Web-based people plots and family trees

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about making stunning people plots and family trees.

General

What is PeoplePlotr?

PeoplePlotr is a web app that makes it dead easy for anyone to create interactive people plots or family trees in their browsers. Images, text and even videos (YouTube, Vimeo and AVIs) can be embedded in people plots.

The plots created by PeoplePlotr can be shared with families, friends and business contacts, and if you haved signed up with one of our paid-for accounts, you can also embed your plots on your own blog or website.

To get an idea of what people are doing with PeoplePlotr, we recommend that you take a look at these plots that have been created using our software: The Kearns Family, The UK Government and A Basic Family Tree Template.

Who can use PeoplePlotr?

The short answer is anyone. Whether you are geneologist researching your family tree, a teacher keen to explore the history of a royal family or dynasty with your pupils, or you are simply looking to keep track of your employees or the people working on your project, PeoplePlotr should be the perfect tool for you.

Age-wise, we would recommend that younger children (<10) were supervised when using PeoplePlotr.

Please note that our hosted accounts are not to be used by digital/communication/marketing agencies wanting to create plots for their clients.

Do I have to pay for PeoplePlotr?

No, you don't have to pay for PeoplePlotr. We offer a free account that provides full functionality, with the following limitations. You can only create one people plot. You are limited to 15 people per plot. You cannot embed plots on your own website.

Our free account is aimed primarily at giving people a chance to try out our software and its features, with the hope that they will be so thrilled by it that they will want to upgrade to one of our premium accounts.

Signing up/logging in

How do I sign up with PeoplePlotr?

To sign up with PeoplePlotr, navigate to our home page - www.peopleplotr.com - click on 'Free sign-up' in the menu at the top and enter your username, email address and password in the panel that drops down (coming soon: if you are a school pupil and your teacher has given you a class code, you can also enter that, automatically upgrading your account).

Next agree to our terms and conditions by clicking the checkbox to the left of the 'I agree to terms and conditions' text. Click on the 'Sign up' button and, finally, the 'Login' button.

You can now start creating your first people plot by following the instructions on the page.

How do I log in to PeoplePlotr?

You log in to PeoplePlotr by clicking the 'Login' menu option at the top right of the screen. You should then enter your username and password in the pop down panel that appears and click the login button. Assuming, you have entered all the details correctly, you will now be logged in and able to start editing and creating people plots.

I've forgotten my login details. What should I do?

Firstly, you should select the 'Forgotten login details' link at the bottom of the login panel (which you can open by clicking on the 'Login' menu option at the top right of the screen). You will then be asked to enter the email that you used to sign up to PeoplePlotr. Enter your email and click the 'Submit' button.

We'll then send you an email with your username and a new password. You can then login with this password and then change the password by going to the 'Account' tab in the grey admin panel that appears on a plot page.

If you don't receive an email from us or can't remember the email address you used to sign up with, then drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll do our best to recover your details for you.

I can't seem to login. Please help.

Firstly, you should follow the instructions in the above two FAQs (How do I log in to PeoplePlotr? and I've forgotten my login details. What should I do?). If you still can't login then drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll do our best to help you.

Paid Accounts

Why should I upgrade to a paid account

Our free account is great. It allows you to create a fully-functional and customisable people plot. But it does come with some limits. You can't create more than one plot. You are limited to 15 people per plot. You can't embed a plot on your blog or website.

To take advantage of these great features, you will need to upgrade to our Bronze, Silver or Education (coming soon) accounts.

How do I buy/upgrade to a paid account?

  • 1Firstly - if you haven't already done so - you will need to sign up for a free account with PeoplePlotr. Click here for instructions on how to sign up.

  • 2Now ensure that you are logged in to your account.

  • 3At the bottom of our home page you will now be presented with a panel showing details of our different accounts. Click the 'Buy now' button and you will be taken to the PayPal site where you will be asked to sign in to your PayPal account or enter your credit card details.

