Sherwood Genealogical Association

TIPS TO ACCESS AND SEARCH THE SGA WEBSITE

These instructions only pertain to logging in, searching for records, and accessing those records. Our website contains a myriad of information. The only way to understand the breadth of information available is to login and experiment. However, many members use the site either to research a specific person or ancestral line, or to add information, documents or pictures to existing records. Here are a few “tips” to do that.

LOGIN – On this screen, click on the "Login" at the bottom of the "Welcome" box. Then enter your username and password and select "login". If you wish to stay logged in for a long period of time, click the small “stay logged in" box before selecting the larger box to Login.

FORGOT YOUR USERNAME? Skip the top of the login screen and go to the second line from the bottom of the screen. Enter your email address, click the small “Go” box adjacent to your email address, and your username will be sent to you.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD? (You know your password but wish to change it.) This is a one step process. From the login screen, enter your Username and existing password, then click on the “reset your password” box. That will open a new screen where you can enter and confirm your new password. Then click “Login”. This will be your permanent new password.

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD? (You do not know or remember your password.) This is a little more complicated with three steps.

FIRST – Do NOT use the top portion of the login screen. Go to the bottom portion and enter both your email address and your username in the two boxes provided at the bottom of the screen. Click only the one small “Go” box adjacent to your username. Do not click both small “Go” boxes. A temporary password will then be sent to you via email.

SECOND: – Start the login process at the top of the screen, with your Username and the temporary password. Click the small “Reset your Password” box, which will open a new screen requesting you to enter and confirm a new (permanent) password.

THIRD – Visually scan your Username, Temporary password, and new permanent password to confirm the accuracy of each, and then click on Login. At that point “you’ve done it”. You will be logged into the software AND you will have recorded a new permanent password.

NEW TO THE WEBSITE? When you login, you will always arrive at your “Home Page”. Before you do anything else, brief yourself by reading the "Welcome" paragraph as well as the Sherwood Genealogical Association Objectives.

UNDERSTAND the TREES - Most individuals and families on the website are identified by the "Tree" of their known progenitor. So, those descended from either Thomas of Fairfield or Thomas of Stratford are both identified in The New England Sherwoods Tree. Those that appeared in later years, but whose ancestry has not been traced, are placed temporarily in the England Tree, but that can be expanded when necessary to newly discovered progenitors from any of the United Kingdom countries.

HOW TO SEARCH - Select ADVANCED SEARCH from the center box of your login page to access the page for SEARCH PEOPLE. Once on the Search People page, the top line is a drop-down box to select the appropriate Tree. Click on the down arrow to select the tree of the person you are searching for. Or click “all trees” if you are uncertain or don’t know the appropriate tree. (If no selection is made, the default is “All Trees”). Be aware that many “person ID numbers” are duplicated in various trees as the ID numbers are replicated in each tree. For example, if you search using the ID # i1 and you use the “All Trees” option, you will receive four names from four different trees. If you select only the “New England Tree” using the person ID #i1, you will immediately be taken to the appropriate page for progenitor Thomas (1585/6). We are not presently using “Branches”, so you may leave that box listing “All branches".

TO FIND A SPECIFIC PERSON – If the "PERSON ID NUMBER" is known, enter only the number, preferably with the preceding i. Ditto with the "FAMILY ID NUMBER", with the f prefix. Then click “search”. If their ID number is not known, the more specific information you add to the search the better.

Tip 1 - Use only the first name, not a title, middle initial or nickname. The software response will provide you with all people with that first name as well as their titles, nicknames or middle names.

Tip 2 - The surname Sherwood had many variations, especially between “wood” and “woode”, but also “wod”, “Shearwood”, Sharwood and others. If you are not certain of the spelling, use the last name of SHERW and then SHARW. The software response will provide you with all known people on the website spelled Sherwxxxxx or Sharwxxxxx.

Tip 3 - Using a birth year will be very helpful in narrowing your search. However, remember that many early immigrants/ancestors were recorded as either/or, such as 1693/4. In this case it is best to open the “equals” box of the birth year selection and click on plus or minus a year range, such as “+ or - 2 years from”. If you don’t have any idea of the birth year, or you think it might be “about” an estimated year, either leave the birth year box empty or try using +or- 10 or the “less than” or “greater than” options to narrow your search.

Search responses – If you receive numerous responses to your search inquiry, hover over the persons names to see more information.

Tip 1 – Click on each name to go directly to their website page. If that is not the person you are looking for, click on the left return arrow at the very top of your page.

Tip 2 – It is always smart to have a scratch pad handy to write down person ID numbers as you are working. Every person in the database has a person number and many also have family numbers. The fastest way to find someone is to have their ID number and to search for them with that number.

The “Navigating” Tutorial previously mentioned is important as it is the term we use to move between persons of one family, or between generations of families once an ID number is known, or between trees. You can move from one person or family page to another simply by clicking on the name you wish to move to.