Planting Your Family Tree Online

Planting Your Family Tree Online

Planting Your Family Tree Online is designed to take you step-by-step through the process of creating a genealogy Web site.

When people begin their genealogical adventure, they usually interview elderly members of the family and contact other family members. The next step is usually one of organization of the information collected. The third step is usually to share this information with other family members, traditionally by publishing research in a book. However, a family Web site has numerous advantages:

• It is interactive so others can contribute their stories and pictures.
• It will help you find long-lost relatives.
• It is an ideal way to preserve research for the entire family.
• It will break down the walls that have stumped you in your research.
• It recognizes that family research is an ongoing process,

This book is written by Cyndi Howells, owner and webmaster of Cyndis List, a Web site of more than 130,000 online genealogical resources. Cyndi points out, This book is loaded with URLs to Web sites that will give you everything you need to create a beautiful family tree online. However, Web site URLs change daily and some may no longer work. She has created web pages as part of Cyndis List that correspond to the features of the book so that the URLs will be kept up-to-date.

Table of Contents For This Book:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Who Should Read This Book?
-Chapter 1 - Why You Need a Genealogy Web Site
Publishing in Pixels versus Publishing in Ink
Always a Work in Progress
Leave a Trail for Your Cousins to Follow
Help Fellow Genealogists and Set an Example for Others
-Chapter 2 - Find a Home for Your Web Site
What to Look For
Where to Look
Domain Name Registration and Hosting
Extra Tools and Features
What Is the Best Choice for You?
-Chapter 3 - Plan Ahead for a Successful Genealogy Web Site
Who Will Visit Your Site?
How Should Your Site Look and Behave?
What Is the Purpose of Your Site?
Types of Genealogy Web Sites
-Chapter 4 - Structure Your Genealogy Web Site
Folders and Directories
A Model for Web Site Structure
Let Your Ancestor Chart Be Your Guide
Duplicate the Organization on Your Computer's Hard Drive
Plan Ahead-Avoid Broken Links and Lost Cousins
-Chapter 5 - Select the Contents for Your Genealogy Web Site
The Title
What You Should Include
What You Should Not Include
Food for Thought: NGS Standards and Guidelines
-Chapter 6 - Create the Basic Web Pages
Using Genealogy Software
GEDCOM Web Page Conversion Software
Customizing the Software's Output
Displaying the Data without Genealogy Software
Using HTML Editors
Using a Text Editor to Write HTML Code Yourself
The Home Page and Index Pages
Checking Your Work
Getting Help from Friends and Professionals
-Chapter 7 - Personalize Your Web Site with Color and Style
Remember Your Mission and Audience
Colors in Backgrounds, Text, and Links
Fonts and Formatting
Graphics: Backgrounds, Bullets, and More
-Chapter 8 - Customize Your Web Site
Navigation Tools
The Common Footer
Disclaimers
Getting Search Engines to Notice Your Site
-Chapter 9 - Enhance Your Web Site with Extras
Links and Bibliographies
Photographs and Scanned Documents
Downloadable Files
Multimedia
Automated Features and Forms
-Chapter 10 - Guarantee Success: Common Web Site Dos and Don'ts
Web Site Title Follies
Purpose or Mission Statement
Contact Information
Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation
Location, Location, Location!
Broken Links
Background Graphics
Colors That Blind or Hypnotize
Anything That Moves
It Really Isn't Music to My Ears
Frames Are Evil
Things That Make My Browser Crash
-Chapter 11 - Check Your Work and Give Your Site a Trial Run
Proofread and Review the Site
Validate Your HTML for Accuracy and Usability
Upload the Pages to the Web Server
Check Navigation, Verify Links, and Confirm Accessibility
Test Your Site in Various Web Browsers
Back Up and Archive Your Web Site
-Chapter 12 - Make It Official: Publicize Your New Web Site
Strategies for Making Your Site Known to Other Genealogists
Genealogy Mailing Lists and Message Boards
E-mailing Other Family Historians
Online Genealogy Columnists and Editors
Genealogy Web Indexes and Search Engines
Surname Registry Sites
Internet Search Engines
Offline Announcements
Last, But Not Least: Stationery
-Chapter 13 - Keep Your Web Site Alive and Kicking: Give It a Checkup
Why You Should Check and Update Your Site
Create a Maintenance Routine
What's New
Annual Maintenance
Share New Things You Have Learned
Reevaluate Your Research and the Purpose of Your Site
Appendix: National Genealogical Society Standards and Guidelines
Standards for Sound Genealogical Research
Guidelines for Using Records, Repositories, and Libraries
Standards for Use of Technology in Genealogical Research
Guidelines for Genealogical Self-Improvement and Growth
Glossary
Index