Frequently Asked Questions

In the Name List view, click the button above and to the left of the names labeled, Adjust Columns and Sorting. If you do not see that button, position the mouse pointer on one of the column headings (like RIN or Name), then click the secondary (right) mouse button. From the quick menu that appears, click on Modify Columns or Sort Order.

Within the Name List View Column Options window that appears, in the upper-left box labeled Available Fields, click the plus sign next to General. Then, beneath the General item that just expanded, locate the items, NFS ID and Has NFS ID.

• Has NFS ID will display an X in the column for those individuals that have been synced and therefore have an associated NFS ID.
• NFS ID will cause the actual NFS ID to be displayed in the column for those individuals that have been synced. This is probably the preferred field to display, because the presence of the ID tells you not only that the person has been synced and therefore has an ID--but it also displays the ID, itself.

Under this newly expanded General section, click once on the desired field (such as NFS ID). Now, over to the right of this Available Fields section, you will notice two buttons. Click the one with the right-pointing ( > ) arrow.

The selected field now appears in the Shown Fields list on the right and it is selected.

To the right of this section, you may click the small Up or Down arrow buttons to position this field where you would like it to appear. This list, from top-to-bottom, represents the columns as they appear in the Name List, from left-to-right.

Once you have the field(s) as desired, click the OK button.

The desired column(s) will appear.

If you are using an Ancestral Quest database (that ends with the extension, .aq), there is a work-around that can help with this situation. Follow these steps:

1. Within Ancestral Quest, go to the menu bar and select Edit then Event Types....
2. In the lower-right area of the Edit Event Types window that appears, click the dot next to Individual, if necessary.
3. Within the list of events, scroll as necessary and click once on Confirmation (LDS).
4. Near the bottom of the window, click the Edit Type... button.
5. The Define Other Event window appears. In the lower-right portion, click the checkbox labeled Private.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the Initiatory (LDS) event.
8. Close the Edit Event Types dialog box.
9. Within the main screen of Ancestral Quest, go to the menu bar and select File then Export....
10. Select the desired Export Type for your file, and the desired Selected Individuals to include in the GEDCOM file, like usual.
11. Within the Include section, you can choose your desired options, but be sure to remove the checkmark from the options, Confidential Data and LDS Data.
12. Click the Export... button and proceed through the export process as usual.

Your GEDCOM file will not include any LDS Data nor any Other Event marked as Private, which now includes the Confirmation (LDS) and Initiatory (LDS) event types. Be aware, however, that all events, individuals, relationships, and notes marked as Private in your database will not be included within that GEDCOM file.

Ancestral Quest communicates with FamilySearch using a special ability called an API (application program interface). FamilySearch regularly updates their API to improve the system. Many times, the old system will stop working because of the upgrade. The result is that you cannot get into the FamilySearch tools using older releases of AQ.

How do I fix it?
Incline Software will develop new builds of AQ that address any API changes made by FamilySearch. All you will need to do is download and install the current version AQ.

You can check to see that the update was installed properly by performing the following:

1. Start up Ancestral Quest.
2. Go to the menu bar and choose Help > Check for Updates.
3. AQ will tell you whether you are up-to-date, or if an update is still available.
4. Click OK.

Once you do have the current build, you should be able to log in to FamilySearch through AQ just fine.

If, after installing the current build of AQ, you still have problems with the features that connect with FamilySearch, please contact Incline Software.

You can easily import the individuals and relationships from several generations of your family, but details like the Notes, Media and Sources will need to be brought over, individually, afterward.

The following procedure will help you, from start to finish, to create a new database in Ancestral Quest, add your name to the database, link your name in the database with your record on FamilySearch Family Tree, and then import the descendants and ancestors connected to your record from Family Tree into your local AQ database file.

