Genealogy sites have their own way of doing things. These pages can help you best search the sites. Each page provides hints along with a checklist of the website's search capabilities. The pages start at the left with Ancestry.com and run through Social Security Death Index.
Note that the Active Searches page automatically creates optimum searches based on your ancestor data. Be sure to check out the Active Searches page.
The Search Hints pages also includes entries found in the following table for each of the sites. See the definition of terms for any questions on the meaning of the entries.
| free searches | |
| free viewing of pedigrees | |
| paid viewing | |
| free downloads of pedigrees | |
| paid downloads | |
| contact information for submitter | |
| ability to see all the names submitted by a particular researcher | |
| ability to restrict searches to updates since a specific time | |
| searches with spouse's name | |
| searches with parent's names | |
| searches by place of birth | |
| searches by place of marriage | |
| searches by place of death | |
| searches by country | |
| searches by state, province, or political subdivision | |
| searches by date | |
| ability to specify date ranges for searching | |
| searches by exact spelling of name | |
| searches by metaphone | |
| searches by soundex | |
| ability to automatically find possible matches in your ancestry |