Improve Your Family History with The Good Genealogist

Maintenance, Sources and resources

AI Can Help You Use Family History Software

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Family history software is a powerful tool, but it can be confusing, especially when you are just starting out. There are a lot of features to learn. When something goes wrong, it is not always easy to figure out why, or how to fix it.

Most software includes a built-in Help system. Many programs also have online support pages, community forums, and printed manuals. These are useful resources, but finding the right answer can take time. You may need to read several articles before things make sense.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools offer a faster, more personal way to get help. Instead of sifting through pages of documentation, you can simply ask a question and get a direct, clear answer.

What Can AI Do for You?

AI tools can do far more than answer basic questions. Here is what they can help with:

  • Explain software features in plain language, tailored to your level of experience.
  • Provide step-by-step instructions for specific tasks.
  • Explain error messages: what caused the problem, how to fix it, and how to avoid it next time.
  • Suggest troubleshooting steps when something is not working as expected.
  • Combine information from multiple help articles into one clear answer.
  • Fill in the “why” behind instructions, not just the “how.”
  • Help you understand when and why to use specific features, reports, and tools.
  • Convert a PDF report exported from your software into a structured spreadsheet.

One of the biggest advantages of AI is that it is conversational. You can go back and forth, asking follow-up questions, sharing what you see on your screen, and refining your question until you get the answer you need.

What AI Cannot Do

It is important to understand the limits. AI tools cannot directly access your software or its built-in Help system. They work from publicly available information, which means they can draw on:

  • Help pages published on the software provider’s website.
  • Documents and manuals you upload directly to the AI tool.

This means your results will be better when you point the AI to the right resources, or provide them yourself. More on that below.

Also keep in mind that AI can make mistakes. Always review any instructions carefully before making changes to your data, especially when importing or editing records. And make sure that you back up your files regularly.

How to Ask AI for Help

Getting good results from AI comes down to asking good questions. Here are some tips:

  • Be specific. Name the software you are using and describe exactly what you are trying to do.
  • Describe what you see. Mention any error messages, unexpected behaviour, or screen details.
  • Provide the link to the relevant help page for your software. This gives the AI a reliable, accurate source to work from.
  • Upload files if needed. You can share a copy of your software manual, or a PDF report you want to work with.
  • Ask follow-up questions. If the answer is unclear, ask the AI to explain further or give an example.

Example Questions to Try

Below are examples written for Legacy Family Tree software. You can adapt these for whichever program you use. Notice that each question names the software and includes a link to the official help page.

How do I upload a GEDCOM file into Legacy Family Tree software, and does it need any fixing after doing so? Use the Help page on Legacy to answer the question and explain it for a beginner: https://legacyfamilytree.com/help/en/

How do I format place names in Legacy Family Tree software properly, and how do I fix existing ones that are not properly formatted? The help page on Legacy is: https://legacyfamilytree.com/help/en/

How do I delete events from Legacy Family Tree software without generating an error message saying it cannot have an empty line? The help page on Legacy is: https://legacyfamilytree.com/help/en/

These prompts follow a simple pattern: state the task, name the software, specify the audience if relevant, and provide the help page URL. This structure consistently produces better results.

ChatGPT’s response to my question about place name formatting incorporated Australian examples, as it knows that is a focus of my research from previous chats.

Using Your Software Manual with AI

Many software programs come with a downloadable manual. You can upload this directly to an AI tool and ask questions based on its contents. This approach works well because the AI has access to detailed, accurate documentation rather than relying on general web knowledge.

Most AI tools allow file uploads, though some have size limits. Check the tool’s settings or help page to confirm what file types and sizes are accepted.

Using NotebookLM for Ongoing Support

NotebookLM is a free AI tool from Google that is particularly well suited to this approach. You can create a dedicated notebook for your software, upload the manual once, and it will be there every time you return with a new question. You do not need to re-upload the file each session.

This makes NotebookLM a useful long-term resource, especially if you work with the same software regularly.

Converting Software Reports to Spreadsheets

Many family history programs let you export reports in CSV format, which can then be saved as an Excel file. However, I have found that this often results in formatting problems, with the text not placed neatly in appropriate columns. In the past, it used to take me some time to reformat the spreadsheet to my liking.

