[Genealogy] Compile Your Tree Again, Genealogy OCD, and More
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Wed Jun 3 14:50:02 CDT 2026
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31 May 2026
** Please Compile Your Tree Again
** Consultations
** Genealogy OCD
** Full-Text Webinars
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Please Compile Your Tree Again
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[image: errormessage]Genealogists are human. They will make mistakes.
But there are mistakes that result from honest errors and careless typing
and there are mistakes that simply defy logic and reasoning.
We’ve all seen them and some of us allow our blood pressure to become
raised by their very presence:
- People having children in the 1700s when those people died in the
1600s.
- People reproducing at the age of five.
- People having children for a ninety-year time period.
- Geographic locations that merge places on multiple continents.
- Ninety year old men actively serving in battle
- etc.
It would seem that the online tree creation sites could include some
programming code to prevent such mistakes from being uploaded or at least
to require the compiler to acknowledge the woefully inaccurate nature of
such information. They could use a nicer error message than the image
included in this post. Most of the mistakes mentioned result from “file
merging” and “people merging” where the matches are not closely monitored
by the user and the process has been automated. Some of these mistakes
simply result from careless research. A few of these mistakes result from
typographical errors. Some of these mistakes defy logic including how one
person took a small village in northern Germany and moved it to Nova
Scotia. Trying to understand some mistakes is a never-ending rabbit hole I
prefer not to enter.
The easiest way for the researcher to reduce the chance of making errors of
this type is to think and critically analyze information as research is
conducted. It is to think and critically analyze information as it is
compiled to create a “person.” It is to think and critically analyze
information as it is compiled into a family group and it is to think and
critically analyze information as it is entered into a genealogical
database. It’s also helpful to draw out family relationships on paper and
type up conclusions in a free-flowing paragraph format before data entry is
started.
There’s a key here:
think and analyze
I really don’t care if you can quote the Genealogical Proof Standard or
not. I really don’t care if you know what a “reasonably exhaustive search”
is or not. If you think as you research, analyze what you find, are willing
to learn, and are willing to admit you might have made a mistake, that’s a
huge step in the direction of documenting your ancestors in the way they
deserve to be documented. And chances are if you’re serious about those
steps you’re probably already on your way to performing research consistent
with those standards anyway.
And isn’t telling your ancestor’s story honestly what they deserve.
Let’s leave the babies after death and 100-year old men serving in the war
to the zombie and vampire movies. That’s where they belong.
*Note: That’s me in the picture. I’m standing in a manure wagon. I’ll let
readers draw any comments from that on their own. Here’s some thoughts on
“Proving Genealogical Proof
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/?p=1145>.”*
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Consultation Sale
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What is a consultation?
It’s a chance to discuss your specific problem with a professional
genealogist, one who can look at your problem family with a fresh set of
eyes. It can help you get started if you are just getting started with your
research or continue if you’ve reached a point where you do not know what
to do. It’s like having a problem-solving class devoted to your family.
We’ll look at see if there any additional clues or leads in the records you
have already located and discuss what the next steps are in your genealogy
journey on your family of interest. It’s also a time for you to ask
specific questions about the materials you have found.
More details on our consultations page
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/>.
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Genealogy OCD
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These were originally posted in 2011 on our old blog, but they are still
applicable.
1) You check FamilySearch at 8 AM; 12NOON, 6 PM, and 9 PM every day for
updated releases or databases.
2) You’ve grabbed a green leaf on a real TREE thinking it was on your
Ancestry.com page.
3) Your family takes the long way places to AVOID cemeteries when you are
in the car.
4) You have seriously thought about HIDING in a library to get locked in
after it closes.
5) You spent more searching for your ancestors 1810 tax records than you
did preparing your own 2010 taxes.
6) You know more about your spouse’s ancestors than you know about your
spouse.
7) You would easily spend your entire vacation in a library.
8) You have already scheduled a vacation day from work for when the 1940
census is released.
9) The majority of pictures in your facebook photo section are of people
who are dead.
10) You’ve recognized yourself in at least half of these signs.
(sharing these is great, but please give credit….thanks!)
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Full Text Webinars
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Full Text Webinars
*Check out our offerings on full-text search at FamilySearch. Get the most
of it!*
*download immediate*
FamilySearch Full-Text Webinar
We’re excited to offer this revised presentation on the full-text searching
at *FamilySearch*--reflecting changes made to the site since this was
recorded in August 2025. We’ve redesigned our presentation as this
functionality continues to change. And…we have an extensive handout
complete with forms to help you find more people.
If you have purchased an earlier version of this presentation--email me at
mjnrootdig at gmail.com for the code to order this revision for $10.
Fully Utilizing Full-Text Search: Revised for 2026
Your purchase includes:
- *A 90 minute (or more presentation)* you can view as often as you want.
- *Detailed handout* with charts and forms to help organize your
searches. Charts and forms sent as separate files you can edit and
customize and not as a locked PDF you have to re-create yourself as a new
document.
