Importing a WhatsApp group into Kunbaa
Most families already have the group. Export it from WhatsApp, choose the file on kunbaa.com, say who each person is to you, and they join your family tree — with no message read, stored or sent anywhere.
What comes across
The people. A WhatsApp export is a text file of the chat; Kunbaa reads it in your browser and keeps only who was in the group and how many messages each of them sent, so the most active relatives come first. Messages, photos and phone numbers are not kept. Once you have said how someone is related to you, they are added to your tree through the same step you would use to add a relative by hand.
Before you start
- You need an editor or admin role in the family — the import adds people to the tree.
- Your own card must already be on the tree. Everyone from the group is placed in relation to you.
- Importing is on the web: open kunbaa.com in a browser and go to Tools → Import a WhatsApp group. The people appear in the app as soon as it is done.
Export, you, map, confirm, add
- Export. In WhatsApp open the group, tap its name, choose Export chat and then Without media. Choose that file on the import page. You see the group’s name, how many people were in it and the dates it covers.
- You. Pick which participant is you. Kunbaa preselects the name that matches your profile. Your row is left out of the rest.
- Map. One card per person, most active first: Who is Thomas to you? Choose a relationship, or Already on the tree if they are, or skip anyone who is not family. A name that matches someone on your tree is suggested for you.
- Confirm. A plain table of what will happen: who is added and as what, who is already on the tree, who is skipped. Kunbaa takes a fresh look at the tree here, so an export you have imported before adds nobody twice.
- Add. Each new person is added one by one with a progress bar. Anyone that could not be added is listed with the reason and can be retried. When it is done you get a report with a link to each new card.
People who are only a number
Someone not in your contacts shows up in the export as a phone number. Kunbaa shows the number so you know who it is; if you add them as a relative you type their name, and if they are already on your tree you choose their card. The number itself is never saved. To bring them onto Kunbaa, open their card on the tree and send an invite.
Privacy
The export is read in your browser and never uploaded. Only the names and relationships you confirm are sent to your family’s tree, one person at a time, through the same add-a-relative step you would use by hand. Kunbaa has no connection to WhatsApp and fetches nothing from it.
The short version of all this — what comes across and what is never seen — is on the WhatsApp group import page.
Questions families ask
How do I export the group from WhatsApp?
Open the group, tap its name at the top, scroll down and choose Export chat. Pick Without media — the file is smaller and it is all Kunbaa needs. WhatsApp offers to save or send the file; get it onto the computer or phone you are using kunbaa.com on and choose it on the import page. An iPhone export made with media is a .zip, and that works too: only the chat text inside it is opened.
Does Kunbaa read the messages?
No. The export is opened in your browser and never uploaded. Kunbaa keeps 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, and the file itself goes nowhere.
Does Kunbaa connect to WhatsApp?
No. There is no account link and nothing is fetched from WhatsApp — the export is a file WhatsApp makes for you, and you choose it.
What if someone in the group is only a phone number?
They appear with their number as a reminder of who it is. If you add them as a relative you type their name; the number is not saved. If they are already on your tree, choose their card and invite them from there.
Will it add people who are already on my tree?
No. Each name in the group is compared with the people already on your tree. A confident match is proposed as 'Already on the tree'; a possible match is suggested for you to confirm. Before anything is added Kunbaa takes one more look at the tree, so running the same export twice adds nobody twice.
How are people placed on the tree?
In relation to you. For each person you pick a relationship — mother, brother, cousin, aunt and so on — and they are added to your tree from your card, exactly as if you had added them by hand. That is why your own card has to exist first.
Can I import in the app?
Yes. Import on kunbaa.com in a browser (Tools → Import a WhatsApp group), or in the Kunbaa app under Members once it is in the stores — it is coming soon. Either way it is the same tree, so the people you add show up everywhere straight away.
Who can import?
An editor or admin of the family. Adding people from a group is the same permission adding a relative by hand needs.