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Genealogy Home Page Tutorial

Putting Surnames On-line

Getting Started
There are quite a few programs available for little or no cost which will convert your genealogy into an organized set of web pages. And you need little or no knowledge of HTML.

As you are creating your set of webpages on your hard drive, you should apply for webspace to host your pages.

There are basically two types of programs that will automatically put your surnames on line:

Which is better? Whichever suits your needs and whichever appeals to you. These is no BEST program. Take a look at both types of programs listed below. Look at the web pages produced and decide which program appeals to you the most. Also decide which you believe is the easiest for a visitor to your web page to navigate. After all, your goal is to have other genealogists easily find your surnames to determine if there is a match. Make sure the program you choose will list dates and location, otherwise it may be difficult for a visitor to determine if he is interested in your surnames.

Genealogy Programs
Many of the latest version of genealogy programs enable the user to create a web page right from the program without the use of a GEDCOM to HTML program. Most of the programs produce linked pages. Some have pedigree charts and family group sheets, others have indexes of surnames and individuals. Some will add photographs and allow room for family stories. All are easy to use and produce nice web pages. which you can easily modify by adding photos, stories, original documents to customize your site.

Family Tree Maker requires that you put your family information on their server; however, you can link to your own webserver for additional content such as guestbooks, photos, or any data besides surnames that you would like to place on-line. The other programs produce the files on your hard drive which may be uploaded to your webspace.

GEDCOM to HTML Programs
The following programs can be used as long as your genealogy program supports GEDCOM. GEDCOM is a standard file format for exchanging information between genealogy programs. The acronym GEDCOM stands for GEnealogical Data COMmunications. The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) developed the GEDCOM standard.

These programs will convert your GEDCOM into organized, linked web pages. Some have pedigree charts and family group sheets, others have indexes of surnames and individuals. Some will add photographs and allow room for family stories. All are easy to use, low in cost, and produce nice web pages which you can easily modify by adding photos, stories, original documents to customize your site.

The same GedCom has been used for most examples so you can see how much space is required.

Visit Mark Knight's overview of GEDCOM to HTML converters . He has examples of most of the above programs all created using the same GEDCOM..

Unique WebPage Options

There are some programs that do not use GEDCOMS that produce very nice webpages. If you are not interested in a GEDCOM to HTML program, these may be what you are looking for.

GEDCOMs
Depending upon the program you have chosen to use, you may need to create a GEDCOM to put your family data on the web. A GEDCOM is a file format which allows you to share the information contained in one genealogy program with another genealogy program. Most genealogy programs today will import and export of GEDCOMs. If yours doesn't, you will be unable to use the GEDCOM to HTML programs mentioned.

How do you create a GEDCOM? In your genealogy program, in the file section, click on 'save to' or 'copy family file'. This will bring up a dialog box that asks for the name of the file to be saved. Enter the name of the file for the GEDCOM. At the bottom of the dialog box is a 'save as type' box. In the pull down menu, select .GED. By saving your family file with a suffix of .GED, you have created a GEDCOM!


Remove Living People from your GEDCOM
Be sure to remove information about anyone in your database that is still alive before posting to the web.

The following utilities will remove living people from your gedcom and should be used before placing your genealogy on-line:

UpLoading your Files
You have chosen the program you want to create your web page, and you have privitized your family information.

By following the instructions of the program you have chosen to create your web page, you have created the files that will become your web page on your hard drive. Make a note of the file directory where these files are stored.

In order to upload your files to your web server, you will need to FTP (file transfer protocol) your files from your hard disk to your server so they can be viewed by others. One excellent and widely used program is WS_FTP. For instructions on this easy to use program, visit Ws_FTP Guide. Although this guide applies to all servers, your server may also have its own instructions.

After all the files are uploaded, your surnames are now on-line. Congratulations!

Take a moment to survey your web pages from the visitor's point of view to make sure all looks as you expect, and that all links work.





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