Genealogy Site Helper by kelsjon3
Side-panel helper for citing web pages as FamilySearch sources. No API key required.
Extension Metadata
About this extension
Genealogy Site Helper adds a Firefox sidebar that turns the page you're viewing into a ready-to-paste source for FamilySearch. It builds an editable citation, remembers your draft, and can open the Add Source dialog with fields prefilled — no API key required.
How it works
- Opens in the Firefox sidebar alongside any tab. On non-FamilySearch tabs it reads only the tab's URL and title (the same information shown in your address bar and tab bar) and uses them to build a citation you can edit.
- One-click Copy buttons for the citation, the URL, or a full multi-line block.
- Paste a FamilySearch person PID (e.g. L2YW-FQ1) or let the extension pick one up when you're on a tree page.
- "Open Add Source & prefill" opens the person's Sources tab in FamilySearch, clicks "+ Add Source" → "Add New Source", and fills Source Title, Web Page (Link to the Record), Citation, and Notes. You review and click Save yourself — the extension never submits anything on your behalf.
- Your draft is saved locally so switching tabs, reopening the sidebar, or closing Firefox never loses your work.
What it doesn't do
- No FamilySearch API calls, no developer App Key.
- No accounts, no sign-ins, no tokens.
- No telemetry, no analytics, no third-party servers.
- Never submits the source form; you always review and click Save.
Privacy
- On every site except FamilySearch the extension does not inject any script into the page. The only data the sidebar receives about your current tab is its URL and its tab title (the same text Firefox shows in the tab bar and address bar). Those are used to prefill the sidebar's URL and Title fields and to build a suggested citation, which you can edit before copying or sending to FamilySearch.
- On FamilySearch person pages (www.familysearch.org//tree/person/) the extension additionally inspects the page DOM — specifically the text and attributes (like aria-label, data-testid, and placeholder) of buttons, menu items, and form labels — so it can locate the correct "Add Source" button and the correct fields in the Create Source dialog. It does not read values already entered on the page, existing source entries, or any record or person data displayed on the page. It does read the tab URL and tab title to detect the person's PID.
- Anything the extension writes goes only into the input and textarea fields of the Add Source dialog, using values you supplied in the sidebar. Nothing is submitted on your behalf.
- All data you enter or that the extension reads (titles, URLs, citations, notes, PIDs) is stored only in your browser via extension local storage. Nothing is ever sent to any server by this extension. The only network requests come from Firefox itself when you open a FamilySearch tab, using your normal session.
Honest caveats
FamilySearch's user interface is a single-page app that changes from time to time. The Add Source prefill uses stable identifiers where available and text-matching heuristics elsewhere. If a field can't be found, the extension silently skips it and the sidebar's Copy buttons remain a reliable fallback. Please report issues with a short screenshot so the selectors can be updated.
Permissions
- tabs — read the active tab's URL and title; open FamilySearch tabs on your behalf.
- storage — save your citation draft locally in your browser.
- Host permission for https://www.familysearch.org//tree/person/ — used only by the content scripts that detect PIDs and prefill the source dialog on FamilySearch person pages.
Not affiliated
This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by FamilySearch or Intellectual Reserve, Inc. "FamilySearch" is used here solely to describe what the extension interoperates with.
Source code
Open source under the MIT license: https://github.com/kelsjon3/genealogy-site-helper
How it works
- Opens in the Firefox sidebar alongside any tab. On non-FamilySearch tabs it reads only the tab's URL and title (the same information shown in your address bar and tab bar) and uses them to build a citation you can edit.
- One-click Copy buttons for the citation, the URL, or a full multi-line block.
- Paste a FamilySearch person PID (e.g. L2YW-FQ1) or let the extension pick one up when you're on a tree page.
- "Open Add Source & prefill" opens the person's Sources tab in FamilySearch, clicks "+ Add Source" → "Add New Source", and fills Source Title, Web Page (Link to the Record), Citation, and Notes. You review and click Save yourself — the extension never submits anything on your behalf.
- Your draft is saved locally so switching tabs, reopening the sidebar, or closing Firefox never loses your work.
What it doesn't do
- No FamilySearch API calls, no developer App Key.
- No accounts, no sign-ins, no tokens.
- No telemetry, no analytics, no third-party servers.
- Never submits the source form; you always review and click Save.
Privacy
- On every site except FamilySearch the extension does not inject any script into the page. The only data the sidebar receives about your current tab is its URL and its tab title (the same text Firefox shows in the tab bar and address bar). Those are used to prefill the sidebar's URL and Title fields and to build a suggested citation, which you can edit before copying or sending to FamilySearch.
- On FamilySearch person pages (www.familysearch.org//tree/person/) the extension additionally inspects the page DOM — specifically the text and attributes (like aria-label, data-testid, and placeholder) of buttons, menu items, and form labels — so it can locate the correct "Add Source" button and the correct fields in the Create Source dialog. It does not read values already entered on the page, existing source entries, or any record or person data displayed on the page. It does read the tab URL and tab title to detect the person's PID.
- Anything the extension writes goes only into the input and textarea fields of the Add Source dialog, using values you supplied in the sidebar. Nothing is submitted on your behalf.
- All data you enter or that the extension reads (titles, URLs, citations, notes, PIDs) is stored only in your browser via extension local storage. Nothing is ever sent to any server by this extension. The only network requests come from Firefox itself when you open a FamilySearch tab, using your normal session.
Honest caveats
FamilySearch's user interface is a single-page app that changes from time to time. The Add Source prefill uses stable identifiers where available and text-matching heuristics elsewhere. If a field can't be found, the extension silently skips it and the sidebar's Copy buttons remain a reliable fallback. Please report issues with a short screenshot so the selectors can be updated.
Permissions
- tabs — read the active tab's URL and title; open FamilySearch tabs on your behalf.
- storage — save your citation draft locally in your browser.
- Host permission for https://www.familysearch.org//tree/person/ — used only by the content scripts that detect PIDs and prefill the source dialog on FamilySearch person pages.
Not affiliated
This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by FamilySearch or Intellectual Reserve, Inc. "FamilySearch" is used here solely to describe what the extension interoperates with.
Source code
Open source under the MIT license: https://github.com/kelsjon3/genealogy-site-helper
Rated 0 by 0 reviewers
Permissions and data
Required permissions:
- Access browser tabs
- Access your data for www.familysearch.org
Optional permissions:
- Access your data for www.familysearch.org
Data collection:
- The developer says this extension doesn't require data collection.
More information
- Add-on Links
- Version
- 0.1.0
- Size
- 259.83 KB
- Last updated
- 6 days ago (Apr 22, 2026)
- Related Categories
- License
- MIT License
- Version History
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