 RootsTech 2026 wrap-up highlighting keynote speakers, genealogy innovations, and major announcements from the world’s largest family history conference RootsTech 2026: World’s Largest Family History Event Wrap-up If you don’t know what RootsTech is, it’s the largest family history and genealogy event in the world—celebrating family, connection, and discovery! RootsTech has certainly done it again! That was another fantastic, fun-filled three days. Somehow, they manage to top themselves every year. The RootsTech 2026 event, hosted by FamilySearch, has officially come to an end—but the learning certainly hasn’t. One of the best parts of RootsTech is that the experience continues even after the event. Most of the sessions, keynotes, and Expo Hall content remain available online, and you can revisit the sessions you saved to your playlist for up to three years. So, if you didn’t get to everything during the conference (and let’s be honest—no one ever does!), you still have plenty of time to explore more of the hundreds of sessions available. RootsTech: The Event of the Year, Once Again RootsTech began in 2011 as an in-person genealogy conference in Salt Lake City. Over the years, it has evolved into a truly global event. When the conference went virtual during the pandemic, participation exploded, bringing millions of attendees from around the world together to celebrate family history. Today, RootsTech continues as a hybrid event, combining the excitement of the in-person conference in Salt Lake City with an online experience that allows people from around the world to participate. And once again this year, it did not disappoint. My RootsTech 2026 FavesI attended virtually again this year, which meant I missed a few in-person-only sessions and events, such as MyHeritage’s featured session and connecting with some groups I belong to in person. But even so, I had an amazing experience! I absolutely loved everything about RootsTech—from the keynote speakers, the sessions, and the new theme song “Where You Belong”, to the Relatives at RootsTech feature, the Expo Hall, and the lively chat discussions happening throughout the event. Keynote Speakers All of the keynote speakers were fantastic this year, but a few stood out as my absolute favorites: Marlee Matlin The Academy Award-winning actress and author delivered a powerful and emotional message about inclusion and accessibility in family history. Her words were incredibly moving, emphasizing that representation of our ancestors is powerful—but true inclusion goes beyond that. I’ll admit, I even got a little emotional during her talk. José Hernández The Mexican-American engineer and NASA astronaut shared a powerful and inspiring story about perseverance, family, and dreams. His message about how family stays with you throughout life and shapes who you become was incredibly meaningful. Tara Roberts National Geographic explorer, author, and historian Tara Roberts shared her extraordinary work documenting slave ship wrecks and reconnecting descendants with their ancestral past. Her message about connection—to our ancestors, our communities, and our future selves—was deeply inspiring. The Emcees and General Sessions As always, Kirby Heyborne was a fantastic emcee, bringing energy and humor throughout the event. One of my favorite moments was during the final general session when he learned a simple Irish dancing shuffle live on stage! The final session also included a special performance by the Gardner Brothers, along with a beautiful live performance of the RootsTech theme song in dual languages. Other Favorites Some of my favorite parts of the conference each year are the:
One thing I did miss this year, that they didn’t have, was the Impact Forum, which has been one of my favorite parts of the conference in previous years. Those sessions are always incredibly powerful and meaningful. My Favorite Classes I attended quite a few classes during the three-day conference, and there were some truly excellent speakers and topics this year. Some of my favorite speakers and their topics for being very well organized, clear, concise, thorough, and excellent included: Angela Packer McGhie “The GPS in Practice: Examples of Reasonably Exhaustive Research” Kate Townsend “Planning and Organizing Research Findings for Tough Problems” Dana Palmer “Wanted! Seeking the Identity of Unknown Parents” Katherine Schober “The German Records You May Be Missing” Daniel Horowitz “Genealogy, Upgraded: AI and Smart Tools on MyHeritage” My #1 Favorite Session My absolute favorite class of the entire conference was: Kelley Conner Lear “Question Everything: Sharpen Evaluation, Avoid Assumptions, and Clarify Your Writing” This was not only a fantastic presentation—it was one of the best sessions on the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) that I’ve ever seen. GPS presentations can sometimes feel a bit dry, but this one was anything but. The slides were excellent, the presentation was engaging, and the approach to evaluating evidence was incredibly clear and practical. Honestly, her process deserves to be turned into a book—something like “The Simplified GPS.” RootsTech 2026 at a Glance Attendees Participation continues to grow year after year as the global genealogy community expands. Last year they had millions of participants from 235 countries and all 50 states join in person and online, much more than the year before, and I’m sure there were many more this year! Main Stage Highlights
