1. Ancestry Family History Wiki
Any registered user can add pages to, and edit, a wiki. Ancestry’s how-to wiki is structured, with expert articles taken from Ancestry-published books such as The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy; Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources and Finding Answers in British Isles Census Records. Downsides here include fewer contributors than most other wikis, less geographic variety and older content.
2. FamilySearch wiki
A strong base of volunteer contributors means multiple voices on this how-to wiki. It covers worldwide research, provides helpful tools such as translated word lists, and links to records across the internet. Search from the home page for a place or topic, or scroll down for beginner tutorials. As with all wikis, some sections may be incomplete or outdated.
3. International Society of Genetic Genealogists
Here you’ll learn about DNA testing for family history. Enter your topic in the search box or browse the home page for links to beginner’s guides, testing advice for adoptees and comparison charts for selecting a DNA test. Got some DNA background and looking to learn more? Under Quick Links, click Popular Pages.
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4. WeRelate
Contributors here collaborate to build a single, unified family tree, with pages for more than 2.8 million people and 400,000 places. Register to add your tree; upload your family tree as a GEDCOM; and share documents, photos and stories.
5. WikiTree
More than half a million genealogists have contributed to this unified family tree, which now boasts nearly 18 million ancestral profiles (including living people, though they’re private except for invited people). Uniquely, more than 4 million profiles include information about DNA tests at various sites, which may help you confirm or reject your relation to that profile. See notes on other differences between WikiTree and WeRelate.
A version of the article appeared in the October/November 2018 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
FamilySearch.org, the free genealogy website from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is among the top online resources for family historians. Take this course to find your ancestors online.
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