Building Your Family Tree with RootsFinder

To build your tree with RootsFinder:

1. Start with what you know

If you have a GEDCOM file but didn't add it when you signed up for RootsFinder, you can still upload it by starting a new tree. Otherwise, enter what you already know about your family. This gives you a solid foundation to work from and people to attach things to as you discover information from various sources.

2. Research your family online with RootsClipper

Next, install the RootsClipper browser extension. This allows you to research and build your family tree from multiple genealogy sites across the Internet. For example, if your family is from the United States, you might start with  USA collections from FamilySearch. If they came from Canada, you could use their Canadian sources. (Or England, or Mexico, or other locations around the world) 

FamilySearch is free and doesn't require a subscription, so we recommend you start there. However, with the RootsClipper extension, you're not limited to research on any one website. You might also search Find A Grave, which is also free, or if you have a subscription to other content providers, you can clip information from Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, American Ancestors, etc. and bring it back to RootsFinder. This allows you to do do research on any site without having to maintain a tree at that site just to get their sources. 

When you use RootsClipper, we pre-process as much information as we can so you can easily add information to your tree. We're "teaching" RootsClipper how to understand information indexed by different providers. If you come across a site we haven't indexed yet, you can still use the Clipper. You'll just want to add the source information, then add event information by hand, the way you would if you were adding it to someone's timeline. You can read more about adding events here:  http://support.rootsfinder.com/article/10-add-events-and-facts-to-a-timeline.

You can read more about how to install and use the RootsClipper extension here:  http://support.rootsfinder.com/article/13-adding-and-using-rootsclipper

3. Create a To-Do List with Leads

In addition to RootsClipper, you might want to make a to-do list of sources you want to search for information about your family at a later date. You can do this by creating Leads for people. (Read more about creating leads at  http://support.rootsfinder.com/article/16-creating-leads-on-a-person-page) When you create a Lead for someone, it will appear on their person page and also in the Leads list for your tree.