  • 4Once you have finished the payment process, you should be taken back to PeoplePlotr where a 'Thanks for signing up' message should be shown to you. Your account is now upgraded and you can immediately take advantage of your new premium features.

If you are not taken back to PeoplePlotr, get an error message or can't access the premium features, please drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll upgrade your account manually as soon as possible.

What paid accounts do you offer?

We currently offer two paid accounts: Bronze ($7.50 a month - for individuals and small community groups only) and Silver ($20 a month). An education account ($100 a year - for teachers only) is in the works. Please note that these accounts cannot be used by digital/marketing/communication agencies to create people plots for their clients.

You can also buy a license to install a plot on your own web server. See below for further information about these options.

Tell me more about the Bronze Account

Our Bronze account ($7.50 a month) allows you to create up to five plots and embed plots on your blog or website (up to 5,000 monthly views). The Bronze account is only available to individuals or small community groups. If you are buying an account on behalf of a company, you should purchase our Silver account.

The Bronze account offers the following features:

  • 1Create up to five fully functional people plots featuring images and videos.

  • 2Loads of customization, from choosing a background image for your plots to color coding people into different categories.

  • 3Integration with Flickr, YouTube and Vimeo, allowing you easily to add your photos and videos to your plots.

  • 4Embed plots on your blog or website. You get 5,000 monthly embeddable views.

  • 5Upload up to 50 images per plot from your computer to our servers. You can also display additional images from the web or your own webservers.

Tell me more about the Silver Account

Our Silver account ($20 a month) allows you to create up to 25 plots and embed plots on your blog or website (up to 20,000 monthly views). The Silver account is aimed at businesses and professional bloggers.

The Silver account offers the following features:

  • 1Create up to 25 fully functional people plots featuring images and videos .

  • 2Loads of customization, from choosing a background image for your plots to color coding people into different categories.

  • 3Integration with Flickr, YouTube and Vimeo, allowing you easily to add your photos and videos to your plot.

  • 4Embed plots on your blog or website. You get 20,000 monthly embeddable views.

  • 5Upload up to 200 images per plot from your computer to our servers. You can also display additional images from the web or your own webservers.

License to install our software on your server

PeoplePlotr's hosted solutions are not suitable for high volume websites (+20,000 monthly views) or for use by companies wanting to create plots for their clients. To include a people plot for such uses, you will need to purchase a license to install our software on your own servers.

Prices start at US$2,000 for a single plot license. Please email us at hello@peopleplotr.com for further information.

I upgraded but I don't have access to the premium features

Sorry. Something must have gone wrong with the upgrade process. Please drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll manually upgrade your account.

Creating a Plot

How do I create my first people plot?

If you haven't yet created an account with PeoplePlotr, do so now - see here for how. If you have, then please ensure you are logged in.

  • 1Now navigate to the PeoplePlotr home page (www.peopleplotr.com). Here you will find a list of plots you have already created and also a form for creating a new plot.

  • 2Enter the required information. The plot's title is the only compulsory field. All other fields are optional. If you are not sure what to enter into any of the fields, then roll over them with your mouse and a popup help panel will appear with instructions.

  • 3Once you have filled in all the information, click the "Create new plot" button at the bottom. Your plot will now be created and you will be taken to the plot's unique page on the web. You can share the url of this page with your friends and colleagues. You will now want to start editing and adding to your plot.

How do I edit my people plots?

  • 1Navigate to the PeoplePlotr home page (www.peopleplotr.com). Here (if you are logged in) you will find a list of plots you have already created and also a form for creating a new plot.

  • 2Click on the 'edit' button for a plot and you will be taken to your plot's unique page on the web. On this page, you can edit people and components by clicking on them and entering information into the grey admin panel to the right. You can add new components and people by dragging items to the app's stage. You can also change all the plot's settings, such as background image, introduction text, and so on from the 'plot inspector' - click on the app's stage somewhere to open this. Further options can be accessed by clicking on the 'Settings' or 'Categories' options in the main 'plot inspector'.

