Recent questions and some answers

What is RootsTech?

RootsTech is the Church's HUGE annual family history conference of the year. It is co-sponsored by companies that serve family history. (Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, findmypast.com, etc.)

I have heard RootsTech described in many ways, including "A rock concert for family history." and
"A technological extravaganza centered on family history." Basically, there is something for everyone.
Whether you are looking for fun activities for your family, the latest research tips, or preserving your family heritage for future generations, you will probably find something there that is useful and fun.

One of the best things about RootsTech is that many of the sessions can be viewed years later. If you are looking for training or information on any related topic, try searching RootsTech. We do!

You can register to view the online sessions of RootsTech 2025 for free and watch at your own convenience. Or you can pay to attend in person. Both options have their advantages.

One of my personal favorites is "Relatives at RootsTech", where I can see distant cousins from other parts of the world who are also attending. (As a convert, I don't have as many of these as you may have. - Bill)

The Power of "Alert Notes"
The most frequent complaint about the FamilySearch Family Tree is "Other people can change the information."
This is because Family Tree is designed to be editable, so that all registered users can contribute.
Experienced users are seldom a problem, the usual problem is inexperienced users with incomplete or inaccurate information. How can we prevent them from replacing well-researched information with something interesting they have seen recently on social media?
Alert Notes can be your best friend in this situation. To create an Alert Note, click Collaborate > Add Note > write your note, put a check mark in the Alert Note box. and then Save. This will place the following caution on the Details screen. "Important research has been done on this person. Please read these alert notes before making changes."
And you can click on Follow so that you are informed when changes have been made to that record.
You can normally use the Latest Changes list to undo changes too.

An interesting presentation at RootsTech 2024 - It is an hour long but if you are a Consultant (or family member) wishing to create a family history discovery experience for someone, check this out.
Discoveries Await with Ordinances Ready - Webinar by Lynzi Kidman Coffey of FamilySearch
She tells how to use Ordinances Ready as a starting point for a motivational 30-minute discovery experience.
(This is a much faster and easier way than the old method that used Descendancy Research.)
"Using simple, repeatable steps, you will easily build confidence in yourself and in those you are guiding."

"How can I sync my PAF database with the FamilySearch Family Tree?"
I recently had a phone call from a distant cousin asking how to do this. (We both had a chuckle over the fact that we both still have a PAF database.) My suggestion was to use Ancestral Quest or Roots Magic to do this.
For many years I used Ancestral Quest to do this twice a year, using the Last Changed Date in my PAF database. But these days, the FamilySearch Family Tree is my main database. That is where I put my latest research. (Currently, I am focusing on using Ancestry's newly-released 1921 census of England and Wales as a source.
And since this is outside of FamilySearch, I use RecordSeek to add the sources to FamilySearch.) – Bill

Changing the Focus Person on the Source Linker page
(In the case of marriage documents I do not find this process intuitive at all. - Bill)
Q: How do you get the child's spouse to appear in the correct spot in the Source Linker?
A: Click Change Person on the left side (the document's side) of the screen. Then select the son or daughter whose marriage is recorded on the document.
Now their spouse will automatically appear in the correct spot so that you can attach the source to their record in the Family Tree (and add them to the Family Tree if they are missing.)
Q: How to move the spouse's parents into the correct spot?
A: Click Change Person and select the spouse as the focus person. This will pop the spouse's parents to the top, where you can attach the source to their records in the Family Tree (and add them to the Family Tree if they are missing.)
Note: Complicated multi-generational census documents may require you to also use Change Person on the Family Tree side of the screen to change the focus person in the Family Tree to a parent, child, or sibling.
And you may need to drag names on the document side up or down to match names on the Family Tree side of the screen.
The Source Linker is a wonderful tool but it has its own peculiarities.
(For a detailed tutorial, you can view this 70 minute video from BYU Family History Library)

Q: Can you reserve temple ordinances for unrelated people?
A: Since January 1st, I noticed that this is not possible unless it is done automatically through Ordinances Ready.(We have long been asked to focus on ordinances for our ancestral families, but others used to be possible.)

Q: How can I print (or email) charts from Family Tree for a non-member (that excludes ordinance data)?
A: Click your username in the upper right-hand corner > Settings > Account > Show Temple Options > Off (Remember to change this setting back when you have generated the PDF document.)
There may be other ways to accomplish this task, but this is the one we usually recommend.
(I was reminded of this when emailing a family group record to someone in Slovakia this week.)

Just as you schedule time to commune with God, try to schedule time to serve your ancestral families.