You will need to download and install Ancestral Quest. If you have not done that, yet, go here to download the program: https://www.ancquest.com/dlagree.htm
Note: You do not need to purchase the full Ancestral Quest program to perform these steps. You can use the free Ancestral Quest Basics to get a feel for how things work before you pay for the full program.

Once you install Ancestral Quest, you will want to complete the following steps to bring the data from FamilySearch into your local database.

First Run of AQ, Entering Your Record

Now that the program is installed, we will start up Ancestral Quest, and create a new database, and add a record for yourself to your database.

1. After you have installed Ancestral Quest, start up the Ancestral Quest program.
2. AQ prompts you for the Version of AQ to use.
   • Click Use Ancestral Quest Basics.
   • Or, if you have purchased the program, click on Use Ancestral Quest and then type in the Registration Key that was sent in the receipt for your purchase.
3. AQ then prompts you for some basic settings...
   
   Most users will want the following options to have a checkmark next to them:
   • Capitalize Surnames
   • Use Skins (you can select a desired color scheme from the drop-down list)
   • Gender Icons
   ...and if you are a member of the LDS Church:
   • Enable LDS Ordinance Data.
   Then click OK.
4. Next, a screen appears, where you are asked about enabling the FamilySearch tools in AQ. The checkmark is already in the box to enable this, so just click OK.
5. A window appears asking how you wish to get started. Click on New.
6. Near the top of the Create New Family File window that appears, change the Save in option to the folder/location where you wish to store your family database file. You usually want this to be your Documents folder.
7. Once you are in the proper location, go down and click in the File name box. Type in a name for this database. Quite often you will use your surname at birth, or the surname of the main ancestral line of this file, but you can call it anything you want.
8. Once you have entered the desired file name, click the Create button. You should now see an empty database in AQ's Pedigree view.
9. Within the blank Pedigree chart that appears, click in the box on the left, where it says "Add 1st Person (Usually Yourself)."
10. Type your name into the appropriate boxes at the top (if you are female, you will use your maiden name), and then select your gender. You do not need to enter any more details because FamilySearch will have them.
11. Click on Save.
12. You are returned to the main screen of Ancestral Quest, to the Family view. Your name is now on the screen, in the primary position, and you are ready to link your name you just entered into AQ with your record out on FamilySearch.

***

Link Your Record to FamilySearch

In order to download information about your ancestors, Ancestral Quest needs to have a link between the record of you in your database and the record of you on FamilySearch. We will link your record with the following steps.

1. You should be on the Family view with your record selected (it will be in a blue highlighted box).
2. Go to the menu bar and click on FamilySearch, then Link My Record.
3. Log in to FamilySearch by entering your LDS Account or FamilySearch Account User Name and Password, then check the box to Remember this ID and password, and then click the Sign in button.
4. Within the Connect Your Record to FamilySearch window, you should see that FamilySearch shows that you are -- and your name should appear there. Then go down and click the Find Your Record button.
5. Within the window that appears, in the upper-right corner, the RIN 1 should be displayed. That is your RIN, so click on OK at the bottom-left of this window.
6. Back in the Connect Your Record to FamilySearch window, in the lower portion labeled Please select the record of You in the database, you should now see your name. At the bottom of the window, click the Link Your Record button.
7. The Review screen appears. Here, the information on this record in your database (you) appears on the left. So, you will see whatever you had typed in a few minutes ago. Now over on the right you will see information about you that is stored in the FamilySearch database.
8. You can click the checkbox next to any data on the right that you wish to bring into your file on the left. The box turns green with an arrow pointing left for each piece of data you click, indicating that that data will be copied down to your file on the left.
9. In the lower-left corner of the window, click the Save button.
10. Back on the main Family view of Ancestral Quest, you will see that, at the right end of your name box, there is now a blue FamilySearch tree icon. That means that this record is linked to a record on FamilySearch.

