Genealogy Blog

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 2 November 2009, 08:00

GeneaNet allows completely withholding of information on living people in your family tree, thus protecting their privacy.

Go to "My GeneaNet : Online Family Tree : Manage : Privacy" to configure your privacy settings.

GeneaNet - Gestion des contemporains Show/Hide Living Individuals

- Default: Only the name and surname of individuals born within the past 100 years will be displayed. Information such as life events will not be available.

- Hide Living Individuals: The name and surname of individuals born within the past 100 years will be replaced with "XXX" and information about living persons will only be available in the online search for users with a Wizard Access Right.

- Show Living Individuals: All of the information about living individuals will be displayed in your family tree and available in the online search.

Remove living persons from your online family tree

This will remove every person born within the last 100 years. Please, save your data before processing!

Expert Options - Advanced Access Rights

- Privacy of Living Individuals: To restrict access to living individuals in your family tree, select a number of years then select "Yes" to replace these individuals with "XXX".

- Birth Date Unknown: Select if individuals with unknown birth date should be hidden in your family tree.

- Remove Hyperlinks: Select "Yes" to remove hyperlinks on private individuals.

How To Contact A GeneaNet User? · Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 26 October 2009, 08:00

Anyone who has registered with GeneaNet can send or receive messages from other users as well as reply to messages if they are contacted.

Through the email address

You may contact another user anonymously through the email address provided on their public profile.

To view their public profile:

- In the GeneaNet search results list, click on the username
- In the user's online family tree, click on the icon at the top left of the screen (see image below)

Through the user's personal forum

Every GeneaNet user has their own online family tree forum for free.

By clicking on the icon at the top left of the screen (see image below) you can post a message and an email will be automatically send to the user.

Through the "All Relatives" address book

Enter the name or the username of the user in the search form, then click "Add to my address book". When adding a user to your address book, you can enter a message. The user will automatically receive an email.

More about the "All Relatives" feature.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 19 October 2009, 08:00

The Cross-Database Search is an exclusive and powerful GeneaNet feature that automatically compares your family tree with the complete GeneaNet database index.

You first need to complete the form below to describe your search:

Club Privilege Options

GeneaNet Club Privilege members can limit the search to their Sosa-Stradonitz (Ahnentafel) numbered individuals and compare their direct line with the GeneaNet database, ignore unknown places and limit the search to the GeneaNet Online Family Trees.

Search Criteria

You can limit the search to the entries that fit your family tree places and dates.

Results Display Mode

The search result list can be displayed in HTML or plain text mode. Plain text mode generates a delimited text file that can be imported in any spreadsheet.

Automatically Compare Your Family Tree With Another One

GeneaNet Club Privilege Members can also automatically compare their online family tree with the one of another GeneaNet user.

You can access this powerful feature from the user Page Contact.

Cross-Database Email Alert

You can subscribe to the Cross-Database Email Alert to receive a periodical email aggregate of the latest entries. Email Alerts have expanded options for recurring weekly, twice-weekly and monthly.

All of your Cross-Database Email Alerts are saved and you can read the archive at any time!

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 12 October 2009, 08:00

Some new features have been added to the GeneaNet search results list:

Tooltip

Moving the mouse pointer over a username in the search results list will now open a tooltip which shows:

- The full name of the user
- The user online family tree latest update
- If the user is in your Address Book
- If you already have contacted this user

This new feature is available to the GeneaNet Club Privilege Members.

Email Alert

You can now subscribe to/unsubscribe from the email alert without leaving the search results list by clicking the link below the list. This is really more convenient!

This new feature is available to all of the GeneaNet users.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 5 October 2009, 08:00

'I'm too busy to backup my data', 'I don't know how to backup data', 'My hard drive won't crash'...

But how would you feel if you lost years of genealogy research, your address book, your emails, and your digitized family pictures and documents?

So backup your data before it's too late!

