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Lineage

Ongoing

A genealogy and family-tree application with interactive graph visualization

Next.jsReactMongoDBD3.js
GitHub

Motivation

Family history is often lost across generations. Lineage explores a clearer way to document, visualize, and share family relationships.

Architecture

The Next.js App Router provides the application shell and server endpoints. MongoDB stores people and relationships as graph-like data, while D3.js renders the interactive family view in the browser.

Features

  • Interactive family graph
  • Member profiles with photos and notes
  • Parent, child, spouse, and sibling relationships
  • Shareable family trees

Challenges

  • Representing real families with multiple and step relationships
  • Keeping large graph layouts readable and responsive
  • Designing a flexible relationship schema

Lessons learned

  • Real family relationships behave more like graphs than strict trees
  • Data modeling decisions strongly shape visualization complexity
  • Progressive disclosure keeps dense diagrams usable

Future plans

  • GEDCOM import and export
  • Print and image exports
  • More granular collaboration controls