Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I use this site?
- Why a website?
- What's a GEDcom file?
- How can I show or print the entire tree?
How do I use this site? I can't seem to do much at all.
Ah, you need to read the Help page. It's on the Help menu. You will struggle unless you have Javascript enabled in your browser, since the small menus that enable you to navigate around names rely on it.
Why a website?
Families are not what they used to be, when families lived and died in the same community for generations. People move around so much that family memories and records are easily lost. To my dismay, I now can't even remember the birthdates of my grandparents, let alone anything much about other relatives who were part of my childhood. When I was young I wasn't interested, and now I am older and more appreciative of family, I can't ask my parents or grandparents without the use of a ouija board.
So I am now grateful that my dad (Russell) did a lot of research into the family in his later years, long before the internet made it easy. Much of his work is now with my sister (I think!). It seems a good idea to consolidate as much as possible into a format that can be copied and preserved, and added to, into the future. That is why I chose an online web application that can share data rather than the more usual desktop application. I hope anyone who is interested will add what they know, and keep copies of the GEDcom file. Then future Sleeps won't have to do all the research again.
This website is intended more as a data repository and exchange than 'proper' genealogy software. If you want nicer reports, you need a desktop application that will import GEDcom files. Many users of the server software this site runs on (HuMo-gen) use desktop software to work on the family tree locally, with Gramps being widely used - it's free and will run on Windows, Max OSX or Linux. But if you are subscribing to Ancestry.com and using Family Tree Maker for its integration with the service, or something, use that.
What's a GEDcom file?
The standard file format for interchange of data between genealogy programs. This means that you can take data from this site and import it into your favourite family tree software, and vice versa (well, I can do the import to this site - just email me your GEDcom file). Don't buy or use any family tree software that does not both import and export GEDcom files! They all have limitations and are inclined to be a bit flaky. You do not want to be locked in.
How can I view or print the entire tree?
Unfortunately that isn't possible in this or almost all genealogy software, which is designed to deal with trees of hundreds or thousands of individuals. Usually charts only follow the bloodline of a named individual, and ignore sibling sub-branches. The entire tree would be too large to render or view on screen, and printing would either require a very large sheet of paper or sticking sheets of paper together.
There are solutions, if you want to make the effort:
- Export the GEDcom file from this site. You must be logged in to have this menu option. Admin->Family Trees->GEDcom export
- Use specialist software to import the GEDcom file and view the entire tree, such as Treedraw (£19.99 shareware Windows desktop application).
- or import the GEDcom file into desktop genealogy software that has better capability to display or print the entire tree. The only ones I know about are Gramps (Free Open Source Software for Linux, Windows and Mac which can create the entire tree as a PDF), and GenoPro ($49 shareware single user Windows only). You can see an example Gramps chart here.
- or send the GEDcom file to a specialist company such as The Family Tree Printing Co (UK), who can print the whole thing on a sheet of paper up to 3.6m x 1m. Prices are surprisingly reasonable. But, I wouldn't do that yet. At this stage the Sleep tree is very incomplete and there is much more information yet to be added from existing paper records.