Expo Hall The Expo Hall once again featured many of the biggest names in genealogy and family history technology, including:
Relatives at RootsTech 2026 The Relatives at RootsTech feature is always one of the most fun and unique parts of the event. This year, out of 372,999 participants, I had: 21,897 relatives at RootsTech! It’s always fascinating to see how many distant cousins are attending the event from around the world.  New 2026 Innovations and Tech I Learned About One of the most exciting parts of RootsTech, and what I look forward to the most, each year is learning about the latest innovations and technology shaping the future of genealogy. Here are some of the highlights from this year. FamilySearch FamilySearch continues to push forward with new tools and AI features. Some of the most exciting updates included:
Connect My Variant This innovative nonprofit focuses on connecting relatives who share genetic variants linked to hereditary diseases. Features include:
Goldie May Goldie May introduced a new AI Assistant designed specifically for genealogists. Its capabilities include:
Storied Storied continues to expand its storytelling capabilities. New features include:
Ancestry Ancestry announced several new AI-powered features, including:
FamilyTreeDNA FamilyTreeDNA introduced a new Family Finder test using full genome sequencing, offering deeper insights into ancestry and genetics. LifeWeaver LifeWeaver is a new platform designed to organize digital memories. It can weave together:
MyHeritage MyHeritage introduced several new tools as well:
A Few Final ThoughtsAs always, there was far more content than anyone could possibly experience in just three days. Fortunately, the playlist feature allows you to save sessions and organize them into custom playlists to watch later. Some helpful reminders:
See You at RootsTech 2027!RootsTech will return March 4–6, 2027, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. If you missed this year’s conference, it’s not too late to sign up and start watching sessions online for free. Discover Your Story—TogetherDon’t forget that family history isn’t just about discovering names and dates—it’s about connection. Genealogy brings us together with the people who came before us, the relatives we share today, and even those we have yet to meet. Every story we uncover adds another piece to a much larger picture that spans generations. Take time to explore your family’s past and the stories that shaped your life. Connect with relatives, near and distant. Preserve the memories, traditions, and experiences that define your family. Share what you discover so future generations can learn from those who came before them. Because family history is not something we discover alone. It is something we discover together. If you attended RootsTech this year, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below. How many Relatives at RootsTech did you have? What were your favorite sessions? Did you find any new tools or features you’re excited to try? Past Rootstech Event HighlightsSee what the past RootsTech highlights were and learn about past and upcoming events under the Genealogy Events category.
2/21/2026 Genealogy Book Spotlight: Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch by Dana Ann PalmerRead Now  Book Spotlight: Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch — A helpful resource for getting the most out of FamilySearch’s free genealogy tools As genealogists, we all know that FamilySearch can be both a gift and a challenge. With more than 20 billion records and billions more added regularly, FamilySearch remains one of the most powerful (and completely free) tools available to researchers. But power without direction can quickly become overwhelming — especially for beginners, and even for experienced researchers who may think they’re not using the site to its full potential. Recently, I received a copy of Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch by Dana Ann Palmer, published by Genealogical Publishing Company. Dana is well known in the genealogy education community, having taught for decades and presented at major conferences including RootsTech and the National Genealogical Society conference. Her background gives clue that this is a guide grounded in extensive hands-on experience.  Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch What This Book Covers The book walks readers through:
It is organized topically and is structured in a practical, step-by-step format — something many genealogists appreciate when learning (or re-learning) a complex platform. Why a Guide Like This Matters FamilySearch is constantly evolving. New collections are added. Search tools are refined. Collaborations expand access. Features change. Even seasoned researchers sometimes fall into the habit of using only a small portion of what’s available — maybe even sticking to the main search box and overlooking:
