Submitting Data
To submit data, you will need to register as a user. Once you have completed registration, click on “my account” from the menu at the top of the front page of the site. Then select “add places.”

You will be asked to enter data about the place you are adding:

Place Name:
This is the title of the place you are entering, such as “Robert Waller High School” or “Plaza Hotel.” This field is optional, but will help others find your data.

Address
The address field is required. You must enter a current address or intersection. The address field will determine where your point is plotted. You can also use the map at the bottom of the user entry form page to plot the location.

Category
You’ll be asked to pick a category from a list, which will determine how your data will be grouped in the results list when users search.

Descriptors.
You are given the option of selecting a number of descriptors such as “ethnicity” and “denomination.” If these categories do not apply to your data, you can ignore them.

Date
You are asked to enter a “start date” and “end date.” If you are plotting a one-day event, you can use the same date. If you are plotting an institution that existed for a span of years (such as a church congregation) you can use the start and end dates to create a time span for the place you are plotting. This is an optional field, so if you do not have a date, you can ignore it.

Description of Place or Event
Here you can enter the descriptive text about the place you are plotting. This text will be displayed when a user opens the information box for your place or event.

Website
You can automatically create a link to a website by using the “Website title” field to name the link and then entering the address of the site in the “Website URL” field.

Location Plotting:
To plot your data, use the map in the entry form. Your point will appear at the point displayed on the map at the time you click the “submit” button.

Submit:
To submit the data, click the “submit” button. The ChicagoAncestors staff will review your submission before posting it, so it may take up to 24 hours before your data appears on the map.