Why YOU want to use Wikitree

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Image from Wikitree.com "Wikitree, Where genealogists collaborate"

Why do you want to use Wikitree? Short answer is that it will make you a better genealogist, because you will be demonstrating 
all the parts of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). Each profile, ideally, will show your:
1. Reasonably exhaustive research.
2. Complete and accurate source citations.
3. Thorough analysis and correlation.
4. Resolution of conflicting evidence.
5. Soundly written conclusion based on the strongest evidence.1

Wikitree is feature-rich - this is just a short introduction. See Wikitree.com for more information. There are excellent videos on youtube as well a new project: WikiTree Academy. There is even a Help page for Wikitree itself: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:How_to_Use_WikiTree as well as a wonderful forum, G2G (Genealogist to Genealogist).

Wikitree Profiles

The heart of Wikitree are the Profiles. Each profile is a final resting place for your research, stories, photos, memories and related material about each person. Biography, research notes and source citations can be as extensive as needed to tell the whole story.


Space pages are available for One Name Studies, places and place studies, cemeteries, events and material such as wills, farm, village, church, pension, homestead, will and probate file which can be linked to multiple people. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Profiles


Profiles can have stickers and categories which make them easier to find. There are teams of people helping us make our profiles better, and often distant relatives find a profile which needs merging, or will ask questions about the person. I have happily turned over management of profiles to those who are related to people I had added because they married into my family. There are also tools like “data doctor” which fixes place names, etc. Teams also work on undated or unsourced profiles to find dates and add sources.


Wikitree Projects

If you are interested into volunteer work like this, of course there is a Help:Projects page too! Here is an Youtube introduction to my favorite project, the United States Black Heritage Project:





Wikitree Features 

Quotes are from the Wikitree.com main page.

"Together we're growing an increasingly accurate single family tree by carefully evaluating sources & incorporating DNA." There are no DNA uploads; just linking test info to your own or family members who have passed. Living people must link their own DNA information as part of privacy control. Help:How_to_Get_Started_with_DNA.

There are very fine tools available in a browser extension which enable you to easily create new profiles, add sources you have already found elsewhere, and to write a draft biography from the facts. This is a huge help when you have not written a story to place here. Help:Apps.

"Privacy controls enable us to integrate modern family history." This goes far beyond simply keeping the living private; it is nuanced in ways that enable collaboration while protecting the living. Help:Privacy

"Everything is 100% free including many benefits for genealogists and family historians who sign our Honor Code."


The Honor Code is my favorite feature.

Become a Member of Wikitree - sign the Honor Code.

1. https://bcgcertification.org/ethics-standards/


Valorie Zimmerman https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cowan-1504

PS: My favorite profile is for my mother, Lola McBee Cowan


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