Temple & Family History Lesson 2: New Account

 Temple and Family History Lessons

Lesson 2

Starting Family Search – New Account

 

This lesson helps a new (Family Search) user create and open their own user account.  There are three possible options; the new user may be:

1.       -  An adult member of the Church

2.       -  A member of the church under 13 years old (Age 8 through 12)

3.       -  A non-member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Although it is possible for a new Family Search user to log into someone else’s account, usually another family member or close relative, it is best for each user to have their own account.  One of the frequently-used keys in Family Search is the “See My Relationship” key, which details the ancestral relationship between the person being reviewed in Family Search to the person whose account is being used.  If you are not using your own account this information will be in error and of less use to you.  In addition, Family Search sends out by way of E-mail, notices of new acquisitions, information about your ancestors, and other announcements and communications periodically to account holders who allow such communications.  One who does not have a personal account cannot receive such information.  Usually such messages are not nuisances but are helpful to the account holder.  So, let’s open an account; first as an adult member of the Church.

It is a good idea to “Bookmark” the Family Search website.  On a PC (a non-Mac) first type into the web address line the words “Family Search” as shown in Figure 1 below (Google Chrome example shown).

Figure 1.  Family Search Internet address line

Then click the left-side button on the mouse and the Internet browser will go to a number of Family Search options.  Select one of the options that says “Family Search Free” or “Family Search – Login” and click again.   This should take you to the Family Search web site, which should look like the image in Figure 2. 

Figure 2.  Family Search Sign-in page.

Now Bookmark this page to make it easy to return to in the future.  Different Internet Browsers may 

have different instructions for Bookmarking a web page.  In Google Chrome it is done by clicking on the “*” icon at the upper right corner of the page, as shown in Figure 3.  You will want to learn how to create, name, sort, and delete bookmarks on your browser.  This you can learn from other helpers or from the Browser “Help” pages.

Figure 3.  The Bookmark icon.  Click on this star to create a bookmark for this page.

At the screen shown in Figure 2 left click on the words “CREATE ACCOUNT” located in the upper right-hand corner of the page.  This will be for those who have not yet created an account.  For those users who already have a personal account, click on the words, “SIGN IN”.  Again, for first-timers, the CREATE ACCOUNT link will take you to the page shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4.  Create a Free Account

On this page, the new user should type in their first and last names, birth date and sex, and if a member of the Church click on the box that says “I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”.  Then click on “Continue”.

This will take you to the page shown in Figure 5, where you type in your Church Record Number as found on your temple recommend or supplied by your ward clerk or on your annual contributions report.  After inputting your number, click on “Continue”. 

Figure 5.  Church Record Number

At the next screen you will be asked some questions including the date of your baptism and whether you have read the “Terms and Conditions” related to a new account.  You may have to do some research to find your baptism date.  

After answering these questions click on the word “SUBMIT”.   

Next you will be asked for your Church-Account User Name and Password.  These are the same name and password that you would use to log into any church web site, such as your ward or stake directory or calendar.  These will be the name and password that you will use every time you sign in to Family Search in the future.  You will be asked to choose an option for password recovery.  Usually it will be your current e-mail address

Next click on “Create an Account”.

You should receive an immediate E-mail message to verify your E-mail address and to activate your new account.  Follow the instructions in this E-mail message to activate your account.

Once you have your personal account on Family Search, when you open the “SIGN IN” page shown in Figure 2, simply click on the words “SIGN IN” and input your church USER NAME and PASSWORD and the Family Search program will begin.

Accounts for Youth.

Young persons ages 8 through 12 may create personal Family Search accounts with the consent of their parents.  These youth accounts can be especially useful where the young persons wish to do Indexing of records.  Children ages 13 and older may create regular adult accounts.

To create an account for children ages 8 through 12 go to the page shown in Figure 4 and fill out the requested information.  When the birth date is seen by the program the instructions will follow for giving parental permission.

Accounts for Non-Members.

Non-Church Members may create free accounts on Family Search.  One difference in their accounts is that the information related to temple ordinances is not displayed.  Non-Members should go to the page shown in Figure 4 and click on “Continue” without checking the box “I Am a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”.  They can follow the instructions from there.  Obviously they do not need a Church Record Number but an E-mail address will do.

These instructions should be sufficient to create a personal Family Search account under normal conditions.  Under unusual circumstances, such as problems with a Church Record Number or name changes, etc., it may be best to contact Family Search by phone at 1-866-406-1830 and explain the problem.