* Basic plan for family trees

[philmcleod]

As a new person to researching family history can you advise if it is best to make one large tree with numerous branches, including for example my wife's family as well as my own, or is it sensible to do one tree for my family (including my wife's details) and a separate tree for my wife's family so as it becomes more manageable

[AdrianBruce]

One tree for everyone in my view. Because

• It's easy enough to navigate round by name anyway;
• There's at least a possibility that the two trees will link up in the (perhaps not so deep) past.

[tatewise]

Welcome to the FHUG Phil.

This question gets asked quite often, and it partly depends on personal choice.
In any case your decision is not final, because with FH, you can easily split large trees into small ones, or merge small trees into one large one.

However, one large tree is often best, because it is surprising how many times paternal and maternal lines are related.

The complexity is easily handled by FH so you can work on small branches at a time.

See research:getting_started|> Getting Started with Genealogy Research for some ideas.

[philmcleod]

Many thanks - its good to know it is not a once and for all decision so I will do as you suggest and do one tree which can always be split if my research is that sucessful

[tatewise]

As a newcomer to FH may suggest you look at how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers.