Teach Me Genealogy is here to teach you how "share your tree" on Ancestry.com.

Why do Ancestry users share their family tree?

It's most commonly used for living relatives sharing information between each other.  It allows you to share your family tree instead of spending hours adding the same information to your own tree. They share and you share; everyone is happy. I personally have one family tree, but 10 total because cousins have shared their trees with me and I have shared mine with them. Once they have shared their tree with you, it does not merge with yours, it has it's own family tree name and is listed with your other trees. (See image 2 below).

Here's how...

Step 1:  Sign in to Ancestry.com with your username and password.


Step 2:  place your cursor over the "Family Trees" tab at the top.

Step 3:  Click on "More..." 

Step 4:  Click on "Manage tree"





Step 6: Click on "Invite people".

Step 7: Click on either "Email" or "Username".

Step 8: Type in the email of the person you want to send your family tree to.

Step 9: Choose their role. I usually choose "Guest or Contributor" (you can always change these options later.)

Step 10: Include a personal message. (If you choose).

Step 11: Click on "Send Invites"


YOU'RE DONE! EASY RIGHT?

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. Many more freebies are coming your way.

Keep connecting the dots. -Sarah :)

Many people have asked me "how do I export my  family tree from Ancestry.com so I can import it to my genealogy software?" Well, this is surprisingly easy to do with these six steps of instructions and images to follow. Here's how...

I will teach you how to use Photoshop to create Timeless Heirlooms IN 7 EASY STEPS:

You WILL NEED:

1. A scanned or copied photo of a family member or ancestor (never use original photos)
2. Some Keyword facts about your family member or ancestor (see image for examples)
3. Photoshop, (you can download a free trial here).

Here's a framed  photo of my Grandpa, William Emry Burnes, using keywords to portray the man he was.  After doing research and asking grandma questions, I learned so much about him. So with the gathered information, I decided NOT to write a novel, instead I would write "keywords" to portray his character and attributes.  My goal was to keep the interest of my reader and in 10 seconds or less, they would know who my grandpa was. For the finishing touch, I wanted to add something personal; his signature, which I happened to find on his fishing license. So I scanned it, and using Photoshop, I pieced it all together. This has probably been my favorite Family History Project yet!!

I promise this is EASY, and if you don't have Photoshop, you can download a free trial  here.

Facebook isn't just for Social Networking! In fact, this powerful platform with more than 900 million users has helped me to connect with many people, including distant cousins. Yes, Facebook is awesome for more than one reason!!

As I began on my family history adventure, I was learning more about my heritage than I could ever imagine. After only one year of extensive research, I traced my lineage back 7 generations, which was quite the conquest, considering that I didn't know my paternal grandfather (father's, father), or anything about him. After discovering that my Great, Great, Great Grandparents, George Washington Burnes & Sarah Walker Burnes had settled in Hope, Indiana I was anxious to get out there. So, I booked a flight to Indianapolis, Indiana and left on May 18, 2007. After a successful trip of meeting family and transcribing headstones, my knowledge of my heritage had increased, and I felt closer to my ancestors.

Many of my siblings have joined Facebook, but a few have not embraced the Facebook phenomenon. So I did a search for my brother JAMES BURNES, and the first person to show up was someone who resembled my brother, with the same name and spelling, but lived over 2,000 miles away; in Indianapolis, Indiana. The city he lived in was a clue that we could be related, so I wrote him a message and guess what I found out?

Here's the screenshot from our first conversation on Facebook:

What is Find A Grave? www.findagrave.com is a free online database of cemeteries throughout the world. Over 80 million online memorials have been preserved on this site from volunteers.  These memorials may contain birth and death dates, pictures, biographies and more specific information. Just today, there were  11,625,957 visitors on this site. Take a look, your relatives could be here!

Why should I become a Find A Grave volunteer?  As a Find a Grave volunteer, you choose what you want to do, and how often. Becoming a volunteer does NOT mean you are obligated to do anything. It simply means, you can help out when you can. I became a volunteer at Find A Grave , for the opportunity to preserve my ancestors headstones, and manage their information myself. When I traveled to Indiana to do family research, I spent most of my days in Norristown, Cemetery where most of my ancestors are buried. I noticed that Norristown Cemetery had very few names entered on Find A Grave. So, before it was too late, I photographed and transcribed hundreds of headstones in that cemetery. Honestly, I kinda felt like Indiana Jones as I pieced together broken headstones like a jigsaw puzzle to reveal their identity. There were even headstones that had fallen over, and were buried by grass with the inscription unreadable, but with a little effort, they were saved. Knowing that I helped give an identity to those buried in this cemetery is beyond words. In just a few days work, the unknown became KNOWN and preserved!

If you have one or more of these devices below, here are just a few ways to maximize your Genealogy with Technology.

• Use your smart phone for photo, video and audio. I have made many audio & video recordings of my grandma while asking her questions with my iPhone. The audio was better because my grandma didn't like being video recorded and she was much more relaxed with the audio. Anytime, you're visiting a Genealogical Library, Cemetery or family history site always record & capture your findings.
• Use your iPad for genealogy research, photos, video, audio and watching home videos of your own family, parents, grandparents, and cousins.  The iPad because it's larger and the quality is better than the iPhone for video, audio and photo. Once you have taken your pictures you can upload them to your Blog, Photobucket or Flickr so they are online and safe. If you have taken videos you can easily upload them to your YouTube Channel as another form of backing up your data. 
• Use your Apple TV to watch videos, audio and photos on your TV that you have just captured. You can also go to your YouTube Channel with the apple TV to watch all your home videos. It's a fun way to spend a family night together.
• Use your Laptop or PC for genealogical software that builds your family tree, collecting data, researching, and storing all your Genealogical information here. Any family history photos, videos or audio that you capture, place in this folder. Create a Genealogy folder on your desktop to keep everything organized. You can even customize your genealogy folder to have an image of a "family tree", click on the family tree image below for instructions.

Create a unique Genealogy folder on your desktop that is visually easy to locate.


For Windows Users:


Step 1:  Make sure all other applications are closed or minimized so that you see your desktop. Right mouse click on your desktop (not folders) until a box opens. In the box, click on "NEW", which will pop open another box with multiple selections, click on "FOLDER". (See Image Below). Click image to enlarge.


You should now see a standard Folder Icon on your desktop that looks like the image below.



Step 2:   Right mouse click on the "NEW FOLDER icon and click on rename and type in "GENEALOGY". It should look like this

Now it's time to give your new Genealogy folder a unique look that will stand out from the rest.

Step 3:   Right mouse click on your new Genealogy folder, a box will open, click on "PROPERTIES" located at the bottom.  See image below. Click on image to enlarge.



Step 4:    A new box is now open. Click on the tab on the top right that says "CUSTOMIZE", then the button that say "CHANGE ICON". You will now see a new window pop open where you can choose your new icon. See image below. Click on image to enlarge.


Step 5:   Use the arrow scroll bars to scroll to the right until you find the icon that looks like a family tree. Click on the family tree and click on "OK" at the bottom. See image below. Click on image to enlarge.


Final Result:   You now have a unique Family Tree Icon on your desktop for your GENEALOGY folder.