---
title: Chart Settings
description: "Chart settings control the data and behaviour of an individual chart. They are found in the **Chart** itself once created and in the **AncestorPress → All Charts** **→ Create New Chart** panel when adding a new Chart. These settings are…"
url: "https://www.ancestorpress.com/docs/chart-settings/"
updated: "2026-05-23"
category: AncestorPress Family Trees / Charts
---

# Chart Settings

Chart settings control the data and behaviour of an individual chart. They are found in the **Chart** itself once created and in the **AncestorPress → All Charts** **→ Create New Chart** panel when adding a new Chart.

These settings are per-chart - each chart you create has its own independent settings. Changes here do not affect other charts. Visual styling (colours, fonts, line styles) are available in the Pro Plus plugin.

![](https://www.ancestorpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Chart-Basic-Settings-1024x758.png)

## Chart Style

Selects which of the six chart formats to use. See [Chart Types](#) for a description of each option and guidance on when to use them.

## Root Person ID

The person the chart starts from. ID's can be found in the members list on the All Members page.

For descendant charts this should be the oldest ancestor you want to start from. For ancestor/pedigree charts this should be the youngest person whose ancestry you are tracing.

## Lineaege

Selects which Family lineage's member data to draw from. If you have multiple lineages, each chart can display a different one.

## Generations

Controls how many generations to display. Higher numbers show more of the tree but increase page load time for large families and may not be easy to navigate of view on a webpage - this is not a desktop PC! Start with 4 or 5 generations and adjust based on your data.

## Toolbar

Chart boxes can include controls which may vary by that but can, for example, allow users to reset the Root person on the fly to navigate to persons and branches of most interest to themselves, or jump to a person profile page.

## Display settings per chart

Some display options can be set at the chart level to override the global display settings. These may include:

- Whether to show birth and death dates on nodes
- Whether to show spouse information
- Whether to show image thumbnails
- Whether to show gender indicator colours

## Excluded from this Chart

Specify individuals to exclude from a chart - for example you may want to prune less important siblings in a royal line of descent to focus on the main line in the display.

## Create and Save

Click **Create Chart** to save changes to a new chart and **Save Chart** to update an existing chart. The updated chart appears immediately on any page where it is embedded - you do not need to update the shortcode or page.