A focused guide that consolidates these tools into one organized resource can be especially useful for:
A Note on Audience This book appears to be well-suited for:
Because FamilySearch is free, learning to use it efficiently is one of the highest-return investments of time a genealogist can make. Final Thoughts While many of us have been using FamilySearch for years, there is always more to uncover — especially as the platform continues to expand. A dedicated, methodical guide written by an experienced educator like Dana Ann Palmer offers a way to strengthen your research approach and possibly discover collections or techniques you may have overlooked all in one place. If you are looking to deepen your understanding of FamilySearch or to build a more intentional research workflow on the platform, Ultimate Guide to Mastering FamilySearch may be worth exploring. Have you used FamilySearch in ways that surprised you? Are there tools you discovered later in your research journey that changed everything? I’d love to hear about it. More Genealogy ResourcesFind more family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
 FamilySearch’s AI Research Assistant helps genealogists discover new ancestors, records, and insights! At this year’s RootsTech conference, FamilySearch unveiled an exciting new experiment in their FamilySearch Labs: the AI Research Assistant. This cutting-edge tool harnesses generative AI to help genealogists discover new ancestors, find records, and even pull insights from the web. If you’ve ever wished for a genealogy assistant that could quickly scan your tree, locate records, and suggest new family members, this new feature might be exactly what you need! What Is the AI Research Assistant? The AI Research Assistant is designed to: ✅ Search your FamilySearch tree to find missing ancestors. ✅ Find historical records and sources from FamilySearch. ✅ Provide genealogical insights based on available records. ✅ Pull information from the web, offering new research avenues. How It Works: A Real-Life Test To see how well this AI-powered feature performs, I tested it on Margaret Brown, a suggested ancestor from my FamilySearch tree. I selected the AI-generated question: “Help me find genealogical information about Margaret Brown.”  FamilySearch’s AI Research Assistant: Example 1 The AI’s Results Within seconds, the AI Research Assistant returned a detailed genealogical summary, confirming: 📌 Full Name: Margaret Brown 📌 Birth Date: March 28, 1863 📌 Birth Place: Dalziel, Lanarkshire, Scotland 📌 Parents: William Brown & Janet Tennant (also recorded as Janet Jeannatt Brown) Here’s a screenshot of what the AI generated:  FamilySearch’s AI Research Assistant: Example 1-2 Even more impressively, the AI cited its sources, providing two records directly from FamilySearch’s collection:  FamilySearch’s AI Research Assistant: Example 1-3 These records were quickly retrieved from Scottish birth and civil registration records, verifying Margaret’s birth details and parentage. Beyond FamilySearch: AI’s Web-Pulling Power While the Margaret Brown example showcased how fast AI can find and summarize FamilySearch records, I wanted to test its ability to search the web for additional genealogy insights—a feature highlighted during RootsTech. I decided to run a search on a more recent ancestor—my father. The results were astonishing. In addition to pulling his birth index, death index, and 1950 census record from FamilySearch, the AI also retrieved a memorial post from my family’s Facebook page—where his passing had been announced. It even included comments from family members, friends, and the Facebook page followers under that post. This demonstrates the real power of AI-assisted genealogy: the ability to bridge historical records with modern digital footprints, uncovering information beyond traditional archives. How to Access the AI Research Assistant Want to try it for yourself? Here’s how to activate this experimental feature: 1️⃣ Sign in (or create) a free FamilySearch account. 2️⃣ On the right-hand side of your FamilySearch home page, scroll down to “FamilySearch Labs.” 3️⃣ Click “View Experiments.” 4️⃣ Find “AI Research Assistant” and click “Try It.” 5️⃣ Start exploring new insights into your family tree! Why This Matters for Genealogy AI is transforming genealogy research by making it faster, more intuitive, and more comprehensive. With FamilySearch’s AI Research Assistant, genealogists can: 🔍 Quickly identify missing ancestors in their tree. 📜 Find relevant records without manual searching. 🌐 Discover web-based family history clues, even from social media. 📝 Ask AI genealogical questions for deeper insights. This is just the beginning of AI-assisted genealogy. As FamilySearch continues refining this tool, we can expect even greater breakthroughs in how we uncover and document our family histories. Have you tested the AI Research Assistant yet? Share your experiences in the comments! More FamilySearch Updates, Features, and ToolsLearn about other FamilySearch updates and features to help in your family history and genealogy research under the FamilySearch category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page. More Genealogy ResourcesLearn about other family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