***

Import Family Lines from Family Search - Descendants

This next step is only possible if you have added your children and any of their spouses/descendants to FamilySearch Family Tree. Because FamilySearch is intended for use only to store the deceased, you may not have added these records. But, if you have, you should be able to import your descendants from FamilySearch Family Tree. Make sure that your name is selected before proceeding.

1. Go to the menu bar, and click on FamilySearch, then, down near the bottom, click on Import Family Lines.
2. Within the Import Ancestors/Descendants from FamilySearch window that appears, in the upper portion, click the dot next to Add Descendants to person, and the Start Person should display your name.
3. In the middle section, under Additional Options, change the Number of Generations to Import to the number of generations forward you wish to import into your local file. Selecting 1 generation would just be your children, 2 would get your children and grandchildren, and so on.
   
   For the box labeled Most records in the last generation will be of deceased persons, you will probably want to remove the check from that box, since for you, most of your descendants will be living.
   
   If you are LDS, you will want to check the box to Import LDS Ordinances.
4. At the bottom of the window, click on the Import button.
5. In the next window that appears, click the Yes button (yes, we wish to proceed with the import).
6. In the next window that comes up, click the No button (no, we have nothing that needs to be backed up before proceeding).
7. Now, you wait. This process could take some time. Windows may indicate the the program is not responding, but do not do anything if it does. Just let it work.
8. Once the process is done and you are back to the main screen, go up and click on the Family tab (it is on the left, just beneath the Toolbar). You will now see some of the names that have just imported.

***

Import Family Lines from Family Search - Ancestors

Now we will import your ancestors from FamilySearch Family Tree. Make sure that your name is selected before proceeding.

1. Go to the menu bar, and click on FamilySearch, then, down near the bottom, click on Import Family Lines.
2. Within the Import Ancestors/Descendants from FamilySearch window that appears, in the upper portion, there should be a dot next to Add Ancestors to end-of-line person, and the Start Person should display your name.
3. In the middle section, under Additional Options, change the Number of Generations to Import to the number of generations back you wish to import into your local file. (Be aware that the more generations you import the longer it will take. And the more generations you ask for the time needed to download multiplies. As an example, downloading about 6 generations could take just a few minutes to maybe a half hour. But, importing something like 60 generations could take 3 weeks.) We suggest you try 12 generations as that should take anywhere from a few minutes to, at most, an hour to download, on average. Leave the Include Families box checked and you will probably want to check the box labeled Include Spouses of Children. If you are LDS, you will want to check the box to Import LDS Ordinances.
4. At the bottom of the window, click on the Import button.
5. In the next window that appears, click the Yes button (yes, we wish to proceed with the import).
6. In the next window that comes up, click the No button (no, we have nothing that needs to be backed up before proceeding).
7. Now, you wait. This process could take some time. Windows may indicate the the program is not responding, but do not do anything if it does. Just let it work.
8. Once the process is done and you are back to the main screen, go up and click on the Pedigree tab (it is on the left, just beneath the Toolbar). You will now see some of the names that have just imported.

If you can see your spouse and your spouse's ancestors when you log in to FamilySearch, you can now click on your spouse and then repeat the steps in this section to download your spouse's ancestors. ***

Watch Video on Importing your Data from FamilySearch Family Tree

If you are more of a visual person or want to see what the above steps will look like in the program, you can watch a couple of tutorials. Be aware that some of the tutorials are older and have not been updated. They refer to "new FamilySearch" and may have some screens that look differently from what the program looks like, now. Be aware that the current Ancestral Quest 16 works with FamilySearch Family Tree instead of nFS. We suggest you may want to watch:

• The new AQ 14 video, which will show you some of the general changes to the way you link and then sync a records. https://www.inclinesoftware.net/files/New14Videos/AQ14Menu.html
• Once you have seen the first part of that video, you can go on to the Full Training Tutorial, (making note that this video was made with an older version with the old way of doing the things that you saw in the AQ 14 video). https://www.ancestralquestonline.com/Tutorials/12-1nfstutorials/Ancestral%20Quest-nFS.html
  
  You may want to skip right to the topics Link Me and Import Family Lines (you can click those topics on the left).

