Heritage Album

What is the best web source for tracing your family tree?

I want to start tracing my family tree, using the web of course, in as much as possible. I'm looking for recommendations from actual users as to which service is better, searches more archives and records, visually simple to use, etc..

Public Comments

1. try http://www.ancestry.com/ It's a pay for use service, but it does save you time researching a variety of source records quickly and in one place.
2. do web knows your bloodline? NO! ask old relatives and go back to your community and ask old people! or else go to local office and dig for archives! good luck!
3. i would also say ancestry.com its £9.95p monthly subscription and that entitles to you to view original census documents and other things, really good site.
4. I subscribe to Ancestry.com, but it has a definite USA bent. Lots and lots of Brits have had good luck with GenesReunited. The Scottish Records Office has tons of data. All three are fee sites. The rest of this is a geneal answer I save and paste. It has free links. ========================== Someone asks a question like yours 1 - 4 times a day, sometimes in the Family category, sometimes in the Genealogy category, sometimes elsewhere. I paste this answer in. If you want to type in your name somewhere and get a 12-generation tree, skip the rest of this. I can show you where to dig, but you'll have to buy your own shovel and do the work yourself. Buying a shovel: If you get serious you'll need a genealogy program. Trying to do family research without a genealogy program is like trying to write a novel with a pencil and yellow pad, instead of a word processor. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is the market leader. Both cost around $29. The Mormons will let you download PAF for free. It is clunky, but it is free. You can sometimes find old versions of FTM or Family Origins (FO is the predecessor of RM) in bargin bins at CostCo. These may help get you started. They are large and free. http://www.cyndislist.com/ (240,000+ links, all cross-indexed.) http://www.familysearch.com (Mormon's mega-site) http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi (460,000,000+ entries, of varying quality) http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln= Surname meanings and origins http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html My own site: "How to Begin" United States only: http://www.usgenweb.net/ (Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.) (The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province) http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi (Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced".) http://find.person.superpages.com/ (US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins) United Kingdom Only: http://www.genuki.org.uk/ (Biggest site for United Kingdom & Ireland) http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ (Free Birth, Marriage & Death Records) Note: You won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book one. You will have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and maiden names somewhere besides the Internet. The free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Don't complain about advertisements. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
5. In the US I have found I go back to Rootsweb.com more often, I also us ancestry.com, but I have found that if it is census images I need my local library has a website that has a link to hertiagequest.com, because I hold a library card I am able to access this site for free. I also found that legacy.com has a wonderful family tree software to record all of your family in. Good luck on your quest..