Family History and genealogy enthusiasts in New Zealand, Australia and the rest of the South Pacific have a potentially exciting new tool available.
Twile and FamilySearch International have announced the launch of a new feature that will let FamilySearch.org users generate and share online with others a family tree in timeline form.
The family tree timelines are designed to make research and discoveries more engaging for the broader family, especially younger generations.
“My initial view is Twile is easy to use and creates visually appealing timelines,” said Lynda Bennett who next week, along with her husband Larry, will return home to Boise, Idaho after spending 22 months in the South Pacific as Family History missionaries.
“I think this will be of interest to family historians and non-genealogists, plus it will appeal to younger users,” said Larry.
While missionaries in the Pacific, the Bennetts, who are family history experts, have helped members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their friends and neighbours use FamilySearch to seek out and record their family stories.
"What I find intriguing and potentially exciting,” said Lynda, “is it appears Twile enables a FamilySearch user to easily share online with family and others information about living relatives, if desired. This is a feature not available on FamilySearch.”
Connecting securely to FamilySearch.org, Twile imports a user’s tree and automatically adds events, such as births and marriages, to a personal, interactive timeline of their family history. Users can then browse the timeline, add photos, and share it privately with other family members.
By presenting a family tree as a timeline, Twile makes it easy for the non-genealogists in a family to explore their ancestry through events, stories, and pictures. It also encourages collaboration by letting them add missing details, their own life events, and recent photos.
Paul Brooks, Twile CEO, said, “The FamilySearch import has been our most requested feature, especially following our success at RootsTech. We have a passionate community of FamilySearch users who have waited patiently while we built it, and we’re so happy that it’s now ready for them.”
“FamilySearch is always looking for fun, engaging experiences that help our patrons make new personal discoveries and family connections. Twile’s rich, custom timeline of key family history events does exactly that!” said Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO.
To utilize the new feature, FamilySearch users will need to register for Twile at www.twile.com. The basic service is free and lets users add up to 10 events and photos per month, while a Twile Premium account allows subscribers to add unlimited events and photos for an annual fee.
About FamilySearch
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world and is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history.
To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,921 family history centres in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
About Twile
Twile is a UK-based interactive timeline of your family’s past, present, and future. The timeline consists of photos and milestones—such as births, marriages and deaths—that tell the story of your family from your earliest known ancestor right through to today.
While the Twile website is aimed primarily at family historians, it is also designed to encourage the rest of the family to add their own content, including the younger generations. Twile was the winner of two innovation awards at RootsTech 2016, including People’s Choice.