new family with the two individuals as parents. A problem arises when trying to add a new sibling before the family exists. It takes a spousal or parent-child relationship to create the family. So even if nothing is known about either parent, one must create at least one parent first to add a sibling. In such cases, create the parent with "Unknown" as their first and last name as a place holder. Later on, the parent can be edited to correct information when known.
There is a distinction between adding someone NEW versus making a link to someone who already exists in the database. Most often you are adding new but occassionaly you may need to link to an existing person. The need arises when distant cousins marry or siblings in one family marry different siblings in another family.
See the main page on Editing People or Editing Families for specifics on each form to add a new or link to an existing Individual.
Rarely there is a need to add an unlinked person first, for example, if you are working on a separate branch that might eventually get connected. While possible, it is purposely inconvenient, requires Administrative privileges, and can only be done from inside the Administrator screen (see Add an unlinked person).
When you add a new Individual, you will have the chance to fill in a lot of information. Do not get too worried, just add what you know. You can always edit or add more information later.
To help with consistency and aid the user, some fields may be filled in for you. Like the last name of a child in a family, or the gender if you selected "Add a son", "Add a daughter" or the like. But you can change any of the information even if pre-filled in. You can also leave blank any information that is not known.
Generally, a person is minimally defined by their name. Often the gender and maybe one basic event of their life is known as well. The three basic events are:
Note that to add a marriage, you have to add a spouse. The marriage even is actually stored with the family and not the individuals.
Having finished one person, you can proceed to the next person in the family. However, it is likely that you have more Facts and Events on the life of the person, like place of residence, religion, education, etc. You can add this data now as well or come back and do it later.
A Family is created automatically when you add a spouse, parent or child. Just as with an individual, you can add facts, events, and multimedia to the family. Such information will be displayed in the Family screen and with each spouse. A key fact with any family is the Marriage. Another might be a census giving the family members, occupation, and residence. Note that you can add a Marriage when in the Individuals screen. But that fact is actually stored with the family. Something to keep in mind when wondering why your edit disappeared after saving (because it appears staged as an edit waiting for approval with the family and not the individual).