---
title: Adding Members Manually
description: "Each family member is stored as a post in WordPress. You can add members one at a time using the member editor. If you have existing genealogy data in another application, [importing a GEDCOM file](https://www.ancestorpress.com/docs/importing-from-gedcom/) is faster. ## Adding a…"
url: "https://www.ancestorpress.com/docs/adding-members-manually/"
updated: "2026-05-23"
category: AncestorPress Family Trees / Your Family Data
---

# Adding Members Manually

Each family member is stored as a post in WordPress. You can add members one at a time using the member editor. If you have existing genealogy data in another application, [importing a GEDCOM file](https://www.ancestorpress.com/docs/importing-from-gedcom/) is faster.

## Adding a new member

Go to ****AP Family Trees**** **→ Members → Add New**.

![Manually adding a family member in Ancestor Press Family Trees](https://www.ancestorpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GS-02a-Manual-Add-Member-Page-1024x730.png)

📸 **SCREENSHOT:** AP Family Trees → All Members → Add Member screen showing the full member editor

**Tip:** Add members in generational order - grandparents first, then parents, then children. This makes linking parent and child relationships easier as the people you need to reference will already exist when you reach them.

## Available fields

### Basic details

- **Name** - the post title. Enter as *Firstname / Given Name* and *Last / Surname*.
- **Sex**- Male, Female, or Other. Used for gender-based colour coding on the tree if enabled.
- **Date of birth** - enter in any consistent format. GEDCOM approximate qualifiers such as *Abt 1845* or *Circa 1860* are accepted and display as entered.
- **Place of birth**
- **Date of death**
- **Place of death**
- Surname Prefix - free text field for additional information like honorifics

### Other Fields Appear After Saving

- **Privacy Flags** - options to exclude living and non-living persons from public display
- **Photo**- image attachment
- **Burial**- details of burial
- **Religious Events** - eg Baptism, Confirmation
- **Custom Fields** - (Pro Plus licence required)
- **Family Relationships** - parents and children

Relationships link members together so the tree can draw the correct connections. A member does not need to have all relationships set - you can link what you know and leave others blank.

### Personal and Pro plan fields

- **Photo gallary** - set as the featured image. Displays as a thumbnail in the tree node and on the member profile page.
- **Custom fields** - add any additional information you want to record against a member.

## Assigning to a Family Group

After filling in the member details, assign the member to a Family Group using the **Family Group** taxonomy box on the right side of the edit screen. A member must be assigned to at least one Family Group to appear in charts and member lists for that group.

![Family relationships block in AncestorPress AP Family Trees](https://www.ancestorpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EM-01-Family-Relationships-1024x505.png)

📸 **SCREENSHOT:** Member edit screen showing the Family Group box

## Publishing the member

Click **Update Member to publish**. The member is now in your database and available to appear in charts and be linked as a parent, child, or spouse of other members.

## Editing and deleting members

Go to ****AP Family Trees** → All Members** to see all members. Use the search box to find a specific person. Click the Edit link on the right to open the edit screen. Deleting a member removes them from the database and from any charts - their relationships to other members are also removed.