The purpose of this help section is to offer suggestions on how to use the results of the Family Tree Validator. Please be aware of the following conditions or principles in reviewing Validator’s results.
- Validator makes its analysis and recommendations based on the information currently in the person’s record and in any attached sources. While we’ve tried to make the program as smart as possible, at times, it won’t make connections the way we do.
- Validator makes suggestions based on the data available. NOT ALL SUGGESTIONS IT MAKES ARE GOOD. (Please help us improve this)
- YOU still need to use your judgement in the changes you ask Validator to make. We try to show you the current and new values with each change.
- Computers can be very exacting is their comparisons. 4 does not equal 5. Smith does not ‘equal’ Smythe. While it can guess that the two are the same (like we do), the use of ‘Alternate Names’ helps to make this clear to both FamilySearch and Validator.
Who is validated when the option is initiated?
When a person is ‘validated’, the Family Tree Validator will process them, each of their spouses and the respective children, their parents and siblings. It will also extend that reach for the additional generations specified in the Options configuration. It is not unusual for a 4-generation up, 2-generation down, 2-generation sideways family to include well over a hundred individuals. Within this group, there are many cross-relationships but Validator will only process each individual once.
Report Sections
The output for each individual is divided into various message types.
Family
This block shows the basic information about the individual being processed
- Name, Born/Died, FamilySeach ID. You can click on this to go to this person in FamilySearch.
- Parents and number of siblings. If multiple parents are found, all are listed here.
- The number of source records attached to this individual. The analysis of source records is enabled on the Options page.
- The number of research hints that FamilySearch has found for this individual. The analysis of these records is enabled on the Options page.
Spouses
This block shows any spouses and the number of children. If there are multiple spouses, each is listed here including any unknown spouses.
Cleanup
This section shows minor errors and inconsistencies found in Validator’s review. Most of these items also have a “Fix It” button in the right hand column. Here are some examples of cleanup items:
- Suggest adding husband’s last name (SMITH) as an alternate name to: Sarah Brown. Validator makes this suggestion in locations where the wife normally takes the husband’s name and an existing alternate name is not found.
- Suggest removing duplicate alternate name for Mary Florence Shirley. Validator found a duplicate alternate name for this person which can be removed. Click ‘Fix It’ to remove the duplicate item.
Normalization Issues
These messages appear when the “Display normalization differences” option is enabled. This option is not enabled by default because it can generate a large number of messages. The GOOD NEWS is that they almost always have a ‘Fix It’ option that can be correct the issue with a single click. However, please ensure that the suggested change is reasonable. (Sometimes, FamilySearch makes some strange suggestions. Here are some examples of these messages:
- In their Birth record, these dates are not the same: “22 Mar 1875” and “22 March 1875”. You can see that these are the same dates. Click ‘Fix It’ to update them.
- In their MilitaryDraftRegistration record, these locations are not the same: “Los Angeles County no 1, California, United States” and “Los Angeles, California, United States”. In this case, you can see that the 2nd or normalized value represents the same location. Click ‘Fix It’ to update the location to the normalized value.
- In their Residence record, this location has no normalized value: “Grapeland, Houston, Texas”. In this case, the location has never had a normalized value assigned to it. Click ‘Fix It’ for Validator to find the normalized location and update the record.
- These Marriage dates are not the same: “ABT 1791” and “about 1791”. Same as above. Note that with marriage suggestions, they will appear on both spouses. You may get a message “Already Done” if the changes has already been made.
Warnings
This block shows any warnings that were found in looking at this individual. Warnings are indications of POSSIBLE errors or things that might need to be checked out. Here are some examples of warning messages:
- This person is duplicated between multiple parents. This normally ONLY occurs with step or adoptive parents.
- This person has NO sources! Despite the information on file for this individual, there are not source records attached to them. (Stay tuned for future changes)
- Children’s birth dates overlap between James Maitland Lauderdale Jr (About 1760 to About 1791) and (unknown spouse) (1 January 1752 to About 1780). For a person with multiple husbands, this message indicates that this person was having children during overlapping years (probably not possible). Check for duplicate spouses or people with the same name that should not have been merged.
- This person has no first name. This is common for stillborn children. It also happens when a person is created as a placeholder so that siblings can be created.
- This person has no last name. Unfortunately, this is common in some locations and time periods.
- Possible duplicate child: Thomas Hughes (L4SK-XTQ) with Thomas Hughes (MJ3H-5JS). Validator found multiple children in this family with similar names and birth dates. Please check these individuals and merge them if appropriate.
