Using Paf 5

December 5

Using Personal Ancestral File 5 A tutorial covering how to add and edit the information of a threegeneration family. Picture examples included.

2008 A Tutorial for PAF 5

Prepared by Stacy Garner

Start by launching PAF 5 (available for free download at familysearch.org). You will see the welcome screen, as pictured here. To begin, click on “New” to create your file. (In the future, after you have created your file, you will click on “Open.”)

You will be asked to name your file before you begin inputting information. Select where you would like to save your file, and choose a name. Then click on “Save.”

A blank file will be loaded, and a small window will automatically pop open. In this window you may choose whether or not you would like the Enter key to be a command to advance to the next line. Most users choose to click “Yes,” as it allows for quick data entry. This can also be changed later.

Next a “Preferences” window will appear, where you will enter your information under the “Prepared by” tab. It is important to list permanent information because interaction with other researchers and genealogists is a key source for family history work. This information will appear on any pedigrees, reports, etc. you print or upload onto online databases from your PAF file. When you are finished, click “OK.”

Now you are ready to begin inputting information! If you are creating a PAF file on your own family, you will probably want to put yourself as the primary (first) individual. To do this, double click on the blue box, or go to Add
Individual.

This blank form will appear for you to type your information. Note: After you have typed your full name, a dialog box will appear and ask you to verify that your surname is typed correctly within the slashes. This is so the program can recognize the same surname in the future.

After verifying your surname has been entered correctly, continue filling out the rest of your information. For females enter their first, middle, and maiden names only. If the individual has a title in their name (i.e. Jr., Sgt., etc.) it should not go in the Full Name box. There is a box under the “Other” category where titles/prefixes can be entered. If the person you are filling it out for has received LDS ordinances, include the dates and places of those as well. (The abbreviation “BIC” stands for “Born in the Covenant,” and is used for individuals who were born after their parents were sealed.) Note the formats required: Places: • City, County, State, Country • i.e.: Rexburg, Madison, Idaho

Dates: • dd mmm yyyy • i.e.: 24 Dec 2008

If any specifics of date or place are unknown, simply leave them blank. Click on “Save” when you have finished.

Your screen should now display the birth date and place of your primary individual in the blue highlighted box. Well done! If you double-click on the individual, it will bring up the same information sheet for you to view/edit again.

Next, if your primary individual is married you will add their spouse. You can double click on the empty box labeled “Spouse,” or go to Add
Spouse while you have the primary individual still highlighted.

Once again, the information box will appear for you to enter in the spouse’s information. Remember to verify the surname (or maiden name, for females) when prompted, and to format the dates and places as required.

Once you click on “Save,” this window will appear, where you can enter the information about the marriage. (This window appears anytime you insert a parent or spouse.) Enter as much information as you have, then click “Save.”

Now you should see both individuals, with their marriage located in the box in between.

Children are added one at a time by double-clicking in the box labeled “Children,” or by going to Add
Child while one of the spouses is selected.

[Once you have more than two people entered into your PAF file, this window will appear every time you add a new individual. In this case, you will click on “Add New Individual.” You would only click “Select Existing Individual” if you had a person on your PAF file that you wanted to link to another family.]

The “Edit Individual” window will appear again, and you can enter all the child’s vital information.

If you make a formatting mistake while entering the information, PAF will bring up an alert similar to this one when you advance to the next line. In this case, there is a number in the box indicating place of baptism. This is good information to have, so the alert will be ignored.

Once you have clicked “Save,” you can see the child listed in the Children box at the same time this window appears. Click “Yes” if the couple has more than one child. In this example, we will click “No” and move on.

Once there is a child listed under a couple, the PAF file has two generations. You navigate between generations using the arrows next to the individuals’ names.

Clicking on the arrow next to the child brings us to a different screen where the child has now become the primary individual. From this screen, a spouse and children may be added. Clicking on the arrow by one of the parents brings us back to the previous screen.

From here, we can click on the arrows between the spouses. This alternates the two individuals in and out of the primary spot.

To add an individual’s parents, double click on one of the boxes labeled “Parents,” or go to Add
Father or Add
Mother while the individual is highlighted.

Select “Add New Individual,” and then fill out the Edit Individual window and click “Save.” The automatic Marriage window will appear again. Fill out the marriage information for this new couple as well, then click “Save.”

The new parent’s spouse will automatically be named “Unknown.” Double click on this box to add their information. (Or go to Add
Mother or Add
Father again.) Click on “Add New Individual”, then fill out the Edit Individual Form and click “Save.”

Your PAF file now has three generations! Well done!

If you’ll notice, just below the toolbar with the File, Edit, Add, etc., options there are three tabs. We have been working in the section of PAF where family groups are displayed.

Selecting an individual from the Family view and then clicking on the Pedigree tab shows us that individual’s pedigree. Once again, there are arrows next to the names to allow navigation between generations.

Click on the arrows until you see the youngest generation on your PAF.

Select that individual’s name, and then click on the Individual tab.

This shows a list of all the individuals you have entered into your PAF file, organized by RIN number (Record Identification Number). It is important to remember that whichever individual you have highlighted will stay highlighted when you switch tabs. In this example, Lucy was highlighted in the Individual tab so when we clicked on Family again she moved to the primary spot.

Once your PAF file becomes larger, it may be difficult to navigate while in the Pedigree tab because it does not display all of an individual’s children. For example: Jack and Abigail have three children, and the individual you are researching is descended from their daughter named Jane.

If you click on Jack and switch to the Pedigree tab, you will be able to navigate back through the generations to Jane and her daughter Lucy. This is because you found Jack by clicking forward through the generations from Jane. But if you were looking for Jack’s son Benjamin, he does not appear on the pedigree.

To find him, you will have to click on Jack and then switch to the Family tab. If you want a pedigree of Benjamin’s direct line, you would then click on his name and select the Pedigree tab.

You now have sufficient knowledge to begin entering your family’s information through PAF 5. Congratulations, and happy researching!

For more tutorials on how to work with PAF 5, visit these websites: 1. http://paftutorial.byu.edu/ 2. http://www.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=lessons (scroll down to the “Beginning PAF” and “Beginning Family History” lessons by Liz Snow)