MacFamily Tree for OS X

If you are a Mac user and have long wished for a program that would share information with the FamilySearch Family Tree, you are in luck!  MacFamily Tree 7.0 by Synium Software has attained full FamilySearch "Tree Share" status.  MacFamily Tree syncs to iCloud, so you can access your database from multiple OS X computers.  Their MobileFamilyTree app works with iPad and iPhone. To learn more, or to download a free trial version, go to syniumsoftware.com. 

Making your email address "public" on FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch.org Settings detail

One major purpose of the FamilySearch Family Tree is to facilitation collaboration - working with people we may not even know to document the lives of our ancestors.  Anything you add or change in the tree is associated with your contact name so that we all know who made what changes.

Your contact name may (or may not) be recognizable to others, but if you haven't made your email address "public" in your FamilySearch user settings, no one can contact you through FamilySearch.

Take a moment today to ensure your email address is set to "public".  Log in to FamilySearch.org, then click on your name (upper right corner, just under "Get Help") and then click the down arrow.  Select [Settings] and scroll down to find your email address and other contact information.  Click in the box at the end of each line to mark that item "Public".

While you can opt to show your full name, home address, phone and email address, at a minimum you should make your email address public. For help updating your FamilySearch privacy and contact settings, stop by the Family History Center!

Free access to Ancestry.com, findmypast, and MyHeritge

In February, FamilySearch announced major new agreements with Ancestry.com, findmypast, and MyHeritage. In addition to accelerating the publication of new indexed collections on FamilySearch.org, the agreements give free home access to all three of these great sites for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Log-in access will be rolled out in phases over the coming months, so watch for updates.

The Family History Center will continue to offer all patrons free access to Ancestry.com and findmypast from FHC computers. 

For more information about this announcement, see the FamilySearch Blog post for 8 February 2014, "Details on Free Account Access to FamilySearch Partner Websites".

Sharing is great, but not for FamilySearch accounts!

Did you know that husbands and wives each need their own lds.org (FamilySearch) login and password? Teenagers need their own, too! Family Tree relationship connections are tied to individual church membership records. When you log in to the FamilySearch Family Tree using your LDS.org account, you should see the names of your parents, grandparents, spouse, and children. Dates, places, events, sources, and photos are displayed for deceased individuals recorded in the Family Tree. For privacy reasons, you will not see details for living relatives (except birth dates for your children under 18), and will not see a married child's spouse or children, or your spouse's living parents or grandparents. 

If you don't see your parents' names when you log in to your own account, see the ward clerk for a copy of your church membership record to make sure the information is recorded correctly there.  If you don't see your grandparents and they are also members of the LDS church and still living, have your parents check their own church membership records.  

For help untangling your Tree, stop by the Williamsburg (VA) Family History Center!