Accepting Hints and Adding Information from the Clipper
RootsFinder is a free platform for family history. We work with partners to give you hints that will help grow your family tree from a wide range of sources. We’re constantly working to grow our hinting partner network so check back often. You’ll know how many hints we’ve found for someone by looking for the little green circle in their pedigree or in the header on their person page. The hints themselves are found on the right-hand side of a person’s profile page. To review and accept a hint, first make sure you’re using the Chrome browser and that you’ve installed the RootsFinder web clipper. This will save you having to do all the data entry manually in the event that you like the hint and want to add the information to your tree.
Click a title to open the card. Then click the link to open the page at the new site. You may need to log in. Many of these partners, such as FamilySearch, offer information for free. Some of them, such as Findmypast, require a paid subscription in order to view their full content. At RootsFinder, we’ll give you as many hints as we can find for free. Any subscription you may need to view partner records is completely separate from your free RootsFinder account, and any support you need for partner websites will be coordinated directly through their website.
Review the information provided on the page. Examine any images for additional clues. Then, if you decide you like this hint it and want to add it to your tree, click the clipper while you’re on the index page. It will be up here in your browser header. Be sure to do this on the index page where all the data has been typed so the clipper can read the html. Then review the data that was automatically extracted by the clipper. Start with the source. You may want to add any images that were associated by saving them to your computer then attaching them here. This way, if the site changes in the future you’ll still have your copy.
You may also want to verify the primary event information. This primary event will automatically be added to the timeline for everyone you tag.
Speaking of tagging people, the next thing you’ll want to do is tell the clipper where you want to file this in your tree. You do this by tagging here on tab 4, “People.” Review all the data, then tag it to people in your tree by typing their name and then selecting them from the list.
The clipper can only process what was in the indexed HTML, so if there’s any additional information you want to add, go ahead and do so here.
Click “Next.” This screen asks if you want to update the basic vital information like name, birth, and death date you see in the profile headers for anyone you’ve tagged. Slide the switch to update if you want to update anyone, then click save. The information will be added to the timeline for everyone you tagged and the hint will then be removed from your list. If you come across something you don’t like, use the trash can to delete it.
You can adjust your partner and hint settings at any time in the tree settings. Click the settings icon at the bottom of the toolbar at the left, then scroll down to the Global Tree Settings section.
The WebClipper works even without opening RootsFinder. You may also save records to one tree while another tree is open! Just be sure to select the corret tree at the bottom of the first WebClipper screen.