Building the Tamil family history layer

1.1 Tamil records & data

• More Tamil Nadu records (Phase 1)

  Expand electoral roll coverage for more districts. Improve OCR and extraction for mixed-quality PDFs and old formats. Explore our Tamil genealogy tools to see current capabilities.

• Gazetteers & place references (alpha)

  Add Tamil Nadu Gazetteer references for villages, taluks, and districts. Link locations in trees to standard entries to reduce spelling confusion.

• Record status visibility

  Add a simple coverage widget and source badges. Families will see which districts and years are live, and where records come from.

• Show existing sources clearly

  Make current sources visible like The National Archives (UK),data.gov.sg, Arkib Negara Malaysia, and FamilySearch.org. Source badges and documentation will show users where records come from.

1.2 Hinting & in-tree intelligence (MVP)

• Find duplicates in your tree

  First version of hinting flags possible duplicates in your tree. It uses name, year, and place to find duplicates. A review screen lets you accept or reject merges. Try our hinting tools to see current hinting capabilities.

• Tamil-aware name matching

  Build rules that understand short names vs full names, father's names as surnames, common Tamil-to-English spellings, and Tamil↔English / Tanglish search.

• Basic “possible relationship” hints

  When you add a new person, we suggest likely parent-child/sibling relationships. We use age, surnames, and existing family structure to make suggestions.

1.3 Interoperability & exports (Phase 1)

• Tree export (CSV / basic GEDCOM)

  Families can export people and relationships in standard formats. We preserve Tamil-specific fields using custom tags or notes.

• Safer CSV imports

  Improve spreadsheet imports with validation. A dry run shows what will be created or updated before making changes.

1.4 Collaboration & UX

• Better shared tree collaboration

  Refine invite flows, capabilities, and activity feeds. Extended families can confidently work on the same tree.

• Onboarding for first Tamil tree

  Guided steps help new users add parents, grandparents, villages, family gods, and key rituals. We explain Tamil kinship terms as you go. Learn more about getting started guides for getting started.

2.1 Tamil records & archives (Phase 2)

• Wider Tamil Nadu coverage

  Full coverage for remaining Tamil Nadu districts in electoral roll data. Better handling of corrections and versioned rolls over time.

• Temple & community records

  Pilot projects with temples and community groups. Attach family registers and community-maintained marriage or death lists. Clear markers show where information comes from.

• Diaspora support

  Add fields and filters for emigration year, destination country, and reason. Better migration views for Tamil diaspora families. Learn more about our diaspora support in our guides.

• Global Tamil diaspora records (Phase 2)

  Systematically expand from external archives with Tamil-relevant material. Include passenger lists, immigration and civil records from The National Archives (UK),data.gov.sg, Arkib Negara Malaysia, and other collections. Overseas branches link back to Tamil roots.

2.2 Smarter hinting & guidance

• Cross-tree hints (opt-in)

  Families who opt in can see potential matches across trees. This works for public or consenting branches. Review flows and privacy controls are included.

• Place-based hints

  Use shared villages, streets, and temple patterns to suggest links. Especially useful for older generations.

• Story prompts & memory hooks

  Gentle prompts help record stories about festivals, rituals, temples, and migration.Tamil identity is preserved as more than just dates. Read our heritage preservation blog for inspiration on preserving family stories.

2.3 Interoperability & ecosystem (Phase 2)

• Deeper alignment with global tools

  Refine imports and exports so Tamil branches work with Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch.Tamil-specific structure and context stay intact.TamizhConnect stays the Tamil-aware core.

• Read-only API for partners (early access)

  Secure, read-only APIs for Tamil heritage sites, researchers, and trusted partners. They can build on top of public or user-consented trees.

2.4 UX, mobile & Tamil-first polish

• Better mobile navigation

  Improve tree navigation on phones. Options include compact list views and focused sub-tree exploration.

• Tamil-first language audit

  Review labels, help text and error messages in Tamil and English. Make sure they match how Tamil families talk about relationships and rituals. Explore our Tamil terminology guide for more information.

3.1 Advanced Tamil records & research tools

• Advanced search for researchers

  Multi-criteria search across names, initials, father's names, villages, districts, migration destinations, time ranges, and source types. Export for academic and community research.

• Collaborative Tamil heritage projects

  Support village-level histories, street-level projects and community archives. Roles and attribution for contributors.

3.2 Visualisation & storytelling

• Migration maps & timelines

  Visual maps show how a family, village, or community spreads across regions and countries over time. Key life events are shown alongside the maps.

• Storybook outputs

  Generate printable storybooks. They combine trees, photos, stories about festivals, temples, migration, and everyday Tamil life. Check out our storybook creation tools to see current storybook features.