- Possible duplicate siblings: Ann Elgin (MVFS-FT4) with Annie Elgin (LWBN-HZZ). Validator found multiple siblings in this family with similar names and birth dates. Please check these individuals and merge them if appropriate.
- This person’s name contains ‘or’. Split to an alternate name? A name containing ‘or’ may be confusing to FamilySearch. Please separate the name into an alternate name. Use the person’s most common name for their primary name.
- This person’s last name (Klopfer or Kloepffer) contains ‘or’. Split into alternate names. Same as above. Validator will give you a ‘Fix It’ option to make this change for you.
- This person’s name is suspicious. Validator found that this person’s name may not be valid.
- This person’s first name (?) contains invalid characters. Only alphabetic characters (and – or ‘) can allowed be used for first and last names.
- This person’s first name (Arcajah ( Machanie)) contains invalid characters. Suggest using an alternate name for the portion in ().
- This person’s last name (Mc Conshie ( Machanie)) contains “()” characters. Suggest using alternate name. Suggest using an alternate name for the portion in ().
- This person was NOT christened within 6 months: birth: 1745, christened: 16 April 1746. Suggest checking this record. In my experience, a person is christened shortly after they are born.
- FamilySearch reports a possible duplicate person: Sarah or Sally Michell to be looked at. FamilySearch found a possible duplicate.
Errors
This block shows any errors that were found in looking at this individual. Errors are definite problems that need your attention. Here are some examples of error messages:
- This person has multiple parents (#). This indicates that this person was found to be a natural child in multiple families. Validator should take step and adoptive parents into account.
- Couple married before they were 16 years old. Born: 27 November 1827, Married: 29 December 1842 at age: 15. This can just information if the information seems reasonable.
- This person was married before they were born. Born: 1780, Married: 1777. Validator found that this couple has a marriage date prior to their being born. Incorrect attachments or merges are the usual causes. Double-check the source records for incorrect attachments.
- This person was christened before they were born: birth: 14 January 1710, christened: 25 January 1685. This person’s christening date was before they were born. Possibly dates entered without a source or an incorrect source attached.
- This person was buried before they died: Death: 1813, Burial: 1812. This person’s burial date is before they died. Possibly dates entered without a source or an incorrect source attached.
- This person died at >100 years old: Birth: 7 May 1914, Death: 23 January 2019. Most people die before they reach 100. This message is informational and something to possibly check.
Source Findings
This block will show any ‘interesting’ findings in Validator’s review of the source records attached to this person. Here are some examples of these messages:
- Based on sources, suggest adding Sarah LANDERDALE as an alternate name for Sarah Lauderdale. In one or more attached source, this name was used. Validator is suggesting adding an alternate name to make it clear that these names are equivalent.
- In Birth records, different dates were found. Might be a different person? FOUND: Original: 22 March 1875 Different: 1871. This indicates that Validator found different dates in the source records than what was recorded in the person’s FamilySearch record.
- This source record wasn’t attached to the person Validator expected, please check.
- Validator didn’t recognize at least one person in one of the source records. This message might simply be an extra person (an officiator, or a boarder) was in the record. Suggest taking a look at the source record.
Source Errors
This block will show any errors found in Validator’s review of the sources attached to this person. Here are some examples of these errors:
- The parents in this source record are not attached to this person. (Possible new parents are: E L Shurley ). Please verify. This error means that Validator did not recognize the parents in this source record as being the same as the person’s recorded parents. Adding an alternate name can fix this. Or it can mean that there is a serious problem that needs to be looked into. Pressing ‘View Record’ will take you to the source record.
- Multiple Birth dates were found for this person: 24 April 1873, 1883, March 1883. In reviewing the source records, Validator found multiple birth dates for this person. Please review to ensure that these are not from multiple/different people.
- Multiple Death dates were found for this person: 1 August 1908, 1976, 1975. Same as above.
- This source record has a line attached to multiple people. Possible error or duplicates, please check. In this source record, there is a line with multiple people attached. Look for the black triangle in the middle of the page above the word “detach” or the dark green as you mouse-over the people in the record. There will be a message for each LINE of the source record that has a problem. Please contact support if you have questions.
- This source has lines is attached to multiple people. Possible error or duplicates, please check. Similar to the message above, this indicates there is a problem with the people attached to this source record. Please review. Look for the black triangle in the middle of the page above the word “detach” or the dark green as you mouse-over the people in the record. Please contact support if you have questions.