How to Create a Simple Genealogy Chart

20 seconds. Seriously. This will take you 20 seconds.

(FYI: THIS IS AN UPDATE. TreeSeek launched a new website that makes it super easy to do this same process.)

1. Go to CreateFan.com.
2. Click Login, and enter your FamilySearch/LDS.org credentials.
3. Click Create.

Did you want more steps? Because that’s it. Seriously. It’s amazingly simple. I love it.

One cool thing: it now shows the birth date. It still doesn’t show the birth country, which I think would be sweet.

 

[HERE’S THE OLD POST:]

I’ve always thought genealogy charts were frustrating because of the way they branch out so quickly and go onto page after page and how you can never get a decent overview.

The genealogy fan I’m about to tell you about solves this problem. It’s a concise view of 9 generations. I love it.

Before you start, you’ll need an account with www.FamilySearch.org. If you need help creating an account, you’re going to have to google it.

Below I’ve listed two short lists of steps. And don’t worry, it’s actually pretty easy.

1. Go to New.FamilySearch.org.
2. Enter your FamilySearch username and password. Click ‘Sign In’.
3. Click ‘See Me and My Ancestors’.
4. Click the “Change View” drop-down, right below the FamilySearch logo, and make sure its set to “Family Tree.”
5. It should load your profile. On the upper right side, below your name, there’s a ID that will look something like this: J894-U82. Copy this ID (select it and press CTRL + C).

 

1. Go to www.TreeSeek.com.
2. Click the ‘My Account’ tab.
3. Click the big Family Search logo.
4. Enter your FamilySearch username and password, and click ‘Sign In’ (again).
5. Click the ‘Create Chart’ tab.
6. In the field at the top, paste the ID into the ‘Starting Person’ field.
7. Name the chart whatever you like.
8. Then select the type of chart you want. Personally, I like the colored 9-generation fan. It crams a lot of info into a very small space. But there are some other fun options if you want to mess around.
9. Click the ‘Create Chart’ button at the very bottom.
10. After waiting a moment or two, click the ‘My Account’ tab again. (If it’s not there, wait a while longer and then refresh your browser.)
11. You’ll see your chart listed in a small table. Click the red Adobe Acrobat icon to download the PDF of your chart. (By the way, make sure you’ve installed Adobe Acrobat already.)

To the people at TreeSeek, if you’re listening, I think it would be awesome if this chart showed birth year and birth country. I think these two facts are some of the most interesting parts of genealogy. Because then you can tie your ancestors to cultures and time periods. It really makes it come alive.

Let us know how you like this tip in the comments below.