Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

AncientFaces Community

Introduction to AncientFaces


AncientFaces is an online Family Friendly Community to make meaningful connections by sharing memories, and uncover the stories of the people we remember - 100% free.

AncientFaces provides a space for people from all over the world to connect and make meaningful connections, document family stories that would otherwise be lost, reunite Lost & Found Photos with their families, a space for genealogists to showcase their discoveries, offer a place for families to mourn, and much more.

Our loved ones and ancestors are more than just names and dates in a genealogy chart. It's the memories and family stories passed down through generations that truly bring them to life and give us a glimpse into who they truly were. See About AncientFaces to discover how to unlock the power of your past.

Discover the many benefits of becoming part of the AncientFaces community. Explore real-life success stories to see the impact that sharing memories can have and learn how you can unlock the power of your past

Introduction to the Community Standards at AncientFaces


AncientFaces is a Free Family History community where you can share photos, stories, and memories of your loved ones and ancestors. Our goal is to provide a safe and family-friendly environment where everyone can remember and connect with their past.

By sharing your memories and stories with others, you not only learn more about your loved ones and ancestors, but you may also reconnect with family, old friends, and distant relatives. Our community is monitored to ensure that we maintain a safe and friendly environment, and we adhere to strict Community Standards to provide a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone.

In addition to our supportive and welcoming community, AncientFaces is also developed and maintained by a dedicated team made up of families who are passionate about preserving memories and family history. To learn more about our team, be sure to check out "Meet the Modern Faces of AncientFaces".

Everything shared on AncientFaces is publicly available, allowing for connections to be made between people and fostering the discovery of new information and memories. Sharing publicly has numerous benefits, including:

  • Discovering more from friends and family members whom you might not have known existed

  • Removing the need to pay for access to your family history

  • Allowing distant relatives to share and discover their roots

  • Guaranteeing that future generations have access to your family history

  • Providing genealogists and family historians with a platform to share their discoveries with the world.


At AncientFaces, we are committed to maintaining a safe and family-friendly environment for everyone. Our Community Standards outline what can be shared and how it should be shared, ensuring that all information is protected and appropriate for all ages.

It is also important to note that AncientFaces is not run by a large corporation, but rather by real everyday people who are passionate about preserving memories and family history.
The AncientFaces Family Network is a community of individuals who value the importance of remembering their loved ones and ancestors. It is a unique platform where members can share photos, memories, and information about their family history.

Communication within the network is primarily done through Alerts, which notify members of new updates and contributions made by other members. When you participate in the community by sharing photos or memories, Alerts are generated to inform the community of your updates.

Many of our favorite applications rely on feeds to communicate within their networks. Twitter's feed is known for news and politics, Facebook's and Instagram's feeds are populated with photos to share with friends, and LinkedIn's feed is a place for professionals to network.

The AncientFaces feed displays Community Alerts, which highlight recent contributions made by other members. This allows us to have a glimpse into the lives of people we may have never known, and to share in our collective history.

For members with a free account, the feed also includes Favorite Alerts, which show updates to their Favorite Memories, including people, photos, popular topics, last names, and other members they follow. The AncientFaces Family Network is a place where we can come together to remember, cherish, and preserve the memories of our loved ones and ancestors.

Biographies

Introduction to Collaborative Biographies on AncientFaces


Collaborative Biographies are pages dedicated to our loved ones and ancestors to keep their memory alive. Unlike other genealogy and family history websites that keep their data private, AncientFaces is open and free for all to share. By working together, we can uncover more information, share unique perspectives, family stories, and discoveries as we search for our roots.


The Biography Section


The Biography section is where we work together to present the facts about our loved ones and ancestors. Similar to Wikipedia, but you don't need to be famous to have a biography on AncientFaces. To update a field, simply select the pencil icon next to it.


The Memories Section


In the Memories section, we share photos, family stories, discoveries, and questions we have. Memories are unique to each of us and only you have control over them. When multiple people share their unique perspectives, we begin to uncover who our loved ones and ancestors were during different moments in their lives.


The Relationships Section


The Relationships section is where we add information about relatives, including siblings, parents, spouses, and more. Additionally, we can connect friends and other important individuals in the lives of our loved ones, creating a rich and comprehensive picture of the relationships that made up their lives.


