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Start a new tree

This page walks you through the first steps in an empty family tree: adding yourself, adding your parents, and seeing the result in the family tree chart. It takes about 15 minutes.

If you already have a family tree in another genealogy program or in Gramps Desktop, you don't need to enter it again by hand – see Import data instead.

Note

Adding people requires the Editor role or higher. The owner of a tree always has it. See User system for all roles.

1. Create a place

In Gramps, a place is created once and then selected for every event that happened there – for example the births of several siblings in the same town. This is why a place has to exist before you can select it as someone's place of birth.

To create the place where you were born:

  1. Click the + (Add) button in the top app bar and choose Place.
  2. Enter the Name of the place, and optionally its Type (such as city or village).
  3. Optionally, click Pick on map to set its coordinates, so the place appears on the map.
  4. Click Add.

Create the birth places of your parents in the same way. If you don't know a place yet, skip it – you can add it later.

2. Add yourself

Go back to the home page. While the tree is empty, it shows a Get started card. Click New Person to open the form for a new person:

  • Name – your given name and surname
  • Gender
  • Birth Date – see Entering dates below
  • Birth Place – click Select an existing place and search for the place you created

Leave the death fields empty and click Add. The page of the new person opens.

The first person created in an empty tree automatically becomes your Home Person: the person the family tree chart starts from. You can choose a different Home Person at any time on the home page.

Entering dates

A date is entered as separate year, month, and day fields. If you only know the year, fill in only the year. For uncertain dates, change the date's type – for example to "about" or "before" – instead of guessing an exact day.

3. Add your parents

  1. Click Family Tree in the sidebar. The chart shows you as the Home Person.
  2. Click the pencil button in the bottom right corner to switch on edit mode.
  3. Click the small + button on your card. The Add Family Member dialog opens.
  4. Next to Father, click the + icon to create a new person, fill in the form as before, and save. Your father appears in the chart, already linked to you.
  5. Repeat with Mother.

The link icon next to each relationship connects a person who already exists in your tree instead of creating a new one.

In the same way, click the + on any card in the chart to add that person's parents, children, or spouse. Each change is saved immediately. To leave edit mode, click the close button in the top app bar.

4. See the result

The chart now shows you with your parents. Try the other chart types in the tabs at the top of the page – for example the Fan Chart – and click any person's card to centre the chart on them. See Family Tree for all charts and options.

Next steps

  • Understand the structure. See How Gramps organizes data for how people, families, events, places, and sources fit together.
  • Add more details. Open a person's page – for example with the Person Details button in the chart toolbar – to add further events, notes, sources, and more. See Editing in the tree view for what can be done directly in the chart.
  • Add photos and documents. See Add media files.
  • Invite your family. Relatives need their own account on your tree; see Manage users and Registration.