Community Service Project Plan —
Build Someone's Family Tree
Step 1: Gather Available Family Details
You can go a long way and get a lot of information by simply talking to the person, along with their parents, children, etc. This alone may fulfill what you've set out to do for the person, or alternatively, it will give you a great foundation from which to continue your service.
Next, you can review any records they might have (e.g. family bible, photos with dates written on them, letters from relatives, etc.). You might be surprised how much information you can find on an old letter, or on the back of a fading photograph or tintype.
Step 2: Use Research Tools
If you didn't get as much information as you wanted in the first step, then use various online genealogy research tools to track down additional family members. Other resources can be found in public and university libraries. And local genealogy associations may have additional records you can request.
Step 3: Create an Account
Go to the homepage, click on "Register Now" and create a community service account for the person. If they don't have an email address, then simply use your own, since you are the one building and managing the profile for them.
After the "Congratulations" page the system will automatically take you to their "Bio Summary" chapter. You can then begin to add in their biographical facts. These include their birthdate and place, their ethnicity, the schools they went to, the organizations they belong to, etc. etc. Click the "Update" button, and you're ready for the next step.
Step 4: Add Family Tree Members
Now simply click on the "Family Tree" icon and begin adding various family members to the person's tree. Note that people are added in parent/child relationships, as the family tree is a chain which needs to be constructed link by link.
Step 5: Add Biographic Facts
In your research, you may have discovered important facts about various family members. These might include such things as birth date and place, their ethnicity, the schools they went to, the organizations they belong to, etc. Adding these to each person will enrich the family tree and help make it the place where the family heritage can be seen in wonderful detail.
To add the things you found for various people, simply click on their name in the family tree (doing so will auto-log you onto the person's profile), then click on "Bio Summary" to add their factual information along with a main photo for their profile. And, of course, you can click on any of the chapter tabs to add any stories you learned, and/or to add any details and source records which support the family connection.
Tip: Scan and add any photos, letters, census records, or other source documents you found, so they are part of the permanent record
Tip: It doesn't have to be in English — if the person, along with the majority of their family and friends, speak French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Swedish or any other language... well, then write in that language! Web Biographies' systems are constructed to accept any alphabet-based language, including special characters.
Step 6: Send Email Invites to Family and Friends
Click on "Invitations" in the left-hand column under "Tools" and send invitations to their family and friends.
Step 7: Let us know about it! Optional
Not all good deeds need to be noticed, which is why this is optional. But it's nice to be thanked, and it's great for us to know about the good things people are doing. So please take a moment to send us a note.
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