Getting Research Suggestions for Your Family Tree
Discover how GEDminer analyses your tree to suggest the most valuable research opportunities, helping you prioritise where to focus your efforts.
How suggestions are generated
GEDminer analyses your tree structure to identify research opportunities:
- Missing data: Individuals lacking birth, death, or marriage records
- Brick walls: Dead ends where lines stop unexpectedly
- Incomplete records: Events with dates but no places, or vice versa
- Unverified claims: Data without source citations
- Structural gaps: Missing parents, unexplained family sizes
Each suggestion is weighted by potential genealogical impact.
Understanding suggestion categories
Suggestions are grouped by type:
- Vital records: Birth, marriage, death certificates to find
- Census records: Specific census years where ancestors should appear
- Missing parents: Individuals whose parents are unknown
- Date refinement: Estimated dates that could be sharpened with records
- Place specificity: Vague locations that need more precise identification
Priority ranking
Not all suggestions are equally valuable. GEDminer ranks by:
- Generation: Earlier generations often have fewer records, making each one more valuable
- Position in tree: Direct ancestors vs. collateral relatives
- Cascade effect: Will this information help find more records?
- Likelihood of success: Based on time period and location
Focus on high-priority suggestions for the biggest research payoff.
Taking action on suggestions
Each suggestion includes actionable guidance:
- Record type to search: What kind of document might have the answer
- Time period: When to search
- Location: Where to look (specific archives, online databases)
- Related searches: Other records that might appear alongside the target
Work through suggestions systematically rather than randomly browsing records.
Dismissing irrelevant suggestions
Some suggestions may not apply to your research:
- Dead ends confirmed: You've already searched and records don't exist
- Outside scope: Collateral relatives you're not actively researching
- Known limitations: Historical events (fires, wars) destroyed records
Dismissing suggestions helps the system learn and declutters your priority list.