Description
GeneaCanvas GEDCOM Family Tree is an exclusive, highly responsive, and animated family tree visualizer for WordPress powered by D3.js.
Import standard GEDCOM files (.ged or .txt) directly from your WordPress Media Library and instantly generate clean, interactive vector canvases on any post or page.
View Interactive Demo | Upgrade to PRO
🌳 Free Features Included in GeneaCanvas
- Fluid Interactive D3.js Canvas: Smooth drag, pan, and zoom controls optimized for both desktop and mobile touchscreens.
- Organic Layout: Staggering structure that prevents overlapping nodes, ensuring clean and readable descendant trees.
- Pedigree / Ancestors View: Focus on a specific person and instantly generate a clean, direct-line ancestor chart (bottom-up) excluding collateral lines.
- Level of Detail (LOD) / Dot Mode: Automatically compresses complex family nodes into lightweight vector dots at high zoom-out levels for smooth rendering.
- Real-time Search & Focus: Instant ancestor search with auto-pan and smooth highlight animations focusing on the searched branch.
- Interactive Ancestor Sidebar: Clicking any person slides out a detailed profile card displaying birth/death dates, locations, and calculated kinship links.
- Unlimited Individuals & Trees: Full freedom to import and publish family databases of any size.
- Native Shortcode Integration: Embed trees anywhere using the simple
[gcanvas_tree id="YOUR_ID"]shortcode. - Translation Ready: Fully localized with English and Polish included.
👑 Premium Capabilities in GeneaCanvas PRO
Need advanced features for family reunions, printing, or client sites? The GeneaCanvas PRO extension unlocks:
- Hourglass View: Place a selected person in the center to simultaneously visualize their ancestors extending upwards and descendants downwards.
- Kinship Calculator & Visual Lines: Automatically calculate relationships between any two family members and draw dynamic connecting lines across the canvas.
- Geotagging & Interactive Maps: Extract life events (births, marriages, deaths) and plot them dynamically on an interactive geographical map view.
- Extended Profile Modal: Access the full depth of your GEDCOM data, including extensive notes, historical sources, occupations, and custom events.
- Sequential Node Animations: Premium cascading animations that build the tree generation by generation for a stunning visual experience.
- High-Resolution Vector Export (PDF / SVG): Generate ultra-sharp, lossless vector files ready for large-format poster printing.
- Theme & Style Customizer: Change colors, fonts, card borders, and line curves directly from the dashboard.
- Priority Support: Fast assistance and automated background updates.
👉 Learn more about GeneaCanvas PRO
📂 Broad GEDCOM Compatibility
GeneaCanvas adheres to the standard GEDCOM 5.5 / 5.5.1 specification and supports exports from all major genealogy software and platforms:
- Gramps
- RootsMagic
- Family Tree Maker (FTM)
- MyHeritage
- Ancestry.com
- Legacy Family Tree
- Ahnenblatt
Installation
- Upload the
geneacanvas-gedcom-treefolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory, or install the.zipfile via Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress.
- Go to Trees (Canvas) in your WordPress admin sidebar and click Add New.
- Configure title, height, startup view, and upload your
.gedor.txtfile. - Copy the generated shortcode (e.g.
[gcanvas_tree id="12"]) and paste it into any page or post.
FAQ
-
What file formats are supported?
-
Standard GEDCOM (
.gedor.txt) files exported from any genealogy software. -
Is there a limit on the number of people or trees in the free version?
-
No. GeneaCanvas allows you to import unlimited individuals and create unlimited family trees without artificial restrictions.
-
How do I embed a tree on a specific page?
-
Simply paste the shortcode generated in the tree settings, for example:
[gcanvas_tree id="123"]. -
How do I export my tree to a high-resolution printable PDF?
-
High-resolution vector export (PDF and SVG) for large-format physical posters is available in GeneaCanvas PRO.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“GeneaCanvas GEDCOM Family Tree” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “GeneaCanvas GEDCOM Family Tree” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.2.0
- Feature: Introduced the “Pedigree View” (Ancestors Mode). You can now select any person and generate a clean, direct-line ancestor chart upwards without collateral branches.
- Feature: Added a “Return to full tree” reset button in the UI to seamlessly switch back to the complete canvas view.
- Enhancement: Updated
readme.txttags to strictly comply with WordPress.org repository guidelines (limited to 5 tags). - Enhancement: Prepared core architecture to seamlessly integrate with new GeneaCanvas PRO features (Hourglass View, Interactive Maps, Kinship Calculator).
1.1.4
- Fix: Fixed clan root detection and descendant tree building for multiple marriages — prevented mothers from hijacking husband clans and combining half-siblings under step-parents.
- Enhancement: Added interactive background SVG tree artwork into the D3 canvas layer that zooms, pans, and dynamically adopts the active color theme.
- Enhancement: Implemented dynamic bounding box calculation for the background tree — automatically resizes to fit small clans (1-2 generations) as well as massive Giga-Trees.
- Fix: Bottom-anchored the background tree to ensure root ancestors and founder cards always sit naturally at the trunk and roots.
- Fix: Fixed WordPress
wp_localize_scriptboolean string-casting bug where startup settings for “Dot Mode” and “Organic (Beautiful) Tree” were ignored. - Fix: Resolved startup view bug where selecting “Giga-Tree” or specific clans defaulted back to the Forest view.
- Fix: Added event protection against synthetic browser autofill and theme
changeevents on the clan selector dropdown during page load. - Fix: Improved
resetTreePerspective()camera framing with responsive scaling for mobile/tablet screens and support for Giga-Tree with duplicates.
1.1.3
- Fix: Improved tree canvas rendering logic.
- Tweak: Redesigned header layout into a structured two-row layout (clan title and statistics on top, toolbar controls below).
- Fix: Removed unwanted theme margins between the clan title and subtitle.
- Tweak: Removed bottom border line from the header for a cleaner, modern look.
- Tweak: Improved responsiveness and alignment of the stats block and control buttons.
1.1.2
- Enhancement: Redesigned mobile and tablet UX with an ultra-compact HUD and fixed bottom clan navigation bar.
- Enhancement: Dynamic branch and line stroke highlighting now fully inherits active CSS theme colors.
- Enhancement: Optimized D3.js spacing grid to ensure spouses and siblings never overlap in standard tree mode.
- Enhancement: Integrated extensible JavaScript callback hooks for modular tree layout customizers.
- Enhancement: Standardized all internal file operations using native WP_Filesystem and wp_delete_file APIs.
- Fix: Expanded SVG foreignObject viewport bounds to eliminate rectangular clipping on glow highlight animations.
- Fix: Added automated mobile sidebar drawer closing when navigating through relatives and search results.
- Fix: Adjusted mobile z-index layering so full-width details drawers seamlessly overlay navigation controls.
- Fix: Hardened security with comprehensive input unslashing, sanitization, and output escaping.
- Fix: Unified all internal function prefixes and text domains to match WordPress.org standards.
1.1.1
- Enhanced translation loading and text domain handling.
- Expanded and improved documentation.
- Performance optimizations for large GEDCOM datasets.
1.1.0
- Initial public release on WordPress.org.