Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about Archoral, including how it works, who it is for, GEDCOM import, privacy, free trial, pricing, and support.
Getting Started
What is Archoral?
Archoral is a modern digital archive platform for preserving stories, media, relationships, places, and shared identity. It helps you connect people, places, photos, documents, events, stories, and relationships in one organized archive instead of leaving them scattered across folders, drives, and disconnected tools.
Who is Archoral for?
Archoral is built for individuals, families, genealogists, photo organizers, preservation professionals, community groups, and organizations that want to preserve memory with context. It can support personal family archives, community archives, and larger preservation projects.
Do I need to be a genealogist to use Archoral?
No. You can start with a few names, stories, photos, documents, or memories and build over time. Archoral is useful whether you are an experienced genealogist or just beginning to organize family or community history.
What can I start with?
You can begin with a photo, profile, story, document, audio recording, video, location, event, or imported GEDCOM file. Archoral is designed so you can start small and add more context as your archive grows.
Can I explore Archoral before committing?
Yes. Archoral offers a free trial so you can explore the platform before choosing a paid plan. No credit card is required to start the trial.
Product & Features
What makes Archoral different from cloud storage or photo apps?
Archoral is not just a place to store files. It is built to preserve context by connecting media to people, places, stories, relationships, events, and timelines so your archive stays meaningful and discoverable over time.
What does indexing mean in Archoral?
In Archoral, indexing means identifying and connecting important details across your archive, such as people, places, media, relationships, events, stories, and dates. Indexing helps one photo, document, or story become part of a larger connected archive.
Can Archoral work without photos?
Yes. Archoral works with or without photos. You can preserve stories, profiles, timelines, documents, places, events, and relationships even when images are missing.
Can I preserve stories and audio, not just documents?
Yes. Archoral supports richer archive-building than a simple document repository. You can preserve stories, media, documents, audio, video, profiles, locations, and contextual details together.
Does Archoral support places and location-based history?
Yes. Archoral helps connect people and places so you can preserve family, organizational, and community history with stronger geographic context.
Can Archoral handle relationships beyond a traditional family tree?
Yes. Archoral is designed to reflect real life, including blended families, chosen family, mentors, caregivers, friends, community members, and other meaningful relationships that may not fit neatly into a traditional family tree.
Importing & Building
Can I import a GEDCOM file?
Yes. Archoral supports GEDCOM import so you can bring in family history research you already have and continue building from there.
What happens after I import a GEDCOM?
A GEDCOM can be your starting point, not the finish line. After import, you can continue building your archive by adding stories, media, relationships, places, events, documents, and additional context.
Do I need a complete family tree before I start?
No. You can start with whatever you have now and build over time. Archoral is designed to grow with your archive rather than requiring everything up front.
Can I build an archive gradually instead of all at once?
Yes. Archoral is meant to grow over time as you add people, stories, media, events, locations, relationships, and context.
Can I combine information from more than one GEDCOM file?
Yes. Archoral is designed to help you bring together family history information from multiple GEDCOM files so you can build a more complete archive from the research you already have.
Sharing & Collaborator Access
What is Collaborator?
Collaborator lets you invite trusted people into your archive with permission-based access. You choose whether each person can simply view shared content, help edit details and stories, or contribute media.
Viewer access is best for people who only need to see the archive. Editor access is best for people helping add names, dates, stories, relationships, and context. Contributor access is best for trusted people who can also upload media and help build the archive.
You stay in control and can manage each person’s access.
Can I invite family members to view or help with my archive?
Yes. Archoral lets you invite trusted people to access your archive based on the permissions you assign. Some may simply view what you share, while others may help add details, stories, or media. Each plan includes private sharing and collaborator access, with limits based on the plan.
Can someone view my archive without editing it?
Yes. You can give someone view-only access so they can see shared archive content without changing archive information.
Can collaborators add photos, documents, or stories?
Depending on the permissions assigned by the archive owner, collaborators may be able to add media, text, stories, details, or other context.
Do collaborators need an Archoral login?
Yes. Collaborators need an Archoral login so access can remain private, secure, and permission-based.
Can I remove or change a collaborator’s access later?
Yes. Archive owners can remove a collaborator or change their access level. |
Are collaborators or viewers unlimited?
No. Collaborator access is based on your plan or custom agreement. Larger family, community, or institutional needs may require additional seats or a custom plan. |
Is my archive public?
No. Archoral is private by default. You control who is invited and what they can access. Public or high-traffic archive access requires a separate setup or custom plan.
Privacy & Access
Is Archoral private?
Yes. Archoral is private by default. You control your archive, who is invited, and what they can access. Archoral is designed to help preserve memory while keeping ownership and access under your control.
Who owns the information I add to Archoral?
You retain ownership of the information and media you add to your archive, subject to Archoral’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Can anyone on the internet see my archive?
No. Your archive is not public by default. Access is controlled by the archive owner through invitations, permissions, and sharing settings.
