FamilySearch Family Tree Tips

Published in the Logan Utah Family Search Library newsletter 26 Dec 2012  Vol 13, Issue 51

Source: submitted by Ann A.  to FHCNET mailing list, Oct 27, 2012 

I have a few tips for using FamilySearch Family Tree, things I have picked up as I have used Family Tree in the last few months. I  wonder if anyone would like to add to my list.

 1. If you want to use a book from books.familysearch.org as a source for someone in your Family Tree, be aware that the URL in the top of your browser is very temporary. You should be able to find a permanent link, however. Right now I see 'Copy Link' in the top right corner by the title of the book I just accessed. When you click on 'Copy Link' it opens the permanent link that you can copy by using Ctrl-C. Then you can paste it into the web page field of the source you are creating. 

2. Use the little 'Copy' button located beside 'My Source Box' on the landing pages of the sources you find in familysearch.org. This copies what has been indexed so you can paste the indexed data into the notes field in your source. It does not pick up household information on census records, however. 

3. If you find a source attached to one of your Family Tree ancestors that is not in your Source Box and you want to attach it to a relationship or to someone else, click on the title of the source you want, click on 'view' then add it to your Source Box as you would any other source you find on familysearch.org. The entire source, including notes will be copied and you will still be able to tell to whom and to which relationships it has already been attached. 

4. The link to the Family Tree Training materials, including the webinars on Editing Relationships, Sourcing and Merging is familysearch.org/tree-training. You have to be signed in to access them. 

5. Be sure to attach sources to your husband-wife AND parent-child relationships to prevent others from coming in behind you and deleting correct relationship data.

6. Record Seek is a useful tool for creating sources you find on websites other than familysearch.org and putting them in your Source Box. Go to  recordseek.com and drag the green 'RecordIt' button to your browser bookmark bar. When you have a landing page for a source in findagrave.com or even ancestry or whatever, click on the 'Record It' button you added to your browser bookmark bar and it will copy the URL, citation and a title into the proper source fields. I have used it mostly in Chrome but it should work in Firefox too. It does not work with Internet Explorer9.

Randy Seaver reminds us of "Books"

California genealogist Randy Seaver is the author of the "Genea-Musings" blog. He writes regularly (daily) and always offers relevant information for our research. His blog post yesterday reminds us of the excellent collection of BOOKS that are available at FamilySearch. You can read his helpful post HERE. 

Genealogies now at FamilySearch

In the FamilySearch blog today we read an article by Kay Merkley about the new "Genealogies" tab at Family Search. It's where you can find the information previously submitted to the Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File. You can read her story HERE. 

Geneaolgy Boot Camp

In today's Logan Utah Family Search Library's newsletter, we are reminded of an excellent course that is available at Family Search.org. This course introduces cutting edge tools that help genealogists preserve our family histories. Presenter Thomas J. Kemp discusses tools such as Google Books, GenealogyBank, Internet Archive, Scribd.com, Facebook, YouTube, and others. Check out this wonderful  free 27 minute video and slides HERE.

Family Tree Now Available to New.familySearch.org Users

A November 16th posting on the FamilySearch Blog tells us that the Family Tree is now available to users of New.familysearch.org. You can read the details here.

Learning "Family Tree"

Since New. famillySearch.org has migrated to FamilySearch.org and changed its identity to "FamilyTree", we have an opportunity to learn more techniques about using it. 
To learn how edit relationships go to familysearch.org/tree-training, log in and go down to the bottom of the page to the webinars and view the one on editing relationships. The other webinars are also excellent, as well as the videos and documents that are available.

Using Pinterest for Family History

For several months I've used Pinterest and have had some fun with it. I've created boards on different topics, one being "Genealogy". Here's a LINK to an article that shares many good ideas about how to use Pinterest to help us in our research of our family history. 

