GEDCOM is an acronym that stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunication. Technically, GEDCOM is a systematic format for transferring genealogical information between different computer programs. In other words, GEDCOM is intended to be a standard "language" that allows you to move your genealogical data from one computer program to another. Almost every genealogical computer program is equipped to import and export GEDCOM files. Colloquially, we refer to a file containing genealogical information written in the GEDCOM format as a "GEDCOM". See Wikipedia:Gedcom.
If you have ever used another genealogy application to record information about your family tree, uploading a GEDCOM file is the easiest way to transfer that information to WeRelate. To do this, you must first export a GEDCOM file from your genealogy application, which you can then import to WeRelate.
Every genealogy application has a way of creating a GEDCOM file. Launch your genealogy application and in the File menu, look for a menu item like Export or Export File. Save the file with a name and in a directory that you'll be able to find again, since you'll be asked to enter it again when you upload the file to WeRelate.
Click on the links below for instructions for specific genealogy applications:
Click on the Add tab at the top of the page, then on the Import GEDCOM link. Click on the Browse button to select the GEDCOM file that you just exported, select a tree to import it into, and click on the Import GEDCOM button.
First, we recommend that you filter out living people from your GEDCOM before uploading it to WeRelate. When we find living people in a GEDCOM file, we assign them a given name of "Living" and discard all information about them except surname, gender, and the families to which they belong. A person is assumed to be living if they have a birth or christening date less than 110 years ago and nothing in the death or burial date or place fields. If there is something (anything) in the death or burial date or place, then the person is assumed to be dead. If one of the spouses of a family is living, then the family events (e.g., marriage) are omitted from the family page. In an effort to avoid creating useless pages, pages are not generally created for people who belong only to families where all of the family members are living.
I uploaded my GEDCOM, but a distant cousin appears in the Family Tree Explorer window. Where is the rest of my family tree?
Your desktop genealogy application (PAF, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, etc.) does not designate a root person when you export a GEDCOM. We assume that the first person in your GEDCOM file is the root of the tree. This assumption is correct most of the time, but sometimes it's not. If we made the wrong person the root of the tree in the Family Tree Explorer, you'll need to click on the Index button about two inches below the top of the Family Tree Explorer window. It is second from the right, the one with the black parallel lines next to the three family tree buttons. Click the person you want to be the root person, then click on the bullseye button. (The bullseye button is the one with a green dot and a green circle over a pedigree icon, farthest left under the file menu item in the Family Tree Explorer window.) This makes the selected person the new root of your tree.
When I upload a GEDCOM, why is some of my information not in the fields I expect?
In rare circumstances, information in a GEDCOM file does not fit into the structured fields in WeRelate. In this case it is included in a descriptive note about the person or event. All included information is preserved when importing a GEDCOM to WeRelate.
When I upload a GEDCOM, what happens to my images?
Images aren't included in GEDCOM files. You'll need to upload the images manually. WeRelate will eventually develop a way to make it easier to upload some or all of the images referenced in your GEDCOM file. Remember to obey all copyright laws and never post any copyrighted image on WeRelate. Click here for more copyright information.
Can I update my tree by re-uploading an updated GEDCOM?
In the future, a "merge" function will be available that will make this kind of update more feasible. In the meantime, if you want to re-upload your GEDCOM, you'll need to first delete your current tree (see Help:Family Tree Explorer). Then create a new tree and import your GEDCOM file into it. Note that using this approach, pages in your tree that others have started watching will not be deleted and will need to be merged with your newly-created pages later. We expect to have this issue resolved by the end of this year.
