Building your family tree
There's one small habit that makes everything else fall into place: add your family to the tree first, then invite them. Do it in that order and each person lands right where you put them, with no duplicate trees and nothing to untangle later. Here's how the whole thing works.
The order that works best
- Add your people first. Start with someone close: a parent, a sibling, your partner. Build out from there. You can add anyone with or without their email; a name is all it takes. You're just laying out the family as you know it. Add a family member, or add many at once by uploading a family list.
- Then invite them. Once someone's on your tree, invite them from their card (open their profile and choose Invite) or from the invite page. Because they're already on the tree, your invitation drops them straight onto the place you made for them.
That's really the whole trick. The rest below is just what happens along the way, including the times things go slightly out of order, which Avireum sorts out for you.
What will my family member experience?
When you invite someone who's on your tree, they get a friendly email with a link. Opening that link takes them straight to the place you already made for them. They claim their spot, set a password (or use a one-tap magic link), and fill in whatever they'd like on their own profile. There's no second tree to start and nothing to merge; they just step into the family you'd already sketched. If your family talks in WhatsApp or iMessage rather than email, you can also copy the invite link from the invite page and paste it wherever they'll see it.
What if they sign up on their own with the same email?
No harm done. Avireum connects them for you. If someone signs up directly using the same email you'd already saved for their spot on the tree, the app links their new account to that spot as soon as they verify their email. You don't need to re-invite them or delete anything. (If they haven't verified yet, a “confirm your email to join your family” prompt waits for them on their home screen, and one tap connects them.)
What if a family member already signed up with a DIFFERENT email?
Sometimes a relative joins Avireum on their own before you get to them, using an email you didn't have on file, so the app can't tell it's the same person. That's an easy fix from your side:
Open that person's card on your tree and tap Edit. Near the top of the edit panel you'll see “Already on Avireum?”. Type the email they actually used to sign up and choose Send link request. That sends them a note asking to connect their existing account to the place you've made on your tree. Once they accept, their real account slides into that spot. No duplicate people, no separate tree.
Open that person's card on your tree and tap Edit. Near the top of the edit panel you'll see “Already on Avireum?”. Type the email they actually used to sign up and choose Send link request. That sends them a note asking to connect their existing account to the place you've made on your tree. Once they accept, their real account slides into that spot. No duplicate people, no separate tree.
What about inviting friends, not family?
Friends are a little different, on purpose. When you invite a friend (the friend option on the invite page), they sign up and start their own family tree, separate from yours and private to them. That's by design: your friend's family is theirs to build, not a branch of yours. Keep the “add first, then invite” habit for the people who actually belong on your tree.
Do I have to invite everyone I add?
Not at all. Adding someone to your tree and inviting them are two separate steps, and plenty of people stay on the tree without ever being invited: relatives who've passed, young children, or family who simply aren't online. Add whoever helps the family make sense; invite the ones you'd like to join whenever the moment feels right. Unclaimed living relatives show a small Invite link on their card so you can nudge them any time.
When two trees find each other
Sometimes two families each start a tree, only to realise later they're the same family growing up apart, often when someone signed up with a different email and built their own branch. When that happens, Avireum lets the two trees join into one, with everyone agreeing first.
It works like a handshake. One tree's creator proposes joining, either by picking up a nudge we show when the same person turns up in both trees, or by entering the other creator's email under Settings → Join trees. They confirm which people look like duplicates across the two trees. Then the other tree's creator reviews and accepts. They see exactly who's joining, which people we'll treat as the same person, and which tree's name carries forward, before anything happens. No consent, no merge; a request expires after two weeks if it's left unanswered.
The most important promise: nothing is ever deleted. Every memory, photo, note, and connection comes across into the joined tree. People who appear in both trees are reconciled into one so you don't see a relative twice; everyone else simply moves over. The larger tree keeps its name and settings, and the smaller one joins into it.
One safeguard: if the same person has been claimed by two different accounts on the two trees, we won't merge them automatically. Those two people need to sort out which account is really theirs first. Until then they stay separate, and the rest of the merge can still go ahead.
It works like a handshake. One tree's creator proposes joining, either by picking up a nudge we show when the same person turns up in both trees, or by entering the other creator's email under Settings → Join trees. They confirm which people look like duplicates across the two trees. Then the other tree's creator reviews and accepts. They see exactly who's joining, which people we'll treat as the same person, and which tree's name carries forward, before anything happens. No consent, no merge; a request expires after two weeks if it's left unanswered.
The most important promise: nothing is ever deleted. Every memory, photo, note, and connection comes across into the joined tree. People who appear in both trees are reconciled into one so you don't see a relative twice; everyone else simply moves over. The larger tree keeps its name and settings, and the smaller one joins into it.
One safeguard: if the same person has been claimed by two different accounts on the two trees, we won't merge them automatically. Those two people need to sort out which account is really theirs first. Until then they stay separate, and the rest of the merge can still go ahead.
Still have a question? Have a look at the FAQ, or reach out using the details below and we'll help.