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Involving relatives · 5 min

Invite relatives

One plan sponsors the whole family; invited relatives do not pay. Decide what each person can do before you send the link, and remember that an editor can change what everyone sees.

On this page

Before you begin

  • An owner or editor role (owners manage roles and membership)

Choose a role

Viewer — can explore
Reads the tree, the memories and the records they are allowed to see. Cannot add or change anything.
Editor — can add and edit
Adds people, memories and records and edits shared material. Choose this with care; an editor can change what everyone sees.
Owner
Everything an editor can do, plus members, invitations, privacy settings, billing, export and deletion. There can be more than one owner.

Create the invitation

Watch: choosing Viewer, connecting the invitation to Ruth Marlowe, pinning it to an email address and creating it · 17s

Silent demonstration. Follow the written steps on this page at your own pace.

  1. Step 1. Open More → Settings. Invite family is the first section.

    The Invite family section with the role menu, the person menu and the email field
    • Step 2. Choose what your relative can do
    • Step 3. Optionally restrict the link to one email

    Detail view. Select the image to view the full screenshot.

  2. Step 2. Pick the role, then optionally choose who they are in the tree. Their invitation then opens on their own story, and their account is connected to that person.

  3. Step 3. Pin to email (optional) restricts the link to one verified address. Leave it empty for a link you will hand over yourself.

  4. Step 4. Choose Create invitation. An invitation pinned to an email address is sent there; the link shown also works if you would rather hand it over yourself, with Copy beside it.

    A created invitation: sent to the pinned address, with the link, Copy, and the pending invitation listed with its expiry and Revoke

    A created invitation: sent to the pinned address, with the link, Copy, and the pending invitation listed with its expiry and Revoke

    Select the image to view the full screenshot.

Pending invitations are listed with their role and expiry, each with Revoke. When the relative accepts, they sign in or create an account, join the family and land on the tree scrolled to their own generation.

If your relative cannot open the invitation

The email address does not match
If you pinned the invitation to an email, your relative must sign in with that verified address. Check for a typo or a different account.
The link has expired or was revoked
Check pending invitations in Settings. Create a new invitation and send the new link to your relative.
They cannot find the email
Ask them to check their spam folder. You can also copy the invitation link and share it yourself. An email-pinned link still requires the matching address.

Who’s who

A member’s account can be connected to one person in the family story. Who’s who in Settings shows your own place and lets you Release it; a member can also ask to claim a person, and an owner approves the request. The connection is what makes captions such as “your grandparent” possible.

Members and leaving

Members lists everyone with their role and joining date. Owners can change roles or remove a member; anyone can Leave this family. Removing a member does not remove what they added; their contributions stay attributed. See members, roles and privacy for the privacy rules that apply to what viewers see.

Your next step

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