Written by Generation Archives, the product this guide describes.
A private family tree you share only with relatives
A family tree you build for your relatives is a different project from a public research tree. You want the names, the photos, and the stories available to the people you choose, and closed to everyone else. Generation Archives starts there: a tree is private until you invite someone or turn on a link.
That difference matters more once living people are on the page. A research tree is often optimized for matching and discovery. A family archive is optimized for trust: who may open it, who may edit it, and what happens when a photo or a story should stay inside the household. This guide walks through those choices in the order most families make them.
What “private” does and does not mean
Private describes who is allowed to open the tree. It is a visibility setting. On Generation Archives, a private tree is not listed in a public directory of other families, and strangers cannot browse into it. It does not mean that no operator exists, that backups never leave your house, or that a collaborator you invite cannot download what they can see. If you need that fuller threat model, read family tree privacy: public, private, and invite-only.
Compare that with research sites. Ancestry and MyHeritage can hold private trees, but their products are built around record collections and matching graphs. FamilySearch’s main Family Tree is a shared world tree for deceased people, with separate private spaces for living people. Generation Archives is an archive you control: invite people by email, or leave the public link off.
In practice, “private” answers three everyday questions: Can someone I did not invite open this tree? Can a search engine index the people on it? Can a relative I trust help without putting the whole family on the open web? A private default answers no, no, and yes.
Private by default
Only you, and people you invite as collaborators, can open a tree. You decide what to record about living relatives, and you can keep that off the open web. The privacy policy describes what the account stores and who can see a tree you mark public. For living people specifically, see what to record about a living person.
Keep one tree for close family if that is all you need. Use a second tree when a branch should stay separate—for example, a fictional project, a partner’s family that is not ready to merge, or a research sandbox you do not want mixed with living cousins. One account can hold several trees so those boundaries do not depend on hope alone.
Invite relatives to view or edit
Send an invitation by email and give view or edit access. Editors can help fill in people, dates, and memories. Viewers can look without changing the tree. You can remove a collaborator later from tree settings. That is the usual way families work on one archive without emailing photo folders around. A practical checklist for invites is in how to share a family tree safely.
You can also mark a tree public so anyone with the link can view it. Leave that off if the tree is only for the family. A public link is a switch, not the default. Treat a public link like a document you emailed to a large group: anyone who has it can open it, and they may forward it.
When you invite someone, say what you want from them. “Please check names on Mom’s side” is clearer than “take a look.” View access is enough for review. Edit access is for people who will add people, fix dates, or tag photos. If a relative only needs a chart for a reunion, a PDF export or a printable may be safer than a permanent invite.
Checklist before you invite
- Decide whether living children’s full birth dates belong on this tree.
- Strip street addresses and phone numbers from notes that collaborators can read.
- Give view access first when you are unsure; upgrade to edit later.
- Tell invitees whether they may download photos or export a GEDCOM.
- Remove an invite when someone no longer needs access.
- Agree who is allowed to turn a public link on or off.
- Scan notes and bios for stories a living person would not want shared outside the room.
Tag people in family photos
Uploading a shoebox of scans is only half the job. The useful part is knowing who is in the picture after the person who remembers is gone. Tag people in a photo and those faces stay tied to their profiles. The same person can hold memories, notes, and links, so a story sits with the relative it is about instead of in a separate album. For a workflow that starts before upload, see how to organize family photos for a tree.
You do not have to pay for this. If a photo already has a public URL, add that link. It uses no storage credit, and you can still tag the people in it. Hosting the file on Generation Archives is optional: $1 per GB per year in prepaid credit, with a little starter credit on new accounts, and no subscription. See pricing and storage for both choices, including what happens if credit runs out.
Photos are often why a private tree beats a shared drive. A drive holds files. A tree holds people. When Aunt June is tagged in twelve pictures, her profile becomes the index those pictures lacked. Relatives with view access can browse that index without needing the original folder names.
What stays in the archive
- Several trees under one account, if one family line should stay separate from another.
- Layouts you arrange by hand, plus auto arrange when you want a clean generation view.
- Import GEDCOM 5.5.1, GEDCOM 7.0, GEDZIP, and Family Echo HTML when the people already live in another program. Export GEDCOM 5.5.1, GEDCOM 7.0, GEDZIP, or a PDF, PNG, or JPEG image of the tree. GEDZIP carries picture links, not the image files.
- A demo you can click through before you sign up. Demo edits stay on that device.
Export is part of keeping a private archive honest. If the family ever wants a copy elsewhere, GEDCOM carries people and relationships. Image exports help for a wall chart or a funeral program. Neither replaces a full media backup; keep originals you care about in more than one place. How to back up your family tree covers a simple 3-2-1 approach.
A simple path for most families
- Create the tree and leave the public link off.
- Add the living people you already know, with only the details the family agrees to keep.
- Invite one careful relative with view access first.
- Tag photos and attach notes as you go.
- Export a GEDCOM after a major update so you have a portable copy.
You can try the flow with no account on the demo, or open the sample tree to see a filled-in layout. Create a free account when you want the work to persist.
What this is not
Generation Archives does not search historical records and does not offer DNA matching. It will not discover relatives for you. It keeps the tree you and your family write, and the photos and stories you attach to it. If you also want record search, do that research elsewhere and bring the people over with a GEDCOM. How to import a GEDCOM covers what usually survives that move.
It is also not a social network. There is no public feed of other families. Collaboration is invite-based on purpose. That keeps living relatives off the open web unless you choose a public link, and it keeps the product focused on the archive you already decided to keep.
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