 RootsTech 2025: World’s Largest Family History Event Wrap-up If you don’t know what RootsTech is, it’s the largest family history and genealogy event, around the world, of the year, celebrating family! RootsTech has certainly done it again! That was a fantastic, fun-filled 3 days! They seem to top themselves each year! The RootsTech 2025 event, hosted by FamilySearch, has finally come to an end, but the learning has not. Did you know that you can still access RootsTech? Not only can you access almost everything in your playlist for 3 years, the sessions/classes, keynotes, and Expo Hall (just not the deals), but they are keeping your chats available (to copy down your info) for the year, and you can still access RootsTech Relatives for the rest of the month! So, if you want to view any of the more than 1,500+ RootsTech Sessions (most of the 412+ in-person and online sessions for 2025 and most of the other sessions from the past 3 years), Keynote Speakers or the Expo Hall, they are all still available, and will continue to be available! RootsTech: The Event of the Year, Once Again RootsTech began in 2011, in-person, in Salt Lake City, and for their 10th anniversary, had to get creative, due to Covid. RootsTech 2021 was such a hit going virtual and FREE three years ago, due to Covid, that they went from about 30,000 attendees the year before to over 1,000,000! It was so amazing that they decided to do it again for 2022, and once again broke their record to 3,000,000! Then, they really outdid themselves by going hybrid two years ago, keeping the virtual platform, they designed just to use with the 2021 pandemic event that reached the entire world, and combining it smoothly with an in-person event for those missing the in-person experience, in which they had over 4,000,000 attendees worldwide from 240 countries and territories! This year, hybrid as well, was no exception and was once again the most fantastic global, family discovery event of the year, genealogy or otherwise! My RootsTech 2025 Faves Although I joined virtually and missed out on just a few in-person only sessions and aspects like MyHeritage's featured session and joining up with groups that I'm a part of, I had a great time! I absolutely loved everything about RootsTech, from ALL of the keynote speakers, the sessions, the new RootsTech theme song, “Who I Am” and featured video, the Relatives at RootsTech, the Expo Hall, to the chat and more, all of it was fantastic! All the keynote speakers were amazing, but my absolute faves this year were designer and artist, Dana Tanamachi’s inspiring and emotional personal family history story and journey; activist, author, and missionary to youngsters to preserve their family history and stories, Ndaba Mandela’s powerful and meaningful message; and singer, song writer and YouTube content creator Ysabelle Cuevas’ inspiring personal family history story, that hit home, and her version of the theme song! My other absolute faves at RootsTech were the Innovation and Tech Forum and FamilySearch Global and Tech Forum, as always; the Impact Forum, especially photographer Mylo Fowler’s powerful and inspiring story and message; the beautiful rendition of the theme song that was song by both Tanner Towsend (who did the original) and Ysabelle Cuevas! I joined many classes and have to say my faves this year were the very well organized, clear, concise, thorough, and excellent speakers and their topics, Mindy Taylor and her topic “ Analyzing Evidence: A Research Game Changer”; David Allen Lambert and his topic “ Getting Started in Scottish Research” that covered information fill for ALL levels and Alice Childs and her topic “ Extracting Evidence: Strategies for Analyzing Genealogical Sources! RootsTech 2025 at a Glance Attendees:
Relatives at RootsTech 2025:  Out of over 460, 000 participants of Relatives at RootsTech...  I had over 30,000 relatives at RootsTech this year! New 2025 Innovations and Tech I Got to Learn About
I saw as much of the main stage as possible and joined quite a few classes, and I’m so glad that I can save the rest to my playlist for later; of course, there was no way to get in everything in just 3 short days! 😉
It was such a big hit once again that they’ll being going hybrid again next year! See you on March 5th of 2025! Don't forget to discover your past and those that came before, by including family, friends, strangers, communities, and the world! Discover those that have made the biggest impact on you, your stories, memories, traditions, and more, and preserve those memories for future generations so they can learn from our experiences! Discover how you can share your family history discoveries, knowledge, and resources to help others discover those that came before and who had the greatest impact on their lives! Discover you, discover connection, discover something new about your story and connect with it in a deeper way! If you missed the RootsTech 2025 event, you can still sign up for FREE online and view all the classes for FREE, at RootsTech! Don’t have an account? You can create your FREE FamilySearch account at FamilySearch!  FamilySearch's FREE Family Tree Keepsake Designs! FamilySearch now has quite a few templates to choose from to design a FREE family tree keepsake. I first came across their family tree templates, as one of their campaigns, back in 2019. Then in another campaign last year, they included a few more. The newest campaign now has 35 templates to choose from, with 2 of the 4 offered last year (1 being the original) as well as 33 more. These are great little keepsakes that pull your info from FamilySearch, up to 4 generations only, and automatically fills it. I found the 2 originals and a few others to be nice little keepsakes. You used to be able to manually edit the text in the templates as well, but you can no longer do that. Check out some of the results below and create a FREE family History keepsake of your own! FamilySearch Family Tree Keepsake Design Examples