Encouragement to Share & Invite Others


By working together we can piece together the stories and facts that bring our loved ones and ancestors to life. But the connections we make at AncientFaces go beyond just preserving history.


Over the years, we have seen countless meaningful connections form between distant relatives and old family friends. As people share their photos, stories, and discoveries, they often find long lost family members or rediscover connections they thought were lost forever.

It's helpful to invite family to participate, but if you can't, over time others will find what you shared and contribute as well.


Creating a New Biography


If someone you want to remember doesn't yet have a biography on AncientFaces, go to Share Memory and select the "+ Biography" option to begin sharing about them.

You Do, They Do - We All Do!

Biographies are collaborative and a way for us to share what we all know, and together discover more. No one single person controls a biography. By working together, we aim to present an accurate and comprehensive representation of who a person really was.

Everything shared on AncientFaces is Human Reviewed to ensure contributions align with the spirit of Our Mission. For more information, please refer to the Collaborative Biographies Tutorial.

Only Messages are Private on AncientFaces


At AncientFaces, we believe that by sharing our past, we can work together to provide a more accurate insight into our shared history. That's why all biographies and photos shared in our community are public.

We understand that privacy is important, and urge you to only share details that you agree should be publicly available. Please DO NOT share information about any living individual without their explicit permission.

We see the benefits of sharing and collaborating in a safe and family friendly way with others everyday at AncientFaces. By coming together, we can build a more complete picture of our family history, uncover new stories and discoveries, and make meaningful connections with others.

If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to us. We'd be happy to help!

Everyone is Encouraged to Interact with Biographies


Collaborative Biographies are for family members, friends, fans, and genealogists to come together and share their stories, memories, and discoveries from digging for their roots.

Everyone is welcome to interact, edit, and update the details in a biography. See What are Collaborative Biographies to see how to share memories, build family trees, and work together to present the facts in the biography section. Feel free to correct any false information or provide more accurate details.

The memories, stories, photos, and comments you add are unique to you and are controlled by you.

If you're just curious about a person and don't have anything to share, select the heart at the top of the page to show you care - you'll receive alerts each time new information is shared.

For more details on what information can be shared, please see the AncientFaces Community Standards.
Yes, you can create a biography about yourself on AncientFaces. However, it is important to consider the privacy rights of individuals who are still alive. If someone requests for their biography to be removed, we will honor their request and delete it promptly.
If you have a biography on AncientFaces that you would like to have removed, please Contact Us and select the option "Request to Remove Information". Our team will promptly respond and remove the biography for you.

Please note that biographies on AncientFaces are created collaboratively, meaning that anyone can share information about their loved ones and ancestors. If there is information that you would like to remove from your biography, you can do so by selecting the pencil icon next to the relevant field.

For photos or stories that you have shared in the Memories section of a biography, you have the option to delete them by selecting the pencil icon within the memory. For step-by-step instructions on how to delete a photo, please see our help article "How do I delete a photo?".

For more information, please refer to our Community Standards.
Yes - and thank you for letting us know about them! We aim to have one biography for one person and sometimes 'dupes happen'.

Please Contact Us and select "Request to Merge Biographies" and fill in the necessary information.

We'll merge the two biographies and look for any conflicts. Thank you for helping to provide a clean genealogy database.

Updating a Biography's Profile Photo



  1. Navigate to the Memories section of the biography.

  2. Find an image that you'd like to use as the profile photo.

  3. Hover over the image until the option "Make Profile Photo" appears at the top right corner.

  4. Click on the "Make Profile Photo" option.

  5. The profile photo will be updated to the image you selected.

  6. If the image you'd like to use is not in the Memories section, make sure the person is tagged in the photo.

  7. Once the person is tagged in the photo, the image will become available in the Memories section, and you can follow steps 3-5 to update the profile photo.


And that's it! Now you know how to update a biography's profile photo.

When tagging a person in a photo or adding a biography to a family tree you can add biographies by ID.

The ID is the last string of numbers in a biography's url. So for example, with the biography: https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/frank-edward-kroetch-birth-1927-death-2001-united-/38748805
the ID is 38748805.

Photos

When sharing photos on AncientFaces, it's important to keep in mind that our community values memories captured on film that hold sentimental value to you or your loved ones and ancestors. Whether they're antique, film, or digital photos, we encourage you to share meaningful moments that capture the people and moments from your past.

