Linking to FamilySearch Pages

FamilySearch.org is a dynamic website that changes frequently. It is possible that URLs for most website experiences could change at any given time.

Some resources such as Family Tree Persons, Record Images, Records, and Genealogy Persons need a way to be referenced in a persistent way. To address this need, Persistent Identifiers have been established for these resources. Persistent Identifiers are URIs containing a path beginning with /ark:/. Sometimes these are referred to as ARK URLs because they follow the ARK specification.

Solution Providers can connect features of FamilySearch to their app by directing users to a FamilySearch Web page. Opening a window, a tab, or a frame shows the full page.

Supported Web pages

Persistent Identifiers (ARK URLs)

A solution provider can redirect to FamilySearch URLs that use an Archival Resource Key (ARK) or an approved, supported web page. ARK is a standard used by FamilySearch for long-lived “persistent identifiers” of resources. ARK-based URL addresses and Destination pages are the only supported method for linking to FamilySearch pages. Linking to other types of pages can be done, but there is no guarantee that the URLs will remain valid. Please note that there is currently no supported pages for Possible Duplicates, Discussions, or Notes.

The currently supported ARK-based addresses use the context parameter for recordHints, sourceLinker, person details, changes, memories, and person ordinances. For information on how to link to these specific experiences, see the FamilySearch ARK Decorations section of the Persistent Identifiers guide.

Other Supported Pages

The first available supported web page is the Source Create Page.

Source Create Page

The purpose of this page is to make it easier for users to cite sources from non-FamilySearch locations. If your solution provides records for users to cite on FamilySearch, you may wish to integrate with this page. For information on how to use this page, see the Source Create Page guide.

Campaign Identifiers

The impact of providing links to a FamilySearch page can be tracked by attaching a Campaign ID to the end of the URI address. This will make it possible for FamilySearch to identify and report what App Key was used to call the FamilySearch page. The Create Source Destination Page requires the proper use of the Campaign ID. It is strongly recommended that a Campaign ID is used to track any other calls to FamilySearch pages that are not ARK or Destination pages. Please remember that redirecting to non-ARK on non-destination pages is not supported. All proper calls to ARK pages are trackable without a Campaign ID as long as an access token is passed appropriately.

The value for the Campaign ID is defined as the characters “partner-“ plus the client_id (app key) used in your OAuth2 authentication.. The following is an example of the query parameter.

&cid=partner-{client_id}