You can create your own FamilySearch Family Tree Keepsake here: FamilySearch Tree Designs More Genealogy ResourcesLearn about more FamilySearch and other family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
 FamilySearch Updates March 2024: Historical Records Full-Text Search FamilySearch has just added new, experimental products to the FamilySearch Labs, with many using AI! One of these new features is a historical record full-text search, powered by AI, where you may unearth hidden discoveries in historical records that have never been searchable until now! As of now, there are only 2 collections included in the experimental FamilySearch Labs for this feature, U.S. Land and Probate Records and Mexico Notary Records, with more being added soon! Not only does it generate a full-text search, but it also gives you a full transcript, which is downloadable, with the original record! Check out an example below! FamilySearch Full-Text Record Search FamilySearch Historical Records Full-Text Search- Example 1 FamilySearch Full-Text Record Search & Full Record Transcript FamilySearch Historical Records Full-Text Search- Example 1-2 FamilySearch Full-Text Search Record Transcript Download FamilySearch Historical Records Full-Text Search- Example 1-3 If you’d like to try out this or any other experimental features, you must sign up first at: FamilySearch Labs Update (August 28, 2025): FamilySearch has now released the Full-Text Records Search to everyone under the main “Search” dropdown, with many more record collections added! You can read my latest blog on the update here. More FamilySearch and other Genealogy ResourcesLearn about other FamilySearch updates and features, along with more family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
 RootsTech 2024: World’s Largest Family History Event Wrap-up RootsTech 2024: World’s Largest Family History Event Wrap-up If you don’t know what RootsTech is, it’s the largest family history and genealogy event, around the world, of the year, celebrating family! RootsTech has certainly done it again! That was a fantastic, fun-filled 3 days! They seem to top themselves each year! The RootsTech 2024 event, hosted by FamilySearch, has finally come to an end, but the learning has not. Did you know that you can still access RootsTech? Not only can you access almost everything in your playlist for 3 years, the sessions/classes, keynotes, and Expo Hall, but they are keeping your chats available (to copy down your info), and you can still access RootsTech Relatives for the rest of the month! So, if you want to view any of the more than 1,500+ RootsTech Sessions (most of the 414 in-person and online sessions for 2024 and most of the other sessions from the past 3 years), Keynote Speakers or the Expo Hall, they are all still available, and will continue to be available! RootsTech: The Event of the Year, Once AgainRootsTech began in 2011, in-person, in Salt Lake City, and for their 10th anniversary, had to get creative, due to Covid. RootsTech 2021 was such a hit going virtual and FREE three years ago, due to Covid, that they went from about 30,000 attendees the year before to over 1,000,000! It was so amazing that they decided to do it again for 2022, and once again broke their record to 3,000,000! Then, they really outdid themselves by going hybrid last year, keeping the virtual platform, they designed just to use with the 2021 pandemic event that reached the entire world, and combining it smoothly with an in-person event for those missing the in-person experience, in which they had over 4,000,000 attendees worldwide from 240 countries and territories! This year, hybrid as well, was no exception and was once again the most fantastic global, family discovery event of the year, genealogy or otherwise! My RootsTech 2024 FavesAlthough I joined virtually and missed out on some in-person only sessions and aspects Like MyHeritage's featured session and joing up with groups that I'm a part of), I had a great time! I absolutely loved everything about RootsTech, from ALL of the keynote speakers, the sessions, the new RootsTech theme song, “Out of Time”, the featured videos, the Relatives at RootsTech, the Expo Hall, to the chat and more, all of it was fantastic! All the keynote speakers were amazing, but my absolute faves were Kirbey Heyborne’s “Welcome to RootsTech 2024” opening, the CEO, Steve Rockwood's keynote speech, which is always so powerful and thought provoking; and Sony Ambassador, Nancy Borowick’s powerful and moving documented story through images and speech! My other absolute faves at RootsTech were the powerful theme video, “Your Story Is Worth Remembering” ; the relaxed vibe of “Brick Wall Ancestors Need a Search Party”, even though it was for beginners, it was quite informative and fun; along with featured talks from Microsoft’s, Jared Spataro, Ancestry’s, Crista Cowan and MyHeritage! RootsTech 2024 at a GlanceAttendees:
