Genealogy Chat

I've just been going through shared trees and have discovered that if you let someone see your tree they not only can the tree but can also read all the notes that are made! I'm pretty sure that this wasn't always the case. Have just spent half an hour deleting all the notes. This is an intellectual exercise for the most part for me but there were some notes i'd made about fairly sensitive events that I didn't want people seeing! Am really annoyed! Carole

I think this just underlines the fact that we all have to be circumspect about the information in our tree when we upload to a public site................several things have caught me out, as well as having my tree 'stolen' and 'my notes' being passed on to all and sundry - in fact the person who 'stole' my tree tried to pass it all off as his own work until I told him that if he wanted to make that claim, it would be much more convincing if he removed all my personal notes and references!!! At the moment I have completely removed my tree and am working on a seriously pruned version to re-upload... Older and wiser.....well older anyway. Gail. x

I only ever add people to my tree manually and never put any notes on. I would not upload my GEDCOM for this very reason. It is a bit tedious but it does ensure that only what you want to be seen is there. Anne

Anything and everything you put on your tree can be viewed when you open your tree to someone. When i used to keep my tree on here (a long time ago now) i often updated it by the gedcom method, but i always created a gedcom without notes, just leaving the bare details such as name and dates. My experience of tree views was fraught with problems, mostly name collectors who couldn't even copy the details correctly anyway, never mind actually verify anything. They could offer nothing in return as they had usually not researched anything and just lifted whole trees from elsewhere unverified. Funny how they never know dates etc but seem to remember that so and so had a will and left £10 to an illegitimate son. They only get that because they read the notes section of another tree of course. Glen

I was completely shocked. I had some info on there that if certain members of my family had seen, they would questioned why it was up there for all to see. I also felt very queasy at the thought of complete strangers seeing it. I was under the impression that this would be private and for my viewing only - being called 'notes'. I was thinking about buying some software. Now I am def going to buy some.! I'm not particularly bothered about people copying names etc as at least I know whats what, and I've never seen the point in trying to get as many names as you can. What's important to me is putting the 'flesh on the bones' so to speak, getting background info and getting to know these ancestors. Carole

Sorry to but-in..... I found this out yesterday as well..like you I,m quite cross as it has stuff on there about my own young Children, is there a way to with hold this info???

As Glen has posted above, it is possible with FTM to create a Gedcom for uploading to here without notes at all. Alternatively, if you do not have offline software, do NOT post notes that you would not wish members to see.

I have no idea if you can with hold it but I would like to know this as well. i am right in thinking that this wasn't always the case? This is why I want to get proper software, it's helpful to have it all together, but i wouldn't trust GR with all its gremlins not to disply the notes in the future. Carole

I apologise in advance for the stupid question I'm about to ask... Can someone explain what GEDCOM files are all about? I'm a relative newbie to all of this and from what I've read on the boards I think I'm supposed to know about these! Carole

That's not a daft question. Gedcom is one of those words that causes people to have a slightly blank look. They sound like a mysterious thing only hardcore family tree nutcases would ever use. I posted a gedcom guide thread a while ago, i will give it a nudge for you. It might not tell you quite everything about them but it is a good starting point. I have a better version of the thread on another site, in amongst a useful Family Tree Software help section that is mostly centered around FTM (Family Tree Maker). Using different colours and fonts makes it easier to highlight the main points there than on here. The site is invite only at present but if you want an invite just pm your e-mail addy and i can send one out to you. Glen

You might well catch this from the other thread but in a nutshell if you were to buy say Family Tree Maker (FTM) you could put your tree onto FTM via a gedcom, it would save having to type every detail for every name on your tree. Saves hours and hours of work!! You would have to export your tree from Genes, it comes as an e-mail attachment (takes from an hour to a day to arrive from GR). Then save the file to your computer. Then open the file using FTM, by doing so you can then transfer everything, lock stock and barrel in one go, no manual typing and no worries about mistyping a date and it takes about 3 seconds to do.

Thank you everyone (esp Glen), I've copied the nudged thread for future use. Carole

I've changed the title of this thread as it appears that I'm not the only one who didn't know about this!! A bit of a relief to know I wasn't being a thickie! Carole

Glen, as general interest for those with FTM - could you explain how to create a gedcom from it without the notes added please.

Do you know, I've just uploaded my FTM gedcom and thought everything was dandy as living relatives are hidden etc etc. Then I realised the notes after looking at this post! Grrrr! Myf amily definitely would not have been happy with that and have just had to delete them all ( I think I got em all!) Not happy.... Thanks for this post as it will make people aware! Laura

Computer Skills Zero With regrds to your Children or any living relations you can with hold their information on your tree. Go into your My Account details and make sure you have yes marked for living relations This will halt anyone not getting names of living relations off your tree. Isobel

I went into the account page to tick the hide living relatives box, but it will hide people who do not have a death date in the past 120 years (I'd love to know what they've been taking if they're still alive after 120 years!) Which means I'd have to go through each person on tree and add a guess date as If I don't know when they died, I've not filled that bit in. But I still wouldn't like strangers to see the notes and theories I have about people who were around 150 years ago! they are notes, not complete facts - I used them to jog my memory when I was working on the tree itself. I think that shouldn't be available if someone is looking at your tree. I guess I feel slightly sick at the thought of someone being able to see the notes (you may have guessed that I have some fairly 'dodgy' ancestors!) Carole

My GR tree contains just names, together with a birth year and location - nothing else. If a GR contact wants further information I can release as much or as little as I want until a level of trust is established. Once that stage is reached I will share anything I have, including bmd certificates, wills and parish records. Barry

Even if you hide your living relations, do the notes still show? Laura

You have to be careful about birth dates of living relaives as these cld be linked to bank a/c details........ Roots Magic is a good software package but only buy the basic package as the deluxe version is full of stuff u don't really need.....Do other people like this package too? And at the risk of being controversial when I open my tree for people for people I'm happy for them to copy it.....sadly, most people are not that interested and I've yet to appear in anyone else's tree ;-) Una