Getting started in FamilySearch Community

Navigating the Community

 * Join Groups: For the best experience, join any groups about topics you are interested in. Why? You’ll get notifications about what is going on in that group to keep you updated over time.
 * Click Groups at the top, then find interesting groups and click Join or Request. Join lets you in immediately; Request means someone needs to approve you.
 * Set your notification preferences in the upper right for each group so that you receive the notifications you desire.
 * Get back to all the groups you have joined from the left-hand side of the page.
 * Your Start Page: Bookmark the My Feed page. That’s your starting point each time you return to the community.
 * Follow Topics: You can Follow a Topic to receive notifications when someone posts to that topic. Search for topics in the upper right side of the screen, then scroll down to see the related topics.

Reading Posts

 * Long Posts and Hidden Information: Watch for “Expand Post” and “Show More” under posts and comments to see information that was cut off.
 * View Unread Posts Only: When in a group, click the funnel icon by the search box, then select Unread Posts. It saves your selection and shows you only unread posts when you visit groups from that point forward. You can change it back at any time.
 * Save for Later: For posts you want to refer back to later, click on the down arrow on the right side of a post and "Bookmark" that post. Bookmarked posts show on the right on the My Feed page.
 * Share: To share a specific post with someone click on the Share button and then copy the link to the post. If there is no Share button, the post was not public and shouldn’t be shared publicly.

Asking & Answering Questions

 * Ask Questions: If a question relates to a specific topic that already has a group (such as about researching a family), it is generally better to ask it inside a group. If you can’t find a group that relates, ask your question in the General Questions group.
 * Capture Others’ Attention: Type @ then someone's username to mention them in a post so they will get notified about the post.
 * Copy to Multiple Groups: Type @ then a group name to have the post show in another group in addition to the place it was posted.
 * Add Topics: Topics are like tags in most other apps. When you ask a question, there is a spot underneath the box that allows you to Add Topic to share what your post is about. You can add more than one topic.  You can Follow a topic you are interested in.
 * Question or Post? Use the Question type when you expect a response. Use the Post type when you just want to share information.
 * Set the Best Answer: After you ask a Question, select the “Best Answer” (if there is one) for that response to show first after your question.

How do I find groups to join?

 * Click on Groups at the top of the page. You can scroll through the list or search for a country or subject you are interested in. Click Join or Request to join the group.

Where should I ask my questions?

 * Ask your question in the group that is most likely to be about your subject. To do this, click on the name of the group and then type your question in the box at the top of the group. If your question relates to more than one group, you can type the @ symbol and then the name of another group and your question will appear in that group as well.

How do I direct a response to a specific person in the Community?

 * Type the @ symbol and then start typing that person’s username, choose the person from the list that pops up. How do I private message someone? Hover over the person’s name until a pop-up box appears. Then click Message. Or Click on the individual's name with the dotted underline. That will take you to their Profile page. Then click on the Send Message button on the right side, above the profile image.

What is my Feed and why should I use it?

 * My Feed is where you can follow all the groups, posts, and topics that matter most to you in one location. My Feed is helpful because all the recent posts from groups that you have joined are in one place so you don't have to check every single group to see what's going on. You can access My Feed by going to the top of your Community page:


 * You can sort your feed by "Most Recent Activity" and "Latest Posts". You can also search your feed if you are looking for a specific post but can't remember which group it was from.

How do I leave a group?

 * When you are in the group, hover your mouse over Member at the top of the page. It will change to a Leave Group button that you can click.

How do I manage the messages about the community that are sent to me?

 * To manage how often you get notified about new information in a group, click on Manage Notifications, and then you can select which option you prefer.


 * 1) Every Post: Sends you an email each time a new question or post is posted in the group, not the follow-up comments.
 * 2) Daily/Weekly Digest: Sends you an email each morning, or each Sunday morning, with the posts made during the last day or week.
 * 3) Limited: Sends you an email only when the group admin sends an announcement with the email option checked. Only site admins have the ability to send group announcements out through email, so these emails will be very rare, and in most cases, non-existent.

How do I change my email for the community?

 * The email that is shown for you in FamilySearch Community is based on your FamilySearch Email. If you’d like to change it, go to your Contact Page on FamilySearch:


 * 1) Click on your name shown in the upper right while on FamilySearch.org. (You won’t see these links in the Community.)
 * 2) Click on Settings, circled in red.
 * 3) Click on Contact, circled in blue.
 * 4) Change your Email, highlighted in yellow.

How do I find a question I asked in the past?

 * You know that you have asked a question and you want to look at any responses that anyone has given. How do you find that question again? It is quite simple. You click on your name at the top of the page. That will take you to everything you have done. Then scroll down through what is listed there to find the question you are looking for.

I've joined a few groups, how do I find them again?

 * You can find the groups that you have joined on the left-hand side of the page, under My Groups. (On a mobile device, scroll down to My Groups after all the messages in My Feed.) You can see all the questions, posts and comments for the groups that you have joined in My Feed.