Now I just export the report as a PDF and ask AI to convert it into a properly structured spreadsheet. You do need to instruct the AI clearly about what you want in the spreadsheet, such as the columns. It also helps if you give it an example or an explanation of what goes into each column. This means creating a prompt and saving it somewhere for next time, so that you don’t have to go through the instruction process every time.

Here is an example prompt for how I convert a Potential Problems report from Legacy Family Tree software into an Excel spreadsheet, with an extra column that I can use to mark off as problems are resolved:

Convert the attached report to a spreadsheet format with five columns: ID, Name, Problem, Notes, and Resolved. In this report, each entry begins with a four-digit number followed by a name. Place the four-digit number in the ID column and the name in the Name column. The text in bold goes in the Problem column, and the remaining text of each entry goes in the Notes column. Leave the Resolved column blank. Start a new row for each four-digit number, with one row per problem.

You can adapt this prompt for other report types by describing the structure of your specific report.

Encourage AI to ask questions if your instructions are not clear enough. I used this response to revise my prompt for future requests to convert a PDF of the Potential Problems Report to a spreadsheet.
AI may even suggest improvements to your spreadsheet, if it understands what you want to use it for. Here is a suggestion I received from ChatGPT for the Potential Problems spreadsheet.

Which AI Tools to Use

Several AI tools are well suited to this kind of work. The most widely used options include ChatGPT (from OpenAI), Claude (from Anthropic), Gemini (from Google), and Copilot (from Microsoft). All of these can answer questions, interpret help articles, and process uploaded documents.

NotebookLM (also from Google) is particularly useful if you want to work with a specific document, such as a software manual, on an ongoing basis.

Most of these tools offer a free tier with sufficient capability for occasional use. Paid plans provide higher usage limits and access to more advanced features.

Try it out

Use AI to learn more of the features of your software and fix problems, to make your family history more accurate and more enjoyable. Try different tools with the same question and compare their answers, to see which one you prefer to work with.

About the Author

Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists. Danielle convenes the Society’s Legacy Software Users Group and the Source Citations Group and is co-convenor of the Society’s DNA Research Groups.

For more articles on documenting your family history, go to the Document page.

Sources and resources

WikiTree Sourcer: A Free Browser Extension for Searching and Citations

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If you need help finding more sources and citing them properly, WikiTree Sourcer might be the tool for you. It’s a free browser extension that searches for sources and generates source citations in seconds.

The extension was created for WikiTree, but here’s the thing most people don’t realise: you don’t have to be a WikiTree user to benefit from it. It works with several major genealogy websites, making it a versatile addition to your research toolkit.

What are WikiTree and WikiTree Sourcer?

WikiTree is a free, online collaborative family tree. Anyone can create an account and contribute. Each person on the tree has a profile linked to relatives such as parents, spouses and children. Profiles contain a standardised data section where details like names, dates and locations are recorded, and a biography section for narrative text.

Volunteers have developed browser extensions to make working in WikiTree easier. WikiTree Sourcer is one of the most popular because it supports both research and documentation.

What the extension does

According to WikiTree, the extension focuses on three goals:

  1. Search other genealogy websites for relevant records, using the details from an open person profile.
  2. Extract information and build a source citation from a record page on those websites.
  3. Search other sites for similar records. For example, helping you locate a free version of a source you first found on a subscription site.

Not just for WikiTree users

The name is misleading. Although the extension was designed for WikiTree, it can operate from a person profile on other platforms too. It just needs structured data such as a name, dates and places.

I have used it successfully from:

  • Ancestry, FamilySearch and MyHeritage person profiles
  • Civil registration index sites such as the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.

So if you research on Ancestry or FamilySearch and have never touched WikiTree, you can still install WikiTree Sourcer and use it to search for sources and generate citations from those platforms. That alone makes it worth trying.

A citation tool for everyone, especially if you struggle with source citations

Let’s be honest: writing source citations is one of the tasks genealogists often skip or put off. Formatting can feel fiddly, and it’s tempting to save “just enough” detail and move on. Over time, this leads to a tree full of unsourced claims.

