Just over a week ago, this picture of my friend Marilee and me on our first day of 1st grade appeared as part of another post. Now I'd like to tell you a little bit more about it, and what it represents.
Marilee and I have been friends for well over forty years. I hope we are friends for at least forty more. She appears in countless pictures and memories from my childhood, and my life might be completely different had I not experienced her friendship and her family.
But in a hundred years, when my great-great grandchildren look through my family history, will they find Marilee? Not likely, if I organize it with with the tools currently available: there’s no place for Marilee in traditional genealogy and family history programs, because she falls outside the fixed categories (i.e., mother, father, child, etc.) that they recognize. For them, Marilee doesn’t exist. Neither does my Grandpa Fred, or my birth-mother and her children (my siblings!), or Sheila, my cat of 16 years.
Family Photoloom is changing all that. Our Extended Relationship Indexing (patents pending) allows you to include anyone or anything that enriches your story in your family history – special friends, step and foster children, birth-family members, pets, family heirlooms, favorite vacation spots, secret family recipes…there is a place for every one with Family Photoloom. Here's how it works:How to Set Extended Relationships with Family Photoloom
Relationship Setting means to attach one Record to another, creating a specific relationship between the the two. Setting relationships in Family Photoloom takes less time than it took to read this sentence.
Before you begin either option, be sure the individual you wish to index is entered in your Records (the left column). You do not need to have a picture of them tagged to complete indexing.
Go to the Relationship View, and select the Record of the individual you wish to be the focus. You can do this by clicking and dragging the Record, or by clicking the green Relationship Icon that appears by the Record.
- Select the Record of the individual you want to "attached" to the Focus Record, and click-&-drag the individual into the appropriate field in the Relationship Setter (e.g., Spouse, Sibling, Child, Other).
- Check the appropriate relationship boxes in the drop-down (Not necessary for "Other" field.) and customize the description of the relationship at the top of the screen.
Have some fun and experiment a little with your Family Photoloom account. (Get you FREE Family Photoloom Trial account here.) In coming weeks, I'll explain how you can organize images into categories, include things like memorabilia, and even organize your church wedding co-op (or any other groups).
Extended Relationship Indexing is something we all need it, because family history isn’t just about branches—it’s about connections.
