THE FAMILY HISTORY GUIDE:
A MAJOR RESOURCE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY

©2018 by Donald R. Snow

This page was last updated 2018-10-08.  Return to the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page  or  Don Snow's Class Listings Page .
ABSTRACT: The Family History Guide is the free website  http://thefhguide.com/  that is loaded with good and up-to-date information about family history.  It is completely free and has lessons, tutorials, classes, projects, links, and detailed information about most aspects of family history.  FamilySearch has announced that it is an approved training resource for them and there are links to it on FamilySearch.  It was formed and is operated by volunteers who could use donations of time or money, but there is no requirement for either to use it.  This class will discuss the website, what it contains, and how to use it. The notes for this class and related articles, all with active Internet links, are on Don's website  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .

    WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

  1. Instructor is Donald R. Snow of St. George and Provo, Utah ( snowd@math.byu.edu ).
  2. These notes, with active Internet links and other related articles, are posted on Don's website  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .
  3. Tips:  (1)  To put an icon on your desktop for the URL for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the icon in front of the address in your browser to your desktop.  (2)  To open a link while keeping your place in the original page, hold down the Control key while clicking the link so it opens in a new tab.
  4. This class will discuss the free family history educational website The Family History Guide, what it contains, and how to use it.

    5. WHAT IS THE FAMILY HISTORY GUIDE?

  5. The FH Guide is a free website at  http://thefhguide.com/  sponsored by The Family History Guide Association , a group of volunteers who can always use contributions of expertise or money, but neither are required for anyone to use the website 
  6. Languages: Note that you can select the language you want, e.g. English, Spanish, etc.
  7. It is free, even though its file extension is .com, which usually signals a commercial website; the first page says, "Your free learning, research, training, and activities center for family history."
  8. Contains a broad collection of introductory and advanced lessons, videos, projects, and training for family history and computer basics; includes genealogy research technizues, basics and advanced, for many countries of the world; also there is a free newsletter to you keep up to date.
  9. Their philosophy -- teach you what you want to learn - hence, you can skip the parts you already know or are not interested in

    10. HOME PAGE AND INTRODUCTORY VIDEOS

  10. Home page  has a good 6-minute introductory video:  Quick Tour  
  11. FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) -- has the answers to many questions about the site and gives a short overview of it 
  12. The  Get Started  icon (next to the Quick Tour icon) takes you to several questions asking what you want to do
  13. Links to more videos and articles further down on the home page 
  14. 16-minute BYU video on YouTube by Ann Tanner about The FH Guide -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIvWRHRIvws&feature=youtu.be 
  15. About  (below the Tour and  Get Started  icons) -- takes you to a long page with lists of projects, lessons, and FAQs
  16. Use the  SEARCH  button, if  you want information about a specific topic, e.g. there are over 700 articles on FamilySearch Family Tree on the site   
  17. Across the top of the Home page are the following icons with pull-down menus, each with up to 10-15 links:  Intro  FamilySearch  Ancestry  MyHeritage  FindMyPast  Trainers  Activities  Blog/Social  Faiths  Countries  Vault  Tracker  Misc 
  18. Click on The Family History Guide icon (upper left corner) to go back to the Home page from any other page  

    19. EXAMPLES OF CONTENT AND LESSONS

  19. COMPUTER BASICS -- if you want a better understanding of how the computer works
  20. FAMILY HISTORY BASICS -- how to get started in genealogy, things to look for, what to do first, how to keep track of what you have found 
  21. FAMILYSEARCH FAMILY TREE -- how to sign in and use FamilySearch Family Tree
  22. COUNTRIES AND ETHNIC -- QUIKLinks for states and countries with data from several sources
  23. ABOUT THE PROJECTS -- for FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FindMyPast    
  24. PROJECT RESOURCES -- information and links to documents, videos, etc.  
  25. DNA -- lessons and projects about DNA 
  26. TRAINER RESOURCES -- helpful for self-training and for helping others, includes Tracker sheets to keep track of what a person is learning and what to do next  
  27. MEDIA -- links and helps to videos and articles   
  28. VAULT -- major collection of miscellaneous helpful items  
  29. CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS -- special information for Church members doing family history
  30. MISC -- includes How to Contact them, What's New, Quotes, Videos in Spanish and other languages, and more  
  31. WHAT'S NEW -- list of what's been added and when 
  32. TOPICS -- alphabetical listings of topics discussed somewhere in The FH Guide   

    33. CONCLUSIONS

  33. This is a very helpful and extensive website to learn about family history and genealogy . 
  34. Very helpful for trainers to answer questions and help other people learn  
Return to Don's Freeware Corner Page or Don's Family History Class Notes Page .