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FamilySearch.org can seem overwhelming at first glance. Yet just as the saguaro cactus thrives in a harsh desert, you can adapt and master the platform. Here are ten practical survival suggestions for navigating the FamilySearch Family Tree and uncovering your ancestors. Much like packing a full canteen before trekking into the desert, understanding these essentials will save you needless frustration along the way.
1. Take an intensive tour of the entire website. You can scroll to the bottom of the startup page, click the "More" arrow, and see a representative outline of the items you should be familiar with on the website. From my own experience in helping people I am certain that most users are not even aware that there are so many things on this website. If you're traveling in the desert, you need a definite beginning and an end, usually by using a map or a GPS. The help center is like a GPS for the website.
2. When you finish with the list at the bottom of the startup page take some time to explore the help menu available from the question mark icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
A review of the items in this help menu may help you understand what you do not know about the website. If you need help with any part of the website, you can use the help menu to answer your questions. If you dig down deep in the Help Center, you will also find a set of lessons instructing you on how to do genealogical research and also how to use the website in great detail. Here is a link to the page with all the classes: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/learning-center
3. Take time to review your portion of the FamilySearch Family Tree. You may have only a few entries, and you may have an overwhelming large number of entries. In either case, you will now be made aware of the scope of your journey using the website. The whole purpose of the website is to find and then document each of your ancestors and as many of your relatives as you can possibly find. This is analogous to beginning a journey across a very large desert. You need to know the extent of your journey long before you begin walking. Also take time to check the entries that are already in the FamilySearch Family Tree to make sure they are accurate.
4. Become familiar with the FamilySearch Research Wiki. This resource will give you an idea of the historical record sources that are available for almost any place in the world. It will also prepare you for the next suggestion or trick. You can see the link to the Research Wiki above in the Search tab.
5. Do not add any information to the FamilySearch Family Tree that does not have a valid historical source supporting its accuracy. This is akin to avoiding cactus and rattlesnakes. Any time you see an entry for an individual in the FamilySearch Family Tree that has no sources attached and no memories, you can assume the information is either inaccurate, incomplete, or a total fabrication.
6. Just as certain desert regions pose extreme hazards, specific sections of the FamilySearch Family Tree present equal danger to researchers. These are the volatile sectors of "revolving-door" ancestors, where entries change almost daily. Entangling yourself in these unstable records can quickly erode your enthusiasm and resolve. Before attempting any corrections, examine the profile’s edit history; click the "Show all" link to review the full volume of recent revisions before entering what you believe to be the correct data. Even seasoned desert travelers encounter sudden dust storms and flash floods—and these chronically contested profiles are the flash floods of the FamilySearch environment.
7. Did you know that each of the items in the FamilySearch Search Menu access different collections of records that may or may not overlap. You can see the list below. Click on each of the entries in the search menu to find out what they are and how to use them. You may need to refer frequently to the Help menu for additional help.
8. As you add information to the FamilySearch.org website, it is a good for your survival to keep a backup copy of your own information on another app, either on the internet or on your desktop, which ever you prefer. Having a duplicate copy of your information helps you correct changes that might be made to your information on the FamilySearch Family Tree. You can also use the new FamilySearch User Trees for backup. See my video Understanding FamilySearch’s User Owned Trees
9. Check FamilySearch Labs for new apps and features. See https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/ You can turn the lab experiments off or on. If you like them, you can keep them on.
10. If you really want an expansive experience, Go to the FamilySearch Labs and click on the "Search All Family Trees" on FamilySearch. Then go to the Historic Records collections (Records in the Search tab shown above) and do a search for someone already in your part of the family tree. You may seem confused at first with what appear to be duplicates, but what you are seeing in the same person in all the FamilySearch.org trees. You can go to the Find Your Family Tree on FamilySearch also.
Here is a list of additional helps for learning about the FamilySearch.org website.
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