I’m trying to avoid re-keying my Ancestry/Family Search individual profile information into WikiTree (part of my ancestor fishing project) . Tried to import a 5,000+ record file (from Ancestry via RootsMagic), but that didn’t work. Now trying to determine if I can import individual profiles one-by-one (or possibly a few at a time). If possible, what are the basic steps - I’m a new user?
So the 1st thing, you need to do, is either tree share your file from Ancestry to a new database in RM or download a gedcom of your Ancestry database and open it in a new file in RM-- then check sources , media files etc and clean up if need to be…
I haven’t tried Wikitree BUT reading thru their info it appear you MUST 1st sign up to be a Wiki Genealogist ( sign the honor code ) and then you can upload a gedcom of your family file
You don’t mention about how/what didn’t work. I have not used WikiTree, but the internet says that you can add to your current tree using a partial GEDCOM with WikiTree’s GEDCOMpare tool Help:GEDCOMpare
So, any individuals in RootsMagic, not yet at WikiTree can be “compared” via an RM exported GEDCOM of those individuals for incorporation into WikiTree online.
kbens0n: First I took an Ancestry 5,000+ people GEDcom file, imported into RM, then tried to upload that into WikiTree. All was well, except (1) WikiTree puts a time limit (I think it was three weeks for the entire 5,000 record file) to review/edit and finalize each profile before upload to WikiTree, and (2) I realized it would be overwhelming for me to attempt due to so many records - it might have taken a year for me to complete this task.
On next attempt, I created a new RM file, after deleting a bunch of ancestor profiles, that I thought might be small enough to upload to WikiTree. However, the record count on this new reduced(?) file still showed 5,000+. I don’t know why. I posed the problem somewhere else and someone suggested that if I re-saved that reduced file again under another filename, it might reflect the reduced number of records. I tried, but it didn’t.
So I thought maybe reducing my target to one profile at a time might get me somewhere. It’s slow going printing out Ancestry/Family Search profile, then re-keying them manually into WikiTree.
you get a free myRootmagic website option.(up to 200mb database size)
if you have less than 10,000 people you should be under that restriction)
not sure if that meets your needs
Having no sense of what this entails, I don’t have a way to understand your time investment per profile versus the quantity of people. Assuming that there would be very little time per profile for adding newly-introduced (but completely accurate already) persons, I presume that usability procedures for “linking in” tree segments must be the time sink. If you’re trying to work with a GEDCOM that contains profiles for persons ~already~ in the WikiTree and are also having to spend time bypassing or excluding such groups or segments… that’s inefficient (ie. don’t include duplicates in the .GED files). Small-size GEDCOMs can certainly encompass only “say” double-digits of people (instead of 5000) for that three-week time limit. When using RootsMagic to Mark persons (for inclusion in a GEDCOM) it reports back a number (count). Also, be sure to be unchecking Extra details (RM-specific).
The alternative would seem to be using a less restrictive environment (like RM) to assemble ALL the database fully, first, normalize all the Places and spellings and such …THEN bulk upload a full GEDCOM exported from RM up to WikiTree.
kbens0n: My process is: 1-print Family Group Record (FGR] from Family Search 2-I don’t assume everything in each profile is totally accurate, so I try to verify with other sources 3-I also include the spouse information, but I have to find souse dates/places [these are omitted from the FGR], 4-I have to review the potential record matches listed by WT. If there is a match, I have to edit to merge both records, 5-1 a full 5,000 record upload to WT would take more than a year. 5,000/365 days = 14 per day x 20 minutes each = 4.5 hours per day [assuming I work holidays & vacations]. No doubt my wife would leave me.
I don’t think your suggested alternative works for WT - they don’t allow bulk uploads. Every profile has to be reviewed before it is added to the upload list.
I am also looking into WikiTree Sourcer, as someone commented that it does facilitate the upload of profiles from other genealogy sites. I’ve loaded the app and briefly looked at it - but I’m slow when it comes to new tech. But then again someone else commented that WT Sourcer no longer supports this feature.
I do appreciate any other comments/suggestions you might have.
My cursory searching suggests there’s likely a real value in using both the WikiTree Browser extension and the WikiTree Sourcer browser extension, but mostly for AFTER THE STRUGGLE of merging initial perfect matches, followed by matches reconciled via edits and finally convincing WikiTree that the remaining ones are viable new un-duplicated tree members.