Here is the procedure to unlink a local record from a record on FamilySearch Family Tree:

1. In one of the main views of AQ (Pedigree, Family, or Name List), click once on the person in your database for whom you wish to remove the FamilySearch link. That name should now be selected.
2. Go to the menu bar and click on FamilySearch, then click on Unlink Individual(s).
3. In the window that appears, leave the option, Single Individual, selected and click the Unlink button.
4. A warning notice appears to confirm that you wish to unlink this record from the corresponding record in FamilySearch. Click Yes.

The person will be unlinked. You can then link the person with the correct record on FamilySearch.

To make the Add Ancestors to end-of-line person option available, the Start Person must be an end-of-line person. In other words, the person must not have any parents in the database.
There are two ways to select the Start Person:

• In either the Pedigree, Family, or Name List view, you can click once on the desired end-of-line person once to select that individual. Then you can invoke the Import Family Lines command.
• You can have anyone in the database, on any screen, selected prior to invoking the Import Family Lines command, but then, once the Import Ancestors/Descendants from FamilySearch window appears, click the Change... button to select the person to whom you wish to add ancestors.

In some rare cases you may not see that a father and mother do exist for an individual. This may be possible because there is a second set of parents, or, with some GEDCOM imports, a child could be linked to the marriage of parents, even though that marriage has no husband and wife associated with it.
So, if you try to add ancestors to an end-of-line person (that has no visible parents) but that option is not available, try this:

1. Cancel out of the Import Ancestors/Descendants from FamilySearch window, if necessary
2. Go to the Family view and place the desired end-of-line person into the upper-left, Primary Position of the screen.
3. Click the Add'l Par/Rel button to view the additional parent relationship.
4. The Parents of... dialog box appears. If more than one set of parents exists in this window, typically one set will have no father and no mother (this is what causes the Family/Pedigree screens to display no parents). If only one set of parents exists, it will have no father and no mother displayed. In both of these cases, the person is linked as a child to a parental marriage relationship even though no husband and wife are attached to that marriage record.
5. Click on the parental relationship that does not have any names for the father and mother to select that relationship.
6. Down below this list, click on the Unlink button.
7. A dialog box will appear to confirm that you wish to unlink the child from the current marriage. Click Yes to continue.
8. That empty marriage link is now gone.
   • If there is another parental relationship with the names of a father and mother displaying, then this person does have parents in the database, and they will now display on the Family and Pedigree screens properly. You will not be able to use the Import Family Lines command because this person does have parents.
   • If there are no other parental relationships displayed you will now be able to use the Import Family Lines command.
9. Click OK to close the Parents of... dialog box.
10. Proceed with the Import Family Lines task if this person truly does not have any parents in the database.

Ancestral Quest does not automatically bring down the notes because FamilySearch stores them a little differently than AQ, and there is a potential for a plethora of notes (including those that are inaccurate or irrelevant). You may not want to just blindly bring all those notes into your database, so you will want to manually go get the notes that you want.

To access the Notes:

1. Within Ancestral Quest, select the person for whom you wish to see the notes.
2. Go to the menu bar, and choose FamilySearch, Review Individual.
3. The Review Individual screen appears. At the bottom of that window, click on the Notes button.
4. The Notes for... window will open.
   

Notes in your database (local) appear in the upper left area of the screen.

A Summary of notes in FamilySearch (remote) for this FamilySearch record appear in the lower left area of the screen.

On the right side of the screen, is a Breakdown of notes on FamilySearch (remote), where you can view the details of the notes for this individual in FamilySearch:

• Notes on FamilySearch are actually associated with events in the person's life, so, in the upper-right corner of the screen, Event/Facts lets you choose the event or fact for which you wish to see the notes.
• Values for Selected Event/Fact will display any specific values for the selected event or fact. As an example, choosing Birth from the Events/Facts list will cause the birth date and place data to display in the Values for Selected Event/Fact box. Then, the details will appear in the Date, Place and Description fields, below, as appropriate.
• The Notes for this event/fact area will display the detailed notes associated with the current Event/Fact (as selected, above).

