Guide to Using Clan Matheson WebTrees

The following is a brief getting-started guide to using the instance of WebTrees installed on this site which contains genealogical information which we have collected about Mathesons and their close relatives. Originally this was collected using the REUNION system and has recently been transferred into WebTrees where it can be accessed by Clan Society Members and used for reference and further developed. The data is structured (as it was in REUNION) to have a separate tree per historic scottish county but it is easy to switch between trees, search across trees or display more than one at a time in different browser tabs.

This is an early draft of the user guide for the Clan Matheson WebTrees implementation. Please send feedback and suggestions for improvements to Web Master.

  1. First of all you will need to login to the members-only section to access the button providing access to Webtrees. Please take time to read the information about Webtrees presented there and then click this button and either a Webtrees "My Page" screen will appear or first a repeat login to the members-only section. Once you have reached the Webtrees "My Page" screen you only need to login to Webtrees itself if you need to have access to entries for those still living or to edit entries. If you need WebTrees login please discuss this with the Clan Genealogists (genealogists@clanmatheson.org) who can add your ID to those with login access.
  2. To login to Webtrees itself, there is a link at top right of screen. Most people are set up with the same ID and password for Webtrees that they use for members-only area. This should bring up a variant of the "My Page" page indicating (top right that you are logged in).
  3. Once you have access to either version of the "My Page" page, you can start looking at the data. The main tools are on the menu bar (above the title). "Family Trees", "Lists" and "Search" are likely to be the most useful for looking up family tree type info, the first selecting which county you want to look at (with which you've set displayed at the top left of the screen). You can always get back to "My Page" using the "My Pages" link (at the left hand end of the set of links including login) and selecting "My Page" from the drop-down (the other options are for various housekeeping functions which you'll rarely need and are largely only available when you are logged in to Webtrees). The browser back button will also do the right thing but may involve annoyingly many pages to get there.
  4. "My Page" (and many other pages) contain "Lists" (the "Individuals" option from the drop-down is usually the most useful) and "Search" in their menu bar. These generally provide the easiest way (after setting the correct county - check this if you don't seem to be finding someone you know is there) for finding people in the tree. Which you use depends on personal preference and circumstance, e.g.: looking in a list of individuals for someone with surname "Matheson" (even though you may first have had to choose the initial letter for the first name from a list) may still (depending on the county) provide a very long list whereas, for a less common surname, it may be the quickest route; search is more general purpose, especially if you use the advanced options (which include the ability to search across all the counties).
  5. When using the system it may be helpful to bear in mind that it is essentially a set of databases, one per county, of individuals linked to one another by families: these individuals and families have information linked to them as described in the GEDCOM standard for exchanging genealogical data.
  6. Once you have selected an individual, their page contains all the info about them, mainly under a set of tabs ("Facts and Events", "Families", etc) and on the right hand side drop-downs for "Extra Information", "Family Navigator" and "Descendants". If it is the first time you are looking at someone, it's worth browsing all this information; if you are using them a starting point to look at a tree, the two family-related options mentioned (tab and RHS drop-down) provide an easy way of going up and down the generations.
  7. The above applies to reading the WebTrees data, a few people have editing rights. This could take up a complete user guide in its own right so only a very brief overview is provided here. Mostly users' changes require administrator approval before they appear in the generally available view, searches, etc. Because of the protection provided by this approval step, there's relatively little major harm that someone can do with a mistake (provided the administrator spots it) but whilst an administrator can probably correct simple mistakes, all they may be able to do with more complex ones is to reject the edit so, if in doubt, please get changes approved before making too many inter-dependent ones. Wrongly set up families tend to cause the greatest problems.