Try FamilySearch Family Tree

Family Tree is an upgrade from new.FamilySearch that combines the best features and data from new.FamilySearch and adds powerful tools for data accuracy, usability and collaboration. Many tools in nFS have now been disabled as the transition is made (separate, combine, possible duplicates, etc.). Now is the time to make the switch, if you haven't already. Although change is sometimes difficult, I think you'll be pleased once you give it a try! If you have questions you'll find excellent online training at this link. 

Source: Logan Utah Family History Center Newsletter, Nov 7, 2012, Vol 13, Issue 44

Why we should create a blog

Creating a blog is easy. It may also help you to break down brick walls and make connections with others who could help with your research. Creating short posts about various ancestors, mentioning names, dates, places, and other details helps others to find your information.

There are people interested in their genealogy who don't post to message boards, don't create trees at Ancestry.com, Geni,com, or the other sites. They simply put some names in the search box at Google or another search engine and see what comes up. Your "trees" on one of the tree sites probably won't come up.

Your blog just might. Some people will see your information and use it without contacting you. And others will contact you--just like at any other site.  IIn the last month, I've had three relatives contact me simply because they found an old blog post of mine. 
  
Consider creating your own blog. You can post weekly or monthly--daily is not necessary.

Source: Michael John Neil, Genealogy Tip of the Day, Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:51 AM PDT

FamilySearch Wiki Video

Online Photo Storage Options

I've been using Google Drive to store my photos and I use Picasa (a free Google product) to edit them. CNET offers a comprehensive article today on the options available to us for managing our photos. You can read it at this link: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57462902-285/comparing-the-best-ways-to-store-your-photos-online/

Family Tree Revolutionary?

Genealogist and blogger James Tanner offers a very good article on his Genealogy's Star blog about why Family Tree is revolutionary. You can read it here. 

Resources for FamilySearch Family Tree

Expert Genealogist James Tanner has written an excellent article at his blog 'Genealogy's Star' about the wonderful resources available to help us learn Family Tree at this link. We're grateful to James for making this list available to us.

Family Tree Updates

Today on his Genealogy's Star blog, James Tanner provides us with a very good update on FamilySearch Family Tree.

Family Tree Instructions

My genealogy friend Larry Cragun has written a good post on his blog that gives links to current training by Family Search for the Family Tree. You can find it here. 

Power Searching with Google

In his Online Genealogy Newsletter today, Genealogist Dick Eastman reviewed the recent learning opportunity offered by Google called "Power Searching with Google". I registered for the classes and attended the lessons as they were offered in July. They were Excellent!
Here follows Dick Eastman's recap of the classes:

Want to become an Google Expert? There is one organization that will show you how: Google.

Google used to conduct occasional live "webinars" that taught the finer points of using the search engine. In the past, you had to be seated at your computer at a designated time to participate in the live seminars. The company has now "canned" those lessons and made them available at any time of the day or night. There are six 50-minute classes, free for anybody to try.

The lessons include:

• Class 1 - Introduction
• Class 2 - Interpreting results
• Class 3 - Advanced techniques
• Class 4 - Find facts faster
• Class 5 - Checking your facts
• Class 6 - Putting it all together
• Power Searching with Search Experts Video
• Hang Out with Search Experts Video

The lessons are available as a video, in text, or as a slide show (in Google Docs, of course).

I'd suggest you take a look at the lessons. You’ll be pleased at how much easier it is to find what you’re looking for once you learn a few tricks.

"Power Searching with Google" is available at http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course.

An Inside Look at the Future of FamilySearch Indexing

Please click HERE to read a very informative article about the new features that will soon become available from FamilySearch to aid us in our research.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Take a look at the new page at FamilySearch for our next Indexing Community Project: 

Join the Community Project to Index Immigration and Naturalization Records

RootsMagic Free Classes Online

Tip of the Month: Free Online Classes

While this month's tip isn't exactly a tip on how to use a specific feature in RootsMagic, it is a tip on where to find tips on using RootsMagic.

Many of our users have taken advantage of our free online classes (webinars), but there are a lot of people we talk to that say they didn't know about these recorded webinars, or haven't gotten around to watching any of them.  That's a shame, because not only are all of these recorded classes free, they are also available 24-7, 365 days a year.