To copy Notes from the FamilySearch record to your database:

1. Locate the desired notes from FamilySearch that you wish to copy into your database.
2. In the lower-right box of the screen, click-and-drag the mouse to select the notes from FamilySearch.
3. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+c to copy.
4. Next, click your mouse in the top-left box labeled Notes in your database (local).
5. Use the Ctrl+v shortcut to Paste the notes.

To copy Notes from your database to the FamilySearch record:

1. In the top-left box labeled Notes in your database (local), click-and-drag the mouse to select the desired note content.
2. Use the Ctrl+c shortcut to copy the notes.
3. In the upper-right corner of the screen, select the desired Event/Fact and Values for which you want to add your note.
4. In the lower-right area of the screen, click the Add a new note button.
5. In the window that appears, use the Ctrl+v shortcut to paste your note.
6. Click Save.
7. Your new note will be added to the FamilySearch record.

Once you have added notes to a FamilySearch record, you can click Edit my notes to make changes to those notes and/or you can click Delete notes to remove the notes that you have added. Note: You can only edit or delete notes that you have added to the FamilySearch record.

Once you are finished on the Notes for... screen, click OK and then, within the Review and Synchronize... window, be sure to click on the Save button to save all of the changes.

Yes. Ancestral Quest allows you to transfer sources and even source images between your local database and FamilySearch Family Tree.

Ancestral Quest does not automatically bring down any sources because FamilySearch stores them a little differently than AQ, and there is a potential for a plethora of sources (including those that are inaccurate or irrelevant). You may not want to just blindly bring all those sources into your database, so you will want to manually go get the sources that you want.

To access the Souces:

1. Within Ancestral Quest, select the person for whom you wish to see the sources.
2. Go to the menu bar, and choose FamilySearch > Review Individual.
3. The Review Individual screen appears.You will see icons of a briefcase next to various facts/events for this individual. Those briefcase icons indicate that a source is attached to that fact/event. You can simply click on a briefcase icon to access the source(s) attached to that fact/event.
   
   Additionlly, at the bottom of that window, you can click on the Sources button to see all sources for that individual on one screen.

Once you are finished with the Sources, click OK and then, within the Review and Synchronize... window, be sure to click on the Save button to save all of the changes.

To access and sync sources for a marriage, make sure that when you click to Review on FamilySearch, you then click on either the Parents & Siblings or Spouses & Children button (depending on whose marriage you are working on), and then, up on the right, just beneath the desired marriage information, you will need to click on the Sources link that appears in the blue bar.

This is one of the few tasks that cannot be done within the Ancestral Quest program, itself; it must be done out on the familysearch.org website.
There is an easy way to access this, however:

1. In Ancestral Quest, navigate to and select the individual for which you need to un-combine the records on new FamilySearch.
2. Access the Review Individual window (either go to the menu bar and choose FamilySearch > Review Individual, or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+e).
3. In the lower-right corner of the window that appears, click on the FS button to launch your browser and open the FamilySearch website (log in to new FamilySearch, if prompted).
4. In the lower portion of the FamilySearch window, within the selected individual's Summary information, click on the Combined Records link.
5. Click the checkbox(es) of the record(s) that you wish to uncombine, then click the Separate Selected Records button.

In Ancestral Quest, go to the menu bar and select Tools, then Preferences. Within the General tab of the preferences, on the right side, be sure that the Use LDS Data option is selected. Click OK. Then exit out of Ancestral Quest. After a few moments, start up AQ, again. The FamilySearch menu should now include the Ordinance Reservation and Tracking System item.

