PeoplePlotr is a web app that makes it dead easy for anyone to create interactive people plots or family trees in their browsers. Images, text and even videos (YouTube, Vimeo and AVIs) can be embedded in people plots.
The plots created by PeoplePlotr can be shared with families, friends and business contacts, and if you haved signed up with one of our paid-for accounts, you can also embed your plots on your own blog or website.
To get an idea of what people are doing with PeoplePlotr, we recommend that you take a look at these plots that have been created using our software: The Kearns Family, The UK Government and A Basic Family Tree Template.
The short answer is anyone. Whether you are geneologist researching your family tree, a teacher keen to explore the history of a royal family or dynasty with your pupils, or you are simply looking to keep track of your employees or the people working on your project, PeoplePlotr should be the perfect tool for you.
Age-wise, we would recommend that younger children (<10) were supervised when using PeoplePlotr.
Please note that our hosted accounts are not to be used by digital/communication/marketing agencies wanting to create plots for their clients.
To sign up with PeoplePlotr, navigate to our home page - www.peopleplotr.com - click on 'Free sign-up' in the menu at the top and enter your username, email address and password in the panel that drops down (coming soon: if you are a school pupil and your teacher has given you a class code, you can also enter that, automatically upgrading your account).
Next agree to our terms and conditions by clicking the checkbox to the left of the 'I agree to terms and conditions' text. Click on the 'Sign up' button and, finally, the 'Login' button.
You can now start creating your first people plot by following the instructions on the page.
You log in to PeoplePlotr by clicking the 'Login' menu option at the top right of the screen. You should then enter your username and password in the pop down panel that appears and click the login button. Assuming, you have entered all the details correctly, you will now be logged in and able to start editing and creating people plots.
Firstly, you should select the 'Forgotten login details' link at the bottom of the login panel (which you can open by clicking on the 'Login' menu option at the top right of the screen). You will then be asked to enter the email that you used to sign up to PeoplePlotr. Enter your email and click the 'Submit' button.
We'll then send you an email with your username and a new password. You can then login with this password and then change the password by going to the 'Account' tab in the grey admin panel that appears on a plot page.
If you don't receive an email from us or can't remember the email address you used to sign up with, then drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll do our best to recover your details for you.
Firstly, you should follow the instructions in the above two FAQs (How do I log in to PeoplePlotr? and I've forgotten my login details. What should I do?). If you still can't login then drop us an email at help@peopleplotr.com and we'll do our best to help you.
If you haven't yet created an account with PeoplePlotr, do so now - see here for how. If you have, then please ensure you are logged in.
1Now navigate to the PeoplePlotr home page (www.peopleplotr.com). Here you will find a list of plots you have already created and also a form for creating a new plot.
2Enter the required information. The plot's title is the only compulsory field. All other fields are optional. If you are not sure what to enter into any of the fields, then roll over them with your mouse and a popup help panel will appear with instructions.
3Once you have filled in all the information, click the "Create new plot" button at the bottom. Your plot will now be created and you will be taken to the plot's unique page on the web. You can share the url of this page with your friends and colleagues. You will now want to start editing and adding to your plot.
1Navigate to the PeoplePlotr home page (www.peopleplotr.com). Here (if you are logged in) you will find a list of plots you have already created and also a form for creating a new plot.
2Click on the 'edit' button for a plot and you will be taken to your plot's unique page on the web. On this page, you can edit people and components by clicking on them and entering information into the grey admin panel to the right. You can add new components and people by dragging items to the app's stage. You can also change all the plot's settings, such as background image, introduction text, and so on from the 'plot inspector' - click on the app's stage somewhere to open this. Further options can be accessed by clicking on the 'Settings' or 'Categories' options in the main 'plot inspector'.
There are two ways that you can do this; when you first create the plot; and after you have already created it.
1When you first create a plot (see here for how to create a plot), you are given the option of selecting a background image for your plot. You can either enter the url of the image you want to use. Or you can click on the magnifying glass button and load an image from Flickr.
2If you have already created the plot, then you will need to initially go to the plot's unique page (see 'editing a plot' above). Then, in the main 'plot inspector' in the grey admin panel, you are given the option of selecting a background image for your plot. You can either enter the url of the image you want to use. Or you can click on the magnifying glass button and load an image from Flickr.
It can be quite tricky to find an image that works well with the plot. You should avoid images which are very busy or have a lot of contrast (very dark and very light areas). An alternative to using an image is to simply set the background of your plot to a particular color - this can be done in the main 'plot inspector'. Click on the coloured block and choose the color you want to use. You can also play around with the background image overlay colour and opacity settings.