How do I choose a background image for my plot?

There are two ways that you can do this; when you first create the plot; and after you have already created it.

  • 1When you first create a plot (see here for how to create a plot), you are given the option of selecting a background image for your plot. You can either enter the url of the image you want to use. Or you can click on the magnifying glass button and load an image from Flickr.

  • 2If you have already created the plot, then you will need to initially go to the plot's unique page (see 'editing a plot' above). Then, in the main 'plot inspector' in the grey admin panel, you are given the option of selecting a background image for your plot. You can either enter the url of the image you want to use. Or you can click on the magnifying glass button and load an image from Flickr.

I can't find a background image that works well. Any advice?

It can be quite tricky to find an image that works well with the plot. You should avoid images which are very busy or have a lot of contrast (very dark and very light areas). An alternative to using an image is to simply set the background of your plot to a particular color - this can be done in the main 'plot inspector'. Click on the coloured block and choose the color you want to use. You can also play around with the background image overlay colour and opacity settings.

Creating a new person

How do I create a new person?

Once you have created your first plot (see here for instructions on creating a plot), you will probably want to start adding people to your plot.

  • 1Firstly, ensure that you are on your plot's unique page (see 'How do I edit my plots' above) and have Edit mode set to on. You can now drag a male or female person from the items along the bottom and drop it on the main sage. You can edit this person in the inspector at the top right of the screen.

  • 2Once you have finished entering information about the person in the inspector, click the 'Save' button.

  • 3You may now want to add images or vidoes to your person. See below for instructions on how to do that.

  • 4If you would like to create another person, simply drag another person onto the stage.

How do I edit my person?

Editing a person is simple. Make sure that you have edit mode for your plot set to 'on'. Then click on the person, and you will be able to enter information into the 'person inspector' at the right of the screen. Click the 'Save' button when you have finished editing the person.

How do I add an image to a person?

There are two ways of doing this. If you only need one image for a person, simply click on the person (when in 'edit' mode) and in the inspector, enter the url of the image you want to use in the 'Main Image' source field. You can also click on the magnifying glass to choose an image from Flickr or to reposition your image.

If you want to add additional images to your person, follow these instructions.

  • 1Initially, when in edit mode, select the person to which you want to add images by clicking on them.

  • 2Now in the inspector open the 'Images/Videos' tab and click on the 'Add new media' button. A form will now appear.

  • 3Fill in the form with the relevant details. Make sure the 'type' menu is set to 'Image'. In the source field, you can either enter the url to an image (for instance if you have the image saved on your own server) or click on the magnifying glass to open up our Flickr image selector. The index field is used to determine the order in which images appear for a person. The 'Main Image' will always appear first.

  • 4Once you have filled in the form, click the 'Save' button and the image will be added to your person - you can see the image in the popup lightbox that appears when you click on the person when edit mode is off.

How do I add a video to a person?

  • 1Initially, when in edit mode, select the person to which you want to add videos by clicking on them.

  • 2Now in the inspector open the 'Images/Videos' tab and click on the 'Add new media' button. A form will now appear.

  • 3You should now find the video on either Youtube or Vimeo and then paste the url of that page into the source field in the form. The url for a youtube video will look like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdKW75J49s - a Vimeo one will look like: http://vimeo.com/18008261. You can also paste in a link to an flv or MP4 file of your own.

  • 4Make sure the 'type' menu in the form is set to 'Video'. The index field is used to determine the order in which videos appear for a person.

  • 5Once you have filled in the form, click the 'Save' button and the video will be added to your person - you can see the video in the popup lightbox that appears when you click on the person when edit mode is off.

How do I add a audio to a person?

  • 1Initially, when in edit mode, select the person to which you want to add audio by clicking on them.

