Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Dear Randy: How Do I Get a Descendants Chart on FamilySearch Family Tree?

After I wrote Checking Up on My FamilySearch Family Tree, I received an email from a reader who asked this question.  I had forgotten the process, so I thought it would be good to figure it out for myself and others.

I went to FamilySearch, signed in, and clicked on "Family Tree."  At the top right of the screen is a "Help" button, and when I clicked on it, there is a dropdown menu and a search field (I wish every help button had that!):


I typed into the search field:  "descendancy chart"  The Help Center page opened with a list of Help articles:


The first article for "Using the descendancy view in family tree" was at the top of the list:


The Steps to perform the task at hand are:

  1. In Family Tree on the FamilySearch website, click Tree.
  2. In the top left portion of the pedigree view, click the name of the current view (Landscape, for example), then Descendancy.
  3. (Optional) Click the number of generations to display.
  4. (Optional) To change the person at the top of chart, use one of these options:
    • To select an ancestor of the first person on the chart, click Expand, and then click the desired person.
    • To select someone who is listed elsewhere on the chart, click his or her name, then Tree. Then switch back to the descendancy view.
  5. (Optional) To expand or collapse the view of spouses and descendants of the root person, click the arrows.
  6. (Optional) To add a spouse or child, click the plus sign (+), and then select the appropriate option from the drop-down box.
  7. (Optional) To hide or show different types of information, click Options. Click the check boxes to turn information on and off. (Tip: Turn off the portraits to see more people on the screen at once.)
  8. (Optional) Although the descendancy view does not have a print option like the other pedigree views, you can still use your browser to print it. Simply press Ctrl+P. If you use Chrome, the chart prints in color with the icons. Firefox does not print icons.
Following the steps in the Fan Chart view (first image above), I selected one of my ancestors, Devier James Lamphear Smith (1839-1894), and "Tree" for him, the Fan Chart for him came up.


Up in the upper left-hand corner, I clicked on the dropdown menu for the "Fan Chart" and saw "Descendancy," so I clicked on "Descendancy" and then on "4" generations.  The resulting chart appeared:


And there is the Descendancy chart - it goes on for several more screens.

In the upper right-hand corner of the Descendancy chart is "Options."  I clicked on that and checked each box:

The different icons on the Options list are for:

*  Record Hints
*  Research Suggestions
*  Data Problems
*  Portraits
*  Spouses
*  Add People

You can see that there is a Record Hint icon for Abbie Ardell (Della) Smith.

Of course, this chart only shows the persons in the FamilySearch Family Tree that are not living.  Living persons are not shown, and persons who are not in the Family Tree are not shown.

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Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

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