We’ll be including and discussing:
*Determining what is in Full-Text Search—*what you can access at home and
what you will have to be in a FamilySearch facility or affiliate to access.
*Seeing How AI Transcriptions are different*—they aren’t like the
transcriptions made by humans. That can change your approach.
*Remembering that Full-Text means every word*—approaches need to differ as
we aren’t looking up a name in an index any more.
*Asking Who* is in the record? We aren’t just searching for the main person
like we did with traditional indexes. We’ll discuss how to determine who
could be mentioned in a record.
*Determining How to search?* There are a variety of ways to search and
filter results. We’ll see how each one works to help determine the best
strategy.
*Creating search strategies*—how full-text search changes your approach and
why just dumping terms in search boxes is not always effective.
*Determining what you found* The interface does not always make this clear.
We will show you how to get beyond the confusion and help you get enough
detail for a citation.
*Creating effective problem-solving approaches*—what to do when you cannot
find something you want.
*Demonstrating practical examples*—completely new people and families from
our previous presentations.
Available for immediate download for $30
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=246272&method_id=268990>.
Complete handout included and additional forms.
Common Names at FamilySearch Full-Text Webinar
*Overwhelmed by common names like Smith or Jones in your family tree? This
presentation offers advanced strategies and techniques to help you
effectively use FamilySearch’s full-text search and find those elusive
ancestors.*
Download immediately for
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=247700&method_id=270565>
$40–use
code common26 and save 30%.
*Full-Texting the Smiths and Jones:*
*Strategies for Common Names*
Using FamilySearch’s Full-Text search is easier when the name is relatively
uncommon. It’s more of a challenge when the last name is Smith, Jones,
Brown, or something similarly common. In this presentation, we will look at
approaches to maximize the chance you find that common-named person. No
approach is full-proof and we will not be so brazen to guarantee success.
No genealogist should ever do that.
What we will do is help give you some ideas and techniques to give you a
better shot at finding your commonly named person. We can lead you through
some examples and give you some ideas to modify to search for your own
people. *We will assume you’ve got an understanding of how full-text search
works*. This presentation will not cover the basics of using the full-text
search functionality of FamilySearch (you can watch our first presentation
for that—nearly two hours and an extensive handout
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/09/05/fully-utilizing-full-text-search/>
).
The Smith-Jones presentation will cover:
*Identifying all the key elements* that distinguish your ancestor from
others. Your ancestor is more than a name. Crafting as detailed an
ancestral profile as possible facilitates the construction of effective
searches and we will see how to elicit as many of those details as possible
from records you already have.
*Organizing a search strategy.* Making certain all relevant search
combinations have been searched is key to maximizing the chance you find
your commonly named ancestor. We will see how to create your own forms and
outlines to do just that.
*Tracking Results to Problem-Solve.* Searching for common names requires
the researcher to be as methodological as possible to make certain all
options have been considered. It is impossible to determine if all
effective means of search were used if negative results tracking is not
done.
*The Name’s the Thing.* Last names such as Bird, Lake, and Farmer have
their own issues as well. We will see some approaches that can help locate
these names.
*Case Studies*. We will look at sample case studies common-named persons.
*Please note*: *We can’t guarantee success*. What we can do is help to give
you tools to increase your chances of success with common names.
Order for immediate download at our regular price of $40
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HQM8799ZLWSQS>
.
FamilySearch Full-Text Problem Solving Webinar
This presentation assumes that you have a working knowledge of how to use
the full-text search at FamilySearch (order that presentation for $30
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=246272&method_id=268990>—download
immediate).
We will look at examples (ones not discussed in the original presentation)
and follow a consistent process and methodology to maximize the chance that
we find what’s available for the individuals in question. It’s important to
leverage all you know about an ancestor combined with the power of
full-text search—we will focus on: family members, migrations, and known
events and relationships. Our approach is systematic—we avoid the rabbit
hole approach that can make full-text searches inefficient.
Released. Pre-orders have been sent. Regular price $28
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=249265&method_id=272262>
.
Using the FamilySearch Catalog Webinar
Media file and handout released--nearly 60 minutes!
Order for immediate download (no streaming) for $24.00
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>
.
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>Normal
price is $28.00
Confused about what is on FamilySearch? Having difficulty knowing what is
online there and how to access it? This presentation will lead you out of
the confusion.
Contents will include:
Various ways the catalog can be searched–the six verbal ways (location,
title, keyword, surname, author, subject) and the two more numeric ways
(call number and film/image group number). We will see how to:
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effectively navigate the catalog search results,
-
determine how catalog materials can be accessed,
-
be aware of all geographic levels for a specific location,
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determine what indexes and finding aids are available
-
see how common record types are frequently cataloged,
Presentation made by Michael John Neill
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>
*Purchase for immediate download
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>*
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17, Henderson, IL 61439
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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