There are many ways to backup your data according to your needs:

USB Flash Drive

USB Flash Drives are cheaper than many other backup systems, simple to use, small and convenient, but it is also easy to lose these small devices. Storage capacities can range from 64 MB to 256 GB, and some have 10-year data retention.

CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs

The lifetime of a CD-ROM may vary from 2 years to 20 years depending of its quality and the storage conditions. A standard 120 mm, "700 MB" CD-ROM can hold 737 MB with error correction. In comparison, a single-layer DVD-ROM can hold 4.7 GB of error-protected data, more than 6 CD-ROMs.

External Hard Drive

External Hard Drives are a secure and long-term data storage solution. Unfortunately, they are too expensive for most of us. Find here the CNET review of external hard drives.

Online Backup Services

This is the most secure way to backup your data because they also backup their servers in their data center! Find here a list of free online service providers to determine what online computer backup solutions are suitable for you.

I highly recommend to use an online backup service to store your data!

Export your GeneaNet Online Family Tree

If you have manually entered your GeneaNet Online Family Tree, you may need to export it to your computer.

To do so, simply go to My GeneaNet : Online Family Tree : Save then select a file format.

You can also export the ancestors or the descendants of any individual in your family tree.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 25 September 2009, 11:57

Some users have noticed issues with GeneaNet and Internet Explorer 8.

Microsoft says that some web sites may not be displayed correctly or work correctly in Windows Internet Explorer 8. This problem does not occur in earlier versions of Internet Explorer, and the affected web sites continue to be displayed correctly and to work correctly in Windows Internet Explorer 7.

For example, you may experience any of the following symptoms in Internet Explorer 8:

• Menus, images, or text are in the wrong positions on some web sites.
• Some web site features do not work.
• You receive script error messages on some web sites.
• Internet Explorer stops working or crashes on some web sites.

Internet Explorer 8 includes a Compatibility View feature that displays web sites that were created for older browsers as they were designed to appear.

Enable Compatibility View for specific web sites by using Internet Explorer

• Open the web site that is not displayed correctly or that does not work correctly in Internet Explorer 8.
• Click the Compatibility View button that is located directly to the right side of the address bar next to the Refresh button.

• Or, on the Tools menu, click Compatibility View.

GeneaNet uses multiple domain names and you must enable Compatibility View for all of the domain names that are not displayed correctly:

• GeneaNet: http://www.geneanet.org
• My GeneaNet: http://my.geneanet.org
• Online Family Tree: http://gw.geneanet.org
• All Relatives: http://allrelatives.geneanet.org
• Online Records: http://doc.geneanet.org
• etc.

Enable Compatibility View for all web sites by using Internet Explorer

You have tried the above method on some GeneaNet domain names and that method worked. However, you may want to enable Compatibility View for all GeneaNet domain names. To do this, follow these steps:

• On the Tools menu, click Compatibility View Settings.
• Click to select the Display all websites in Compatibility View check box, and then click Close.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 21 September 2009, 08:00

GeneaNet lets Club Privilege Members easily adding notes to family pictures in their family book.

This will help you to identify people, places and events, to mark notable details and comment specific objects.

To create/edit your family history book, log in as "wizard" on your online family tree, then click on the "Family history book" button.

Your family history book can be a few pages or hundreds.

New: Annotate pictures

To insert an image into a your family history book, first move the cursor to the location in the document that you want the picture, and then click on the "Image" button.

Select your image file, resize the picture if needed and select the "Allow Notes" option.

The code is added to your family history book. Click "OK" to confirm and view the image.

Click on the "Add a note" tab and drag the frame to the location that you want the note. Then enter the title and the text of your note.

You can add as many notes as you need, and you can edit/remove/hide your notes.

The notes are automatically displayed when the mouse moves over the picture.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 14 September 2009, 08:00

GeneaNet allows you to upload your own documents and to link them to your online family tree.

Upload your documents

Go to "My GeneaNet : Online Records : Upload" then select the type of record you want to upload (Parish Record, BMD Register, Notarial Record, Other Record).

