First login

When logging in to Gramps Web for the first time, a Preferences form (labeled User Settings) will be displayed requiring the user to select a language for the frontend and a Home Person. The Home Person selection can also be changed from the Home Page of the website.

The Home Person for a user of a Gramps Web website does not have to be the same person that the site's owner chose in Gramps for Desktops – it is a personal setting that can be different for every user of Gramps Web. The home person is used for the initial view of the family tree and the starting point for most Reports. A typical choice would be for a user to select themselves as Home Person. When collaborating with another member of a Tree, those users might want to set the common ancestor as the Home Person. This ensures a common point of reference for the distant relationships.

To select a person as Home Person, start typing a Given or Family Name in the text field and a drop-down list with matches will appear.

If the tree is still empty, there is nobody to choose yet. In this case, the home page shows a Get started card that guides editors through the first steps: first adding a person (or importing a family tree file), then connecting people by adding a family. The first person you create in an empty tree automatically becomes your Home Person. See Start a new tree for a step-by-step walkthrough.

The language and Home Person settings are stored in the browser's local storage, so they will persist on a given device. The Home Person is stored separately for each tree.