WikiTree Sourcer removes much of that friction. When you are viewing a record on a supported site, click the extension icon and it will generate a formatted citation for you instantly. You don’t need to know citation rules or remember which details to include. The extension does the work for you.

The citations may not be perfect for your preferred style, but they provide an excellent starting point. You can edit them if needed. The key benefit is this: you’ll actually have a citation, rather than a vague note or nothing at all. That’s a significant step forward for anyone who finds citation writing difficult or time-consuming.

How to use WikiTree Sourcer

  1. Install the extension and pin it to your browser bar so it is easy to access. You will see a [1] on your bar when it is successfully added.
  2. Open a person profile. This can be a WikiTree profile, or a profile on another supported site such as Ancestry or FamilySearch.
  3. Click the extension icon [1] and choose the website you want to search. The list is customised based on the details in the open profile and the list of supported sites. For instance, if the person was born and died in New South Wales Australia, the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages will appear as an option.
  4. Open a record from the results. Click the icon again to generate a citation. You will be offered three formats:

Build Inline Citation – a citation wrapped in <ref></ref> tags for WikiTree footnotes

Build Narrative with Citation – a sentence summarising the record followed by the citation

Build Source Citation – the citation without WikiTree ref tags, ready to use anywhere

Here are some examples so that you can see what each of these options will generate.

Example of an Inline Citation with <ref> tags
Example of a Narrative with Citation, narrative is highlighted in this image for clarification
Same example, in the third format: Source citation without the <ref> tags

Note: You must be logged in to any subscription site in another tab before searching. The extension cannot bypass paywalls.

The citations are formatted for WikiTree by default, but the “Build Source Citation” option produces a clean citation you can paste into Word, your family history software or another online tree. Simply delete any remaining <br/> tags if they appear.

You can also create a citation without using the extension for the search step. If you already have a record open on a supported site, just click the icon and choose a citation format. This is one of the quickest ways to generate a citation.

Where it works and where it doesn’t

The extension works on supported websites and success depends on whether the page displays clear, labelled data that the extension can read.

It works best when data displayed is in labelled fields, like a name field, a date field and a place field. It is less likely to work when the same information is buried in a paragraph of text such as biographies on Wikipedia pages.

It does not work for non-supported websites or when you are working offline, such as viewing a family group sheet PDF or from inside desktop family history software.

A current list of supported sites is available on WikiTree.

My tips and observations

  • Watch for over-specific searches. When searching the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages from a WikiTree profile, for example, the extension tends to include middle names for both parents and child. Exact searches like this can miss entries. Try editing the criteria within that website and rerunning the search with fewer details.
  • It can find records you missed. The tool sometimes locates sources that I did not find with my own manual search, perhaps because it constructs the query differently. This is a good reason to use it even if you’ve already searched a site yourself.
  • Use it alongside your existing workflow. You don’t need to change how you research. Simply install the extension and use it when you happen to be on a supported site. Over time, you’ll develop a feel for when it adds value.

Why I find it useful

WikiTree Sourcer encourages broader searching across multiple sites and saves time by filling in search fields for you. This makes it easier to find more evidence to support your conclusions. More importantly, it promotes good documentation by generating source citations for you.

Even if you ultimately modify the format, having a ready-made citation reduces the risk of leaving a source uncited. And because it works beyond WikiTree, it fits into whatever research platform you already use.

Where to get it

Installation instructions and links to the extension are available on WikiTree

About the Author

Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists.

For more blog posts about source citations, see Citing family history sources – Generations Genealogy

Methodology

21 Ways to Improve Your Family History

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January is the perfect time to reset your genealogy practice.

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced researcher, committing to improvement helps you work more efficiently, build a more accurate family tree, and enjoy the research process more.

Here are 21 practical ways to strengthen your family history research this year.

1. Identify your master tree

Most genealogists maintain multiple family trees across different websites to access various research tools. This can become time-consuming and messy, if not managed properly. Choose one tree as your master. Prioritise keeping it up to date.

