If you are using Notion for family history research, you may notice how quickly your Home Page can become cluttered and crowded. Templates, checklists and research tools are useful, but they don’t all need to be on the Home Page. The solution? Create a dedicated Resources Page in Notion to keep your genealogy workspace clear, focused, and easy to navigate.
This is Post 9 in my Notion for Family History series.
Why have a family history Resources Page?
Your Home Page in Notion is the starting point or dashboard for your family history workspace. It should take you directly to the next step in your research workflow. It might include a few summaries or shortcuts, but cramming it with everything you use regularly can make it overwhelming.
Instead, store all those helpful extras like tools, templates, checklists, examples and shortcuts, on a separate Resources Page. Then add a link to it from your Home Page.
These steps assume you’re familiar with the basics of using Notion and have begun using it for family history research. If not, check out the earlier posts in this series.
Create a Resources Page
Option 1: As a sub-page of your Home Page
- Open your Home Page
- Find a spot where you’d like to place the link to your Resources Page
- Type /page to create a new sub-page
- Name it Resources, add an icon and cover image.
Option 2: As a main page
- From any Notion page, click on the new page icon (pencil in a box) in the lefthand sidebar next to your name.
- Name the new Page ‘Resources’, and add an icon and cover image.
I prefer Option 2, because it adds a link on the sidebar under your Home Page. However, if you use Option 1, you can add a link to the sidebar by marking the page as a favourite.
To add a ‘favourite’ link on your sidebar:
- Navigate to the page you want to link,
- Click on the star icon in the top-right corner of the page.
Set up your Resources Page
Use block formatting and columns to organise the content of the page in a way that works for you.
Use sub-pages to organise your resources
You don’t need to cram everything into a single page. Create sub-pages for different resource types. Here are some suggestions:
- Reading List
- Website Bookmarks
- Source Citations
- Notion Keyboard Shortcuts
- Notion macro buttons.
There are two ways to create your sub-pages:
Option 1: Add Pages Directly
- While on your Resources Page, type /page
Option 2: Use a Database
- While on your Resources Page, type /database – inline and choose ‘New empty database’
- Name the database
- In the first column, add each sub-page as a new entry.
You do not need to add any other columns/properties.
Why use a database?
You can create a gallery view of the database which displays your sub-pages as cards with cover images. This is visually pleasing and you can navigate to a sub-page by clicking on the relevant gallery image.
Create a Gallery view of your database
Any database can be shown in gallery view, provided you have added cover images to each page.
- Make sure that you have added a cover image to each sub-page.
- Click the tab on your database labelled Table.
- Click on Duplicate to create a copy on a second tab.
- A box will appear. Rename the new Tab to Gallery.
- Click on Layout and select the Gallery icon.
Recommended settings:
- card preview = Page cover
- card size = Small
Click outside the box to automatically save your changes.
You will now have two tabs in your database – one in Table view and the other in Gallery view.
More formatting tips for your Resources Page
Use a heading styles for each section. Then you can insert a Table of Contents to aid navigation within the page (type /toc).
Use Callout blocks to group common elements, such as your macro buttons. This makes it easier to copy and paste these blocks to other pages.
Use Toggle lists to collapse sections of text and reduce visual clutter — great for longer lists or instructions.
Add reusable checklists that can be easily copied and pasted to other pages in your workspace.
Add existing pages to your Resources Page
You may already have pages in your Notion workspace that should be sub-pages of your new Resources Page. You can move them to your Resources Page.
- Open the page that you want to move.
- Click on the 3 dots in the top-right corner and select ‘Move to’
- Select your Resources Page if you are not using a database, or
- Select your Resources Database if you are using one.
Add your Source Citations Database
If you have already set up your family history Source Citations Database, you have two options.
Option 1: Link it
- Do not move it. Just add a link on your Resources Page to your Source Citations Database page.
Option 2: Make it a sub-page
- Move your Source Citations Database to the Resources Page (see above).
While you could move the Source Citations Database into the Resources Database by first moving it to a new page, I advise against doing so. I suspect that it would upset relations between your Source Citations Database and your Research Notes Database.
A well-organised Resources Page in Notion can save you time, reduce clutter, and make your family history research more efficient and enjoyable. Keeping your checklists, templates and other tools in one dedicated place ensures that your genealogy workspace stays focused and easy to use.
If you are enjoying my articles, you may also enjoy my book – The Good Genealogist.
