Build your family archive, one careful step at a time.

Sign in with a Magic Link

1. Open Roots and select Sign in.
2. Enter your email address and select Send my Magic Link.
3. Open the newest email from Roots and select its secure link.
4. In your browser, select Verify & open Roots. This final tap protects the link from automated email safety checks.
5. Roots returns you to the page you originally wanted to open.

Accept a family invitation

1. Open the newest invitation sent to you through a private message.
2. Check the family name and role displayed on the invitation page.
3. Sign in with the exact email address to which the invitation was issued.
4. Return to the invitation and select Accept invitation.

Create a new family network

1. After signing in, open Let’s begin with your family.
2. Enter the Family network name and, if useful, a Short description.
3. Select Create family network. The creating account becomes the protected owner.
4. Follow the getting-started path: add the first person, add a close relative, then record the first relationship.

An account grants access to Roots. A person record preserves someone’s place in the family. They are linked only when the person genuinely represents that account holder.

Use Search your family in the top bar to find a person by name.

On a phone

Select the menu button in the top-left corner (labelled Open navigation for assistive technology). Choose a section to close the menu automatically, or use Close navigation, the shaded area, or the Escape key when using a keyboard.

1. Open People and select Add a person.
2. In Identity, enter the Primary display name, Gender or sex, and Living status. Select This person is me only when the living record genuinely represents you.
3. In Names & origin, add Another known name and birth context when known.
4. For a deceased person, record only appropriate death, resting-place, and memorial details. Every field can remain blank when unknown.
5. For the very first profile, Roots temporarily omits Family connections because there is nobody to connect yet. Save that person, then add their first relative.
6. Once another profile exists, use Family connections to choose an existing relative. Open Add a mother or father by name only when that parent does not yet have a profile.
7. In Privacy & notes, choose Only me, Close family, Everyone in this family network, Restricted reviewers, or—for a deceased person—Public memorial.
8. In Review & save, check the summary and select Save first person or Save person & connections, as shown.

Roots restores an unfinished person form on the same device. Select Start fresh only when you intend to discard that draft. In the People directory, use Search by name…, then Search or Clear.

Add a private family portrait

1. Open Edit record and find Profile photo.
2. Select Add photo or Replace photo.
3. Choose a JPEG, PNG, or WebP image no larger than 5 MB.
4. Wait for the private upload to finish.

Add another known name

Under Other names, use Add another name for a traditional name, nickname, praise name, birth name, married name, former name, translated name, spelling variant, title, or another accurate label. Add optional language or cultural context, then select Add name.

Add an online profile

1. Select Add profile under Online profiles.
2. Choose the platform and enter the handle or URL.
3. Choose Private, Confirmed family members, or—when eligible—Public memorial.
4. Select Save online profiles.

Confirm a person record

1. Sign in as a different authorised reviewer: an owner, administrator, family historian, or Elder.
2. Open People and select Review people, or open Review centre → Person record confirmations.
3. Open the profile and compare its identity and life details with what your family knows.
4. Open Review person record, add optional context, then choose Confirm person record, Confirm as Elder, or Needs correction.

A person cannot confirm a record they submitted or the record linked to their own account. Editing material profile details returns a confirmed record to Awaiting review. This does not change the confirmation of any relationship.

1. Open Relationships.
2. Choose the First person and the relationship type.
3. Read the directional guidance below the relationship field.
4. Choose the Second person.
5. Read the complete sentence preview from top to bottom.
6. Select Swap the two people if the direction is wrong.
7. Add known dates or family context, then select Record relationship.

Edit marriage, divorce, and relationship dates

1. Open Relationships and find the existing connection. Use Filter by person when the family has many records.
2. Select the pencil Edit dates and details control on that relationship.
3. For a marriage that ended through divorce or separation, choose Former marriage / divorced.
4. Add or correct the marriage/start date, divorce/end date, and family context.
5. Select Save changes. Roots shows the recorded duration and returns material changes to independent family review.

If you choose two people who already have the same connection, Roots points you to the existing editable record instead of asking you to create a duplicate.

Confirm or challenge a relationship

1. Sign in as a different authorised reviewer: an owner, administrator, family historian, or Elder.
2. Open Relationships and find the submitted connection.
3. Open Review relationship and optionally record the family conversation or source.
4. Choose Confirm, Mark disputed, or Reject.

