Begin by clicking on the myTREE option on the horizontal menu at the top of the dashboard:

When the tree opens, if you are using the utility to create your tree, simply begin to enter information.  If you are uploading a tree prepared in an alternative family tree program (in a gedcom format), click on [Tree Management] and then on [GEDCOM UPLOAD] and follow the instructions.

How will you or did you construct your family tree?  People interested in their family history may construct family trees with different assumptions:

• A speculative tree. Some will list anything that has been passed to them without regard to its veracity or the faith they have in the information’s accuracy.  Often this includes information they find in other online trees or wiki sites that provide no sources for their information.  These people may later remove information they find to be untrue, but they use the tree to list all possibilities they have encountered in their exploration of their family.
  
• A documented tree. Some will only list information that has been documented through public records. Their tree represents the end point of their research and only relationships and information firmly verified is included.
  
• A reliable tree. Some will include information that they have a reasonable expectation is accurate. There is some reason they judge the information to be reliable, usually because some documented source, a trusted family member who knew the person on the tree, or an experienced genealogist has testified to its truth. A reliable tree will seldom contain information gathered online from the unsourced family tree(s) of others, unless it meets the tests above. A reliable tree is more certain than a speculative tree, but less so then a fully documented tree.
  

Your administrators believe it is this last tree that is most useful to post on the FT-DNA website. Researchers in their family history generally keep all three of these types of trees in some format or another. But it is the third that will minimize false leads and yet reveal real possibilities for common ancestors.

Unfortunately, the FTDNA family tree utility does not suggest that you or your match indicate which type of tree is included, nor does it prompt you for the source the information you enter. So, it is good to ask your match how much faith he or she has in the tree posted and, if the tree has information you do not have on a relative, ask the match to share the source of the information.  Your work with a match will likely include lots of such conversations.

There is an option on the FTDNA's myTree2.0 that can provide this information to a match.  First, open the "tree management" option as above.  You will see the following:

Click on the check mark to the right side of the "Tree Description" row.  You may enter a message here such as the one above that describes your sources for information and your confidence in the veracity of your tree.

We recommend that you include on your tree not only the name of the ancestor, but also birth and death dates (or at least the year of these events) and the birth- and death-place. Both place and dates will aid your search for the shared ancestor.

The family tree utility automatically masks data from living relatives so don’t worry about revealing information on those living.

Your administrators recommend your family tree for FF work include your entire known tree back to at least the sixth generation.

The new FamilyTree2.0 on your dashboard permits you to do some editing of entries.  If you need to edit the ancestor's name or birth and death dates or places, click on the ancestor's box on the tree to open the profile.  Then click on the three vertical dots in the upper right hand corner of the dialogue box and make the edits required.  Do not forget after doing so to click the SAVE button in the bottom right hand corner of the dialogue box. 

Your administrators also recommend, however, that you add additional information to your tree through the NOTES option.  After you open a dialogue box,  click on [NOTES] to switch to the screen below and click on the three vertical dots.  A menu will open and click on [Edit Notes].  The editing function will open.

We recommend you add at least two pieces of information as notes.  First, since the tree provides no other place to enter the information, enter the date and place of the marriage if you know the information.  Second, we recommend that you tell your matches something about the confidence you have that the entry is the correct parent for the child listed from the marriage.  For example, you might indicate "proven parent by a family bible" or "proven parent by a birth certificate."  Or you might indicate something like "inferred as parent from being in the couple's household in the 1850 census."  Or "Indicated to be parent by published genealogy . . ." and provide the author and name of the publication.  We do not recommend you conclude the relationship based only on an unsourced family tree from the internet, but if you do so, you can indicate here that you have done so.  Before you return to the tree, be sure you press SAVE in the lower right hand corner of the dialogue box to record your changes.

If you do not have a complete tree, do not fret.  Enter the ancestors you can reliably identify and the reliable information that you have on them.  As you work with your matches, you can update your tree.

After your tree has been added to the dashboard, also be certain that you have indicated your willingness to share your tree.

Ancestral Surnames

The second critical item to add to your dashboard from your genealogy is the list of surnames in your family tree.  It is true that the information you list here will also be in your family tree, but entering through this routine will display the information more conveniently in the "Ancestral Surnames" column when your match sees your information on his or her dashboard.   Since you and your match will be trying to locate your common ancestor, the name and place where your ancestor lived will be  useful information.  Our recommendation is that you include the surnames of your reliably known ancestors. Listing the surnames of speculative ancestors can lead to confusion and even error in identifying a common ancestor. Only listing documented ancestors may limit your ability to identify the common ancestor.

To include your ancestral surnames click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the dashboard.  Then, click on [Account Settings] on the menu that opens.

                                                                                                                           

When the Account Settings dialogue box opens, click on [GENEALOGY] on the horizontal menu, and then [Surnames].  The dialogue box opens with columns to enter your surnames.

Instructions are provided for each entry.  We recommend that in your initial entry you enter your surnames in alphabetical order.  It makes it easier to work with your list.  We also recommend that you include all surnames in the first six generations of your tree, even though surnames beyond your 2nd great grandparents are beyond the horizon of reliability.  If you wish to note this in your list, enter the surnames introduced beyond this horizon like this: "Bachman (beyond 4th generation)."  Don't forget to press [SAVE] after making your entries.

Now you are ready for step 3.