  • 2Now in the inspector open the 'Images/Videos' tab and click on the 'Add new media' button. A form will now appear.

  • 3You now need to enter the source of the audio in the 'Source' field. If you have uploaded the audio to the popular SoundCloud.com audio hosting service, then enter the SoundCloud url for your audio. The url will look a bit like this: http://soundcloud.com/user123/recording-on-friday-1. If you are not using SoundCloud, then you will need to upload the audio file (in MP3 format) to the web, and enter the url of the file in the 'Source' field.

  • 4Make sure the 'type' menu in the form is set to 'Audio'. The index field is used to determine the order in which audio entries appear for a person.

  • 5Once you have filled in the form, click the 'Save' button and the audio will be added to your person - you can see the audio in the popup lightbox that appears when you click on the person when edit mode is off.

How do I categorise and colour code people?

To colour code people, you need to firstly create a category and select a colour for the category. You will then add the person to that category. You create categories in the 'Categories tab' which can be accessed from the main 'plot inspector' - click on the stage somewhere if it is not already visible. In the category tab, now create a new category by clicking the 'New category' option. Simply enter a name and choose a colour to create a category. You can then set a person's category by following the 'How do I edit a person?' instructions above.

I can't seem to add new categories to my plot. Please help.

You need to click the 'Create new category' button each time you want to make a new category. Otherwise, you may end up endlessly editing the same category.

Sharing

How do I share my people plots with others?

Each plot has its own unique url (web address) that you can send to anyone so they can view your people plot. The url can be found in the address bar of your browser - it will look something like: http://www.peopleplotr.com/plot/entry/10443/Dev-Tree/

Please note that if you have the 'Public' setting for your plot set to 'no', then others will not be able to view it. In this case, only people logged into your account will be able to view it. You can change this setting in the 'Settings' tab, accessible from the main 'plot inspector'.

How can I prevent my people plot being viewed by others?

To prevent others from viewing your plot, set the 'Public' setting for your plot to 'no'. You do this in the 'Settings' tab, accessible from the main 'plot inspector'.

Embedding

How can I embed my plot on my website?

Embedding is only available with our Bronze and Silver accounts. See above for instructions on how to sign up for a premium account. If you already have a premium account, follow these instructions:

  • 1Open the 'Embed' panel for your plot by clicking on the 'embed' option. This can be found in the red-bordered panel to the left of the screen when you are logged in and 'edit mode' is set to 'on'.

  • 2In the panel that pops up, enter the width and height that you want for the embedded plot. You may want to click the 'Preview' button to check that the plot works at the size you have chosen.

  • 3You should now copy the code in the 'Embed' box and paste it into your website or blog. Please note that the 'Public' setting for your plot must be set to 'Yes' for your embedded plot to work (see 'plot inspector' -> 'Settings').

How many embeddable views am I allowed?

This will depend on what type of account you have. The Bronze account offers 5,000 monthly views. Our Silver account gives you 20,000 monthly views.

What happens when I go over my limit of embeddable views?

If you go over your monthly embeddable views, the plot will not appear on your website. In its place will be a message and link to the plot on PeoplePlotr.

I need loads more embeddable views than you offer.

Contact us at hello@peopleplotr.com and we'll outline the different options available, from our single plot licenses (which allow you to host a single plot on your servers from $2,000) to more advanced options.

Product Roadmap

New features we're working on.

Here's a list of things we're aiming to add in the near future.

  • Twitter integration

  • Grouping of components

  • Group edit

  • Education account

New features we've already added.

Here's some new features we've added to the software.

  • Flickr integration

I have a feature request. What should I do?

Email us at hello@peopleplotr.com and we'll consider adding the suggested feature to our roadmap.

Known bugs.

A list of known bugs.

  • No known bugs at the moment

I have found a bug. What should I do?

Please email us the details at hello@peopleplotr.com and we'll try to get it fixed as soon as possible.