You’ve dreamed of writing a family history for years — and you’ve even started wading through old documents, photos, and records.But after countless hours of research, you’re stuck.What do you do with all of the materials you’ve gathered? What’s the best way to present your family’s history? What kind of a story do you want to tell — and how do you want to tell it? Where do you even start?The great thing about family history projects is that the options are almost limitless.Want to keep things simple? You can stick to a just-the-facts family tree.Want a sweeping epic that spans generations? Consider writing a novel-length family biography that weaves your ancestors’ stories together with important historical events.Not a huge fan of writing? You can tell your family’s story through a collection of letters, journals, photographs, and other documents.Of course, the drawback to all of these choices is choosing the right one for your family and your goals for the project.Not sure which option is right for you? Join us for a deep dive into some of our favorite options — along with the pros and cons of each one.

A family tree is the most common form of visually documenting one's ancestry. Most family tree charts include a box for each individual and each box is connected to the others to indicate relationships. In addition to an individual's name, each box may include dates, birthplace, and other information, depending on the desired complexity of the family tree diagram. Typically, a generation is organized into a single level so it's easy to see at a glance which ancestors preceded which generation because they are physically above them on the tree. A horizontal line between two boxes indicates a marriage. A bracket from a couple to a lower set of boxes indicates the children from that marriage. Although most family trees grow vertically, they are occasionally drawn sideways, as well.

The Internet is a great resource for tracing family trees. The trick is to learn how to separate the good online data from the bad. Follow these five steps and you too can use Internet sources to track down reliable information about your ancestors. By Kimberly Powell Updated on July 03, 2019

It includes many helpful articles for learning genealogy research from locating, analyzing your records and recording your sources. It also has an extensive records directory to help you to locate genealogical records. What's NEW? BRICK WALL HELP!

This huge new dictionary is the ultimate reference work on family names of the UK, covering English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and immigrant surnames. It includes every surname that currently has more than 100 bearers, and those that had more than 20 bearers in the 1881 census. Each entry contains lists of variant spellings of the name, an explanation of its origins (including the etymology), lists of early bearers showing evidence for formation and continuity from the date of formation down to the 19th century, geographical distribution, and, where relevant, genealogical and bibliographical notes, making this a fully comprehensive work on family names. This authoritative guide also includes an introductory essay explaining the historical background, formation, and typology of surnames and a guide to surnames research and family history research. Additional material also includes a list of published and unpublished lists of surnames from the Middle Ages to the present day

"Their goal is to create one single accurate family tree that connects everyone. It's kind of like Wikipedia in that folks are encouraged to collaborate and contribute wellsourced information. They have figured out ways to make this fun. There is not cost to participate, and ther is an active and helpful user community." - South Plains Genealogical Society Member Welcome to The Free Family Tree, growing stronger since 2008. Together we're growing an accurate single family tree using DNA and traditional genealogical sources. Privacy controls enable us to integrate modern family history. Extraordinary protections ensure that our shared tree will never be lost. Everything is 100% free including many benefits for genealogists who sign our Honor Code. Our tree includes 24,518,014 profiles (7,158,138 with DNA test connections) edited by 735,927 genealogists from around the world.

Genealogy is the study of family history. It includes details about how people are descended from an ancestor, how people are related to each other, where families are from, how they may have traveled from country to country, where they lived, what kind of work they did, and what sorts of lives they led. A family tree is a visual representation of a family's lines of descent. Some family trees include photos and other vital information. Researching a family's genealogy and making a family tree is a great way for kids and adults to learn more about who they are. It also brings history to life in a new way, making it possible to see how historical events impacted one family: the researcher's own. Genealogy is also a great way to sharpen research skills.