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Archive for October, 2012
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Summer is winding down, but things are still pretty hot around here. With the completion of the 1940 census index we now have more than 713 million U.S. Federal Census records online and fully searchable from 1790 through 1940. To celebrate this unprecedented access to all publicly available censuses, Ancestry.com has cooked up some pretty great things for the end of summer.
Search all U.S. Censuses free
From August 29th through September 3rd, Ancestry.com is opening all of its U.S. census records – FREE. Share this info with all your family, friends and followers; you can point them to www.ancestry.com/census to learn more and start searching.
Take a trip back in time
Go beyond searching your family’s true story in the census records and see what your own life could have been like as an adult in 1940 with the Ancestry.com Time Machine. Our interactive, time-travel experience requires just a handful of information provided by you. And in return, you get a custom video featuring YOU in 1940. While it’s not genealogy, it is high-tech fun. Create your own video and share it with your followers. And encourage them to create their own at www.ancestry.com/TimeMachine.
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We’re really excited about the new version of our iPhone and iPad app. We hope you like it as much as we do!
Let’s take a closer look…
First you’ll probably notice that we have a new look to the entire app. Hopefully you think it’s as warm and inviting as we do 
The new family tree viewer
Below you can see a new family tree viewer. The idea is to make interacting with your family tree more like interacting with a map or a photo. Pinching zooms in and out. Swiping moves the entire tree. We also wanted to show more relatives. The old viewer only showed direct lines, but this new viewer includes an option to show grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Some users miss the old version of the tree viewer and have expressed concern about it being no longer available. We’re listening to this feedback and are working on improvements they are requesting (for example, we plan to remove grandchildren from the Pedigree View in the next update to make it easier to see your whole tree). But we hope that your experience is the same as ours has been – the new viewer requires some time to get used to, but once you’ve spent some real time with it, we think you’ll fall in love with the additional functionality and intuitive navigation. Play with it for a while and let us know what you think.
Working with the new family tree viewer
The top arrow in the image below is pointing to a “new person node” that can be tapped to add a new person to your tree. The green node at the bottom is the person who is currently selected – the relationships shown in the tree are built around this “focus person.” If you tap on someone else in the tree, their node will turn green and the tree will redraw with them as the new focus person. If you tap on the focus person again, a panel slides out with their personal information. This panel includes hints, life events, family members, photos, and evidence (records).
The viewer shows 2 generations below the focus person (grandchildren) and 3 generations above the focus person (great grandparents). To see more generations above or below the current focus person, simply tap on a person near the top or bottom of the tree.
See the green shaky leaves below? These are hints that may lead to valuable records for that person. If you tap on the leaf itself, you’ll be taken directly to a list of record hints for that person.
Toggling between the Family View and the Pedigree View
The icons in the green rectangle below allow you to toggle between two modes in the tree viewer.
The icon on the left is the Family View that shows siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
The icon on the right is the Pedigree View that shows direct ancestors only.
Using filters to sort through people in your family tree
The “3 bar” icon in the top left of the screen opens a list of all the people in your family tree. If you begin typing in the search bar, the list below automatically updates based on what you’re typing. This is very helpful if you are looking for someone specific in a large tree.
In addition, by tapping “All People,” you have access to a variety of useful filters. For example, Direct Ancestors will update the list of people to show only people directly related to the tree’s home person, and the End of Line filter helps you find areas of your tree that need more research.
The bottom two options will show a list of people in your tree that have hints or only those that have received new hints in the last 7 days.
Where was I? Getting back to where you started.
Imagine that you’ve been randomly tapping on people in a very large tree and have gotten lost. We have a couple options for you… One is to hit the back icon. This will take you back in time (by changing the focus person) until you recognize where you are. Additionally, because you’ve read this far into this long blog post, here’s a little secret: tap on the back button and hold your finger down for a couple of seconds. A history menu will pop up that shows you a list of people you’ve looked at, starting with the most recent.
In addition to the back icon, tapping the home icon will take you back to the home person.
Trees, settings, and support
By tapping on the tree name at the top of the screen, you’ll get a menu with 3 options: Family Trees, Account Settings, and Support.
Family Trees shows you a complete list of trees that you have access to based on the username you signed in with. The tree currently displayed in the app is noted with a checkmark. Trees that have been downloaded to the app have an arrow in a green circle next to them. Tapping this circle allows you to change settings for that specific tree, including privacy, notifications, home person, and the ability to designate who you are in the tree so that the app can show you how you’re related to anyone in the tree. If you want to see a tree that hasn’t been downloaded, just tap it. We’ve worked hard to speed up the tree download, so unless you have a super giant tree, it shouldn’t take too long.
Account Settings allows you to see your membership information, displays your user name, and allows you to log out. If you do not have a membership, you can access membership options via the app by tapping here.
Support allows you to send us a suggestion, email our support personnel, or call our amazing folks in Member Services.
Well that about covers it. We really hope you enjoy the new app. We’ve worked hard to provide a great family history experience for the ever-growing number of customers with mobile devices.
Spend some time getting familiar with the new version and then let us know what you think… What do you like about the new app? What new features would you like to see next?
Thanks for your support!
-The Ancestry Mobile Team
Don’t have an Apple iOS device? Don’t worry, we have an Android app as well.
For more information, or to download either the iOS or Android app, visit http://www.ancestry.com/mobile
News from around the web.
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As you know, earlier this month, we completed the 1940 U.S. Census index on Ancestry.com. You can now look for a parent, grandparent—maybe even yourself—in every state and territory. In addition, we also created different infographics that creatively display each state and what life was like in 1940. See all the images below, and feel free to download, save, repost and share any of these images for your friends, family or just your own collection.
