Adding Facts and Sources to Your RootsFinder Tree

To add events and facts to a timeline, click the + button in the upper right corner of the timeline. Then provide answers to the options in the various sections of the "Add an Event or Fact" card as follows:

1. Type

Select the event or item type from the Vital Events, Miscellaneous, or Other Events/Facts sections on the card. The last option, "Other," allows you to select from less common other types, or make your own.
Click "Next" to go on to the Details section

2. Details

Add the date and place where the item was created or the event occurred. Note: the list of places (and jurisdiction levels) comes from the WeRelate Place Wiki. Please feel free to contribute additional locations, suggestions, or corrections there since it's an open community dedicated to helping genealogists around the world.
You can add additional specifications about the fact in the Fact Details field. For example if you selected "Occupation" in the event type section, you could add the specific occupation such as "Farmer," "Teacher," etc. in the fact details field.
In the Place Details area, you can add additional information about the location such as the specific name of the cemetery for a burial, church name for a marriage, or civil office where the document was issued.
Upload media. You can add as many images to the file as needed using one of these three methods:
- Clicking the "Select File" button, then browsing to find the file on your computer
- Dragging a photo from the file explorer on your computer and dropping the file onto the target square
- Pasting the photo from the your computer clipboard. This is especially useful if you want to copy an image you've found online or have open in another document. To do this, copy the image from your computer (ctrl+c), then click into the target square and paste the copied image (ctrl+v)
Add comments, notes, or a document transcription using the text editor tools in the "Notes/Comments/Transcription" area
Click "Next" to go on to the Source section

3. Source

As you enter information in the source fields, RootsFinder will create a citation for your record. You can use this citation or replace it with your own custom citation. None of the fields are required. You can copy and paste a citation directly into the Citation field if you choose.

If you would like RootsFinder to create the citation for you:

Add the author name and tile, collection name, etc. in the Source field. If your source has been added to the WeRelate Wiki it will appear in the drop down menu of sources.(See the source section of WeRelate for more information about sources cataloged there.)
If the item came from an online source, add the URL where your document can be found. Even if your source has been cataloged at WeRelate, you should put in a specific URL pointing directly to your document if you know it, since RootsFinder will generate a thumbnail and hyperlink which will allow you to jump back to your source from within the timeline.
Add the page number(s) or image number(s) within the collection
If the item you're adding came from an online source, add the date on which you accessed the image.
Click "Next" to go to the People section

4. People

Here you will add all the facts (evidence) provided in your item on one screen. For each person listed in the record, use the fields under "Who Appears in this Record" to add facts and relationships mentioned in the item.

Person's name: First, use this field to select the person from your tree you wish to tag. By default, the person whose timeline you're adding from has already been tagged here.
- If their name appears on the record the same way it appears in your tree, use the down arrow ↳ to copy the name to the "Name on Record" field.
- If the name is different, type the name as it appears on the document. Enter the first name, last name, prefix, and suffix.
- If the name is close to the way it appears in your tree, you can use the down arrow ↳ to copy the name down and then modify it slightly to save yourself some typing.

If there are additional facts to be added for this person, click the + next to "Add facts about this person from the record" to enter additional evidence.

Select the event type from the dropdown list, or add a new event type
Add the event date
Add event place
Add additional fact details like age, specific place like farm or building name, etc. as needed
Repeat for all facts to be added by clicking the + next to "Add facts about this person from the record" each time

If there are additional people you want to tag:

Tagging people to the record and adding facts about them allows the facts to show up on the timeline in their profile page. It's very efficient to tag everyone and add all their events at once, rather than adding separate citations for other people and events mentioned in the record. To tag additional people and add events (including relationships and their roles in the events):

Click the + next to "Add More People"
Enter this person's relationship to the person (or other people) you've already tagged. If you have more than one person tagged already, you can define theis person's relationship to other people by clicking the triangles next to where it says "[Relationship] ▼" "of [Name] ▼" then selecting the correct relationship and person.
To tag someone in your tree, start typing their name in the "Person's name" area. When their name comes up in the list, click their name inside the list to select them and tag them to the document. This will place the document and events on their timeline.
If someone you want to add isn't in your tree already, you can create a profile for them and add them to your tree seamlessly here. To do this:
- Type their name in the name area and make sure they aren't already in your tree. If they are already in your tree, don't add them again. Just click their name in the menu.
- If there's no match for the name you've typed in your tree, the word "NEW" will appear at the bottom of the list.
- Click "NEW" to create a new person the way you want their name to appear in the profile. Then use the down arrow ↳ to copy the name down into the First Names and Last Name, Prefix, and Suffix fields to make sure the name has been formatted exactly the way you would like it to be sorted.
Repeat until all people and events named in the source have been added.

5. Profiles

In this section, you can update the facts you want displayed at the top of the person's profile page. For example if the profile page name was incomplete, or the birth or death date or place was different, you can update them by sliding the "Update profile" switch for the fact you want to change. Note: this will not remove any previous evidence. It merely updates what you prefer to see at the top of the profile page. You can change your mind at any time by updating the profile page header.