Vol. I · Edition 265

Hani Yousif

Juthoori — the Arabic family-tree platform

Problem

Arab families carry an oral memory that reaches back generations. That memory has lived in majlises, family gatherings, and the head of an elder — a knowledge base with a single point of failure and a very sharp expiration date.

Global family-tree platforms exist, but they were built for European surname conventions, Gregorian dates, and left-to-right typography. They cannot represent an Arabic name properly, they do not model tribes and branches, and they do not treat Hijri dates or Arabic honorifics as first-class.

The brief: build a family-tree platform that a grandfather in Riyadh can dictate into, and a great-grandchild in twenty years can read with pride.

Solution
{"ar": "<p>جذوري منصّة شجرة عائلةٍ عربيّة أوّلاً. تُنمذَج الأسماء بالكنية، وسلاسل النَسَب، واللقب، والفرع القبليّ — لا بثنائيّةٍ أوروبيّةٍ "اسم أوّل / أخير". تدعم التواريخ الهجريّ والميلاديّ معاً. تُعامَل الطباعة، والمسافات، وتخطيط RTL بوصفها جوهراً، لا ترجمةً لتصميمٍ إنجليزيّ.</p>\n<p>المنتج تطبيق ويبٍ تقدّميّ (PWA)، بحيث يُثبَّت على هاتف الجدّ كما يُثبَّت التطبيق الأصليّ، ويعمل بلا اتّصالٍ لإدخال البيانات في زيارةٍ عائليّة، ويُزامن عند عودة الاتّصال.</p>\n<p>يقول الشعار خير القول: <em>احفظ إرثك للأجيال</em>. كلّ قرارٍ في المنتج يُقدِّم كيف ستستعمله العائلة فعلاً — عبر السنين، لا عبر الأسابيع.</p>", "en": "<p>Juthoori is an Arabic-first family-tree platform. Names are modelled with kunya, nasab chains, laqab, and tribal branch — not as a European "first / last" pair. Dates support both Hijri and Gregorian. The typography, spacing, and RTL layout are treated as core, not as a translation of an English design.</p>\n<p>The product is a Progressive Web App so it installs on a grandparent's phone the same way a native app would, works offline for on-the-go entry during a family visit, and syncs when a connection returns.</p>\n<p>The tagline says it best: <em>preserve your legacy for generations</em>. Every product decision defers to how a family will actually use this — over years, not weeks.</p>"}
Architecture
{"ar": "<p><h2>نموذج الاسم العربيّ عنصرٌ أصليّ</h2></p>\n<p>عقدة الشخص ليست صفّاً بـ"اسم أوّل + اسم أخير"؛ بل سلسلةٌ مرتّبة (الاسم → النَسَب → اللقب → الفرع القبليّ) بسماتٍ لكلّ جيل.</p>\n<p><h2>تقويمٌ مزدوجٌ في كلّ مكان</h2></p>\n<p>يحمل كلّ حقلِ تاريخٍ قيمةً هجريّةً وميلاديّةً معاً. تعرض الواجهة التقويم المفضّل للعائلة بحسب المستخدم.</p>\n<p><h2>PWA يعمل بلا اتّصالٍ أوّلاً</h2></p>\n<p>يُثبَّت التطبيق من المتصفّح، ويعمل دون شبكة، ويُزامن عند عودة الاتّصال. الشخصيّة الأولى في التصميم: كبار السنّ على أجهزةٍ أقدم.</p>", "en": "<p><h2>Arabic name model as a native primitive</h2></p>\n<p>A person node is not a "first name + last name" row; it is an ordered chain (ism → nasab → laqab → tribal branch) with per-generation attributes.</p>\n<p><h2>Dual calendar throughout</h2></p>\n<p>Every date field carries both a Hijri and a Gregorian value. Displays default to the family's preferred calendar per user.</p>\n<p><h2>PWA, offline-first</h2></p>\n<p>The app installs from the browser, works without a signal, and syncs on reconnect. Long-lived elders using older devices are the primary persona.</p>"}
Features
  • Arabic-native name model (ism, nasab, laqab, tribal branch)
  • Dual Hijri + Gregorian dates on every field
  • Progressive Web App — installable, offline-first, syncs on reconnect
  • Family invitations with per-branch permissions
  • Photos, stories, and audio memories attached per person
  • Multi-generation view with zoomable, RTL-native tree layout
  • Privacy-first — trees are family-scoped by default
Results

Juthoori is live as a PWA and being seeded by families across the Gulf who have wanted an Arabic-native alternative to the global family-tree services for a long time.

The measure that matters here is not weekly active users; it is whether the tree survives a generation. That will take years to prove, and every product choice defers to it.

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