See: How to Manage Multiple Family Trees to Benefit Your Research

2. Conduct a Tree Health Assessment

Evaluate the strength of evidence supporting your conclusions using my Tree Health Assessment Tool. This helps you assess accuracy and completeness, and identifies where to focus your research.

See: Tree Health Assessment Tool

3. Make place names consistent and fix names of people

Start tidying your family trees with consistent wording for places and corrections to any errors in people’s names. Focus on your master tree first.

See: Resolving Place Names

4. Fix other errors in your master tree

Address any other obvious errors such as merging duplicate people.

See: Create an Accurate Family Tree by Fixing Errors

5. Review sources to check they are the best available

A key principle in good genealogy is using the best sources. It’s tempting to add the first sources you find. Take time to go back and verify you’ve used the best ones.

6. Look for more sources to strengthen your conclusions

If you haven’t already used the best sources, find better ones. If your Tree Health Assessment identified conclusions with insufficient evidence, search for more.

7. Reorganise your computer filing system

Good genealogists are well-organised. Improve your filing system so you can quickly find what you need, when you need it. [internal link to blog post 13]

8. Set up a regular maintenance time

Rather than trying to fix everything at once, schedule regular maintenance sessions to make improvements.

See: Maintain Your Family History

9. Improve your research planning

Good genealogists take a systematic approach to research. Make changes to how you plan your research. For ideas and tips, see Plan Your Family History.

10. Visit an archive or library in person

Many family history sources are not available online. Visiting an archive or library gives you access to a broader range of information.

See: Offline Family History Sources: Hidden Treasures

Shelf of old books in a library
Books I discovered in a library in Penzance, Cornwall, England

11. Add more FFANs to your tree

Sources about your extended family or friends, associates, and neighbours can provide additional evidence for your family history. Focus on those that may contribute useful information, such as DNA matches on lines with unanswered questions.

See: Broaden Your Genealogy Research: How to Use the FFANs Method

12. Get DNA tested for more evidence

DNA evidence can support or refute documentary evidence, helping make your family history more accurate.

See: Is DNA Essential Evidence for Family Historians?

13. Integrate Tree Health Assessment results into your research planning

Use your Tree Health Assessment results to prioritise which evidence you need to strengthen conclusions in your family tree or answer research questions.

14. Improve your skills in working with DNA evidence

Using DNA evidence well requires specific knowledge and skills. Find a group, read a book, watch YouTube videos. Whatever suits your learning style.

See: DNA program of the Society of Australian Genealogists

15. Take a course

Identify the skills and knowledge you need to improve your research. Find a course that will help you develop them. I teach genealogical research methods, but many other courses are available online and in person.

See: Online courses and programs at the Society of Australian Genealogists

16. Learn about different types of sources

Enrich your family history by learning about different types of sources. They may help you break down a brick wall or provide interesting new perspectives.

See: FamilySearch Wiki

17. Learn how to analyse and document evidence

Adding source citations to your family tree is just one way to document the evidence supporting your conclusions. Sometimes a citation is not enough.

For example, see More Than a Citation for DNA Evidence

18. Start using family history software

Online family trees are great tools, but family history software provides more complete documentation and additional research tools. It also lets you store your family history on your own computer, increasing privacy and data safety. If you’re already using it, learn about some of the features you’ve not yet tried.

See: Where’s the Best Place to Put Your Family Tree?

19. Try a different tool

Many tools can help with your family history. Go exploring! Two of my favourites are Wikitree and Notion.

See: Using Notion in Family History and Five Reasons to Use Wikitree

20. Read or listen to someone else’s family history

Other people’s research can provide information and ideas about sources to investigate or alternatives to explore. It may also inspire you to try different research techniques, tools, or approaches.

See: How to Use Other People’s Family History Research

21. Write up parts of your family history

Writing up your family history isn’t just about sharing your research, although that’s valuable. Writing also helps you process information. It may reveal new research leads, inconsistencies, and gaps.

group of young children dressed in their best clothes
Unidentified family photograph, from my maternal grandfather

Start Small, Build Momentum

You don’t need to tackle all 21 suggestions at once.

Pick two or three that resonate with you or address your biggest challenges. Build these into your regular research routine. Once they become habits, add more.

