BTLGenAbt.
Historical terms
About: an approximate date or value.
Keep the qualification; do not invent an exact date.
Find your way. Keep your source trail.
Help Using BTLGen
Start with the task you want to complete. Public reading resources, private Member workspaces, and owner-tested software have different purposes and access requirements.
Choose the route that fits your question
A name or a particular subject
Begin with Search BTLGen. Try the person’s name and then a place or subject associated with the question. Open a result to check its context and sources; a search result alone does not confirm an identity or relationship.
A place to look for records
Use Research Resources and the genealogy website directory. An external resource may require its own account or payment. BTLGen membership does not grant access to another organization’s collections.
A plan for an unanswered question
The Research Navigator helps you describe the problem and choose possible research paths. Include known names, approximate dates, places, and what you have already searched.
Keep your working material organized
The Forms Library contains chart and worksheet previews. Read a form’s description and inspect the available fields before choosing it. Member-only actions require a signed-in account with access to that tool.
Open the Member Hub for your account’s saved material. Use the workspace’s own save action where one is offered, wait for its result, and check that you can reopen the saved item. A preview, an open editor, or a completed text field should not be treated as a saved submission.
For your own branch, begin at My Tree home. Private tree work and public research pages are separate. GEDCOM software is currently in private owner testing, so a public research account does not automatically include access to it.
Understand the labels you encounter
- Person profile
- A page that brings together information about a person. Read its facts, source references, research notes, and disputed points together.
- Source and citation
- The material behind a statement and the reference that helps another researcher find it. Keep the collection or title, repository or website, and a useful page, image, or entry locator.
- Research note or log
- A record of a question, a search, an observation, or a next step. State what was searched and what was found, including an unsuccessful search.
- Private draft or working branch
- Material kept in your own workspace. It does not become a public contribution simply because you entered it or viewed a matching public profile.
- Shared audience
- The people permitted to see a particular shared item. Check the audience and selected material before confirming a share; another item may have different settings.
- Unresolved or disputed
- A point that still needs explanation or evidence. Preserve the uncertainty and the competing sources rather than presenting a preferred answer as settled.
Read the full research standards for a more detailed guide to evaluating and explaining evidence.
Common questions
Why am I being asked to sign in?
You may have followed a link to private saved material or a Member-only action. Sign in with the account that owns the work. Public resources and private workspaces have different access rules, and signing in does not grant access to another member’s private records.
Why does a page say a tool is unavailable?
The tool may require a particular account, a private testing grant, or an enabled feature. Read the page’s message and use its return or retry action. Do not keep resubmitting a form that has already reported success.
What should I do after a save or upload error?
Keep your original file and a copy of the text you entered. Note whether the page reported success, a conflict, or an error. Follow the displayed retry instructions and reopen the item to check its state before starting the same action again.
Can I copy a public relationship into my own tree?
Review the evidence first. Compare the person’s dates, places, relatives, and cited records. A shared name or a possible match is a research lead. Public reading does not authorize an automatic change to your private branch.
Where do I change sharing or account preferences?
Use Privacy & Sharing for available audience controls and Account Settings for your account’s preferences. Check which account is signed in before changing a setting.
Send a useful help request
Use Contact BTLGen for a site problem. Include the page address, the action you tried, the message shown, and whether you were using a phone or computer. Explain whether it happened before or after the page reported a save.
Do not send passwords, recovery codes, or private records through a general help message. For help with the research itself, read Research Services and prepare a focused question with references to the material you already have.
Genealogy & historical glossary
Search the built-in public definitions. Additional Member glossary terms are available in authenticated Member Help. Reading this glossary does not change any family records.
Showing 34 of 34 terms.
Aft.
Historical terms
After a stated date.
Preserve the qualification in research and exports.
Bef.
Historical terms
Before a stated date.
The qualification is part of the evidence.
Bondsman
Legal records
A person providing financial assurance for a legal obligation.
The role reveals an association, not necessarily kinship.
Brick wall
Research
A question that has resisted the searches tried so far.
Record what is known, failed searches, alternatives and next steps.
Census
Historical records
An official count of people, often recording households.
A shared household alone does not establish every relationship.
Citation
Evidence
Details identifying exactly where information came from.
A citation belongs to a particular claim; a source linked elsewhere does not prove every fact.
Collateral relative
Relationships
A relative outside the direct ancestor-descendant line, such as a sibling or cousin.
Their records can help establish identity and movement.
Conflict
Evidence
Claims or evidence disagree and require comparison.
BTLGen does not silently pick a winner.
Deed
Historical records
A document transferring an interest in property.
Consider the parties, witnesses, dates and legal description together.
Direct evidence
Evidence
Information directly answering the particular research question.
Direct does not automatically mean reliable or conclusive.
Executor
Legal records
Someone responsible for carrying out a will.
Selection as executor does not alone prove kinship.
FAN
Research
Friends, Associates and Neighbors whose records may help answer a research question.
Witnesses and neighbors are not automatically relatives.
Gateway ancestor
Lineages
An ancestor connecting a documented lineage to an established earlier lineage.
A published list is a research lead; prove each generation.
GEDCOM
Tree files
A file for transferring genealogy information between programs.
Preserve the exact original before interpreting or exporting it.
Godparent
Church records
A sponsor named in a baptism or similar ceremony.
Investigate the connection; do not presume a family relationship.
Guardianship
Legal records
A legal arrangement for someone to act for a minor or protected person.
A guardian is not automatically the biological parent.
Hypothesis
Research
A proposed explanation or connection being tested.
Keep it separate from the established tree.
Indirect evidence
Evidence
Information requiring reasoning or combination to answer the question.
Explain your reasoning rather than attributing an inferred answer to the record.
Informant
Evidence
The person supplying information for a record.
Consider whether they could know it firsthand.
Interment
Cemetery records
The placement of remains in a burial location.
Distinguish death, burial and a later memorial.
Intestate
Legal records
Dying without a valid will.
Estate administration can still produce detailed records.
Jurisdiction
Places
The authority or area responsible for governing and keeping records.
Boundaries and responsibilities may change over time.
Members Only
Privacy
Deliberately shared material available to signed-in BTLGen members.
It is not Public and is not publicly indexed.
Metes and bounds
Land records
A property description using directions, distances and landmarks.
Modern boundaries may differ from the historical description.
Negative search
Research
A documented search that did not find the sought information.
It does not alone prove a person or event never existed.
Pedigree collapse
Relationships
One real ancestor appears through multiple ancestral paths.
Do not create duplicate identities simply to draw each path.
Primary information
Evidence
Information from someone with firsthand knowledge of an event.
It can still be mistaken; evaluate context and conflicts.
Private
Privacy
Your tree and protected research are not public or automatically contributed.
Living people and protected notes remain private even when selected deceased summaries are shared.
Probate
Historical records
The legal process concerning a deceased person’s estate.
Wills, inventories, guardianships and distributions provide different evidence.
Repository
Records
An institution or location holding records.
Record collection and catalog details so you can repeat the search.
Secondary information
Evidence
Information supplied without firsthand knowledge of the event.
It may be useful but needs careful evaluation.
Source
Evidence
The record, document, publication, image or person supplying information.
Distinguish original records, derivatives, indexes and research leads.
Yeoman
Historical occupations
A historical term often describing a farmer or landholder.
Meaning depends on place and period; do not infer a universal social rank.