The information appearing on that Reserve Ordinances screen comes over from new FamilySearch, not your own database file. You are seeing the data that has been selected as the preferred data for that person. Within the new.familysearch.org website system, you can change the preferred names, dates, and places from the list of available data for an individual record. While this is done quite easily, it is, unfortunately, something that must be changed on the FamilySearch website, itself; it cannot be done through Ancestral Quest.

The easy way to do this -- and you want to perform this step before you reserve your ordinances -- is as follows:

1. Go to the record in question on the new FamilySearch website. You can do this from within AQ, when you are on the Review Individual screen, just click the FS button or View in FamilySearch button (it is an icon of a magnifying glass on the FamilySearch tree logo, found just above the Help button at the bottom right of the screen).
2. Once you are on the FamilySearch website, looking at this person's record, take a look at the Summary information. You will likely see the 'undesired' name. This is the preferred name that is currently selected for this person on new FamilySearch.
3. To change this name, click the small down arrow to the right of the name. You will see all the various names for this record.
4. Click on the correct preferred name.

You will probably see, off to the right, the text Changed by followed by your name or user name.

You see, this change affects this record for everyone on new FamilySearch, not just yourself. Which also points out a rare but potential problem... if this is an ancestor several generations back, it is possible that some other descendant has a different opinion or understanding of what this person's data should be. They can change the 'preferred' name to something else.. and that will be the name that appears when you go to reserve ordinances. So this can possibly be a touchy situation (there have been reports of 'family feuds' occurring on FamilySearch for this very reason).

This 'preferred' information selection also applies to the other pieces of data appearing on the Summary view of the new FamilySearch website. Any piece of info (birth or death or marriage date or place, and more) can be specified as the 'preferred' data by anyone using FamilySearch.

Once the preferred data has been changed, as desired, if you now go through the Reserve Ordinances process within AQ, it should show the current preferred information that is designated on the FamilySearch website for that person.

It appears that you have accidentally told Ancestral Quest to log in to FamilySearch using a Proxy Server. You most likely do not need a proxy server for your Internet connection, so we will remove that setting from your copy of AQ, and then you should be able to connect just fine.

1. In your copy of Ancestral Quest, go up to the menu bar and select FamilySearch > Login.
2. Within the Sign on to FamilySearch screen that appears, in the lower-right corner, click on the Advanced button.
3. The Advanced Networking Settings screen will appear.
4. Click within the Address box and, on your keyboard, repeatedly tap your Delete key and/or your Backspace key, as needed, until everything in this text box has been removed.
5. Then, click the box labeled Use a proxy server to remove the checkmark.
6. Click the OK button to save the changes you just made.
7. Back in the Sign on to FamilySearch screen, click on the Login with FamilySearch button.
8. You should not receive that error this time, but should be able to successfully log in to FamilySearch.

Error 500 usually indicates some kind of connectivity issue. This can be caused by a not-so-stable Internet connection, or could be an issue on the FamilySearch side. We do have documented situations in the past where error 500 suddenly appears and then some time later it goes away, as if the temporary issue has been resolved.

We would suggest that you give it a rest for a few hours or more, then you can try, again, and see if the issue persists. If it does, wait till tomorrow, and try once more.

If it still persists, you can contact our support team, but we believe the issue will go away on its own.

The black dots have been replaced by the FamilySearch tree logo. When that logo is blue, that has the same meaning as the 'black dot' in the previous build--the person is linked/synced with FamilySearch:



You will see that now, for deceased persons that are not yet linked/synced with FamilySearch, that FamilySearch tree logo will appear with a white background:



You can click that white FamilySearch tree icon in order to open the Link/Sync screen for that person. This is a shortcut over having to go to the menu bar to select FamilySearch then Link (Sync) Upload Individual.

And, you can click the blue FamilySearch tree icon to open the Review screen for the person. This is a shortcut for going to the menu bar and choosing FamilySearch then Review Individual.