Once you have created your first plot (see here for instructions on creating a plot), you will probably want to start adding people to your plot.
1Firstly, ensure that you are on your plot's unique page (see 'How do I edit my plots' above) and have Edit mode set to on. You can now drag a male or female person from the items along the bottom and drop it on the main sage. You can edit this person in the inspector at the top right of the screen.
2Once you have finished entering information about the person in the inspector, click the 'Save' button.
3You may now want to add images or vidoes to your person. See below for instructions on how to do that.
4If you would like to create another person, simply drag another person onto the stage.
Editing a person is simple. Make sure that you have edit mode for your plot set to 'on'. Then click on the person, and you will be able to enter information into the 'person inspector' at the right of the screen. Click the 'Save' button when you have finished editing the person.
There are two ways of doing this. If you only need one image for a person, simply click on the person (when in 'edit' mode) and in the inspector, enter the url of the image you want to use in the 'Main Image' source field. You can also click on the magnifying glass to choose an image from Flickr or to reposition your image.
If you want to add additional images to your person, follow these instructions.
1Initially, when in edit mode, select the person to which you want to add images by clicking on them.
2Now in the inspector open the 'Images/Videos' tab and click on the 'Add new media' button. A form will now appear.
3Fill in the form with the relevant details. Make sure the 'type' menu is set to 'Image'. In the source field, you can either enter the url to an image (for instance if you have the image saved on your own server) or click on the magnifying glass to open up our Flickr image selector. The index field is used to determine the order in which images appear for a person. The 'Main Image' will always appear first.
4Once you have filled in the form, click the 'Save' button and the image will be added to your person - you can see the image in the popup lightbox that appears when you click on the person when edit mode is off.
1Initially, when in edit mode, select the person to which you want to add videos by clicking on them.
2Now in the inspector open the 'Images/Videos' tab and click on the 'Add new media' button. A form will now appear.
3You should now find the video on either Youtube or Vimeo and then paste the url of that page into the source field in the form. The url for a youtube video will look like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdKW75J49s - a Vimeo one will look like: http://vimeo.com/18008261. You can also paste in a link to an flv or MP4 file of your own.
4Make sure the 'type' menu in the form is set to 'Video'. The index field is used to determine the order in which videos appear for a person.
5Once you have filled in the form, click the 'Save' button and the video will be added to your person - you can see the video in the popup lightbox that appears when you click on the person when edit mode is off.
To colour code people, you need to firstly create a category and select a colour for the category. You will then add the person to that category. You create categories in the 'Categories tab' which can be accessed from the main 'plot inspector' - click on the stage somewhere if it is not already visible. In the category tab, now create a new category by clicking the 'New category' option. Simply enter a name and choose a colour to create a category. You can then set a person's category by following the 'How do I edit a person?' instructions above.
You need to click the 'Create new category' button each time you want to make a new category. Otherwise, you may end up endlessly editing the same category.
Each plot has its own unique url (web address) that you can send to anyone so they can view your people plot. The url can be found in the address bar of your browser - it will look something like: http://www.peopleplotr.com/plot/entry/10443/Dev-Tree/
Please note that if you have the 'Public' setting for your plot set to 'no', then others will not be able to view it. In this case, only people logged into your account will be able to view it. You can change this setting in the 'Settings' tab, accessible from the main 'plot inspector'.
To prevent others from viewing your plot, set the 'Public' setting for your plot to 'no'. You do this in the 'Settings' tab, accessible from the main 'plot inspector'.
Embedding is only available with our Bronze and Silver accounts. See above for instructions on how to sign up for a premium account. If you already have a premium account, follow these instructions:
1Open the 'Embed' panel for your plot by clicking on the 'embed' option. This can be found in the red-bordered panel to the left of the screen when you are logged in and 'edit mode' is set to 'on'.
2In the panel that pops up, enter the width and height that you want for the embedded plot. You may want to click the 'Preview' button to check that the plot works at the size you have chosen.
3You should now copy the code in the 'Embed' box and paste it into your website or blog. Please note that the 'Public' setting for your plot must be set to 'Yes' for your embedded plot to work (see 'plot inspector' -> 'Settings').
This will depend on what type of account you have. The Bronze account offers 5,000 monthly views. Our Silver account gives you 20,000 monthly views.
If you go over your monthly embeddable views, the plot will not appear on your website. In its place will be a message and link to the plot on PeoplePlotr.