An Elder confirmation is labelled Elder confirmed. People cannot confirm relationships they submitted themselves, and every review decision remains in the audit history.

1. Open Family tree.
2. Under Family root, choose the person whose perspective you want. Roots recalculates every label, generation, and branch around them.
3. Choose Close family, Extended, Relatives, Broader, or Whole tree. Relatives uses the same generation-and-branch map as the other scopes, showing the selected root’s direct lineage and siblings alongside specifically named great-ancestors, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Direct lineage is green; the other relatives are gold. Generic or unknown connections are omitted, and every visible person card keeps its exact calculated label. Broader reaches family within seven recorded steps of the selected root; Whole tree includes every archive record, including disconnected people.
4. Switch between Relationship map and Generations.
5. Select a person card to inspect the relationship term, everyday-language explanation, confidence, and exact recorded path.
6. Use Make family root, Previous root, Paternal root, or Make me root when available. Paternal root follows the selected person’s recorded father, grandfather, and earlier male ancestors. Your selected tree scope stays unchanged.
7. Full screen gives a larger workspace.
8. Select Download SVG for a sharp, shareable image, or Print / save PDF for a paper or PDF copy of the selected tree scope.

Find the path between two people

Open Relationships → Explore live kinship. Under Start with and Compare with, choose two people, then select Calculate relationship. Roots calculates only from saved connections—not a shared surname or clan.

1. Open Families & clans.
2. Enter the name and choose Family branch, Clan, Lineage, House, or Household.
3. Add a description and select Add structure.
4. Open the structure. Under Add a person, choose the Person and Association.
5. Select Add to [structure name].

Use the terms and hierarchy your family recognises rather than forcing every community into the same model.

1. Open Stories and select Add a story.
2. Enter the Story title and optionally choose the Narrator or person this story belongs to.
3. Under Story, write the account in the narrator’s own words.
4. Record the Language and optional Date recorded—not necessarily the date of the event.
5. Choose Visibility and Narrator consent.
6. Select Preserve story.

1. Open Review centre or select the notification bell.
2. Review Quality at a glance and open affected people under Data-quality findings.
3. Open Person record confirmations when another member’s submitted identity and life details need your decision.
4. Open Relationship confirmations when another member’s submitted connections need your decision.
5. Compare both records in Evidence-supported duplicate checks.
6. Check birth or close-family evidence instead of relying on the name alone.
7. Open Identity corrections only when your role permits review.

The family makes the final decision. Person record confirmation covers the profile itself; relationship confirmation separately covers how two people are connected. Roots keeps uncertain and user-submitted information visibly qualified.

1. Open Settings → Family invitations.
2. Enter the relative’s email address.
3. Choose the least-privileged role suitable for their responsibility.
4. If their exact unclaimed person record exists, connect the invitation to it.
5. Select Create invitation.
6. Use Share invitation, Open Facebook Messenger, or Copy message, then send the complete message in a direct, private conversation.

Role guide

In Settings → Members & roles, an authorised manager chooses a new role and selects Save. You cannot change your own role, ownership is protected, and only the owner can assign another administrator.

• Change the display name shown professionally to network members.
• Review the person connected to your account.
• Centre the tree on yourself.
• Open Privacy & consent, Members & roles, Family invitations, or Identity corrections.
• Sign out on the current device without deleting family records.

Correct the wrong person link

1. Open Settings → Identity corrections.
2. Choose the living, unclaimed record that genuinely represents you.
3. Explain the mistake and submit the request.
4. Wait for an authorised owner or administrator to compare both records.

Your current link remains active while the request is pending. Approval changes only the account-to-person link; it does not merge or delete either person.

You can Withdraw request while it is pending. Another authorised reviewer compares the current record, requested record, and requesting account before approval.

• Living people are never publicly searchable through Roots.
• Close family follows recorded connections, including siblings understood from shared parents. A close-family story must be linked to a narrator.
• Only me records remain visible only to their creator; designated review roles can see Restricted reviewers records.
• Known minors cannot have public online-profile links.
• Only eligible deceased records can become public memorials.
• Only links individually marked public appear on a memorial.
• Family portraits remain private and are not published automatically.