Have you wanted to know more about:

• RootsMagic To-Go (running RM from a flash drive)?
• How to publish a book with multiple chapters, index, table of contents, and more?
• What all the different reports offer?
• How to enter sources better, including census records?
• Techniques to search for information more easily?
• Creating a CD with your data and pictures that you can share with family?

Those are just a few of the 40 free online classes available.  There are even classes on how to get started using RootsMagic (creating a new file, entering a new person, etc).

And not only are these classes free to watch online, you can even download classes to watch when you aren't online, or to take and show in your RootsMagic user group, society meeting, or Family History Center.

To watch or download any of these free online classes, just go to:

http://www.rootsmagic.com/webinars

Editing Comes to Family Tree

FamilySearch Sign In

When  you sign in to FamilySearch, you now have the option to stay signed in for 2 weeks.  If you click the checkbox, you also get a warning to avoid using this option if you are on a shared or public computer.

Big News Family Editing Comes to FamilySearch Family Tree

 

FamilySearch is a moving target. No matter what you knew about it yesterday, you  need to look at it today to see what is going on. Here is a summary of the different parts of FamilySearch and the latest news:   

Family Tree is part of the biggest change being made to the FamilySearch.org website. Good news and waiting. Family Tree is the replacement for New.FamilySearch.org.  There are a series of incremental changes going on nearly constantly. For example, today I found that 

• marriage dates can be edited or deleted. 
• Family relationships can also be edited, such as biological, adopted, step etc. 
• You can also change the parents of a child. 
• You can also add a source directly to a marriage and a child relationship. 
• In short, all of the incorrect family relationships in New.FamilySearch.org can now be edited in Family Tree. 
• You can also add people to the database. 

I hope you realize how big this really is!!!  Get to work and correct your family!  This program isopen to anyone who wants to register (or who has already registered) by clicking on the Help menu and reading the instructions concerning how to sign into the program. 
  

Source: James Tanner, Genealogy's Star  

Family Tree Available to All

James Tanner, in his "Genealogy's Star" blog today, tells us: 
Family Tree is available through a link on the FamilySearch.org website, but you have to initiate the link before it will appear. The instructions for gaining access to the program on a PDF file called Gaining Access to the FamilySearch Family Tree (pdf). Here are the instructions: 


1. Go to http://www.familysearch.org/invite/familytree_tab.
2. Enter the required information in the fields provided.
Important: When you enter your user name and password, enter the same user name and password that you use on familysearch.org and new.familysearch.org. This lets you see your FamilySearch Family Tree and all of your changes as they appear in new.familysearch.org in the FamilySearch Family Tree.
3. Click Register.
The FamilySearch Family Tree appears. You are in the main position on the screen. To get to the FamilySearch Family Tree from now on, go to www.familysearch.org, and sign in. The link to the Family Tree appears in the upper-left corner of the screen, next to the FamilySearch logo. 

Family Editing Possible at Family Tree

Big News Family Editing Comes to FamilySearch Family Tree

FamilySearch is a moving target. No matter what you knew about it yesterday, you need to look at it today to see what is going on. Here is a summary of the (one of the) different parts of FamilySearch and the latest news:

Family Tree is part of the biggest change being made to the FamilySearch.org website. Good news and waiting. Family Tree is the replacement forNew.FamilySearch.org.  There are a series of incremental changes going on nearly constantly. For example, today I found that marriage dates can be edited or deleted. Family relationships can also be edited, such as biological, adopted, step etc. You can also change the parents of a child. You can also add a source directly to a marriage and a child relationship. In short, all of the incorrect family relationships in New.FamilySearch.org can now be edited in Family Tree.

You can also add people to the database. I hope you realize how big this really is!!! 

Get to work and correct your family!

