Ever since Ancestry.com introduced Member Trees to its site in July 2006, the trees have continued to improve. One new feature and another coming soon will increase their functionality even more. First of all, beginning sometime in mid-December you will be able to export your Member Trees as a GEDCOM file. Second, if you created a family tree in OneWorldTree you can now migrate the names you added into a new Member Tree. This will allow you to enjoy the benefits of Member Trees, including better hints showing possible matching source records for individuals on your tree, and the ability to use the upcoming GEDCOM export feature.

EXPORT YOUR MEMBER TREE AS A GEDCOM FILE
Recently I got an e-mail from a user who had spent three months adding more than 4,200 names to his Member Tree. Since the holidays are coming up he wanted to print this information off as a Christmas present for family members. And with the new export option coming to Member Trees in mid-December, he can. By creating a GEDCOM file of his Member Tree and importing it into a tree-making software like Family Tree Maker, he can use any chart-making or printing options that software contains. He can also enjoy the security of having a GEDCOM file to serve as a backup of all the information he put online.

To export your Member Tree to a GEDCOM file, you will simply click the “Family Trees” tab on the Ancestry.com homepage and then click the “Export GEDCOM” link by the Member Tree you want to export. This link will be found under the “Manage Tree” link to the right of your tree. Watch for this new link to appear a little later this month.

When creating your GEDCOM file, keep a few things in mind:

1. The export includes all relationships, facts, events, notes, sources, citations, repositories, and attached records.
2. The export does not include photos and stories from your Member Tree, but will include notes with a Web address that will take you to those items on Ancestry.com.

MIGRATE YOUR ONEWORLDTREE INFORMATION INTO A MEMBER TREE
OneWorldTree is a large database of family tree information that has been combined from a variety of member-contributed family trees and other sources. If you have already created your personal family tree within OneWorldTree there is a new option on Ancestry.com you may enjoy: now you can migrate the information you added to OneWorldTree into your own Member Tree. By creating a Member Tree you will enjoy a few features not available to you in OneWorldTree. First, you will enjoy better organization for your research. Second, you will be able to use the upcoming GEDCOM feature to export your information as a GEDCOM file. Third, you will receive better hints alerting you if other members appear to have information on the same individuals or if there appears to be a matching source record available on Ancestry.com.

Migration is easy and can be accomplished in three simple steps:

1. Go directly to http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/learnviewmigrate.aspx.
   
   or
   
   Go to the Ancestry.com homepage and select the “Family Trees” tab. Click the “Learn more” link in the OneWorldTree section on the right-hand side of the page.
   
   
   

The individuals you have added to OneWorldTree will appear.


2. Choose the person you want to start your tree with.
   Select the individual you want to become the “home person” on your newly created tree. Remember that anyone you added to OneWorldTree that is connected to that person will also migrate.




3. Name your Member Tree.
   Ancestry will prompt you to name your new Member Tree. Type in a name, such as “My Paternal Line,” or “John Jones’s Family Tree,” and click the “Continue” button. (Deselect the checkbox if you don’t want your tree to be public, or viewable to other members of the Ancestry community. But remember that information for living individuals is never shown and that making your tree public can be a good way to share your research and expand your tree.)

When migrating your information in OneWorldTree to a new Member Tree, keep a few things in mind:

1. Names must be connected in OneWorldTree to be included in the migration. But you can add an unconnected individual manually later if you want.
2. Only names you have added to OneWorldTree will migrate—any edits you added won’t. However, if you later accept a hint from OneWorldTree and it contains a user’s edits, they will merge along with the hinted information.
3. The migration process leaves all your information in OneWorldTree intact.
4. You can migrate information from OneWorldTree multiple times.

And that’s it. Now you have your own Member Tree, and a link to it will appear every time you select “Family Trees” or “My Ancestry” off the Ancestry homepage.

ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF MEMBER TREES
If you haven’t already joined the nearly half a million Ancestry.com members who have created their own Member Trees, now would be a good time. You can organize your family information in one centralized location. You can add a photograph of the ship your relatives rode across the Atlantic or the love letter your grandfather wrote. Because the tree is online you can access it anywhere and invite others to see it. You will be notified if there appear to be other source records that match the criteria for individuals on your tree. And starting in mid-December you will be able to enjoy the benefits of exporting your tree as a GEDCOM file.

Jana Lloyd is editor of the Ancestry Monthly newsletter and associate editor of Ancestry Magazine. She can be reached at AMUeditor@ancestry.com, but cannot assist with personal research questions.