Using the family archive
This is a private place for preserving family material with the names, dates, places and stories that explain why it matters.
1. Accept your invitation
An administrator will give you the email address and one-time invitation code assigned to you. Open the join page, enter both exactly as supplied, and choose a password of at least 12 characters.
The code expires after 14 days and can only be used once. Do not pass it to anyone else.
2. Log in safely
Use your own email address and password. Select “Keep me logged in” only on a private device. Log out when using a shared computer.
If you cannot log in or believe somebody else knows your password, contact Peter or Sue rather than creating another account.
3. Protect your account
Two-factor authentication is compulsory for administrators and optional for everyone else. Open Security, scan the QR code with an authenticator app, confirm the six-digit code, and store the recovery codes somewhere safe.
A recovery code can be used once if your authenticator is unavailable. Never store the codes beside your password or share an authenticator code with anyone.
4. Add material carefully
People can now be added and searched. Uploads will be introduced in a later revision. When available, photographs, letters, certificates, documents, recordings and images of objects or memorials can all belong in the archive.
- Use the clearest original file available; avoid screenshots when the original exists.
- Record who supplied or uploaded it and where the original is held.
- Add names, approximate dates, places, topics and a useful description.
- Mark uncertain information as uncertain rather than turning a family story into a fact.
- Credit photographers, authors, collections and external sources wherever known.
5. Connect people and evidence
People have permanent records that can be connected through parent, child, sibling, partner and other relationships. An archive item may relate to several people, places or events.
Citations and provenance explain how we know something. Notes and comments can preserve interpretation or discussion without altering the original evidence.
6. Respect living people
The archive is invitation-only, but private information still deserves care. Avoid uploading sensitive medical, financial or identifying material unless there is a clear reason and suitable permission.
A Family person record is visible to every active signed-in archive member. A Private person record is visible only to administrators, curators and that person’s own linked account.
Do not copy material out of the archive or publish images of living people without considering their wishes.
At present, login, invitations, audited people editing, privacy controls, core family relationships and the information pages are available. Uploading, cataloguing, broader search, notes and research tools will appear as each part is completed and tested.