Source: James Tanner at "Genealogy's Star" Blog Wed. July 11, 2012

Life After the 1940 Census

Thanks to the contributions of over 136,000 indexers, the 1940 US Census project is well ahead of schedule. Indexing and arbitration of all states is expected to be complete in July. The indexes for many states have already been published at FamilySearch.org. The remainder will be published soon. Volunteers are naturally concerned about maintaining their enthusiasm. FamilySearch is pleased to announce that following completion of the 1940 US Census, a major effort will commence to index US Immigration and Naturalization records. As the U. S. is a nation of immigrant families, this is a foundational element of American research. Many millions of these records are currently available as images in the FamilySearch collections, but now must be indexed in order to make them searchable. As with the 1940 US Census, FamilySearch will seek support from genealogical societies and the general public. Source: FamilySearch Blog, June 29, 2012

Dennis Brimhall on the Community Census Project

"By the world’s standards, this census effort has been an enviable example of “crowdsourcing” (the industry buzzword for the “many hands makes light work” philosophy). For us, it is another in a long line of group collaborative projects that promote our vision of creating and linking the best and most valuable research resources to help people discover who they are by exploring where they come from. We have been working collaboratively with volunteers, record custodians, and the general public for well over 100 years to make genealogy records more available," he said.

"Even if our sights were set on the swift and successful completion of the 1940 census alone, we would have to be grateful and excited. But imagine the possibilities of such a dedicated, trained, and motivated workforce as we shift focus from census records to immigration and naturalization records, and country-specific record sets like those represented by our Italy ancestor project. I hope it is plain to see the potential of our growing volunteer workforce and the impact you all can have on the present and future of family history," Brimhall concluded.

Read more: KCSG Television - UPDATE Family Search Volunteers and 1940 Census Project 

Online Learning Tools

Important Consultant and Leader Online Learning Tools

June 29, 2012 By dgreen 

There are several new online resources we’re pleased to announce. For example, a new Temple Submission Policies course that was approved by the First Presidency has now been released.

To access the course,

1. Visit familysearch.org/serve
2. Under the “Core Training” section, click Policies for Submitting Names for Temple Work

A second online publication that will be helpful to many of you is the Area Family History Adviser Toolkit Training. You will find it here.

Third, there are some new research courses (French, England, Brazil, etc.) in the Learning Center. Many consultants are still unaware of this resource. These can be found here along with nearly 500 other courses on how to use FamilySearch tools, indexing, features, and more!

FamilySearch Webinar 2

Today FamilySearch presented a free webinar that covers topics such as (1) using the new Source Box, (2) search techniques for finding your ancestors, and (3) using the International Genealogical Index. You can watch the webinar at this link:
https://ldschurch1.adobeconnect.com/_a784618764/p8322mlykxf/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

FamilySearch Webinar

Last week FamilySearch presented a webinar about their Historical Record Collection, the IGI and the Library Catalog. You can access it at this link: 

http://broadcast.lds.org/eLearning/fhd/Community/en/FamilySearch/Product_Webinars/Robert_Kehrer_-_June_21_2012/Player.html 

LDS Church History Library Catalog

After a year in beta testing, the online LDS Church History Library Catalog is now live. Check out this amazing resource-filled site, which includes thousands of searchable images in the church history collections and thousands of digitized family history books, and early publications and photographs. And that’s just a taste of what you’ll find by clicking in and exploring this fantastic open catalog today!


Keep in mind, this is NOT the Family History Library Catalog. It's the CHURCH HISTORY LIBRARY catalog, but does contain many collections that are useful in our genealogy research.

FamilySearch Search Tips: New Video

FamilySearch has prepared a new, very short video that offers excellent tips on how to do a productive search that will bring better results. You can watch it here:  http://bcove.me/z1xrksma

FamilySearch Statistics Today

Paul Nauta, Manager of Public Affairs at FamilySearch.org shares these current statistics with us via Randy Seaver's "Geneamusings" blog:

1. Number of searchable names from original source records in FamilySearch.org’s Historical Records Collections: Over 2.80 billion
2. Number of searchable names from user contributed records in FamilySearch’s Trees collections online: Over 500 million.
3. There are 1,164 historic record collections at FamilySearch.org. [as of 2 June 2012]
4. Number of browsable digital images of historic documents at FamilySearch.org: 560 million.
5. Number of hits on FamilySearch.org: Over 10 million hits per day.
6. FamilySearch Indexing is the largest community-based transcription initiative in the world.

