Build Your Own Family History Website with webtrees

Family history research can involve years of work, thousands of records, old photographs, scanned documents and information collected from relatives around the world. Keeping everything organised and making it accessible to other family members can become difficult when research is spread across different computers, spreadsheets and online services.

webtrees is free, open-source genealogy software that lets you create and maintain your own online family tree. This guide explains how to host webtrees on a Linux VPS, share your family history with relatives and maintain control over the records and information you collect.

What is in this guide

• What is webtrees?
• Why host your family tree on a VPS?
• What you need before starting
• Choosing a suitable VPS
• Getting webtrees installed
• Privacy, security and backups
• Limits
• When to step up

What is webtrees?

webtrees is a web-based genealogy application designed to help people record, organise and share family history research. Rather than keeping your family tree in a desktop program on one computer, you can run webtrees on a web server and access it through an internet browser.

The application supports individuals, families, relationships, photographs, documents, sources and other genealogy records. It also provides family tree charts, reports and different ways to explore relationships between people in your family history.

One of its useful features is collaborative access. You can create accounts for relatives so that several family members can contribute to the same family tree. This is particularly useful when different relatives are researching different branches of a family or have photographs and records that other people have never seen.

webtrees supports GEDCOM files, a common format used to transfer genealogy information between different family history applications. This makes it possible to import an existing family tree rather than having to enter every person and relationship manually.

The software is free and open source. You install it on your own web server and manage the installation yourself. You can configure multiple family trees, user accounts, themes and privacy settings according to how you want your family history website to work.

Why host your family tree on a VPS?

There are several ways to run genealogy software. You might use a desktop application, subscribe to an online genealogy service or install an application on your own server. A VPS provides another option for people who want an online family tree that they manage themselves.

A VPS, or virtual private server, is a virtual computer hosted in a data centre. It has its own operating system, allocated resources and internet connection. You can install webtrees and the supporting software needed to run it.

For a family history project, this can provide several practical benefits.

• Access from different locations. Family members can visit the family tree using a browser rather than needing access to the computer where the original research was stored.
• Shared research. Relatives can have individual accounts and contribute information to a common family tree.
• Centralised records. Keep family relationships, sources, photographs and other research in one application.
• Control over your installation. You manage the application, server configuration, user accounts and stored data.
• Independence from a home computer. The website can remain available without leaving your personal desktop or laptop switched on.
• Room for other projects. Depending on the resources available, the same VPS can host other small websites or applications alongside your genealogy project.

A VPS is not automatically better than an online genealogy service. Some people prefer a service that handles all the technical administration for them. Self-hosting is more appropriate when you are comfortable maintaining a server and want greater control over how your information is stored and accessed.

What you need before starting

webtrees is a PHP web application. PHP is a programming language commonly used to build websites and online applications. It also needs a database to store your family tree records and a web server to make the application available through a browser.

Most conventional Linux VPS environments can be configured to run this type of application, provided they meet the requirements of the webtrees release you install.

Requirement	Purpose
Linux VPS	Provides the server where your genealogy application will run.
Web server	Handles browser requests and delivers the webtrees pages.
PHP	Runs the webtrees application.
Database	Stores family trees, individuals, relationships and other records.
Domain name	Provides a convenient address for relatives to access your website. This is optional during initial testing.
GEDCOM file	Allows you to import an existing family tree from compatible genealogy software.
Media files	Photographs, scanned documents and other supporting material you want to include.

You do not need to be an experienced Linux administrator, but you should be comfortable following installation instructions, connecting to a server and performing basic maintenance.

If you already have a family tree in another application, check its export options. A GEDCOM export is a convenient way to transfer genealogy records into webtrees. However, you should check the imported information carefully, as different applications may handle some features and additional data differently.

It is also worth keeping your original genealogy data and existing photographs somewhere safe before beginning the migration.

Choosing a suitable VPS

webtrees is not a particularly demanding application compared with many modern web applications, but the server still needs enough resources to run Linux, PHP, a database and the web server together.

A small family tree with a limited number of visitors has different requirements from a large genealogy archive containing thousands of people, extensive photographs and several relatives accessing the application at the same time.

Resource	What to consider
RAM	Memory is shared between the operating system, database, PHP and other running services.
CPU	More processing capacity can help when generating charts, reports and handling multiple visitors.
Storage	Allow room for the application, database, photographs, scanned records and future growth.
Bandwidth	Consider how frequently relatives access the website and how many photographs or documents they view.
PHP compatibility	Use a PHP version supported by the webtrees release you intend to install.
Database compatibility	Check that your chosen database system meets the requirements of your webtrees release.

For a small family history website, a VPS with 1 GB of RAM may be worth investigating. However, this should not be treated as a guaranteed minimum. The database, operating system, web server and other services all need memory, and larger family trees or additional applications may require more.