![Guam, Samoa, Panama[1]](http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/files/2012/08/Guam-Samoa-Panama1.png)
News from around the web.
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UK genealogy website Origins.net is making its York Marriage Bonds and Allegations
Index (1613-1839) free to search until Monday, October 8 at midday BST (if midday
is the same as noon, that would be Oct. 8 at 7 a.m. EST). Learn
more about this index here. You’ll need to set
up a free registration on the site to search. If you find a record you need in
the index, you can order a copy by clicking “Add to cart.”
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Free, collaborative family tree site WikiTree has
reopened member
registration after closing it in January. The closure was “to give the WikiTree
community time to absorb the flood of information that had been added by people who
registered for a free membership and uploaded GEDCOMs, but did not take the time to
integrate their genealogy into the shared family tree.”
To help ensure that new members understand the site’s mission, newly registered
members now receive a temporary and limited Guest Membership. Those who want to become
permanent members can volunteer to participate in the community as a Wiki Genealogist
(requires signing an honor code), or they can ask if a Wiki Genealogist will help
connect their family to the shared tree.
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The Civil War Trust has announced the winners of its 17th annual photography contest.
The grand prize winner is Buddy Secor of Stafford, Va., who took a gorgeous sunrise
shot of the Chancellorsville battlefield. You
can see this and the other winning images on the Civil War Trust website.
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Most genealogists rely primarily on records to root out their relatives. However,
the Internet has opened the doorway to other digitized documents. In particular, I’m
referring to an oft-underutilized family research resource: Published Genealogies.
The new First Steps course from Family Tree University, Finding Family History Books
About Your Ancestors, will show you where to find these manuscripts and what they
might contain.
Genealogy is not a new pastime. During the colonial period, genealogy was seen as
an attempt by early settlers to secure a measure of social standing within the British
Empire. The truth is, people have been conducting family research for centuries, and
many of these individuals might have published family trees–a resource that you now
have the opportunity to plunder. From articles in genealogical society journals to
entire books outlining specific lineages to searchable online databases of user-contributed
family trees, this new course shows you how and where to look for the work others
have already done, allowing you to save time and add branches to your family tree.
You’ll learn to search for manuscripts on databases such as:
- FamilySearch
- Ancestry.com
-
HeritageQuest
Online -
World
Vital Records - Internet Archive
- WorldCat
- Interlibrary Loan
The first session of this 2-week long course starts on Monday, Oct. 15. Click here
to learn more about our course First
Steps: Finding Family History Books About Your Ancestors (and save %20 on your
registration with coupon code FTU1012).
News from around the web.
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Subscription genealogy website Ancestry.com just
announced it has acquired San Francisco-based 1000memories.
1000memories, founded in 2010, has a website where people can store and share digitized
photos. Shoebox, the site’s accompanying
mobile app for iPhone and Android, lets you use a cell phone camera to “scan” and
upload documents to the site.
The app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since its launch.
Ancestry.com has already begun incorporating the app into its services. To mark this
announcement, 1000memories has launched a new version of ShoeBox for iOS (iPhones),
enabling Ancestry.com members to post photos directly to ancestors profiles in their
Ancestry.com member trees.
“This is the first step in a broader plan that will see tighter integration of the
two services in the coming months,” according to Ancestry.com’s
official press release.
News from around the web.
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Detailed logs are an important tool in organizing your genealogy research.
These Fall 2012 Virtual Genealogy Conference tips come from the video session “Research
Logs for the Rest of Us,” hosted by Thomas MacEntee.
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It’s important to understand the “why” of using a research log. If you’re using a
log only because you know other people who are doing so, then you’re wasting your
time. Understand the benefits of tracking your research journey. -
Select a format that you will continue to use. For instance, it is a poor idea to
start your research log in Excel if you don’t like using spreadsheets. Use a format
you are comfortable with. Otherwise you’ll only frustrate yourself and abandon the
log. -
Spend time setting up headings or categories. When you use a spreadsheet or table,
take time to consider which headings to use. Don’t be afraid to add or remove headings
over time. It’s only through constant use of the research log that you’ll figure out
the best headings for your research. -
Shoot for a “one pass” goal. When you find a record or piece of information, note
all of the information as if you might never find it again. This means noting the
date you found it, the type of record, and even whether you are transcribing or abstracting
it. You’re only kidding yourself if you say that you’ll come back to it later. -
Maintaining a research log is a discipline. A discipline created through handwork,
dedication and repetition until it becomes habit. Realize that you will make mistakes
the first few entries, then you’ll become better at entering information accurately
and quickly. -
Source citations matter, but take a shortcut! Create a cheat sheet–a document or
spreadsheet tab where you can keep the most commonly used source citation formats.
Then you can copy and paste them over to your research log to fill in the blanks.
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Ready to start your own research log? Click
here to buy this video session and get started documenting your research today.
Video
classes from our Virtual Genealogy Conferences are available in ShopFamilyTree.com.
And mark your calendar now for our Winter
2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference, Feb. 22-24.
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Your ShopFamilyTree.com purchases
will support a great cause this week!
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and
ShopFamilyTree.com wants to help. From today, Oct.1, through Friday, Oct. 5, we’ll
donate 30 percent of all ShopFamilyTree.com proceeds to the National
Breast Cancer Foundation, which provides free mammograms, education, support to
those with breast cancer, and early detection services.
Your registration for the upcoming
Online Military Records webinar, for example, or your purchase of our
2013 Best of the Photo Detective genealogy desk calendar or limited-edition Ultimate
Family History Essentials Collection could go to help women in need of breast
cancer prevention and treatment services.