Note: If you are new to The Family History Guide, this article will help you get in and get going, quickly and simply. If you are familiar with the website, you can use the points in this article to help others who may be new to the site.

Here are 10 questions and answers about The Family History Guide to help you get going …

1) What is the site about?

The Family History Guide (www.thefhguide.com) is a free learning and resource center for family history. It’s sponsored by The Family History Guide Association, a charitable non-profit organization. Visitors have accessed the site from over 150 different countries, and it’s approved by FamilySearch as a training resource. The Family History Guide is also Google Translate-enabled, so the site can be viewed in any of the 100+ supported languages.

2) How do I navigate and find things on the site?

You can get just about anywhere in The Family History Guide by using the top menu on each page. Hover over it, and you’ll see a series of drop-down menus to guide you around the site.

If you are looking for a particular item of interest, you can usually find it in the Topics page (Intro menu), an alphabetical linked list to hundreds of items. There is also a Site Map (Intro menu), which shows all menu items for the site at once. Plus, you can use the Search link on any page to do a custom Google search for content inside The Family History Guide.

3) What resources are there for beginners?

The Home Page has buttons that link to the Get Started and the 15 Minutes pages. The Get Started page helps you identify an area of interest in family history where you can get involved and find success. The 15 Minute page has links to a number of family history activities you can try in as little as 15 minutes at a time. These can be especially helpful if you have a busy schedule and are trying to fit family history into your life in a meaningful way.

4) How does the learning system work?

There are four “Learning Paths” in the top menu of The Family History Guide: FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. Each of these has seven or eight Projects you can work on. When you open a Project, you’ll see a list of Goals in the header area that show you the topics you can learn about. Select a Goal and you’ll see a number of Choices, each with step-by-step instructions for learning your item of interest.

There are also articles and videos linked inside the Choices, just where you need them, so you don’t have to go searching for what to do next. Also included are Summaries, Exercises, and Quizzes to help your learning go smoothly.

5) Are there activities for families and kids? 

Yes, there are over 200 family history activities in The Family History Guide, for families, individuals, youth, and kids. The activities are arranged by category, and most take little or no preparation to do and enjoy. There is also an index to the activities to help you find what you need quickly.

6) How does the site help me with my research?

The Countries menu points you to Project pages for over 60 countries, plus U.S. states, Canadian provinces, England counties, and Australian states. Each Project for a country is organized with Goals, choices, steps, and links to helpful articles and videos. Plus, there are QUIKLinks that take you directly to search screens for FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast, saving you time and effort.

Also, Project 4: Discover has great tips for beginners on organizing research and selecting lines to pursue, as well as advice for experienced researchers on how to maximize search results and break through research brick walls.

7) What about social media?

We have two Facebook groups; one is our general page, and one is for for trainers and consultants. We also have pages for Twitter and Pinterest, a Blog site, a YouTube Channel, and an Instagram page coming soon. There is also a Media page (Intro menu) where you can find free flyers, brochures, and handouts for The Family History Guide.

8) Is there an app?

There is no separate app for The Family History Guide, but the site is mobile-friendly. That means the website detects what type of device you are using—laptop, tablet, phone, etc.—and adjusts the menus and screen layout for best results. Speaking of apps, there are Projects in The Family History Guide for the FamilySearch Family Tree app and Memories app, and Projects will be made available soon for the Ancestry and MyHeritage apps.

9) How do I track my learning progress on the site?

You can use The Family History Guide Tracker. There is a Microsoft Word version where you can download template documents and take your own notes. There is also a more powerful Online Tracker that enables you to take notes online and move slider bars, so you can track your progress with each Choice in The Family History Guide. And the data is ready to access again each time you log in to the Online Tracker.

The Online Tracker is the only part of the site that requires a login and password. It also offers reporting capabilities so you can create groups from those who send you their email addresses and see reports that show learning progress over time.

10) Are there more resources than the ones included in Projects?

Yes, there is a Vault area that includes links to over 1,500 additional articles and videos on a wide variety of family history subjects. These are resources that are not as essential as the ones used in the main part of The Family History Guide but are still quite useful for further study. The topics are linked at the topic so you can find them quickly and easily.

We hope you enjoy The Family History Guide. It’s here to make your family history experience easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. If you like what you see, be sure to share it with those you know!