Can Archoral be used for public or community-wide archives?
Yes. Archoral can support community-wide and institutional archive projects, but access is permission-based. Archive owners decide who can view, edit, or contribute. Larger public-facing projects may require a custom institutional plan or pilot setup. |
Pricing & Trial
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Archoral offers a free 14-day trial so you can explore the platform before committing to a paid plan.
Do I need a credit card to try Archoral?
No. You can start a free trial without a credit card.
Where can I compare plans?
You can compare current plans on the Pricing page.
Do I have to choose a paid plan right away?
No. You can start with Archoral’s free trial and choose a paid plan when you’re ready to continue building your archive.
What happens when my trial ends?
If you do not choose a paid plan after your trial ends, your account may be held for a limited period and then deleted according to Archoral’s account and data-retention policy.
What happens to my archive if I cancel?
If your subscription ends, your account will be held for a limited period so you have time to reactivate or make other arrangements. After that period, the archive may be deleted according to Archoral’s account and data-retention policy.
Can someone talk to us before we sign up?
Yes. If you have questions or are evaluating Archoral for a broader family, professional, community, or institutional use case, you can book a demo through the contact page.
Catalogs, Collections & Organization
What is a Catalog in Archoral?
A Catalog is the main archive space where your profiles, media, stories, locations, events, and relationships are organized.
How many Catalogs can I have?
Current plans are built around one primary Catalog. If your project requires multiple archive spaces, client archives, or institutional collections, contact us so we can recommend the right setup.
What is the difference between a Catalog and a Collection?
A Catalog is the larger archive space. Collections help organize groups of related media, stories, records, or materials inside the Catalog.
Can professionals use Archoral with clients?
Yes. Archoral can support professional preservation work, including photo managers, genealogists, and family history professionals. Current plans are built around one primary Catalog. If you need to manage multiple client archives or larger professional workflows, contact us so we can recommend the right setup.
What is digital family archiving?
Digital family archiving is the process of preserving and organizing photographs, documents, stories, videos, audio, relationships, places, and other family history in a structured digital archive. Archoral goes beyond simple file storage by helping you connect those materials to the people, events, places, and relationships that give them meaning.
What is the difference between Archoral and a traditional family tree?
A traditional family tree focuses mainly on lineage, dates, and biological or legal relationships. Archoral is broader. It allows you to connect people with photographs, documents, stories, places, events, timelines, collections, and many different types of relationships, creating a richer and more complete record of a family or community.
Can Archoral help organize folders of family photos?
Yes. Archoral can help turn scattered photo folders into a more meaningful archive by connecting images to the people, places, events, relationships, timelines, and collections they belong to. Instead of relying only on file names or folders, you can preserve the context behind each image.
Can Archoral organize photos by people, places, and events?
Yes. Photos and other media in Archoral can be connected to people, locations, events, timelines, collections, and relationships. This makes it easier to understand where an image fits within a larger family or community story and to discover related information across the archive.
Organizations & Use Cases
Can Archoral be used by organizations or institutions?
Yes. Archoral can support archives, libraries, museums, churches, schools, community groups, historical societies, local initiatives, and other preservation projects.
Is Archoral only for family history?
No. Archoral supports family archives, institutional memory, local history, community preservation, and shared identity projects.
Can Archoral support community or intergenerational projects?
Yes. Archoral is well suited for community archives, local history projects, and intergenerational memory preservation. It helps organizations connect people, places, photographs, documents, stories, and relationships in one shared archive.
Can volunteers help build a community archive?
Yes. Volunteers can help build a community archive using Collaborator access. Archive owners can decide whether each volunteer can view materials, help add details and stories, or contribute media. For larger projects, we recommend setting clear permissions, training, and review steps before inviting a broad group of volunteers. |
Do larger organizations need a different plan?
Larger community, institutional, public-facing, or high-traffic archive projects may need a Community Archive, Institutional, or custom plan so storage, collaborators, viewer access, support, and security are properly matched to the project.
Can Archoral be used for oral histories?
Yes. Archoral can be used to preserve recorded stories, interviews, audio, and other oral-history materials alongside related people, photographs, places, events, and documents. This helps preserve not only the recording itself, but also the context surrounding the story.
Can a historical society use Archoral?
Yes. Historical societies can use Archoral to organize and preserve photographs, documents, stories, people, locations, events, collections, and community relationships in one connected archive. Archoral can also support collaborative work, making it useful for organizations that rely on staff members, volunteers, researchers, or community contributors.
Support
Where can I get help?
You can visit the FAQ, review Archoral’s resources and getting started guides, or contact support at support@archoral.com
Where can I learn more before signing up?
You can review the product pages, pricing, blog, webinar library, and getting started guides, or book a demo for a guided walkthrough.
How do I stay updated?
You can subscribe to the Archoral newsletter for product updates, preservation ideas, webinars, events, and special offers