Monday 5 October 2015

Guest blog: Suzie Kolber - Choosing a Template for your Family Tree

If you are tracing family history, you need an easy way to record your information. While you may keep a vast file online or on paper for the in-depth details, a quick visual is ideal when you want to know the basics. A family tree template can be kept in plain sight and reviewed quickly to see which person you are currently researching.

Regardless of the reason you are doing research into your family, you can benefit from a family tree template. However, the one you select will vary based on the actual project, the reason behind it and how much information you are gathering. Here are some tips to help you choose the right template.
Why Are You Researching?

The first question you want to answer is why you are doing this research into your family history. If it is for a gift for someone or as a class project, you will want to choose a template that is stylish and displays the information in a decorative format. You may even want to choose a family tree template that provides enough room for photos.

For a project that is based on your desire to learn about your family history, you can select a simpler template. Choose one that allows you to record a few basic details such as dates of birth, marriage and death or locations. This eliminates the need to go through your research for every little statistic.
How Many Generations Are You Studying?

The template you choose will depend on how many generations you are including. If you are using the family tree as a gift for someone, you may only need a three- or four-generational template. On the other hand, you may want a ten- or twelve-generational template if you are studying it to learn more about your ancestors.

For those who make genealogy a hobby and want to trace their histories back to the Mayflower or beyond, you will want to break down your information into multiple charts. Instead of having one gigantic chart, you can use multiple six- or eight-generational family trees. This gives you more room to include important data and breaks down the vast amount of information into segments. It is also helpful if you have others helping you on the project.

These templatea are especially helpful if you are tracing your ancestry further back in time. As information becomes more difficult to find, you may have to abandon one part of the lineage and pick up with another ancestor. Keeping these family tree templates is a handy way to remember what information you have and which family members are missing.

A template for your family tree makes research more accessible and the process more enjoyable. It provides an important visual if you are working with kids, and is a great way to record all of the data you discover. Select the right template based on your needs and the goals you have for studying your ancestry.

Suzie Kolber created obituarieshelp.org  to be the complete online resource for “do it yourself” genealogy projects.  The site offers the largest offering of family tree charts online. The site is a not for profit website dedicated to offering free resources for those that are trying to trace their family history. 

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