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User Guide

This section documents the features available to users of Gramps Web.

Not seeing all features?

Gramps Web uses a role-based permission system. Some features – such as editing data, managing tags, or viewing private records – are only available to users with sufficient permissions. You can check your current role in User Settings. If you need more access, contact your tree owner or administrator. See User system for a description of all roles.

The sidebar (or hamburger menu on mobile) is the primary way to move between sections:

  • Home – the dashboard (see below)
  • Blog – family history stories written as blog posts
  • People, Families, Events, Places, Sources, Citations, Repositories, Notes – browse all objects of each type
  • Media – browse all media files (photos, documents, etc.)
  • Map – geographic view of places in the tree
  • Family Tree – interactive tree charts
  • DNA – DNA match analysis tools
  • Chat – AI chat assistant (if enabled by the administrator)
  • History – recently changed objects
  • Bookmarks – your saved bookmarks
  • Tasks – research tasks
  • Export – export the family tree
  • Reports – generate reports
  • Revisions – full transaction history (visible to members and above)
  • Tags – manage tags (visible to editors and above)
  • Notifications – past notifications

Top app bar

The bar at the top of every page contains:

  • Add (plus icon, visible to contributors and above) – opens a menu to create a new object: Person, Family, Event, Place, Source, Citation, Repository, Note, Media Object, or Task
  • Search (magnifying glass) – opens the search page
  • User icon – opens the settings menu: User Settings, Administration (owners only), Manage Users (owners only), System Info

The home page (dashboard)

The dashboard is shown when you first log in. It has two columns:

Left column:

  • Home person card – shows the name, photo (if available), and key facts of your chosen home person, with a link to their full profile and quick navigation to the family tree. Click the Set Home Person button on the card to search for and select a different person.
  • Anniversaries – upcoming birthdays and anniversaries from the tree, based on today's date.
  • Recently changed – a short list of the most recently modified objects, useful for tracking collaborative edits.

Right column:

  • Recent blog posts – the latest entries from the blog, if any exist.
  • Statistics – a summary of object counts in the tree (number of people, families, events, etc.).

If the tree administrator has configured a home page note and/or a home page image, these are displayed prominently above the main columns. The image appears beside the note text when both are set. See Administration Settings for how to configure these.

Tip

If the tree is empty and you have edit permissions, the dashboard shows a "Get started" prompt with buttons to add your first person or import a family tree file.