There are several options for entering your family data, including typing in the information from memory or from records, importing family data compiled by others, or importing from extensive online family trees.
The Family View makes it easy for you to simultaneously add records of new family members, while connecting them as parents, spouses and children as you build your tree.
After you add one family, simply select a parent, spouse or child to be the main person on the screen, then add that person's parents, spouses and children.
And so on.
(You can even select your own color schemes. If you don't like the brownish tones shown in this sample screen, select or create a different scheme.)
The Individual screen allows intuitive entry of all the vital information of each person's life, including events, facts, notes and sources. For living relatives, you can record contact information to help you stay in touch, or produce family lists for reunions or other purposes.
For LDS users, an optional template opens to allow recording of temple data.
Do you have relatives who have already recorded significant portions of your family tree? Ask them to send you a GEDCOM file containing the portion of their tree that you desire, then simply import that data into your file.
If records have been contributed by more distant relatives to large online databases, such as RootsWeb, you can typically export these records from the online databases to a GEDCOM file, then import this data into your personal Ancestral Quest file.
FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT) is a massive online family tree database, with an apparent goal to record every person and family that has ever lived. Access to this Family Tree is free and contains over 1 billion records.
Ancestral Quest was the first desktop family tree management software to become a FamilySearch Compatible Solution to access this online tree, and was awarded for being the most comprehensive in its ability to sync with this tree. AQ makes it very easy to download individuals, families, or entire family lines from FamilySearch into your personal file.
Ancestral Quest has a unique feature which allows a team to work on the same master file over the Internet. We call this, "Collaboration". If you are working with others, typically with cousins or siblings, Collaboration allows you to take turns editing and entering data into the same file.
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