Recently I started trying the WikiTree site to store parts of my family trees online. I still store my complete tree in my genealogy program, GRAMPS on my PC, with backups in the cloud.
I’ve ignored WikiTree for some time, due to my misunderstanding of their “collaborative tree” idea. Now I’ve read up some of their tutorials, I’m starting to like it very much.
First, forget the idea of uploading your tree, and then searching for a tree member who appears in other trees. Yes, you can upload your GEDCOM. But WikiTree is about collaborating, so there’s only one profile page for a person, regardless of how many trees they belong to. So after your upload, WikiTree will produce a list of possible matches. You are expected to go through this list, checking to see if any are true matches. If so, you can ask to have them merged. If you’re sure they are someone new, you tell WikiTree to create a new profile.
Surnames from your GEDCOM are added to your “watchlist”; when another member edits a surname that appears there, you’ll be notified. You can check if it’s someone you’re managing – although only people you’ve added to your “Trusted” list for that profile can make changes.
Privacy is important too; there are several levels of privacy that can be assigned to a profile, with defaults that are put in place depending on factors such as living or dead. Managers can edit these levels.
Now I’ve updated my main website to show some of my WikiTree trees. I had used GRAMPS to generate my site, but I found it more complex than I really wanted, with more information than was wise or necessary.
You can add widgets to your main site or blog, showing various styles of tree, what you’ve been doing recently on WikiTree, or just an image linking to your profile. Only one drawback – my blog is hosted on WordPress.com, and iframes aren’t allowed, so I can’t include them in this blog. They do work on many other blogging platforms though, and if you’re hosting your WordPress blog somewhere else they’ll work OK.
Easter Family Genealogy 