Windows Help & Advice - UK (2020-03)

T

Windows 10

Ten things you should do withyour PC

March 2020 | |^13

Research your family history

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Findandlink

AfterlinkingFamilySearchto

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nexttopeoplein yourtree.Clickit and

• if asked– signintoyourFamilySearch
  accountagain.If youspotanancestorin
  thelistofpossiblematches,tickthebox
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Viewonlinedata

Switchtothe‘Sharedata’tabto

compareyourentry(left)withtheentry

onFamilySearch(right).Toadda fact

fromFamilySearchtoyourresearch,

clickitstickboxin theright-handpane.

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it, clickOKtomergeit.

3

Find more facts

Log into your Family Search

account online (www.familysearch.org)

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then search for information to add to

the online record – once it’s been added

here, the new information will appear in

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here’s something to be

said for connecting with

your family history – the

thrill of rediscovering

your ancestors cannot

be matched as you piece

together their lives through documents,

digging out old family photos and even

making contact with distant cousins to

share and uncover more insights.

These days, most of that research can

be done online, and if you know where

to look you can make major inroads into

developing and expanding your tree

without spending hundreds of pounds

on expensive subscriptions. The place

to start is http://www.familysearch.org – this

doesn’t simply provide a giant, shared

tree of human existence, but it’s also a

repository of information, including

documents,photosanduseful

resourcesforfurtherresearchviaits

wiki(www.familysearch.org/wiki/).

You’llneedsomewheretostoreall

thisinformation,andthereareplentyof

programsouttheretolenda helping

hand.If youdochoosea paid-for

subscriptionsitelikeAncestry,thenit

paystochoosea programdesignedto

makeit easytoextractinformationand

digitisedimagesofdocumentsdirectly

fromthesiteintoyourresearchfile.

Onefreeprogramthatsupports

FamilySearchisRootsMagicEssentials,

whichyoucandownloadandinstallfor

freefromhttp://rootsmagic.com/

essentials/– it’sa cut-downversionof

themainprogram(£19.95fromwww.

rootsmagic.co.uk),butallFamilySearch

functionalityiscompletelyfree.

LinktoFamilySearch

Theprogramisrelativelysimpletouse

andwillbefamiliartoanyonewho’s

previouslydabbledingenealogy–

whencreatinga newdocument,leave

‘Begintypingmyinformation’selected

beforeclickingOK.Ablanktreewill

appear– clickthebuttontoadda

personandenteryourowninformation

asthehomeperson.Fromhereyoucan

addadditionalfacts,attachphotos and

otherinformationasweoutlinedin

detailinourSeptember 2019 issue.

Whenit comestolinkingin

informationfromFamilySearch,

select‘Tools>FileOptions’.Select

FamilySearch,tick‘EnableFamilySearch

support’and‘Matchpersonto

FamilySearchwhenhintsfound’and

enteryourlogindetails.Nowfollow

thestep-by-stepguidetolink

individualstoFamilySearchand

downloadinformationfromthem

intoyourtreeinjusta fewclicks.

Find family records online

Link RootsMagic to FamilySearch to find – and download – information about family members.