Adding a family member to my family sharing

Is that the case or is there a shortcut to converting an album to shared album?

Don't believe there is.

Make sure you don't give in to the false economy of removing your photos from your library after sharing them.

ALL shared albums are hosted on Apple space and cost you nothing. I see so many come here and telling us how "to save space" they deleted photos after sharing them, and now they're gone.

Shared photos and videos are downsized. If for any reason the shared album disappears, it's gone. Not recoverable. You can make a web version of shared albums as well for non Apple users.

Chooch Dean wrote:

I would like to add my wife as a family member to my ID, primarily so she can access the photos on my iCloud account on her phone.

One cannot add their family member to their Apple ID. In fact, sharing an Apple ID is frowned upon. If you wish for her to "access" your photos, then you can consider sharing them via -- How to share albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support.

Very nervous that turning on photo sync will completely wipe photos on her device or (even worse) the photos in the cloud.

What is "photo sync"?

As a follow up, I already have dozens of albums established dating back for years under "My Albums" > "iPhoto Evens".

Are you still using the iPhoto app, or are these migrated albums?

Photos is not folder oriented. Photos' design is for all photos to be in a large album called All Photos and then use albums to organize. You can use folders, but IMO shouldn't.

Would I just drop those events into the "Family Album" to share with her? And would those photos preserve the same structure/naming convention I applied - "Spring 2016", "Summer 2017", etc...?

You'd have to test, as I have never done this. Another member may chime in here.

Moving forward, where would I maintain any new albums? In "Family Album" or "My Albums"?

If you want Family Sharing members to see them, it must be a shared album. That can be the standard Family album or any shared album you create. You can have multiple shared albums.

Finally, how would I be able to add pictures taken on her device "Family Albums"?

Manually.

If needed, see these Apple resources.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchle1529919/10.13/mac/10.13

https://support.apple.com/photos

I would like to add my wife as a family member to my ID, primarily so she can access the photos on my icloud account on her phone.

This is not a feature of Family Sharing. As well, you don't add her to your ID, which was Zinacef's point. You would invite her Apple ID to join your Apple ID in a family group of up to 6 members.

She would, as part of Family Sharing have access the the communal album called Family Album.

You could create a dedicated shared album and allow her to access it.