Main Stage:
Expo Hall:
Relatives at RootsTech 2024: Out of over 300, 000 participants of Relatives at RootsTech...  I had 11,011 relatives at RootsTech this year! I had less than half of what I had last year, but that is most likely because I disconnected a lot of branches that others carelessly connected to the wrong people.😉 New 2024 Innovations and Tech I Got to Learn About
I saw as much of the main stage as possible and joined quite a few classes, and I’m so glad that I can save the rest to my playlist for later, in which you can now create playlist groups, as there is no way to get in everything in just 3 short days! 😉 It was such a big hit once again, that they’ll being going hybrid again next year! See you on March 6th of 2024! Don't forget to remember your past and those that came before, by including family, friends, strangers, communities, and the world! Remember to reflect on your life and those that have made the biggest impact on you, your stories, memories, traditions, and more, and preserve those memories for future generations so they can learn from our experiences! Remember to share your family history discoveries, knowledge, and resources to help others remember those that came before and who had the greatest impact on their lives! Remember, EVERYONE has a story worth remembering! If you missed the RootsTech 2024 event, you can still sign up for FREE online and view all the classes for FREE, at RootsTech! Don’t have an account? You can create your FREE FamilySearch account at FamilySearch! QuestionsI'd love to hear your experience at RootsTech 2024 below in the comments! How many RootsTech Relatives did you have attend? Have you saved your sessions for later yet? Did you take the time to chat and do any of the activities? Did you get to visit the exhibit hall? What were your faves? More on RootsTech and other Genealogy Events and ResourcesFollow more on the RootsTech Genealogy Conference in the Genealogy Events category, along with the Genealogy Resources category and my dedicated Genealogy Resources page! You can also find other fantastic events and resources there!
2/18/2024 Celebrating My African American Genealogy Connections with the BYU Relative FinderRead Now  Celebrating My African American Genealogy Connections with the BYU Relative Finder In honor of Black History Month, I thought I’d check out my African American genealogy connections in the BYU Relative Finder. I have a list of 47 connections, which you can see below. Take in mind that BYU uses your FamilySearch World/Collaborative Tree to generate the connections, in which most of us know that the results would then be only as accurate as what others have connected to the World Tree. 😉
I quickly reviewed a lot of the connections, in which the majority connect us by distant ancestors that I have yet to confirm. There were many, where dates just didn’t add up, like women having children in their 50s back in the 16th and 17th centuries. 😉 I have included a closer look at 2 of my connections, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. My Genealogical Connection to Martin Luther King Jr.According to the BYU Relative Finder and the FamilySearch World Tree, I am connected to Martin Luther King Jr. I have not confirmed anything past James West, born 1745.  My Genealogical Connection to Martin Luther King Jr. My Genealogical Connection to Rosa ParksAccording to the BYU Relative Finder and the FamilySearch World Tree, I am connected to Rosa Parks. I have not confirmed anything past John Robinson, born 1790 on the chart, in which I have 1788.  My Genealogical Connection to Rosa Parks These are still quite fun to look at, and when I have time, one day, in the far future, I may work on these connections to see how valid they really are, but with the collaborative tree, I won't hold my breath. If I find that I am connected to them in my family tree, then I am quite honored, indeed! 😊 You can check out your own African American connections, along with others, at the BYU Relative Finder on the BYU Family History Technology Lab Website. More African American Genealogy and Genealogy Resources Learn about more African American genealogy tips and resources, along with other family history and genealogy resources under the African American Genealogy and Genealogy Resources categories and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
