Fan Chart

What Is a Fan Chart?
Creating a Fan Chart
For Whom?
How Many Generations?
Pruning and Duplication

The Create Chart Button


Editing and Customizing Fan Charts

What Is a Fan Chart?

A fan chart is a graphic chart similar in content to an ancestor chart. They both start with a source person and move backward in time. However, a fan chart contains rings (depicting generations) radiating around the center (the source person). It resembles a wedge-shaped fan, or the feathers of a peacock, rather than a tree diagram.

Creating a Fan Chart

To create a fan chart...

  1. Select Charts in the navbar on the left.
  2. Select Fan from the list of charts.

A panel with options will appear...

For Whom?

By default, names of the husband/wife of the current family appear in the "Who" section when you select Charts > Fan Chart. To create a fan chart for a different person, you can select (single-click) any name in any sidebar and the "Who" section will be updated. Or, you can return to the family view and navigate to another person and, once again, select Charts > Fan Chart

When creating a fan chart, Reunion will start with the person selected in the "Who" section and look "backward" in time. It gathers information about all direct ancestors of the starting person until it reaches the beginning of a lineage or it reaches the specified number of generations (2 to 10).

How Many Generations?

To set the size of a fan chart, use the up/down arrows beside the Generations field or simply type a number into the field. Fan charts can be from 2 to 10 generations.

Pruning and Duplication

When creating a fan chart, you have the option to include all direct ancestors or marked direct ancestors only. As Reunion is gathering ancestors for the fan chart, it will only include marked direct ancestors if the Marked ancestors only button is checked.

Duplication and/or repetition, caused when relatives marry, is not removed from fan charts.

The Create Chart Button

Clicking the Create Chart button will build a new chart from the entries in your family file and open the chart in a new window. To learn about customizing and editing fan charts, click here.