.png)
Do you want to create a family tree on Ancestry that looks great and is super functional? Then, be sure to add these things to your family tree to make your genealogy research fun and shareable.
You can see how to follow each suggestion in the video below.
1. Adding Photos to Ancestry Family Tree
As you build your tree, you should share photos you have gathered. Share pictures of family members, places they lived, original documents, and artifacts.
After you upload a photo, add details about the image. Don't neglect this step. It's like finding unlabeled pictures in a photo album or shoebox. Add the following:
Type of image
Date of the photo
Description: detailing the who, what, when, where, and why of the picture.
As a bonus, if you have multiple people in your pictures, you can link the photo to everyone in the image without uploading the image numerous times!
2. Add MyTreeTags to your Ancestor Profiles
In February 2019, Ancestry released MyTreeTags. I've written about how to use MyTreeTags in several posts, but they remain an underutilized feature on Ancestry. So please take advantage of this tool and its cool person-filtering technology.
MyTreeTags can identify DNA relationships, life experiences, relationships, and research status. You can even add custom tags, which I will discuss in this blog post.
Other Ancestry members can see the tags you add to your ancestors if your tree is public. However, they will not be able to edit those tags. However, you can also use the tags to filter and sort your ancestors by common traits or research status.
Watch this video to see how to change your Ancestry Family Tree.
3. Cite Your Personal Knowledge
Did you know that you can serve as a source citation for the knowledge that you have?
You can!
Do you know the names of your parents?
Do you know what day you celebrated their birthday?
Did you attend a relative's funeral?
You can be your own source.
Be sure to complete the templates as you would any genealogy source citation. In the box for transcription, state why you know what you know. For instance, I might say, "I can attest to when and where Penny Brown was buried because I attended the funeral."
Oh, and be sure to select all the facts that your testimony supports. Then, you'll activate the purple lines in the FACTS tab from the source to the facts for which you provided evidence.
4. Track Your Genealogy Research Notes
As you do genealogical research, you probably take a lot of notes. Ancestry has a built-in note-taking service that can help you keep your notes where you research. I discussed this feature in a previous blog post, "How to Keep Track of Genealogy Research Notes."
Remember, notes will be private. However, any comments, similar to notes, will be public if your family tree is public.
↪️ Are you looking for more genealogy resources?
Grab your copy of these FREE Genealogy Research Guides.
5. Add More Details to Facts
Did you know you can add more details to the events listed in the timeline?
By adding extra details to these life events, you can visually keep track of your ancestors, their movements, and the events in their lives.
For instance, you can have a Resident event based on the 1930 census. You may name the place Windsor, Colorado, but you can also add a street address, occupation, who lived together, property values, or anything discovered on the census.
BONUS: Customize Your Ancestors Timeline
We often look at our Ancestors' fact Pages. This is where we make the most changes and add sources.
However, when we click on "Life Story," Ancestry creates a timeline of those events and may even share starter stories about an event.
You can customize your Timeline to include events about family members or historical facts. This feature can help you visualize your ancestor's life and quickly analyze your family tree data.
Your timeline will expand as you add more events associated with a date on the Facts Tab.
There are more things you can do to enhance your Family Tree. What are some that I forgot? Let me know.