Help:Family pages tutorial

Below are three lessons that teach nearly everything you need to know about creating family pages on WeRelate, such as Family:Daniel Phillips and Ella Grey (1). These pages can also be automatically created by GEDCOM upload. For this tutorial, you will need the names of a father and mother and two children, a marriage date, a source for your information, and an already uploaded image. If you need help uploading an image, see the Uploading images tutorial. Each lesson builds on the one before, so you will need to finish this tutorial in one sitting.

You may want to open a new browser window or tab, allowing you to both complete and consult this tutorial at the same time. Alternatively, you could print this tutorial page for your convenience as you work through the lessons.

Lesson One: Creating a family page

1. You can automatically create family pages for all your known ancestors by uploading a GEDCOM file. If you want to upload a GEDCOM file, click here.
2. If you have already entered the family's name into a person page, you can simply click on that family's link on the person page (then click Edit in the left sidebar and proceed to Lesson 2).
3. Or click Add in the upper left menu bar and select family from the drop-down menu. You will be taken to the Add Page Family screen.
   • Enter the first given name and surname of the husband and the given name and maiden name of the wife of the family you want to create. It is okay to leave fields blank if you do not know them. Do not enter other information such as middle names, nicknames, or titles. For example, if the husband's name was Robert Harold Townsend III and the wife's name was Lady Sarah Bradley, you would enter "Robert" and "Townsend" as the given and surname of the husband, and "Sarah" and "Bradley" as the given and surname of the wife. There will be an opportunity to enter additional information later.
   • Click on the Add page button. You will be taken to a page where you can include whatever information you have about this family. Lesson Two will explain this process in more detail.
4. You can also create family pages by clicking on the "Add Spouse and Children" or "Add Parents and Siblings" links on the right side of any person page.

Lesson Two: Entering names

Objective: This lesson will teach you how to enter the names of spouses and children for a family.

1. On the Family page edit screen, the names of the husband and wife should appear in the appropriate boxes. This assumes that you wish to create new person pages for both. If that is the case, leave the names as they are and skip down to step 2. If you have already created person pages for one or both of them, you need to reference the page(s) by including his/her person index number. This will create a link on the family page to the relevant person pages. You can include the index number in one of two ways:
   • If you know the index number, the easiest thing to do is simply type it in after the name. Remember to include a space after the name, before the index number, and to enclose the index number in parentheses (e.g. "Hawkins James (1)" or "Sarah Bradley (3)").
   • If you are unsure of the index number, you can select the correct page from your watchlist. To do this, delete the person's auto-filled name from the field, and click on "Select existing person page". In the text box that appears, type the beginning of the person's name (usually the first, or given name is enough). A list of person pages in your watchlist with titles beginning in that way will appear. Select the correct page from the list and continue to step 2.
2. Scroll down to the Child heading. There are two ways to add links to person pages for children of the family:
   • If a person page has already been created for the child, click on "Select existing person page". Then, if you know the exact tile of the page, including the person index number, just type in the exact title (e.g. "Hawkins James (1)" or "Sarah Bradley (3)"). If you are unsure of the exact title, and you are watching the child's page, type in the beginning of the page title (the child's first, or given name is usually enough). A list of all pages in your watchlist that begin with that name will appear. Select the correct page from the list.
   • If a person page has not been created for the child, click on "Add new person page". Enter the given and surname of the child. Click "OK".
3. If you wish to enter additional names of children, repeat the same process. Additional boxes will appear under "Child's Name". Enter the information as you did before, for as many children as you wish. It is a good idea to begin with the oldest child and move progressively to the youngest.
4. After you save the page, links will appear on the family page to the person pages of the relevant individuals. Click on those links, then click Edit in the left sidebar to add information to those pages. See the person pages tutorial.

Lesson Three: Entering marriage data

Objective This lesson will teach you how to enter basic marriage data and documentation.

1. Under the Events and facts heading, there should be a row of edit boxes for entering marriage information. Click inside the Date box and type the marriage date in the day-month-year format (e.g. 21 Feb 1931).
2. Click in the Place box. Type the name of the town, city, county or district, followed by a comma. A drop down list of all the places in the world with that name will appear. Use the down arrow to scroll through the place list. When you have found the correct place, click on it. For example, if Hawkins and Sarah were married in Columbia, Pennsylvania, I would enter "Columbia, " and the system would give me a drop down list of all the Columbias in the world. I will be able to see if there is more than one Columbia in Pennsylvania and easily choose the proper place.
   • This will create an automatic link to the place page. Place pages contain information concerning a place, and may include research tips and links to family and historical societies.
   • This will also geocode your event so it can be easily displayed on a map.
   • If your place is not listed, try a different spelling. If you can't find it in the list of places, just type it in. This will create a red link on the family page that you can click on to create the necessary place page. See Help:Place pages.
3. Click on Add event/fact. A new row of edit boxes will appear. Click on the Type of event menu at the beginning of the row. You will see a list of a dozen different types of marriage events and facts. If you have information concerning their engagement, divorce, etc., select the appropriate "type of event" and enter your information in the appropriate boxes.
   • You may add numerous entries and alternate opinions for the same type of marriage fact or event. So, if your cousin has a conflicting opinion, she can click on the edit the information and add her information under yours. This allows you to work on the same family, without having to fight over dates and places.
4. To include additional information concerning the event, click on the plus sign (+) to the left of the Note ID(s) box. You will be taken to the note list. See Notes. Here you can discuss your reasons for using one of a number of possible dates or places. Others can include notes explaining their differing opinions.
5. Click on the plus sign (+) next to the Source ID(s) box. This will take you to the source list. There are three types of sources: Sources, MySources, and "Title only" sources. See the section on sources in the person page tutorial for more information.
6. Click on the plus sign (+) next to the Image ID(s) box. This will take you to the image list. Enter the exact filename of your image. Enter a caption. Check the Primary box if you want this image displayed at the top of the family page. See, Wayne Phillips and Willie Haynie. For instructions on uploading images see Uploading Images.
   • You may also label the people and places in these images. You can learn how to annotate your images in the annotation tutorial. When you drag your cursor over an annotated image, the person's name and some information is displayed. See this sample annotated family picture and this sample annotated document image.
7. Click "Save" at the bottom of the page.

Where do I go from here?

• More tutorials
• Help index
• Tips for using WeRelate
• More help with family pages
• WeRelate home