Frequently Asked Questions

Using Cite-Builder with other Family History programs

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to Ancestry?

You create your source citation with Cite-Builder as normal, then on your Ancestry tree scroll down to the bottom of the list of sources added to a particular person. Click on “Add Source”. Put something meaningful to you in the Source title such as “Image of Baptism register entry for John Smith”.

Copy the First footnote from Cite-Builder (by clicking on the “Copy to Clipboard” button next to it), then paste it into the “Citation Details” field in the Ancestry “Add Source Citation” window.

NOTE: Ancestry does not support pasting formatted (e.g. italicised, underlined etc.) text into its fields so a plain-text version of the citation will be pasted instead.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to FamilySearch Family Tree?

Click the “SOURCES” tab of the person of interest. Click “ADD SOURCE”, then choose “Add New Source”. Paste the Cite-Builder citation into the “Citation” box and fill out all the other boxes and save the source.

NOTE: FamilySearch does not support pasting formatted (e.g. italicised, underlined etc.) text into its fields, so a pasted citation may include visible tags such as “<i>” and “<u>”.  To avoid this, copy the citation by SHIFT-clicking on the “Copy to Clipboard” button.  This will copy a version of the citation with no formatting tags.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to MyHeritage?

When editing a person’s profile, select “Source citations” from the list of categories on the left. Paste the Cite-Builder citation into the Citation or Description text box.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to Findmypast?

When viewing a person’s profile, look at the “Facts & events” tab. Chose the event for which you have a source and click “Sources, Media, Notes, Links”. Click the “+Source” button. Add a title. Paste the Cite-Builder citation into the “Notes” box and fill out all the other boxes and the click “Add source”.

NOTE: Findmypast does not support pasting formatted (e.g. italicised, underlined etc.) text into its fields, so a pasted citation may include visible tags such as “<i>” and “<u>”.  To avoid this, copy the citation by SHIFT-clicking on the “Copy to Clipboard” button.  This will copy a version of the citation with no formatting tags.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to WikiTree?

WikiTree has a very detailed and easy to read “Proposed Style Guide“, which has a section on how to include citations in the WikiTree profiles.

WikiTree does not require a particular citation style to be used, but it does recommend Evidence Explained and use that style in several of their examples in their Proposed Style Guide.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to RootsMagic?

See this guide.

Q: How to add a Cite-Builder citation to Family Tree Maker?

See this guide.

General questions about citing sources

Q: What determines how much information is in a citation?

The thing to remember is that the purpose of a citation is to be able to identify the source of the information you are including and to enable people find the source of the information for themselves (or for you to be able to find it again). It is not to store all the information found in that source.

Thomas Jones1 states:

“Citations differ from abstracts. Abstracts summarize a source’s contents. They tell us what is within a source. In contrast, citations tell us about a source. A citation to a marriage record, for example, would give the names of the parties (perhaps only their surnames), and the date of marriages because this information helps readers understand what the source is and where to find the specific entry. A researcher would be unlikely to have a similarly valid reason to cite the names of the officiant and witnesses, the parties’ residences, and their parents’ names. Such detail likely would appear in a researcher’s family data or narrative.
 
Specifically, citations tell what a source is, its qualities as a container of genealogical evidence, where it can be consulted, and the location of specific information in it. Over-burdening a citation with details about the people it mentions makes it hard for the citation to meet its purpose.”

1Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Documentation (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2017) p. 39.

The basic information that should be included in a citation are:

  • WHO – who created that source
  • WHAT – the title of the source (if no title, then describe the source)
  • WHEN – created or published, when accessed
  • WHERE – Where is it held (website name, microfilm number, archive with reference number, etc)

Q: What should I put in for a page number?

Different styles have different requirements for entering a page number. Evidence Explained and Chicago direct that a page number should be entered as just a number (e.g. 119) unless “p.” or “pp.” is needed for clarity (e.g. pp. 137-172). The University of Tasmania specifies that its student enter just “p” or “pp” without a full stop. There is no one definitive version of Harvard citations, but most versions, along with the styles adapted from Harvard, specify that a full stop should be used, resulting in “p.” or “pp.”, and the Society of Australian Genealogists and University of Strathclyde also specify this for their students. It is the responsibility of the user to correctly enter the form of page citation that is required for their work, and Cite-Builder can accept no responsibility if a user is penalized for using the wrong format.

Source-specific questions

Q: What to put for the title of an Australian Electoral Roll?

There is no consistency with the titles of Australian Electoral Rolls over the years. Some have a full title page, and some just have the Commonwealth Division/State Electoral District and other information immediately preceding the names starting with ‘A’ on the first page. Look back at image 1 on the “film strip” containing the images and enter a title as best as can be constructed from that page.

Some examples might be:

1933. Commonwealth of Australia. State of New South Wales. Electoral Roll. Commonwealth Division of Warringah. State Electoral Division of Manly.

1977 joint Electoral Roll for the Subdivision of Dee Why, Division of Mackellar, State Electoral District of Wakehurst

1963. Commonwealth of Australia. Electoral Roll. State of Queensland. Division of Leichardt, Roll of Electors for the Subdivision of Douglas.

1924. Commonwealth of Australia. State of Victoria. Electoral Roll. Commonwealth Division of Balaclava. State Assembly Division of Brighton. Roll of electors for the Subdivision of Elsternwick South.

The Electoral District of Brisbane, North. [No date given in this title, but year still indicated in document]

For the Short Title create something meaningful.

Questions about your Subscription

Q: How do I change my payment details?

The process to update your payment method for your Cite-Builder Premium subscription depends on how you signed up.

If you signed up through Stripe (the credit card form that is displayed on our checkout page):

  1. Log in to Cite-Builder
  2. Go to the Subscriptions tab on your Account page
  3. Click the “Update” button next to your Subscription
  4. Complete the form with the new credit card details, and save.

If you signed up through PayPal:

  1. Log in to your PayPal account
  2. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner
  3. Under the “Payments” tab click the “Manage Automatic Payments” button
  4. Then find your Cite-Builder subscription on the left and select it.
  5. Over on the right by the payment method there is a little edit icon, click on that to update your payment method.

Q: How do I cancel my Subscription?

To cancel your subscription to Premium Cite-Builder:

  1. Log in to Cite-Builder
  2. Go to the Subscriptions tab on your Account page
  3. Click the “Cancel” button next to your Subscription

Q: What happens when I cancel my Subscription?

If you cancel your subscription to Premium Cite-Builder, all that happens is your annual automatic renewal is stopped. You still have access to Premium features and all templates until your membership expires. Even once you lose access to Premium, your user account will still exist and any Personal Templates, Favourites, History, or Pins you created are retained. This is so that, if you ever resubscribe, those things are still there for you to use!

Q: How do resubscribe to Cite-Builder Premium membership?

Simply log in to Cite-builder using the same username you used before, and click on the Subscribe button on the Home page. Once subscribed, you will have access to any Personal Templates, Favourites, History or Pins you had before.

This is important because your membership may have expired (because you cancelled your subscription or there may have been a problem with the automatic renewal payment) and you won’t lose anything if you resubscribe using the same username.

Q: What if I forgot my username or password?

If you have forgotten your password, go to the Cite-Builder Log In page and click the “Forgot Password” link. You will be asked for your Username or Email Address (the one you signed up with originally) and a password reset link will be sent to you via email.

If you have forgotten your username or the email address you used to sign-up, contact us via the Contact page. Provide us with your firstname and lastname, and the last 4 digits of the credit card you used to sign-up. We will try to get back to you as quickly as possible, but as we are based in Australia please understand if there is a little delay sometimes!