Nick Peers reveals how to use Family Echo to quickly put your tree online for others to access
Do you want to share your family tree online without having to worry about web-hosting costs or tying yourself to the likes of Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) or Findmypast (findmypast. co.uk)? The answer lies with Family Echo, a user-friendly and completely free website that not only lets you upload a GEDCOM file to publish an existing tree online, but provides a suite of tools that allow you to easily build family trees from scratch. You can then print a copy of your tree on paper or save it as a PDF, or give your relations permission to view your online tree and, if you choose, edit it as well.
You can take Family Echo for a quick spin by going to familyecho.com and uploading your existing tree in GEDCOM format to see how the website works. Note, however, that some functions like sharing and attaching photos to individual family members aren’t available unless you sign up for a free account; you also need an account to save the tree, otherwise it will be lost when you navigate away from the page. In this month’s article, we’ll show you how to sign up, build your tree from scratch and make use of the site’s many features – including sharing it with relations.
1 Set Up Your Account Open your web browser and navigate to familyecho.com – before doing anything else, click the ‘Sign In’ button on the far right of the menu bar. Select ‘Create new Family Echo account’, then supply a username and password for logging in, plus your name and email address. Click ‘Create account’.
2 Create A New Tree You’ll find yourself at your account screen. Click ‘Create or import new family’ to set up your first family tree; subsequent trees can be added by returning to this screen via the ‘My Account’ button at the top right. You’ll be shown a blank tree, ready for you to add the key information for the first person: yourself.
3 Enter Your Details Start by clicking ‘Edit my details’. Type your forename(s) and surname (present and at birth if applicable), along with your gender and birthdate. Leave ‘This person is living’ ticked, then switch to the ‘Contact’ tab if you want to add information such as email, phone number and address.
4 Add Biographical Data The ‘Biographical’ tab allows you to add your birthplace, plus personal information such as profession, interests and a generic ‘Bio notes’ field. Click ‘OK’ when you’re done. Now click ‘Add my photo’ to upload a headshot of yourself (maximum size 16MB).
5 Add Relations Use the buttons below you
