Have you had a chance to check out the new views that FamilySearch added to the fan chart last Fall? For one thing, you can now view 5, 6, or 7 generations on your family tree. In addition, six new views are added to the fan chart. You can view your family by birth country, sources, stories, photos, research helps, and ordinances. Simply go to your tree view and click on fan chart.

For instance, if you choose Birth Country, the fan chart will display your ancestors highlighting up to the nine most common birth countries in different colors. On the right side of your screen, a key box will indicate which country is represented by which color.

Instead of using multiple colors in the views for Sources, Stories and Photos, the fan chart will display your ancestors using a color from light to dark. The white indicates zero items for that ancestor. The color increases in intensity depending on the number of items for each ancestor.

These different color-coded fan charts can help you recognize patterns. Maybe one branch of your family is filled with sources and photos while another branch does not have very many. Maybe you want to easily find ancestors who have stories that you can read which you may not have known about.

Research Helps view will highlight those ancestors with helps associated specifically to them such as data problems, record hints, or research suggestions. This way you can quickly identify ancestors you may want to work on in these areas.

Ordinances view highlights those ancestors with ordinances available, needing information, or in progress.

With these new fan charts, you can now get an overview of your family in a single glance. It just might help you see your family in a whole new way. –Debbie Brady

(source: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/new-discovery-fan-chart-family-tree)