• Over 200,000 active (index at least one project/year) volunteer indexers.
• Indexing 500,000+ arbitrated names per day.
• Over 850 million names indexed since the application was launched in 2005.
• Publishing over 200 million indexed names per year now (double entered, arbitrated).
• Over 130 current projects. New projects added weekly. See the current lists of projects at Indexing.FamilySearch.org.
• Search completed indexes and un-indexed images at FamilySearch.org.
• Indexing program is available in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish,Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish with more language interfaces and international projects coming.
• Greatest need is for native language indexers for international projects and volunteer indexing arbitrators.
• Many partners—historical societies, state, national, and religious archives—use it to improve access to or accuracy of their indexes.

7. 2.4 million rolls of microfilm (Search the catalog online at FamilySearch.org for more details)
8. FamilySearch is producing over 160 million new digital images a year from original source documents.

1. 100 million digital images a year created through microfilm conversion.
2. 60 million new digital images produced a year from new field captures.

9. 15 high-speed scanners are dedicated to converting existing films. Time to complete the digitization of the film collection is projected at 6 years.
10. 185 camera teams currently filming records in 45 countries (new field captures). Most are digital cameras.
11. Search digital images and indexes at FamilySearch.org. Millions added weekly.
12. 4,600 Family History Centers in 126 countries
13. Scanning digital books in cooperation with select public libraries. Search over 50,000 historic books at books.familysearch.org.     

The 1940 US Census, respective to FamilySearch activities, is:

• 1 of 1,173 historic recollections online
• 1% of total new digital image content we'll put online this year (1940 has 3.8 million images; we'll publish around 400 million images this year)
• From an indexing perspective, it is getting a lot of focus from our indexing resources. It is 130 million names indexed when done. FamilySearch volunteers will index over 300 million names (double key; arbitrated). So it represents almost half of the indexing production for the year (unless we can keep all of those new volunteers engaged in the other 100 projects in the queue currently!)

If you read between the lines of the last two bullets, you'll see that our active volunteers are indexing about 2 to 3% of the total digital content we're putting online each year. And we'll be significantly increasing the number of cameras in the field each year—which means more and more digital images published online yearly. There's a huge need for additional online volunteers to try to keep pace with the growing number of collections and digital images we're publishing. Digital images being published are far outpacing the actual indexing output.

Canon City Area Well Represented at Family History Expo

Judy Buchholz and Lureen Orchard

I was really pleased at the number of people from the Canon City and Florence area who attended the Family History Expo in Colorado Springs June 1-2. I wish I had taken a group picture, but I was too busy attending the wide variety of classes that were offered. I took notes in each class that I attended. If any of our Consultants would like a copy of my notes and have not yet received them, just email me at becky.jamison5@gmail.com.
I've written about my experience at the Expo and have posted some pictures on my genealogy blog "Grace and Glory."  

Ken and Lureen Orchard, Family History Center Directors with Larry Jamison

My Source Box New at FamilySearch

Family Search has activated a new feature called "My Source Box". Please click this link to read all about it. 

