Teams around the world are forming up to take on the challenge of adding more connections to the Wikitree family tree. Sure, it’s a competition with some prizes, must mostly it’s about having fun collaborating on making improvements to the tree.
What is Wikitree?
Wikitree is a free online family tree, where everyone contributes information to a single tree. The tree is formed by creating a profile for each person, then linking them to their parents, siblings, spouses and children. The Connect-A-Thon is all about increasing the number of linkages between people – i.e. connecting people to other people.
Anyone can access the tree and use the information for free. If you register for an account (also free), then you can amend the tree. More information here.
Why use Wikitree?
I have written before about five good reasons to use Wikitree, so I will not repeat them here. However, once you do use it, you will gain an appreciation for how it can help your research and also help you share the results of your research. Plus, it is fun, which gets me back to the subject of this post – the Connect-A-Thon.
About the Connect-A-Thon
The goal is to connect more people by adding missing relatives (non-living). All profiles must include at least one valid source, though more sources are encouraged. Each new profile must be connected to a profile already in the tree. For example, you can add spouses, children or parents to an existing profile. You can then add people to each of those new profiles. Points are assigned for each new connection.
Further information
Instructions for:
- the Connect-A-thon and links to join a team
- creating profiles
- adding profiles
- sources
If you are working on Australian profiles, you will find useful information on the Australia Project page
If you are a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists, come along to our free online information and planning session about the Connect-A-Thon on Tuesday 9 April. The session will be recorded, if you cannot attend live.
Feature image generated by me, using playgroundai, April 2024
