Tech Forum

How do I prevent other people from adding names to my family tree? I have found out someone added a name with no info at all, no birth date, no death date, no places, only last names.

You can't. That's against the collaborative spirit of the site.

Given the lack of information, you might report it.

luisloayza wrote:How do I prevent other people from adding names to my family tree? I have found out someone added a name with no info at all, no birth date, no death date, no places, only last names.

If you believe the person was added in error, you could remove them from the parents or delete the record altogether.
You should be able to send a FamilySearch message to the person who added them and politely ask them to describe what documentation they have leads them to believe the person is a son/daughter of those particular parents. They may not respond, but that's about all you can do.

davesudweeks wrote:If you believe the person was added in error, you could remove them from the parents or delete the record altogether.

You can't delete a person that was added by someone else. You can only delete a person for whom you are the only contributor.

I wouldn't recommend removing the person from family relationships unless you can prove that they aren't part of the family. The initial frustration in this situation was that someone was added to the tree with no documentation proving that the person existed and was part of the family. Deleting someone while providing no documentation that proves that they are NOT part of the family would simply be another instance of this same error. It's much better to communicate with the contributor to resolve this positively.

aebrown wrote:

davesudweeks wrote:If you believe the person was added in error, you could remove them from the parents or delete the record altogether.

You can't delete a person that was added by someone else. You can only delete a person for whom you are the only contributor.

I wouldn't recommend removing the person from family relationships unless you can prove that they aren't part of the family. The initial frustration in this situation was that someone was added to the tree with no documentation proving that the person existed and was part of the family. Deleting someone while providing no documentation that proves that they are NOT part of the family would simply be another instance of this same error. It's much better to communicate with the contributor to resolve this positively.

I stand corrected.

Just yesterday, 3/23/20, my wife was assisting a new member who had mistakenly added an incorrect ggfather on his direct line. My wife was signed in on her computer and successfully deleted the ggfather and the deletion was annotated with her name. I didn't think this was possible either, but it worked.