Best Practices for Attaching Records to Your Online Tree | Ancestry

I find that these videos are even essential for someone like me who has been doing genealogy not as efficiently as I could have done for more years than I would care to admit. Crista always inspires me to do better and to incorporate ideas so my personal practices are in harmony with the best practices.

I like the suggestion about how to quickly attach 1870 records to other family members in the same household on your tree. That will save me a lot of time in the future!

Thanks so much for all these wonderful videos. I have been doing genealogy for a very long time, but you always show me a better way.

I firmly believe this is the single most important, informative, necessary video in all these Ancestry talks by Crista. And, of course, it is obvious she is indeed a national treasure for all of us who are into amateur genealogy.

Thank you so much Crista! I learn several new tricks that will be a big help. You do always teach the "best practices".

Wish I had found this video a year ago. The time it would have saved me!

In my opinion this video is the single best, most useful one in the entire series. The "right click and open in another tab" is the best (perhaps the only sure) way to attach a record (e.g., census info) to several different members of a family. Crista is great at this. Sometimes when you look at a census, you will find other members of your family living nearby, but they are not on the index view. I guess you could also open their name(s) in new tabs and add them that way too. Many, many thanks for this one, Crista.

You really help me with these videos. They make me feel like I can do it, and do it well. You help me feel like there is a best way, and there is no special secret - just deliberate, thoughtful, step-by-step progress. Thank you!

Awesome videos and educational. I do find lots of misspelling of surnames, and date issues. Similar unique names from same area within a few years of each other. Hunting for relatives is fun but tough.

I find that you can use the 'preferred' option to identify the version of the fact that you prefer, having weighed the evidence : but keep the alternatives as variants - grouping each variant with its sources. This is very helpful (1) for quickly seeing where the balance of evidence lies : especially when a new record is found, which might alter the balance; and (2) for seeing variations in names, or in the spelling of birthplaces etc (very useful in Wales).

This was very informative. I like the way you summarize and go over the information you give with a visual. I have a question. How do you add "sources" from other sites that don't give you a choice. I have been saving some in my shoebox (Family Search). bit other sites don't have a way to save to Ancestry.

Very useful information. Thank you! I would really like to know how I can attach records that I find on other genealogy sites such as FamilySearch and Find My Past. I've been saving them to my computer, but find it frustrating that I cannot save them directly to Ancestry. Is there a way in which to do this please? Thanks Crista. :)

Okay, these videos are absolutely essential for someone like me who is over-enthusiastic, but completely ignorant in the field of genealogy. In my over-zealous attempt to find all my ancestors, I've made a big mess of my tree. I'm 5 generations back, but I have untold numbers of duplicates and alternate facts, children who were born before their parents, etc. Would it be best to delete my entire tree and start over, knowing these best practices that I should have had the good sense to follow in the first place? Or any other suggestions?

Thank you for this video. I put a lot of Alternate names and dates in my tree, how to I clean them up and attach alternate information source to the fact. example the name is incorrect on a several census, how do I change the census source to point to the original name? (I hope this is clear.)

I want to add the 1930 Census to my Great Grand Uncle’s name. He is noted as the son of the head of household, but for some reason that information isn’t attached to his name on my tree

When you find a name has been misspelled and you edit it during the attach process, does that automatically correct the index or do you have to correct the index as well?

What if other people listed under head of household are not already in your tree? Does it add the person to the tree and automatically create the source? What relationships does Ancestry recognize and attach records for? Boarder, grandfather, stepson, lives with, etc?

I always wonder why the sound gets out of synch...  I find it a bit distracting to see Crista's lips moving differently than the voice comes out!

What do I do when it tries to attach a record to the spouse instead of the right person? That happens fairly often. It doesn't seem to let me make it the right person through the "not a new person," because usually the spouse was already in my tree.

When multiple census records prove to be about the same person is it necessary or beneficial to add them all to your tree?