How It Works

1 · Give the search a purpose

Start with one question you can investigate

A name on its own can lead in many directions. Begin with a person, place, event, or relationship you want to understand. Write down what you already know, what supplied that information, and the detail that remains uncertain.

2 · Make the trail useful to someone else

Keep the record and your interpretation distinct

When a record helps, note its title or collection, where it can be found, the person or event it concerns, and the page, image, entry, or other locator. Record what the item actually says before explaining what you think it means.

If dates, names, or places disagree, retain both accounts and the source for each. An unresolved question is useful information. It should remain visible instead of being hidden by a more confident-looking tree.

The Forms Library offers charts and worksheets for organizing a task. Choose a form that fits the work—such as a research log, source worksheet, or family chart—and check its preview and available actions before beginning a private copy.

Read the research standards for more detail about sources, analysis, and explaining conclusions.

3 · Know which workspace you are using

A private working branch is separate from shared research

Sign in to the Member Hub to see the tools available to your account. My Tree home is the starting point for your own saved branch. Basic private-tree tools cover people, recorded facts, family connections, tree-view settings, and change history. Adding source documents, citations, or research notes requires additional private software access.

Private work does not automatically become part of the public Master Tree. Reading a public profile also does not make its relationships part of your own branch. Keep the source trail and review the proposed connection before making a change.

If a tool is unavailable or paused, use the page’s explanation and return to your saved workspace or the public resources. An unavailable tool is not confirmation that a saved record has been deleted.

4 · Share a clear, supported piece of work

Choose an audience and review what it will receive

Before using a sharing action, check the audience, the selected material, and whether living people or private documents are involved. Where these actions are available to your account, a private draft, a member-visible Page or post, and a proposed contribution serve different purposes; preparing one does not authorize every other use.

Explain the question, the evidence you used, and the uncertainty that remains. When asking for a correction or review, identify the particular statement or relationship and the source that supports your request. Avoid changing a connection merely to make a chart look complete.

Contribution submission remains in development. This guide does not mean that a proposed change can currently be submitted to the Master Tree.

Use Privacy & Sharing for your account’s available controls. The Master Tree and published collections are places to explore documented research; they are not a promise that a particular proposed connection has been accepted.