One Week until FHExpo in Colorado Springs

The Family History Expo in Colorado Springs, CO is just one week away. You still have time to register for $69. Registration at the door will be $99. However, if you can only attend one day, you can register for $59 for either Friday or Saturday. Consultants who only want to attend the FamilySearch Consultant classes will be admitted for free with the coupon that has previously been offered. (Contact becky.jamison5@gmail.com if you don't have one). 
The Opening Keynote will be given by Don Anderson. The Family History Expos site tells us this about Mr. Anderson: Senior Vice President for FamilySearch.In this role, he has the responsibility for the Patron Services organization including the FamilySearch Family History Library as well as the Worldwide Support organization.Don’s responsibilities include providing help to those searching for ancestors using FamilySearch, the Family History Library, Family History Centers, the FamilySearch website, CD software, and other resources. These are accessed worldwide via telephone, e-mail, and the Internet. Don’s organization provides services in more than 12 languages from more than 110 countries worldwide with an excess of 10 million interactions annually. In his role for FamilySearch, Don has traveled to more than 27 countries on five continents to ensure that services are available to those around the world searching for their ancestors. The resources of FamilySearch Patron Services are in more than eighty countries and include nearly two thousand individuals, both volunteers and employees. Don is married to the former Anne Russell and they are the parents of two boys.
Click on the picture above and go to the Family History Expos site to learn all about this year's Colorado Springs Expo. My husband Larry Jamison and I hope to see you there!

Story Chain: New Feature at FamilySearch

I just read about a new feature at FamilySearch.org called 'Story Chain". The Consultant newsletter tells us:
Our mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and neighbors found in the 1940 census are known as "the greatest generation." We all have special memories of those found in this important historical collection—now it’s time to record and archive those stories. FamilySearch is providing everyone the unique opportunity to remember and share with the world just what they feel made these people great. On this new FamilySearch site you can submit photos, scrapbook pages, stories, or links to videos and Facebook pages in their honor under the Who’s In It tab. You can also post information about How It Was living where they lived, as well as stories telling Where They Were during major events in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The power of this online experience is that you can start a family and friend “Story Chain” and invite others to join in the conversation! Read what others have written and share your stories here.

New Consultant Blog Format

You may have noticed something different about the Family History Consultant and Leader Newsletter—we’re now delivering it via a blog. That means we’ve created an online community where you can get ideas, share successes, and engage with others from around the world who share your same calling.
The blog is part of familySearch.org, but because of the spicific nature of topics, it is hidden from public view. To get to this valuable new tool, visit familysearch.org/blog/consultants, or follow the links in the monthly newsletter.
One category we hope you'll participate in and find extremely valuable is the Success Story thread. This month we're sharing a wonderful example of how one family history consultant involved the entire ward--adults, youth, and children--in a successful activity.
We want to hear from you about what's working and what you're thinking--so blog away!


By Matt Wright on FamilySearch Blog: http://goo.gl/HR36U

FamilySearch Blog: Sources for our Family Tree

Family Tree Update

May 22, 2012 By Matt Wright Leave a Comment

 

 

The Family Tree team has been really busy fixing defects and preparing for the release of several new features to help you better manage the relationships between individuals. Before we can turn those features on, we’ve got to finish the non-trivial task of moving all 1.25 billion relationships into the Family Tree. Yes, that’s over a billion! We have about 130 million left.

We invite you to begin using the Family Tree feature and let us know what you think. (If you need to know how to use this feature, click here.)

On Monday we pushed out a new release of the Source Box to the Family Tree. Let me highlight the new features as well as some upcoming features.

• Folders. You can now use folders to organize the sources in your Source Box. Folders are listed alphabetically, with the number of sources in each folder shown in parentheses.
• All Sources folder. The default folder in the Source Box is the All Sources folder. The All Sources folder shows every source in your Source Box, even the ones that you moved into folders. In a few weeks, the Source Box will have a column that indicates which folder a source is in.
• Attached link. The Source Box now indicates which sources are attached to the ancestor that you are working on. If the source is attached to the ancestor, it has an icon that looks like two interlinked ovals.
• Attach. When your Source Box is open, you can attach any source in it to the ancestor that you have been working on. Simply click the title of the source that you want to attach. If the source has not been attached to the ancestor you are working on, you see an Attach link. Click it to attach it to that ancestor. We are interested in your feedback on attaching sources. Do you like this change? Opening the source before attaching it lets you see the citation and notes, which can help you decide whether to attach it.
• Remove. Many of you asked for a way to remove a source from your Source Box and leave it attached to the ancestors that you attached it to. Now you can. Click the title of any source, and you can remove it from your Source Box. Now you might ask, “If I remove a source, how do I put it back into my Source Box if I need it again?” We will soon introduce a new feature that lets you add any source, no matter who created it, to your Source Box. With this new feature, you can add a source you created back into your Source Box. You can also add anyone else’s sources to your Source Box.

