"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
Getting
around in FamilySearch Family Tree is fairly straightforward. But as
with any web application or computer program, there are additional
ways to navigate that may not be obvious. Here are a few tips that
will give you added flexibility and may even save you time.
Tip
#1: Whenever you click a person’s link, you get a summary
card like the one below that displays a quick overview of the
person’s vital information:
You
may already know that clicking Tree puts the person in home
position in Tree view, and clicking Person takes you to the
individual’s Person page. But did you know that clicking the
person’s name also takes you to the Person page? You can also
click Sources or Discussions to go to the Person page. Clicking
Memories takes you to the Memories tab on the Person page.
Tip
#2: Family Tree keeps two separate histories of persons you’ve
viewed — one for Tree view and one for Person view. These
histories are available on the navigation bar at the top of each
page.
Click
the Person button to go to the last Person page viewed, or click the
Tree button to go to the last Tree view.
Click
the down arrow next to Tree or Person to see a list of your most
recently viewed people, then click a name to go to that person in
Tree or Person view respectively (the example below shows the Person
history).
Tip
#3: The URL of the person you’re viewing always includes
the Person ID. You can change the person ID right in the URL and then
press Enter to go directly to the new person.
Tip
#4: The Tree page is draggable, just like Google Maps. To
reposition the page, just click, hold, and drag.
Tip
#5: On the Person page, the section names under the tabs are
clickable. For instance, to jump directly to the Family section,
click Family.
Tip #6: On the
Person page, it’s sometimes easy to confuse the Tree and View
Tree options.
Here’s how they’re different:
Clicking Tree takes you to the last viewed tree.
Clicking View Tree under the person’s name takes you to Tree view and puts the person in home position.
Enjoy
using these tips as you navigate in Family Tree.
Kathryn Grant is a user assistance professional with a passion
for usability and process
improvement. She also loves family history and enjoys the challenge and
reward of building her family tree.
As a child, she lived outside the United States for four years because of her father's job. This experience fueled her natural love of words and language, and also taught her to appreciate other cultures.
Kathryn values gratitude, teaching, learning, differences, and unity. She loves looking at star-filled skies, reading mind-stretching books, listening to contemporary Christian music, attending the temple, and eating fresh raspberries.
Kathryn teaches Sunday family history classes at the BYU Family History Library, and presents frequently at family history events. For more information, visit her Family History Learning Resources page