Lately, I find myself wondering how in the world I've managed to keep track of the things I've researched over the years. I have been very relaxed and free with my genealogy research items. I think I said in another post - do what I say, not what I do. Today, I'm thinking I need to bring it back to the basics and as I do that, I'm going to share with you what I mean by that. Today, I'm talking about color coding your family tree. WHY color coding? Many of us are very visually oriented people. When the meal you order at a fancy restaurant comes to you in a wonderful presentation, you will most likely love it, even if it doesn't become your most favorite food. When your desk is freshly cleaned and neatly organized, there is a new found sense of purpose and a fairly quick response to begin a new project that will make it all messy again. (Nooo, I absolutely do not mean my desk.) I don't care how you do your research. Are you traditional paper/pencil and notebook? Do you use paper forms and put them in a 3-ring binder on your shelf? Are you a digital genealogist? Any way you write it, you can color code it to make it easier to use. Color coding isn't hard. Anyone can do it. A lot of things say that about something, but this time I really mean it. All you need is the knowledge of what color to use. Quite some time ago there came about a lessor known Genealogical standard for use of color in organizing a family tree. It began with files and folders in a cabinet and a blog post for Family Roots Organizer by Mary E. V. Hill. Eventually, this caught on and began being used in other areas of research as well. Now, It is a process that few newer genealogist know exists but one that I highly recommend, and even more so now with online DNA match helping systems such as the one that Ancestry.com has. The basics are like this: Your Paternal Father's line is Blue. Your Paternal Mother's line is Green. Your Maternal Father's line is Red. Your Maternal Mother's line is Yellow. That's it. That simple. Now just add that to your regular routine and watch the difference that is made in recognizing lines and people. This image to the left is the options in MacKiev's Family Tree Maker (FTM) Program. The standard colors are available, and they give you a way to customize more colors for a variety of uses and expanding on the system. Here is a photo of my actual family tree in FTM with color coding being used. I've altered this method for "How" I research. Since the majority of my research is on my mother's maternal line, I've used the four standard colors for my grandmother's four grandparents lines. You can see I used non-standard colors for the other three branches of my tree because I designate these as my immigrant ancestor lines. They are all recent immigrants and a good portion of research takes place in non-US record searches. In this DNA example from Ancestry of the page where my DNA Circles are listed. By simply adding a colored icon (of your choice - doesn't matter what you use), and use it as a profile image of a Common Ancestor in your tree to other DNA Matches, then it will easily show you which of those circles goes where in my tree lines. In another tree- I've used colored heart icons. In some I've used one that is color coded and says "DNA Match" or "DNA Connection" and use them where I need to. It's all up to you how you use color to help you with things. There are all sorts of color coding helps out there and just this last week i recommended a Chrome Browser Extension called DNA Match Labeling that works in conjunction with Ancestry's website match list. I can add a colored dot beside the name of each person in the match lists so I can also see at a glance where holes in my research are or could be and what cousins are in the line for each branch.
If you're considering doing color coding in your paper files, I highly recommend a Research Planner by Memories in Time (memoriesintime.co.nz) which are color coded as well. I love these. But you can easily color code anything buy going to the nearest store and buying plain yard sale "Dots". They come in those standard colors and all you have to do is stick a dot on it! Whatever you decide to do out there, see what options you can come up with and experiment with what works best for you. Get out there and Enjoy those Adventures in Genealogy!
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AuthorMichele is an obsessed mother of 4 residing in North Alabama. Hobbies include long walks in the woods, on the beach and in strange cemeteries and libraries. Genealogy friends need only apply. Categories
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