Issue 16.15
When I was at RootsTech, I was surprised that in class after class people were asking where the instructions were for FamilySearch. They would ask how to find a User’s Guide or a Reference Guide to Family Tree. There used to be one, but they haven’t updated it since the fall of 2013. That was when FamilySearch decided to move to the online help center. Things change so fast and are updated, so it is very difficult to keep a reference guide up to date. It is even difficult to keep individual articles within the help center updated, but that is where they focus now.
To get to the FamilySearch Help Center, the easiest way is type in the web address: familysearch.org/ask in your address bar. To get to the address area easily, press F6 on your keyboard. That will highlight your URL address and you can just type in website you want. https://familysearch.org/ask/ takes you right to the Help Center. There you can select a Help Topic if you want, which will narrow it down to specific subjects, but you can also scroll down until you see Frequently Asked Question. Below there is a box that says Enter search terms. This is where you type in search terms such as merge records, needs more information, data problems, default portrait, reset password, change email. Really anything you want to know in FamilySearch Family Tree, Indexing, Searching Historical Records, Research and all kinds of things.
Then you will be given a list of articles called Knowledge Articles (formerly Knowledge Documents) that explain how to do things. If you wanted to know how to use the new Landscape Pedigree View in Family Tree, you could go to https://familysearch.org/ask/ and type in landscape and click the magnifying glass icon to search. Then you will be shown search results for landscape such as Using the Landscape pedigree view, Missing parent in Landscape pedigree on Family Tree, Printing a four-generation Landscape pedigree chart, Resizing the Landscape pedigree view, etc.
You can also click Get Help from any page in FamilySearch and then look for Help Center or Questions and Answers to get to the Help Center. This is sorted by where you were when you clicked Get Help. If you were in Indexing, you will only see indexing articles. If you were in Family Tree, it would be Family Tree articles. LDS members would need to be signed in to see those specific to members.
For more information, contact Shanna Jones shannasjones@msn.com