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Ancestry is one of the largest genealogical family tree databases in the world. It’s a great place to build or extend your family tree. But you can quickly create a mess if you’re not careful.
You won't create a Big' Ol mess if you slowly and carefully build your family tree.
But first, did you know that Ancestry has several helpful tutorials on getting started? I want to direct you there if you haven't created anything.
Once you have started something, whether small or large, let's dive into building your family tree organizationally.
Start From a Profile
As much as I love Ancestry’s hint feature in the upper right corner, I recommend working from a person's profile page.
If you're a beginning genealogist, start with a more recent ancestor and work your way back to the past.
Review what you currently have available on this profile.
In the video linked, I chose Charles Patrick Moss. His profile had no sources attached to it, so I obtained this information from family sources. The next step involved validating that Charles is indeed married to Annie or the parents Austin and Mary Catherine.
I have two choices.
I could use the search features on Ancestry
I can leverage hints.
Since Ancestry hints often offer low-hanging fruit, I recommend you look at hints.
Reviewing Ancestry Hints
Click on the hints menu option below your ancestor's name in their profile.
You will then see a list of collections and content that Ancestry thinks relates to your ancestor based on what you have already added to the profile.
Ancestry Member Trees
I recommend that you ignore the Ancestry Member Tree hints. If you want to look at them later in your research. At the onset, ignore these hints by clicking the "Ignore" button in the hint box.
After clicking the ignore button, you should notice that besides the word "Ignore," you will see a number. At a later date, you can review the hints you ignored if it will assist your research.
User Added Photos
Next, you may see some images other users uploaded to Ancestry. Some images may include portraits, candid photos, artifacts, or documents. Use your discretion whether you want to save these images to your family tree.
Some profiles have numerous copies of the same photo. Try to find out when the earliest photo was saved because that MIGHT be the original person who uploaded the image. The original person will likely have access to the pictures and will be the one you want to be in contact with.
If you want to keep a photo, click “Save.”
Click “Ignore” to not save them.
User Added Stories
Users might also add "Stories" to an Ancestry profile. Unfortunately, the 'story' I showcase in the video above only shows another version of a death certificate, which is already attached as a source. This isn't very helpful.
However, some researchers share incredible stories that piece research details together.
Review those to be sure, and save the ones that do not add clutter to your family tree.
Compare a Hint to Your Tree
After the member photo hints, you may see hints for records available on Ancestry. This is where you will want to spend most of your time building your family tree. Records are the backbone of accurate genealogy research.
In this Ancestry interface, you can quickly compare a hint to the content in your family tree without having to navigate back and forth between the hint and the profile view.
To open a box similar to the above image, toggle the button beside the words "Quick compare." What data is the same, and what is different?
In this census record, notice
That the names are different, is this a problem?
The birth years aren't the same. Which is more correct?
The birthplace is different. This is a battle of historical vs modern place names. Which should you keep?
Residence is a new fact. Do you want to bring it over?
The children's names are different. Which one is correct?
If you can determine the hint pertains to your ancestor, even if some of the details between the record and your tree conflict, then begin the process of saving the hint.
If it doesn't match, click the ignore button below the hint. It will go into the ignore tab, and you can review it later if you think you have made a mistake.
↪️ Are you looking for more genealogy resources?
Grab your copy of these FREE Genealogy Research Guides.
Save the Record To Your Tree
The next step is what Ancestry calls the "Review" screen.
When you click the review button, a side panel opens. From here, you can work through the record-saving process.
However, I haven’t looked at the actual image behind the quick compare, and I want more control over the saving process. Since making the video above, Ancestry has made a change that I do not like. It's removed the link to the record at the top of the page.
Instead, you have to scroll down that pop-up panel until you see something like this:
Once the following page opens, notice all of the information available from this view that was not available in the quick linking option.
BEFORE you click yes here, please review the actual image
If, after looking at the actual record, you are confident this source provides evidence about your relative, you can click the “Yes” button.
How You’re Messing Up Place Names on Ancestry
Once you arrive on this page, it's time to SLOW DOWN and carefully process the information from a record into your family tree.
This is where your tree can become a muddled mess of epic proportions.
It's best to watch the video linked above starting at this timestamp. There are numerous decisions to make, and showing is better than telling.
Extra Details in the Place Field
One caution to avoid messing up your family tree is to pay attention to any 'extra' details in the place name.
In the video, a census record for Charles Moss has a location with "Precinct 1" in addition to "Tucson, Arizona."
Mapping programs have trouble plotting out Precincts, Electoral Districts, and other non-standard place name divisions.
Don't add place names with 'extra' details in the location to prevent your family tree from being messed up.
Move that text to the description field instead. It's valuable information, but it's in the wrong spot.
(Ancestry doesn't always allow this option from the review screen. You might need to save the details to your clipboard or a digital notepad to place it in the fact on the 'timeline' view.)
Remember that Ancestry doesn't often change all the place names to match the person you changed if a record documents more than one person. You'll have to fix the places for each person.
Clean Up Your Ancestry Family Tree
A cleaned-up family tree ensures accurate genealogy research. Slowing down and processing tree hints will improve your chances of researching the correct people and linking them together.
What other small but important changes would you suggest that we all implement to improve the quality of our family trees?
More Ancestry Family Tree Tips