Before inviting relatives to view your tree, you’ll want to gather and organize their contact information in the Connect workspace. You can do this in three ways:
• Importing contacts from your computer’s address book.
• Finding relatives already in your family tree.
• Manually entering email addresses.
You can add potential guests when you first set up the Connect workspace or later using the Prospects tab.
Importing Email Addresses from Your Computer’s Address Book
1. Go to the Prospects tab on the Connect workspace.
2. Click Your Computer’s Contacts. If necessary, choose a group from the list by clicking the down arrow next to it.
3. Click the person’s name and click Add Contact to Guest List. You can select multiple individuals by Command-clicking each one.
Manually Entering Email Addresses
1. Go to the Prospects tab on the Connect workspace.
2. Click Type It In.
3. Enter a name and email address.
4. Click Add to Guest List.
Adding People Already in Your Family Tree
1. Go to the Prospects tab on the Connect workspace.
2. Click Your FTM Tree Index. The middle column displays the home person’s closest living relatives. Use the Family Circle slider to expand the filter and include extended family members. (If the home person in your tree isn’t you, you can change this by clicking the Change button.)
3. Click the person’s name. To select multiple individuals, Command-click each one. (You can also use the Search option to locate a specific individual.)
4. Click Add Person to Guest List.
Linking a Guest to Their Profile in Your Tree
To send personalized invitations that highlight your relationship to the recipient, you’ll need to link the guest’s profile to their corresponding profile in your family tree. (This step isn’t necessary if the guest was added through the family tree option, explained in the previous task.)
1. Go to the Guests tab on the Connect workspace.
2. Click the guest you want to link to someone in your tree.
3. Family Tree Maker will try to identify the guest in your tree. Do one of these options:
• If the suggested individual is a match, click Match to link them.
• If they aren’t a match, click Change Person to manually search for the correct individual.
• If no matches are suggested, click Find to search for the individual in your tree.
Customizing and Sending an Invitation
Once you’ve added someone to your guest list, you can invite them to view your tree. You can use the default email or personalize it—for example, you might include a photo of their grandmother or share another detail from your tree that could spark their interest.
1. Go to the Invitations tab on the Connect workspace.
2. Click the guest you want to send an email invitation to. The Compose Invitation Email column displays the default email used to invite someone to your tree. You can edit the text and personalize the email by adding an image. The Invitation Email Preview column on the right shows what the email will look like to the recipient.
3. Select their email address from the Guest pop-up menu; you can also enter an email address.
4. Edit the text and add a photo or other details to make the email more personal and relevant to the recipient.
5. Click Send Invitation.