Reference Centre, LDS Resources

How to Share Your PAF File

There are two alternatives to printing out or saving and sending an RTF file to another researcher.  For the first alternative the only requirement is that both you and your recipient must have some form of web browser - Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, et cetera. For the second alternative, your recipient needs to be using a family tree program that can import GECDOM files.

In a matter of seconds, PAF will produce an htm-based web site from your information.  It comes complete with a surname and full name index.  Although it's a larger file than an RTF file, at least you would know that your recipient will be able to view it on his or her web browser.

Also, the entire web site can be downloaded to CD and mailed to any contact, or put into a zip file and sent via email.  Or, for easy access, it can be uploaded to a sharing website such as Dropbox.com or Google Docs. These methods are a much less expensive alternative. Mailing a CD costs only a fraction of the cost of physically mailing a package of printed records and uploading to Dropbox or Google Docs costs nothing.  Some people in remote areas of the world, although they may have Internet access, are paying long-distance telephone charges for that access.  Mailing a CD or uploading your data to a file-sharing website would save your recipient a lot of web access time and money.  Similar benefits would be gained by recipients who have to share their use of computer time with others.  With a CD in hand, they have the ability to delve through your information at their own liberty.

The second alternative is to produce a GEDCOM file from your PAF data. The GEDCOM file can then be shared easily via email, uploaded to a file-shareing website, or uploaded to a family tree website such as Ancestry, FindmyPast, MyHeritage, 23andMe, GedMatch and many more.

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