However, it's crucial to note that all images shared on AncientFaces must be family-friendly and abide by our Community Standards. This means that all photos must be suitable for all audiences and should not contain any inappropriate or offensive content.

Please also be mindful of privacy when sharing photos of living persons. And, as AncientFaces is focused on preserving memories, we do not encourage the sharing of recent self-portraits or 'selfies'.

Our team reviews all photos manually, so please keep these guidelines in mind when sharing your memories on AncientFaces. Thank you for your cooperation!

How to Share Photos on AncientFaces



Sharing your photos on AncientFaces is a great way to preserve and share special moments captured by camera. Below is a step-by-step guide that explains how to share and tag your photos with the community:

When you share photos on AncientFaces there's no need to upload duplicates. The photos you share will exist on a primary Photo page (e.g. Frank Kroetch Family), and can appear in numerous other pages on AncientFaces (e.g. Surname page, Topics, and multiple Biographies) that you determine through tagging the photo.

Photos are shared and can be referenced in the following ways:

Quickly Share Photos: You can share a photo by visiting https://www.ancientfaces.com/upload which is linked to at the top of every page on AncientFaces, then selecting "+ Photo". Just follow the steps on the modal that appears.

Add Photo to Biographies: On any existing Biography select "+ Memory" or "Add Photo" to share a photo that will immediately be tagged to the person.

Add Photo to Topics: On any Topic page (e.g. Lost and Found) select "+ Share Photo" in The Table of Contents to tag your photo with particular subject.


How to Tag Photos See also How to edit photos.

  • Tag People in the Photo: To add photos to people's biographies, you can tag them in the image. Go to any biography and select "Add Memory" at the bottom, then choose "Photo". This will ensure the photo appears in each of their biographies.


  • Tag Photo Topics: You can tag your photo with up to three Photo Topics to help others find your image and for it to appear in popular photo categories. To do this, go to the Photo Topics page (e.g. Lost & Found) and select "Share Photo".


  • Tag Photos with Surnames: To make the photo appear on a particular surname page, you can tag it with a surname. Go to the surname page, select "Photos" in the top navigation, then select "Add Photo".



Of course, as the owner of the image you can always edit the photo to update all of the photo details at anytime.

Editing Photos on AncientFaces


As a member of AncientFaces, you have the ability to follow photos and leave comments. However, only the owner of an image can update its description and the people tagged in the photo.


Step 1: Finding Your Photo

To edit your photo, you must first find it on the site. Look for the "Edit Photo" button directly underneath the image you wish to update.


Step 2: Updating Photo Information

Once you click on the "Edit Photo" button, you will be taken to a new screen where you can update the following information:



  • Title

  • Description

  • Date Taken

  • Location/Place

  • People Tagged in the Photo

  • Popular Topics Tagged


Make any necessary changes and click "Save" to update the photo information. Only you, as the owner of the photo, will be able to make these updates.

Categorizing Photos on AncientFaces


Topics are a way to categorize photos on AncientFaces by popular subjects. They are grouped into Themes, People, Years, and Places and help your photos get discovered by the community.


To tag topics to your photos, follow these steps:



  1. Click on "edit photo" immediately under the image.

  2. On the new screen, navigate to "Tag popular Topics".

  3. Select "Tag topics".


Please note that each individual photo can only be tagged with up to 3 topics.


If you have a collection of photos that you think deserves its own topic, please Contact Us and let us know about your idea!


Removing Photos from AncientFaces


As the owner of a photo, you have the ability to remove any tagged people and popular topics by following these steps:



  1. Click on "edit photo" immediately under the image.

  2. Remove any tagged people and popular topics as desired.

  3. If you want to delete the photo from AncientFaces completely, scroll down the screen and select "[ Delete photo ]" which is located at the bottom of the page just below "Tag popular topics" and right above the "Save" button.


If you want a photo removed from AncientFaces that is about you but you did not share it, please Contact Us and we'll remove it promptly.


If you want a photo removed for another reason, please reach out to the member who shared the photo. You can go to their member profile by clicking on their name and send them a private message.

To update the age of a person tagged in a photo, click "edit photo" immediately under the image. On this new page scroll to the "Tag people in photo" section and enter the age next to the person's name and identifying details.
Any photos you share on AncientFaces belong to YOU. Period. The end of story.

We watermark these images so that when they are shared elsewhere everyone can find who originally shared the photo on AncientFaces.