In about a month, we will introduce an easy way to capture data from any website, create a source, and add it to your Source Box without using copy and paste.

Source: FamilySearch Blog: https://familysearch.org/blog/family-tree-update/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FamilySearchBlog+%28FamilySearch+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Dig into this Genealogy Research Toolbox

Professional genealogist Thomas MacEntee presents many genealogy webinars. In a recent one he discussed the contents of his Research Toolbox and has made it available to the public. You can find it here:
http://genealogytoolbox.weebly.com/books-and-libraries.html
It's a good idea to bookmark this site and refer to it as you're wondering where you can find research help for your family history work.

What is to Come on FamilySearch

The "First Quarter 2012 FamilySearch Newsletter" was published today. You can read it HERE. The writer of the blog post tells us that the FamilySearch staff is currently engaged in focus group testing of (1) a new main page interface that allows for easier searches, (2) location of records, and (3) an improved new user experience! We can expect to see those changes by the end of June. And they tell us that Family Tree will be rolled out to ALL users by the end of 2012!
Take a quick look at the full blog post at the above link. As Consultants we should keep up to date on what's going on at Family Search. 

The following article was posted on the Family Search blog today. It's very important so I'm re-posting it here. 

Family Tree Access

April 27, 2012 By dgreen 3 Comments

Early Access to the Family Tree

As a family history consultant, you should be aware of the new Family Tree on FamilySearch.org that we will be releasing to the public in the next few months. At this time we would like to invite you to use it before it releases to the general public. We need your participation to help us make it better.

Please keep in mind that features and menus may change at this stage of development, as your experience using the program also likely will.

Once the features and functions are in place, the Family Tree will replace new.familysearch.org and will be freely and publicly available to all people around the world.

The Family Tree will let you:

• Connect and collaborate with others who share an interest in a common ancestral line.
• Add, edit, and delete relationships between individuals in the Family Tree. –Coming soon!
• Discuss and source vital family tree information to improve conclusions over time.
• Add specific ancestors to a personal “Watch List” to receive notifications whenever information about those ancestors is added or changed.
• Try out new features and functionality as they are added over the coming months.

Get started today! Please follow the instructions below to activate your account and help pioneer this new approach to family history.

First-Time Account Activation for Access to the Family Tree

To activate your current FamilySearch Account for access to the Family Tree, just sign in on the special access page. Go to http://familysearch.org/invite/familytree_tab to sign in using your normal user name and password. This will be the only time you will need to access this page.

The first time you sign in, you will be automatically redirected to your family tree section on the main FamilySearch.org website. That’s right. You will now be able to access your family tree information right on FamilySearch.org!

All of the information from new.familysearch.org has been conveniently added to the Family Tree, and any changes you make in either system will be available in both systems. Your family tree and other features can be accessed when you click on the Family Tree tab at the top left of the web page.

Once you activate your account, you can then access the Family Tree anytime you sign in to the FamilySearch.org website. Be sure to always sign in. If you are not signed in, the Family Tree link will not appear on the site.

Got a Question?

If you need help, contact Support at 1-866-506-1830 or support@familysearch.org. Please note that help for this program is currently limited to assisting you to access the Family Tree.

A complete user guide for the Family Tree is available online to help you get started. Additional support materials are being added regularly. Any time you need this information, just click the Help link on familysearch.org.

Your Feedback Is Important

During these initial stages of the Family Tree, your experiences, insights, and ideas will help us to refine the process. Please take the time to share your thoughts by clicking the orange Feedback tab found on the top right of the web pages. You’ll also be able to view the comments made by others.

We hope that you enjoy exploring the Family Tree and that you find much joy as you discover more about your family history. We look forward to you learning and championing this amazing new feature as it comes online.