Posts
This blog post is basically a transcription of my online class for Sunday, 30 August 2026 from the BYU Library Family History Center. The narrative audio transcription has been edited by Google Gemini. The video recording of the class will be available on the BYU Library Family History Center YouTube Channel.
A major structural shift is taking place at FamilySearch.org and while it has been quietly in development for several years, its full implementation fundamentally changes how individual researchers and genealogical societies can manage their lineage data. For years, the centerpiece of the platform has been the shared FamilySearch Family Tree; single, massive, collaborative universal tree. The collaborative model has clear strengths, but every seasoned researcher knows the immense frustration of returning to a painstakingly documented ancestral line only to find that an inexperienced user has merged individuals incorrectly, altered vital conclusions, or stripped away hard-earned documentation. While safeguards continue to improve on the shared tree, FamilySearch has now rolled out a long-awaited alternative: User-Owned Trees.
The Evolution from CET to User Trees
During its testing and beta phases over the past four to five years, this initiative was developed under the working title of "Controlled Edit Trees," or CET. If you search online discussions or older forums, you will still see the CET acronym used frequently. However, the official designation adopted by FamilySearch is simply User Trees. The defining principle behind a User Tree is ownership and control. Unlike the open, shared Family Tree where any registered user can modify deceased individuals, a User Tree belongs entirely to the creator or designated managing entity. You decide who has permission to view, edit, or contribute. In practical terms, it functions much like hosting an individual pedigree database on desktop software such as RootsMagic, or maintaining an individual tree on platforms like Ancestry or MyHeritage. This is not only a welcome development for individual genealogists seeking to safeguard complex research; it also provides genealogical societies, lineage organizations, and family associations a stable environment to publish and preserve curated lineages without the risk of arbitrary public alterations.
Beyond the Static Files of the Past
Having multiple trees hosted on FamilySearch is not a new concept. Long before the universal Family Tree, the platform hosted millions of records across static compilations accessible under the FamilySearch Genealogies Collections such as the Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File (PRF) served as digital repositories for decades. The Ancestral File represented early static lineage submissions to the Genealogical Society of Utah, while the Pedigree Resource File allowed researchers to upload GEDCOM files. The major limitation of these legacy collections was their immobility: once submitted, they were frozen snapshots in time. Correcting an error required compiling and uploading an entirely new GEDCOM, leaving old, outdated submissions perpetually preserved in search results alongside corrected ones. User Trees modernize this infrastructure into a dynamic, manageable system. Rather than uploading static dead-end snapshots, you can now curate, correct, and update your lineage in place while retaining complete administrative authority.
Integration with Full-Text Search and Modern Discovery
This shift coincides with a much broader transformation of FamilySearch's underlying search engine. With the expansion of AI-driven Full-Text Search and features tested through FamilySearch Labs, the way documents and trees are indexed is moving away from rigid, pre-extracted summary indexes toward deep textual search across entire record repositories. Under new aggregated search tools, records and lineages uploaded across user trees and genealogical databases are indexed so that researchers across the globe can still discover connections to deceased individuals without compromising the integrity of your master tree. Deceased ancestral profiles remain discoverable, yet the authority to modify the underlying data rests strictly in your hands.
Accessing and Managing Your User Tree
Because FamilySearch has designed this feature to coexist alongside the shared tree rather than replace it, you will not find a prominent banner on the main landing page. Accessing the interface requires navigating through the search hierarchy:
1. Log in to FamilySearch.og and select the Search menu from the top navigation bar.
2. Click on Genealogies.
3. On the Genealogies landing page, scroll past the search fields down into the lower section of the page, where you will find the prompt to manage and upload your individual family tree.
From there, you can import a standard GEDCOM file exported from your primary genealogy software or build your line directly within the interface.
A Note on Virtual Classes and Moving Forward
This discussion formed the focus of my final live Sunday class presentation for the BYU Library Family History Center. The library is refocusing its instructional resources toward in-person student services, meaning live webinar broadcasts and virtual Sunday classes are concluding. Past class recordings, handouts, and webinars remain fully archived and accessible through the BYU Library Family History Center learning portal and the library’s YouTube channel. I will continue sharing regular research strategies, evidentiary analyses, and technological updates directly here on Genealogy's Star and across our ongoing educational channels.
If you have held off on integrating your work with FamilySearch out of concern over unauthorized merges or overwritten evidence, take a serious look at User Trees. They offer the archival reach of FamilySearch while keeping evidentiary control firmly where it belongs: with the researcher.
No comments:
Post a Comment