Families: How to Add or Edit a Family

For managing families in your Family History website

This guide will help you add a new Family or make changes to an existing one using the WordPress dashboard. Don’t worry — no special computer skills are needed!

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What is a “Family”?

In this site, a Family usually refers to a larger group — like the Smith Family, the Lee Family, or the Johnson-Green Family. You can add details about the family and later connect people, stories, or media to them.

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Step-by-Step: Add a New Family

1. Log In

Go to your website’s login page. You will have been provided with this URL upon signing up. Usually, it looks like this:
https://new-demo.our-family-histories.com/wp-admin
Enter your username and password.

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2. Open the Family Section

Once you’re logged in:

• Look at the left menu.
  
• Click “Families” (you might need to scroll a little).
  
• Click “Add New” at the top of that page.
  

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3. Fill Out the Family Info

You’ll see a form with some fields:

• Family Name (Title): At the very top, type the name of the family (for example: “Anderson”).
  
• Family Description (Big Text Area): Write anything you want to remember about this family (history, notes, location, etc.).
  

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4. Link People to This Family

TODO: Add this functionality to easily populate/update a family

Scroll down the page until you see the “People in this Family” section.

• Click inside the box that says “Select People”.
  
• A list will appear — you can search by name.
  
• Click the name of each person you want to link to this family.
  
• You can add more than one!
  

💡 If the person you’re looking for isn’t in the list yet, you’ll need to add them first. We’ll cover that in the next guide.

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5. Add a Featured Image (Optional but recommended)

On the right side of the screen, you’ll see a box that says “Featured Image”.

• Click “Set featured image”.
  
• Choose a photo from the Media Library or upload a new one.
  
• Click “Set featured image” again.
  

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6. Publish the Family

At the top right, click the “Publish” button. That’s it!
You’ve added a new family to your family tree 🎉

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To Edit an Existing Family:

• Go to “Families” from the left menu.
  
• Find the family you want to edit (use the search box if needed).
  
• Click its name.
  
• Make your changes, then click “Update” at the top right.
  

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Things You Can Connect to a Family

Once a family is created, you can link other things to it — like:

• People
  
• Marriages
  
• Stories, Recipes, or News Clippings (under Posts)
  
• Photos and videos (Media Library)
  

People: How to Add or Edit a Person

For keeping track of individual family members

This guide shows you how to add a person to your family history website using the WordPress dashboard. Once you’ve added some Families, you can now start connecting individual people to them!

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What is a “Person”?

A Person is an individual family member — like Grandma Helen, Uncle Bob, or cousin Ella. You can add birth/death info, photos, and connect them to one or more Families and Marriages.

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Step-by-Step: Add a New Person

1. Go to the “People” section

• On the left side of your dashboard, click “People”.
  
• Click “Add New” near the top of the screen.
  

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2. Enter the Person’s Name*

• In the big field at the top, type their full name (example: James Edward Miller).
  
• Use whatever naming style your family prefers!
  

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3. Add Key Details

In the editor below the title, you can:

• Write a short biography, life summary, or important notes.
  
• You can include dates, milestones, or just a fun story.
  

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4. Link This Person to a Family

Scroll down to the “Family or Families” box (added with Advanced Custom Fields).

• Click inside the box to select one or more families this person belongs to.
  
• You can select multiple if needed (for example: children of remarried parents, married people).
  
• This helps connect the dots in your family tree.
  

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5. Link This Person to a Marriage (if needed)

Look for the “Marriage(s)” field (if it’s been added via ACF).

• Click inside and choose the correct marriage record.
  
• If this person was married more than once, you can add multiple.
  

📝 You’ll want to create the Marriage post first so you can link it here.

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6. Add Birth and Death Dates (Optional)

Depending on your setup, there may be fields for:

• Date of Birth
  
• Date of Death
  
• Place of Birth/Death
  

These fields help build timelines, family trees, and more — but they’re optional.

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7. Set a Photo (Featured Image)

On the right side, find the “Featured Image” box.

• Click “Set featured image”
  
• Upload a photo or pick one from the media library
  
• Click “Set featured image” again
  

📸 Try to choose a clear portrait-style image if available.

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8. Publish the Person

Click “Publish” in the top right when you’re done.
You’ve now added someone to your family tree!

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*A note about names

It’s entirely up to you how formal or informal you want to be when setting names. You can add maiden names in brackets, you can just use your familiar name, like “Grandpa Pete”, or “Granny” – whatever you want. The actual connection is made by adding the person to family groups, so the naming part is whatever your family prefers!

To Edit an Existing Person

• Go to People in the menu
  
• Find and click the name you want to change
  
• Make your edits, then click Update
  

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What You Can Connect to a Person

Once a person is added, you can link other things to them:

• Families
  
• Marriages
  
• Memories (Stories, Recipes, Clippings via “Posts”)
  
• Photos and videos from the Media Library
  

These connections help build a rich, interconnected family story.

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Tips for Success

• If someone doesn’t belong to a family yet, you can still add them — just fill in the connection later.
  
• Use categories or tags on Posts (stories) to group memories by person.
  
• You can use the search bar in “People” if your list gets long.

ADMIN NOTE: Treating Marriages as a distinct “life unit” allows for storytelling that lives between the generational “Family” level and the individual “Person” level — capturing the shared life that often defines family memory.

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