 FamilySearch’s Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature! FamilySearch’s Fan Chart View Feature for Your Family Tree! Last week I had mentioned that Ancestry had just updated the way you can view your trees, with their new Fan View feature, in Ancestry’s New Fan View Feature for Your Family Tree! Many have mentioned that they cannot access, or no longer have access to, the settings/tools. I mentioned that this feature was in BETA, which means it could stay or go, it could be tweaked or added to, and more. While we wait to see if it will be a permanent feature, I’d like to bring up where else you can get this feature from, and for FREE! Did you know that FamilySearch has the same exact thing, and with more settings? That’s right (since about 2018, I think) FamilySearch has a Fan Chart View option for your family tree! If you’re lucky enough to have the correct info in your world collaborative tree, and you are one to add photos, stories, and more to that tree, then this is just as cool, if not more, than Ancestry’s. I do know that my info is correct for at least the first 5 generations (their default), and I’m sure many of yours are as well. You can see and work from your family tree in an aesthetically colorful fan view, making it fun to work on your family history and genealogy! Fan Chart Settings/Tools
Family Lines Fan ChartThe Family Lines Fan Chart Family Tree View setting is a colorfully aesthetic family tree view that is the default view. From here, you can get to the Fan View Settings and change the fan view, or the generations shown.  FamilySearch's Family Lines Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature and Fan Settings Birth Place Fan ChartThe Birth Place Fan Chart Family Tree View setting is color coded with bright colors that shows you all the birth countries of each ancestor. You also have an additional setting to highlight a specific country/birthplace.  FamilySearch's Birth Place Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature Sources Fan ChartThe Sources Fan Chart Family Tree View setting is, once again, color coded with a gradient color that shows you how many sources you have for each ancestor from least to most, letting you see where you are lacking. This can also be highlighted as well.  FamilySearch's Sources Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature Stories Fan ChartThe Stories Fan Chart Family Tree View Setting is also color coded with a gradient color, that can also be highlighted, that shows you how many stories you have added to your ancestors, from least to most. As you can see, I have none.  FamilySearch's Stories Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature Photos Fan ChartThe Photos Fan Chart Family Tree View setting is also color coded with a gradient color that shows you how many photos you have added for each ancestor from least to most, helping you see who you need some or more photos for. This can, again, can be highlighted.  FamilySearch's Photos Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature Research Helps Fan ChartThe Research Helps Fan Chart Family Tree View setting is color coded with bright colors that shows you Data Problems (such as missing a standardized location, a possible duplicate, and more), Record Hints, and Research Suggestions (like a possible missing child due to age gap, a possible other spouse due to age and other spouse’s death, and more) for each ancestor. I find this chart the most helpful. 😉  FamilySearch's Research Helps Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature Inverted Colors Fan Chart ViewYou can even invert the colors and print all of the charts out!  FamilySearch's Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature with Inverted Colors Tool How to Get to FamilySearch’s Fan Chart Family Tree Views
 How to Get to FamilySearch Fan Chart Family Tree View Feature To be honest, I don’t usually keep up with my tree on FamilySearch, unless I want to correct it for the purpose of printing out a family tree chart. Keeping up with a tree on too many platforms is a bit overwhelming, as well as working in a collaborative tree with so many making changes. 😉 They do have some of the best charts out there, and for FREE. FamilySearch is also my number one place to search for records, as I feel that they have the best search engine, and for fun activities. 😊 More FamilySearch and Genealogy ResourcesLearn about more FamilySearch updates, tips, tools, and features and other family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.
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Author, Diane HenriksHi, I'm Diane Henriks, a professional genealogist, speaker, author, investigator, and the founder of Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family who... Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family: Family History and Genealogy BlogI hope my family history and genealogy blog on genealogy research tips, resources, events, and more, along with my own genealogy journeys, will help you in your research and in building your family tree to learn more about your ancestors and family history to preserve for future generations to come! Categories
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✨ Commitment
Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family is dedicated to promoting family history and genealogy, while maintaining commitment to client care and professional service, and adheres to the Code of Ethics and Professional Practices put forth by the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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