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Kunbaa

First-time guide 7 of 7

Import an existing family tree or a WhatsApp group

You may already have most of the family written down somewhere — in a genealogy program, or in the WhatsApp group everyone is in. Either one can put people on your tree without typing them in, and each shows you exactly what it will add before it adds anything.

Before you start

  • You need to be an editor or admin of the family. An import adds people to the tree.
  • Your own card must already be on the tree. Everyone you import is placed in relation to you or to people already there.
  • Nothing is written until you confirm it. Both importers end with a plain summary and a button.

A. Bring in a family-tree file (GEDCOM) — on the website

A GEDCOM file is the .ged file every genealogy program can export: people, their dates, and how they are related. Kunbaa reads the ones MyHeritage, Ancestry, Family Tree Maker and Gramps make.

  1. Export your tree from the program it lives in as a GEDCOM file. The FAQ below lists where the button is.
  2. Open kunbaa.com in a browser on a computer, tablet or phone, sign in, and go to Tools → Import a GEDCOM.
  3. Upload. Drop the file on the page or choose it. Kunbaa reads it in your browser and shows what it holds: how many people, families and events.
  4. Map. Every person in the file is compared with the people already on your tree. Same person joins them to an existing card; a possible match waits for your call; everyone else is added as new. Skip anyone you do not want.
  5. Confirm. Read the summary — how many added, how many joined, how many skipped, and every detail where the file and your tree disagree. Nothing has been written yet.
  6. Import. Press it and watch the progress bar. If the browser closes, come back to the same page and it continues where it stopped. When it is done, open the tree — the people are there, in the app too.

Where the file and your tree disagree about a date, the card keeps the value your family recorded and the file’s value is noted on the event, so nothing is lost. GEDCOM export is not switched on yet. The full reference is Importing a GEDCOM file.

B. Bring in the people from your WhatsApp group

WhatsApp can export a group as a text file. Kunbaa reads the names in it, asks who each person is to you, and adds them to your tree. Messages are never read, uploaded or kept. For the overview in one page, see what the WhatsApp group import does.

  1. Export. In WhatsApp, open the group and tap its name at the top (on Android: ⋮ → More). Choose Export chat, then Without media. Save the .txt file somewhere you can find it, or share it straight to Kunbaa.
  2. Open the importer. In the app: tap your photo at the top to open the menu, tap Members, then Import. On the website: Tools → Import a WhatsApp group. Choose the file.
  3. You. Pick which participant is you. Kunbaa preselects the name that matches your profile.
  4. Map. One card per person, most active first: Who is Thomas to you? Choose a relationship — mother, brother, cousin, aunt — or Already on the tree if they are, or skip anyone who is not family.
  5. Confirm. A plain table: who is added and as what, who is already on the tree, who is skipped. Running the same export twice adds nobody twice.
  6. Add. Each new person is added one by one, with a progress bar and a report at the end. Tap Open the family tree to see them, or invite them from their new card.

The full reference, including what to do about people who appear only as a phone number, is Importing a WhatsApp group.

What is never uploaded

Both importers read the file where you chose it. Only the people, relationships and dates you confirm are sent to your family’s tree, one person at a time, through the same step you would use to add a relative by hand. The file itself goes nowhere.

Questions families ask

Where do I get a GEDCOM file?

From the program or site your tree lives in. MyHeritage: Family tree → Manage trees → Export to GEDCOM. Ancestry: Tree settings → Export tree. Family Tree Maker, Gramps, RootsMagic and Legacy have Export → GEDCOM in their File menu. The result is a .ged file — that is what you choose on kunbaa.com.

Will it duplicate people already on my tree?

That is what the Map step is for. Each person in the file is compared with the people already on your tree by name and birth year; a confident match is joined to that card, a possible match asks you, and everyone else is added as new. Nothing is written until you have seen the summary and pressed Import.

Can I import a GEDCOM file in the app?

The GEDCOM importer is on the website: open kunbaa.com in a browser and go to Tools → Import a GEDCOM. The people appear in the app straight away, because it is the same tree.

Does Kunbaa read our messages?

The export is opened where you chose it — in your browser, or on your phone — and never uploaded. Kunbaa uses two things from it: who was in the group and how many messages each person sent, so the most active people come first. Not one message, photo or phone number is stored.

Does Kunbaa connect to WhatsApp?

There is no account link and nothing is fetched from WhatsApp. The export is a file WhatsApp makes for you, and you choose it.

Someone in the group is only a phone number. What happens?

They appear with the number as a reminder of who it is. If you add them as a relative you type their name; the number is never saved.

Who can import?

An editor or admin of the family — adding people from a file needs the same permission adding a relative by hand does. Your own card must already be on the tree, because everyone is placed in relation to you.