Those browser tools appear more helpful for fleshing out profiles. Things like templating how the profile biographies read to the visitors (making wiki-creation itself easier), saving drafts of your edits to pause/cleanup/resume work, added checks/safeguards against potential editing mistakes, shortcuts to achieve some editing flow improvement over manual data entry and tools for researching other sites/adding sources/etc.
I don’t see mention (in those extensions’ descriptions or reviews) of specific features helping to overcome the core limitations they impose (5000 people and 2/3/4 cross-edits) to reconcile and merge each profile. The nature of being one big wiki “construct” is a hard-to-manage users difficulty.
At a minimum…it’ll be easier going forward after you do the hard work in smaller “traunches” (sp. tranches)… to use these extensions. I’m surely un-informed and being unfair, after all it’s free and a very valuable resource. Hopefully, WikiTree users will drops some answers/tips. Good luck!
PLEASE do not try importing a GEDCOM into WikiTree.
(EDIT: the format of a GEDCOM imported profile is terrible, so bad that there is an extension that will automatically try to tidy it up getting rid of GEDCOM junk)
By all means try checking off a small batch at a time to see if any are already there but then add manually
It is highly likely unless your names/ families are rather unique that many of them or their families are already are just waiting for good sources to be added.
I thoroughly recommend that you explore the suggested WikiTree extension that makes formatting sources a breeze and if you already have them sourced in your Ancestry tree I believe there is a copy from Ancestry profile type feature within the WikiTree sourcer extension but I admit I prefer inputting profiles from scratch* adding sources as I go checking what I have is still ok. With a high reliance on tidying up the FamilySearch tree and using that as my base for sourcing as I go as that resource sources are free for those checking out sources.
- once you get into census records its a breeze adding a family from them as eg from a FamSrch source you can add a family quickly with add spouse add son to what’s there all from the same source record
I am still sporadically cleaning up a large GEDCOM I imported in the very early days of WikiTree!
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Check out the WikiTree Sourcer documentation on the site
it says:
When on a profile page (in FamilySearch, Ancestry or FindMyPast) there is a Sourcer menu option “Save Person Data”. Select that.
Clear and clear steps - by AI (Thank you watkinsxx)
To complete this workflow, ensure you have the WikiTree Browser Extension installed on your browser (Chrome or Firefox). Follow these steps:
1. Update in FamilySearch
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Navigate to your family member’s profile on FamilySearch.
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Ensure all dates, locations, and relationships are accurate for 2026 standards.
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Once the profile is updated, click the WikiTree Extension icon in your browser toolbar and select “Save Person Data.”
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In the extension menu, click “Build All Citations” to prepare the source list for transfer.
2. Create the WikiTree Profile
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Go to WikiTree and select “Add” then “New Person.”
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Click into the First Name field.
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Activate the WikiTree extension menu and select “Set Fields from Person Data for: [Name/ID]” (it will note it was saved recently). This automatically populates names, dates, and locations.
3. Add Sources
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Scroll down to the Sources text box on the WikiTree “Add Person” page.
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Click inside the box and press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac).
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This will paste the formatted citations generated from the FamilySearch records.
For detailed troubleshooting or to download the latest version of the tool, visit the WikiTree Browser Extension help page.
David Slatter: Wow! Very slick. Thank you. I gave your steps back to ChatGPT to correct the erroneous information it had been giving me. It then provided the following update:
This is excellent — and thank you for taking the time to write it out so clearly. You’re right, and your steps describe the current, working workflow that avoids all the dead ends we ran into earlier.
You’ve essentially documented the correct modern way to move a FamilySearch person into WikiTree using the WikiTree Browser Extension, not the older Sourcer web app.
For clarity (and future readers), here is your method cleaned up and confirmed, exactly as it works today:
I upload family lines as I complete them (or at least have no more work I can do). The reason there are limitations on upload in WikiTree is they really don’t want people uploading entire files and causing all the resultant duplicates. So take a family line with a hundred or so, upload it, match with all those that are already there, rinse, repeat. You may need permission from other WikiTree users if you are attempting upload a line that already has an assigned manager.
You really don’t want to do this with any line you are actively updating as keeping RM/WikiTree in sync is next to impossible, and updating on WIkiTree is a real PITA.
Long term I’d really like RM to use the WIkiTree API to match RM people with WIkiTree people and pull down the ID (like with FamilySearch). I do that today using a WebTag, but it’s entirely manual.