Friday, June 3, 2011

Trying out the TreeSeek Charts

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TreeSeek is a FamilySearch certified affiliate that creates several types of genealogical charts.  They also are associated with Geni.com (see Geni Welcomes Real-Time Collaboration and TreeSeek as Latest API Partners).  A user must have a FamilySearch and/or Geni.com account and a family tree on the sites, in order to use it.

Since I was curious about the service, I went to www.treeseek.com and tried out the chart-making capabilities.  The site says:

"Finding the perfect chart to represent your genealogy can be a challenge. It was this challenge that motivated us to start creating these charts over 50 years ago. We began by publishing blank charts to be filled out by hand. These charts are still available at Misbach.org.

"Today we have attempted to make this easier by filling out the chart for you. We do this by obtaining your genealogical information from FamilySearch.org or Geni.com. The only thing you need to do is provide a starting point to begin creating your chart. You must have an account with either FamilySearch or Geni to use this service."

I used my newFamilySearch family tree, but I could have used my Geni.com family tree.  Unfortunately, neither of those is "complete" or "perfect" but they will serve as examples for my readers.

After signing in to my FamilySearch account, I was asked to Create a Tree:



 After several seconds, I was given the opportunity to select my own name from the database, or select another person (using the newFamilySearch person identifier number):



The screen says "Please be patient while we create your tree. It can take several minutes." It took less than 30 seconds.

The system went back to the first screen above, and further down the page is a link for "Create Chart" with the choices of "Fan - 9 generation," "Pedigree - 9 generation," "Pedigree - 10 generation" and "Name cloud."

I picked the "Fan - 9 generation" chart and clicked on "Create Chart:"


The nine-generation fan chart above is color coded for each grandparent, and is 33.5 inches wide and 22.5 inches high.  A full-scale portion of the chart looks like this:


The print is readable up close for the oldest generations.  Only names are shown on the chart - there are no dates, places, images or other text on the chart.

The nine-generation pedigree chart is another option, is 22.5 inches wide and 25.0 inches high, and is in black and white only (portion shown below):


The ten-generation pedigree chart is very interesting to me - it has the number one person in the center, the father's pedigree to the left, and the mother's ancestry to the right.  It is 36.8 inches wide and 18.8 inches high (for mine - yours may vary), and is in black-and-white, with the #1 person in blue:



The user can save these trees as images or PDF files, and can send them to be printed by Family ChartMasters and GenerationCharts.org.

Because my tree is not complete or accurate on either newFamilySearch or Geni.com, I've resisted the temptation to order a print of the Fan Chart. 

I really like the Fan Chart (and would love a 12-generation one, but that may be asking too much!) format, but would like at least a lifespan on the chart, and thumbnail images where available, and... 

The Fan Chart (with about 220 degrees included angle) is somewhat different from the ones in my genealogy software - the Legacy Family Tree 7 fan chart is only 180 degrees, while RootsMagic 4 and Family Tree Maker 2011 do not create a Fan Chart.  My guess is that one of the chart printing affiliates can accommodate me with a more complete tree generated by RootsMagic 4 or Legacy Family Tree 7.5 with a 220 degree fan chart design.

In the mean time, the main use that I have for the charts above are to see what I have in the newFamilySearch and Geni.com family trees - what needs to be added, and what's wrong (there is lots on the nFS tree).  It's a lot easier to see on a graphical image than on the small pedigree charts on nFS and Geni.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

It looks like a great tool, but..., I don't have the required FamilySearch account and on geni.com they have disabled the possibility of uploading gedcoms, so this service looks to be suitable only for a very limited number of people.