Small, consistent improvements compound over time. By the end of the year, you’ll have a stronger, more accurate family tree and more confidence in your research skills.

Writing by Gari Melchers
Methodology

The Scoping Advantage: Why You Should Review What You Know

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It’s very easy to get caught up in the thrill of family history research and keep pushing forward, but every now and then you need to pause and review.

Scoping is the second step in the process of family history research, occurring after you have established your research goals and objectives. But it is also the point that you should return to periodically, to get back on track.

Scoping helps keep your research accurate and focused.

The Purpose of Scoping

Scoping achieves three major objectives that significantly shape your research:

  1. Reviewing Existing Knowledge: You review the state of knowledge about your family history topic, including what you already know and, importantly, what other researchers might know.
  2. Reviewing What You Need: You review the information that you need for your family history.
  3. Reviewing Available Sources: You determine what other sources are available to provide additional information, especially if the information you currently possess is insufficient.

The Benefits of Reviewing Your Knowledge

While it may feel like a detour, scoping provides significant advantages and improves the quality of your family history.

1. Preventing Unnecessary Duplication

The most immediate benefit of taking time to review your research is efficiency: Scoping reduces the likelihood of unnecessarily repeating research that has already been done.

It is critical to remember that the answer to your research questions might already exist in information you currently possess, meaning a simple review could save you hours or even days of work. Taking another look at documents you already hold is always worth the effort.

Of course, sometimes repeating a research effort is necessary and worthwhile. Scoping can identify where that is required.

2. Ensuring You Have Solid Foundation Points

Beyond saving time, scoping protects the integrity of your research process and the accuracy of your family tree. Scoping informs your research plan so that you start from the very best place.

Scoping helps you avoid basing your research on faulty information or incorrect assumptions. By thoroughly reviewing and analysing what you currently know, you establish your solid foundation.

Refocus With Scoping

By undertaking a rigorous scoping exercise, you move closer to creating a good quality family history.

Return to the scoping step whenever you get stuck in your research. A fresh look at the existing information usually reveals new research leads.

You should also conduct a scoping exercise periodically on your whole family history, to help you refocus. While you are at it, you might like to review your goals and objectives at the same time!

Gather and analyse the sources and information you already have. Use my Tree Health Assessment Tool to identify the areas where your evidence is strong and the areas where it is weak. Use this to revise your research questions and tasks in your research plan.

Scoping is an essential part of the research process. By confirming what you know and pinpointing what you still need to find out, you ensure that every subsequent step you take is necessary and strategically focused, setting you up for success in uncovering your family’s story.

About the Author

Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists.

Using this article or the infographic

You are welcome to reproduce this article or the infographic for non-commercial purposes, provided you attribute the source.

Methodology

How to Manage Family History Tasks in Notion

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It’s common to feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of family history tasks you still need to complete. This article provides instructions for managing these tasks in Notion, to help you stay focused and plan your time effectively. No formulas required!

If you have not already done so, follow the instructions in my article, Manage family history projects with Notion, to set up a Project database, a Research Questions database, a Tasks database and a Notes database. Create projects for your grandparent lines, and some places and themes.

Then follow the instructions in my article, Develop family history projects in Notion, to add research questions, tasks and notes.

What are tasks?

Tasks are actions that are undertaken to answer a research question, test a hypothesis or provide information for a family history project.

Examples:

  • Order a transcription of the death certificate for William Milson, 1885/2378 (NSW, Australia)
  • Look for DNA matches with the surname of Kiesecker in their family tree
  • Get a list of townlands in Cavan, Ireland
  • Prepare a draft of chapter 3 of my thesis

Maintain your Tasks Database

Task management is more effective if you enter your tasks accurately and completely. It’s a good idea to periodically open your Tasks Database and check that tasks are assigned to one or more Projects and the other columns are also filled in.

Every task should be assigned to one or more Projects and one or more Research Questions.

Setting up Your Task Management Tools

Here are three useful views of the Tasks database. You can use all three, or just the one that helps you the most.

