Don't I wish.
But it IS true that a real, true, died-in-the-wool genealogy wonk has created a program which makes that miscreant genealogy database, Family Tree, a lot more palatable.
It is no surprise (unless this is the first time you have visited this blog) that I loathe with virtually every fiber of my being, the new and mislabeled improved LDS genealogy site, Family Tree. Yes, it is kind of cool that you can click on a geographic area from within FT and go to the LDS records/search collections, if they have any, for that area. But that small token of convenience pales in comparison to how cumbersome, lethargic, and abysmal the process is if you are actually LDS and are doing genealogy for religious reasons. It's so bad, I have to wonder who Family Search has in mind for its target audience?
So for those (LDS and non-LDS) who are in it purely for the research, you're going to love Puzzilla.org. Puzzilla.org is a brand new (like, released a few days ago) search engine which literally turns your research upside down. For real.
Bear with me, this is about to get technologically complicated, but as Steve Jobs said: "It takes genius and a lot of work to make complicated, simple." Alas, I'm not Steve Jobs. Those of you who are visual learners, might want to watch the movie (I'm not kidding) it's at:
Most genealogy software and search engines work bottom up: from you to your ancestors (hey, there's a book by that name, LOL.) Puzzilla.org accesses the data already linked in Family Tree and creates this flowering tree which looks traditionally familiar, bottom up:
That little dot at the bottom is "you", and the upward branches are "your" ancestors. Looks familiar right?
Here's where it gets crazy cool.
See that arrow in the previous (above) graphic? Let's say that happens to be one of your 4th great grand parents. If you click on his or her dot (blue dots for boys, pink dots for girls), your 4th great grand (mother) now becomes the center of a circle, as illustrated below:
Spreading out from your 4th great grandmother (who remember is the square-in-the-center dot), in concentric circles, are all of her descendants.
Notice how some of the 'petals' end pretty quick? Regardless of whether the petal ends immediately or keeps going (like the one on the upper right quadrant), where it ends is where the research (or linked records) ends in Family Tree.
Come on. Admit it. THAT is phenomenally cool. If you hit Shift-click on any one of those dots, it will take you directly in to Family Tree to see the details of the record, which is particularly of value if you want to see if the line/record ends "for real" because your 2nd great grand aunt Betty didn't have kids, or if there's a link you can make because no one else has linked her to your great grand uncle Paul. And then, once you're within Family Tree, you can click on the geographic area to be taken in to the LDS Family Search records collection. (See? I managed to tie in, and say something worthwhile and nice, about Family Tree!)
It's particularly cool if you come from a line of genealogy slackers. Or you are new to genealogy. Way back 35 years ago (wow, it's really been that long!) Spencer W. Kimball asked Latter-day Saints to combine their resources and submit "one" coherent pedigree chart which went back four generations (you, your parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents.) For some (chiefly english speaking) members this was relatively easy; for some (spanish, german, french etc. speaking) it was a little tougher- they may or may not have had the records themselves, they may or may not have had to do a bit of research in parish records to find the info; and for others (asian speaking countries, or countries where records had been destroyed or were difficult to access), it took a lot of work, prayer and effort.
Surprisingly (to me) Puzzilla.org shows that there are many, many petal pods which have gone no further than these initial 4 Generation charts submitted decades ago. They look like this:
Where " I " would be say, one of those (pink) 5 dots center left, my "mom" would be that one pink dot of 9 dots to the right, her father the blue dot leading to the right, one of those 7 dots, with his mother the pink dot leading to the cluster far middle right (black arrow).
Notice how FEW descendants there are leading away from that central dot (black arrow). If you count carefully, you will see that there are no more than 4 Generations descending from that center dot, in any given direction, a reflection that "people" dutifully submitted their 4 Generation Chart as asked, and didn't take it any further.
What this means is lucky you, there's a ton of research ready to be done. You could pretty much just "pick a dot" and go to town.
Puzzilla.org is still under construction, so it's got some flaws, but they are open to feedback. Here's one: although it doesn't seem to have a petal "limit", the system freezes if you ask for it to flower to 20 generations. Just saying. But overall: it is phenomenal, worth checking out, and is guaranteed to get your genealogy engine revving and running.
Happy hunting.
UPDATE: Had a "conversation" with the designer of Puzzilla.org, Bill Harten. He noted in the FAQ there IS a 12 petal limit, although you can then refresh it with the 12th petal as the starting point and go another 12 petalls/generations. Guess it helps to read the directions, eh? He also noted that just as I was blogposting, he was updating Puzzilla. There is now a "golden thread" (think The Three Fates in Greek mythology, lol) showing your direct line throughout all the descendants in the petals, a 'book'-marker to show the last person you clicked on, and a button to refresh data by reloading from FamilyTree. Pretty dynamic.
And the following comment was posted somehow on my Genealogy page instead of here, so I've recopied it here. Still not smart enough to figure out how to get that background color off, sorry.
Just looked up my Tree: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152171595433686&set=a.40140643685.48877.623338685&type=1&theater
The new (beta) sourcewalker link for Family Tree is GREAT - making it able to source everyone in a census record or marriage record from one page. I've been using Puzzilla for over a month - and have had great success. There are LOTS of lines that "end" with research opportunities.
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