A 2 GB configuration provides more room for a typical small self-hosted website and its supporting services. The actual requirements will depend on the size of your family tree, the number of visitors and how much additional software you install.

Before choosing a plan, compare the available memory, processor allocation, storage and bandwidth. The guide to understanding VPS specifications explains what these resources mean and how to compare different configurations.

Getting webtrees installed

Once you have a suitable VPS, you need to prepare the server and install webtrees. The application is designed to run on a conventional web hosting environment, so you do not necessarily need Docker or a complicated container setup.

A typical installation uses a Linux operating system, a web server such as Apache or NGINX, a supported PHP installation and a compatible database.

The general installation process looks like this.

1. Prepare your VPS. Install a supported Linux distribution and apply the initial system updates. Make sure you can connect to the server using SSH.
2. Install the web server. Configure Apache or NGINX to serve websites from the server. Both are commonly used for PHP applications.
3. Install PHP. Install a PHP version supported by the webtrees release you intend to use, together with its required extensions.
4. Install a database. Set up a compatible database system and create a separate database and database user for webtrees.
5. Download webtrees. Obtain the appropriate release from the official project and extract its files into the directory configured for your website.
6. Configure your website. Point your domain or test address to the VPS and make sure the web server can access the application files.
7. Complete the setup wizard. Open the website in your browser and follow the installation instructions. You will need the database connection details created earlier.
8. Create or import a family tree. Once the application is installed, create your first tree or import an existing GEDCOM file.

The webtrees installation process checks whether the server has the required software and features. Always check the current installation documentation before choosing PHP and database versions because compatibility requirements can change between releases.

Once the application is working, configure a proper domain name and HTTPS certificate. HTTPS encrypts information travelling between a visitor's browser and your website.

If this is your first Linux server, start with your first hour on a new RackNerd VPS before installing additional software. You can also follow the guide to setting up SSH keys to improve the security of your server administration access.

Privacy, security and backups

Family history websites can contain information about living relatives, children, marriages, addresses and other personal details. This information deserves careful handling, particularly when you make a website accessible over the internet.

One of the useful features of webtrees is its configurable privacy system. You can control access to information at different levels, including records, users and family trees. This allows you to make appropriate information available to relatives without necessarily publishing every detail to every visitor.

However, installing webtrees on your own VPS does not automatically make your family information private. You need to configure the application carefully and understand which information is visible to anonymous visitors and registered users.

• Protect living relatives. Review privacy settings before importing or publishing information about living people. Obtain appropriate permission before sharing personal information.
• Use strong passwords. Create unique passwords for administrator accounts and database access.
• Configure HTTPS. Encrypt browser connections using a properly configured certificate.
• Keep software updated. Apply appropriate updates to Linux, PHP, the database and webtrees.
• Limit administrator access. Give relatives only the account permissions they need.
• Maintain independent backups. Keep copies of your database and media files somewhere separate from the VPS.

Do not rely on a GEDCOM export as your only backup. A GEDCOM file is useful for transferring genealogy records, but it is not necessarily a complete copy of your entire webtrees installation, including its database, photographs, documents and configuration.

Keep technical backups that include the database and relevant application data. Store at least one copy away from the VPS so that a server problem does not destroy both your working installation and its backups.

For additional protection, consider using a storage VPS for backups. Also familiarise yourself with what to do if your VPS is hacked, particularly if your genealogy website contains information that you would not want exposed.

Limits

Self-hosting webtrees can provide a useful way to organise and share family research, but there are some limitations to consider.

• Technical maintenance. You are responsible for maintaining the Linux server, database, PHP installation and webtrees software.
• Privacy requires attention. Incorrect privacy settings can expose information about living relatives. You need to review access controls and understand what is publicly visible.
• Storage can grow. Photographs, scanned certificates and historical documents can consume considerably more storage than the webtrees application itself.
• Importing data needs checking. GEDCOM provides a common transfer format, but you should verify that important relationships, dates, sources and other records were imported correctly.
• A VPS is not compulsory. Shared hosting or a locally installed application may be sufficient for a smaller project or someone who does not want to administer a server.

You should also consider what happens if you stop maintaining the website. Keep an independent copy of your family tree and supporting documents in a format that you can use with other genealogy applications.

When to step up

A small VPS may be sufficient for an individual family tree with relatively few visitors. Consider moving to a larger configuration as your family history database grows, you add more photographs and documents, or more relatives begin accessing the website.

A larger amount of memory and additional CPU capacity can provide more room for the database, web server and PHP processes. You may also need additional storage if your family archive contains large collections of scanned photographs and historical documents.

Check actual resource usage before upgrading. If your website is slow because of an incorrectly configured database or web server, simply purchasing a larger VPS may not solve the problem.

Creating your own genealogy website can be a practical way to bring family research together and make it available to relatives wherever they live. Start with a suitable configuration, protect information about living people and maintain independent backups of your work. To compare what is available now, start with the cheapest RackNerd VPS guide and check the sales page.