These instructions result in three separate views of the Tasks database.

three toggle headings for three different views of the Tasks Database for family history
Three separate views of the Tasks Database, within a Toggle heading that saves space

Another option is to add the second and third lists on different tabs on the first one, by clicking on the Plus icon and adding a new view. Then rename each tab appropriately. See image at the end of the article.

1. Create an Inbox

An Inbox is a place where you can quickly add a task to Notion with minimal details, and then process it later.

An Inbox is great when you are away from your computer and want to make a note of something you need to do before you forget. You can grab your phone, add the task to Notion using a macro button, and it’s done. It is also great when you are down the proverbial rabbit hole, find something interesting that is unrelated to your current project, but need to record it to deal with it later.

The Inbox captures tasks that have not yet been assigned to a Project.

Steps:

  1. On your Home Page, add a Toggle Heading called: ‘Inbox’ or ‘Research Tasks Inbox’
  2. Add a colour to that heading
  3. Open the toggle and add a linked view of the Tasks Database within the coloured section. Instructions are in my article: Manage family history projects with Notion.
  4. Click on the filter icon (three horizontal lines) and select Research Projects
  5. The Research Projects filter now appears under the title Inbox. Click on the down arrow to the right and at the top of the popup box it says ‘Research projects contains’. Change ‘contains’ to ‘Is empty’. Your Inbox now only lists those tasks you have not yet assigned to a Project.
  6. Keep it in Table layout if you wish, or change it to a List view. If you keep the Table layout, you should simplify it by hiding some of the properties (columns) using the Settings – ‘Property visibility’ feature.
Toggle heading in Notion showing where to insert a linked view database
Add a Toggle Heading, then colour. This makes it easy to see where to insert the linked view of the database to be within the Toggle.

An Inbox is meant to be a temporary holding place. Make sure that you check it now and then, and clear tasks by assigning them to Projects and completing the rest of the columns.

2. Priority list

Most family history research tasks will not have due dates, so you need a different system to clearly identify which tasks you should be working on first. If you followed my instructions in setting up your Tasks Database, you already have a property column called Priority. Now you can create a subset of the tasks that you have classified as a high priority.

Steps:

  1. On your Home Page, add a Toggle Heading: ‘High Priority Tasks’
  2. Add a colour to that heading
  3. Open the toggle and add a linked view of the Tasks Database within the coloured section.
  4. Click on the filter icon and select the property Priority.
  5. The Priority filter now appears under the title Inbox. Click on the down arrow to the right and the popup box lists all the priority categories. Select ‘High’. This linked view now only lists those tasks you ranked as a high priority.
  6. Optional: On a separate tab, repeat the process, but change the layout to List layout. By default this will just list the task name. If you wish to display the relevant project, change the Property visibility in Settings (top right corner of the table) to display the following properties: Name, Project.
a linked view of the family history Tasks Database in Notion showing high priority tasks in three views
Example of a linked view of the Tasks Database, filtered to show those tasks that are categorised as High Priority. Tab one is in Table layout, tab two is in List layout and tab three is in Board layout.

3. Due soon list

If you work on projects with due dates then a Due Soon list will be useful. If you have not already done so, add a Due Date property column to the Tasks Database.

Next steps:

  1. On your Home Page, add a Toggle Heading: ‘Due Soon’
  2. Add a colour to that heading
  3. Open the toggle and add a linked view of the Tasks Database within the coloured section.
  4. Click on the filter icon and add a filter for Status, then check ‘To Do’ and ‘In Progress’. This will hide any completed tasks from the list.
  5. Then add another filter for Due Date and select the time period you wish. For example, due this week or due in the next four weeks.
  6. Choose List Layout, then change the Property visibility to display only the following properties: Name, Due Date.
a linked view of the family history Tasks Database in Notion showing three different views on three different tabs
You can place the three views on different tabs if you don’t want to keep them separate.
This picture shows that combined format of three tabs and the Due Soon list is visible.

Read more about improving the quality of your family history in my book, The Good Genealogist.

Back to the Notion in family history page.

Feedback is Welcome

I’d love to hear how you are using Notion in family history. Please also let me know if any of my instructions are unclear.

About the Author

Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists.