Cite-Builder.com

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

​As you delve into your family history and discover records of your ancestors, it is important to cite those sources. This is valuable for you if you need to go back and look at information as well as for other researchers with whom you’ve shared information. Cite-Builder is one such tool to help you. Let’s look.

According to Cite-Builder.com, there is a free Basic version and a subscription Premium version. Both provide you with templates of common sources of information that we genealogists use. As expected, the Premium version includes more templates and advanced features. The templates follow the Evidence Explained guidelines. On a side note:  You can learn more about Evidence Explained here.  This book written by Elizabeth Shown Mills is looked upon as the definitive guide for properly citing sources.
What type of templates can you find? A quick look at the free Basic offering shows more than twenty-five category templates. Most are genealogy related with a few others that have a broader interest. Within each of these template groups are subgroups which might be further divided by country. For example, if you look at Wills and Probates, you would then choose your preferred country (US) and within that area are additional templates to fine-tune your citation template. However, further review indicates that many of these templates are only available with the subscription version of the product.
 There are some for Basic but it takes some searching. I tried the census records, chose US census records then state census records and then a specific state and year. Here is what the page looks like. This gives you an idea of what to expect and how you would create the information.

https://cite-builder.com/basic/

Once you have created a citation, you might be wondering how to leverage that information in your FamilyTree Maker or another genealogy program. There is an FAQ that gives tips on how to do that best. In most cases, you will need to copy and paste the information in the citation format.
I hope this tool is helpful to you. Take some time to explore and see if this will help you with your citations. Happy citing sources!