Showing your family a comprehensive diagram using a genealogy chart has never been easier. Essentially, there are three basic charts: Standard (horizontal display), vertical and fan. The versions available are almost endless. Each version of the diagrams has advantages and disadvantages – choose the one you like the best. Remember, there is no right or wrong choice when it comes to selecting the ancestor diagrams you want to use for your trees.
Genealogy charts have the unique ability to display your parents, their parents, and more particularly your ancestor relationships in a tree chart format. The diagrams can display as many generations as you like. A simple diagram of your family looks like this:
It is probably sufficient to include up to 8-10 generations on a single ancestor chart. If you include more generations the diagram becomes difficult to read. Some charts of ancestors include simply the name of the individual; while others include the year of birth and death; and others include marriage dates as well as associated places. The family tree diagrams you choose should be dictated by your audience and the size of the trees that you want to display. Most genealogy software programs provide the ability to display the ancestor trees using any of the different charts at the click of a button. Naturally, if you are drawing the diagrams by hand you will not want to draw the chart more than once.
Let your audience, the number of ancestors in your trees, and the relationship to your ancestor that you have collected dictate the chart format that you use. Remember, more information is not always better when it comes to displaying and visualizing complex ancestor charts. Check out the links on this page to get some more ideas of possibilities for each diagram and the family trees that you want to display.
