Post a Pedigree

 The pedigree is the link that makes it all fit together!

A combination of DNA testing and your family pedigree offers the best chance of success in finding your family history.  For some, the breakthrough comes quickly, while others may have to wait until the right (and critical) person who can shed light on their family is finally tested and shares his pedigree.  You can influence your own success by posting a pedigree on your surname project's pedigree forum.  

When you join a surname DNA project, the project administrator will probably send you an email, welcoming you to the project and giving information about the project and links to important sites.  (If you do not hear from the project administrator by the time you receive your test results, contact him/her to find out more about the project and share information.)  He/she will probably ask you to post your pedigree on the project's Pedigree Forum, if you have not already done so. (See instructions below.) 

After you have posted on the Pedigree Forum, the Project Administrator will post your pedigree on the Patriarch Page of your project.  This may take a few days, so please be patient.  Most administrators will notify the project members whenever a new pedigree is posted on the Patriarch Page.  Please note below the "stripped-down" style we need for the Patriarch Page.  The administrator will probably post the contact information for the person posting the pedigree (using the word AT instead of the @ in the email, making it harder for spammers to harvest email addresses from the site) so that others who may have a connection can contact you.  In addition, most administrators will correlate the pedigree to the test results by using the code identity numberⁱ with the pedigree on the Patriarch Page, and by using the earliest known ancestor to post the test results on the Results Page. 

We encourage everyone who tests to also post his pedigree, even if you don't have very much information,so that participants can compare pedigrees as well as test results.  Some interested researcher may see it and contact you. 
(Note:  You do not have to be a surname DNA project member to post a pedigree on the Pedigree Forum.)

Suggestions for Posting your Pedigree:

Please Do:       Post four pieces of information for each ancestor: 
                       Name, birth date, birth place, spouse
                       Missing any of the above? Add other  identifying information.
                       Begin with the earliest generation
                       Use standard abbreviations

Please Don't:   Put the surname first
                       Use all caps for the surname
                       List anyone whose birthdate is after 1910 (for privacy concerns)
                       Use numbers for the generations.

How do I post a pedigree?

1. Go to www.worldfamilies.net
2. Either Log-In or Register (You must be registered in order to post your pedigree.) 
   
   To register: 

1. Under the login button, click on "Create new account"
2. It will bring up a new screen that will have a box that says:  "Register - Required Information" . 
3. You can choose any username and password you would like. If you want to hide your email from the public on the website, click on the box next to the blank for your email address. 
4. Do a "visual verification" by typing the scrambled letters you see. 
5. Read the usage agreement below it, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the square by "I agree". 
6. Click on "Register" below that.  You are now registered. 
7. Make a note of the username and password you chose in case you forget it the next time you visit the forum.  
8. If you have already registered and are having trouble logging in, click here.
    
9. Search for "your surname" by typing the surname in the search box in the upper left corner of the page.
10. Find the result for your Surname Project at World Families and click on it.
11. You will be taken to the home page of your surname project's website,
12. Click on Pedigrees in the light gray menu bar across the top of the page.
13. Scroll down to the last posting on the pedigree forum.
14. Find "reply" tab near the bottom right-hand corner.
15. Click "Reply"
16. Post your pedigree (or message) in the big white box
17. Click "Post"
18. After you have posted your pedigree, be sure to click on "Track Project" at the project website, so that a link to the project website will appear each time you return to www.worldfamilies.net and log in. 

David, b c1730, Stafford Co VA, m Ruth Oldham
Thomas, b 15 May 1768, Fauquier Co VA, m Sarah Kees
Conway Oldham, b 20 Aug 1805, prob Greenville Dist SC, m Martha John Cox
John Matilda, b 1839/40, ?Columbus? MS, m Emily Cassandra Sneed
Joseph James, b 6 Nov 1865, Milam Co TX m Mary Jane Harlan
John (Jack) Sneed, b 24 Feb 1897, Bartonsite TX, m Josephine Cresap Waddell