GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunications. It is a text file format originally developed by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and has since become the defacto standard for data exchange between genealogy software and systems. Genealogists worldwide use the GEDCOM file format, regardless of faith, for integrating historical data into various databases. It provides a flexible and uniform format for exchanging computerized genealogical data, and allows you to share files with other researchers who may not use the same genealogy programs that you do.

The GEDCOM standard is being continually developed, with new features and functionality being added on an ongoing basis. At its core, the file contains a set of genealogy data in a structured text format; utilizing input fields and numbers to indicate the hierarchy and tags to indicate individual pieces of information within the file. The GEDCOM file can contain names, dates, marriages, and notes along with source information; though at this time the file cannot contain images (pictures, documents or scrapbook items).

A GEDCOM file will have a file extension of .ged (for example, yourfamilylist.ged). This is similar to how Microsoft Word documents end in ".doc", PowerPoint presentations end in ".ppt" and Adobe Acrobat files end in ".pdf". You may want to check your genealogy program's user manual if .ged is not showing up as the extension for your GEDCOM file.

As is always the case with technology, however, it's not perfect. For instance, different genealogy programs post "approximate dates" in different ways. E.g. some may use "Abt. 1725" only; others may show "Bet. 1723 - 1726". In general, if you have a GEDCOM file from some program that uses a different style for dates than the Web Biographies program, then all such non-specific dates may get discarded. If that happens, just log onto the biographies of the affected profiles and enter the dates into each persons Bio Summary manually.

Can I import GEDCOM files to my Web Biographies online family tree?
Yes! Simply click on the "GEDCOM" link in the "Tools" section and upload your file. And of course you will have automatic editing and administrative privileges on all the bio sites created for each person in your family tree, so you can add the biographical details (e.g. eyecolor, ethnicity, etc), stories, photographs and scrapbook items to enrich their history and your heritage. All of your hard work and research efforts have paid off as you now have a visual family heritage that the whole family can enjoy — both now, and for generations to come.