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Users will not upload materials that violate rights of privacy and copyright, users will not upload materials that contain any reference to persons who were born less than 75 years ago, screenshots are not allowed and will be automatically removed.

Then, fill in the form by entering the source of the document (archive, library, Internet, etc.), the place and date of the event, some notes and your personal reference.

Manage your documents

Go to "My GeneaNet : Online Records : Manage Records" to view and edit your uploaded documents.

You may authorize (or not) GeneaNet Club Privilege Members to download your records at "My GeneaNet > Online Records > Preferences".

Link a document to your family tree

See GeneaNet: Link A Document To Your Online Family Tree to know more about linking a document to your online family tree.

And remember that you can link any document shared by the GeneaNet users to your online family tree!

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 7 September 2009, 08:00

Some new features have been added to GeneaNet All Relatives.

Topic Alert

You can now be notified when a new message has been posted in a Topic Forum.

Click "Topic Prefences" then select the "Notify me when a new message has been posted" option to activate the alert.

"Add to my Address Book" Pending Requests

Your "Add to my Address Book" pending requests are now shown on your All Relatives home page.

Remember that a pending request is automatically deleted if you have no response in 30 days.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 31 August 2009, 08:00

You may want to enhance the appearance of your online family tree, to personalize it or make it easier to use. Below are a few quick suggestions to do so.

How to personalize your online family tree:

Login to your GeneaNet account.

From the home page, click the "Online Family Tree" menu, and select the "Personalize" option.

Home Page

Welcome Message
This message will be displayed in your family tree home page.

Search Form
You can select the search form that will be used by your family tree visitors:

- Basic: Surname, First Name, Alphabetical List
- Advanced: Surname, First Name, Place, Alphabetical List
- Titles: Surname, First Name, Title

Visitor Counter
Display or hide your visitor counter.

Personal Message

Family Tree Title
Enter a new title for your online family tree. If none, default title will be your full name.

Welcome Message
Enter a header and a footer to be displayed on every page of your online family tree.

Theme

Online Family Tree Theme
Fly over the thumbnails to see a preview of the available family tree themes, then click to select.Home Page Picture (GeneaNet Club Privilege Members Only)
Fly over the thumbnails to see a preview of the available home page pictures, then click to select.Banner (GeneaNet Club Privilege Members Only)
You can upload your own banner. Image Format: JPG, Max. Size: 250 KB, Height: Min. 100 px/Max. 120 px.
Banner image will repeat. Think about large screens.

Presentation & Browsing

Individuals Theme
Fly over the thumbnails to see a preview of the available themes, then click to select.

The most comprehensive theme displays:

- Birth Place & Date
- Marriage Place & Date
- Death Place & Date
- Occupation
- Name of Parents
- Name of Children and their Spouses
- Name of Grand-Children and their Spouses
- Name of Spouses
- Name of Siblings and their Spouses
- Name of Half-Siblings and their Spouses
- Notes
- Attached Documents
- Four Generation Family Tree Chart with Sosa-Stradonitz Numbering System.

Display Options
Select the number of generations to be displayed in an ascending tree/a descending list, the maximum number of displayed relatives, the number of individuals to be shown in the "statistics", etc.

[ Personalize Your Online Family Tree ]

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 24 August 2009, 08:00

Some people think that genealogy is just a list of names and dates. But, with the simple addition of personal memories and family stories, genealogy can be much more than that.

GeneaNet helps you write and publish your family history.

Log in to your online family tree as "wizard", then click "Family History" in the left sidebar to open the family history editor.

Your stories and images must be edited as Wikitext, a markup language that offers a simplified alternative to HTML and is used to write pages in wiki websites such as Wikipedia.

Wikitext is simple and some basics will help you create beautiful pages.

You can insert and annotate pictures in your family history book.

This will help you to identify family members and ancestors, tell about places where photos were taken, and comment sweet moments in the life of your family.

Export your family history in PDF file format to share with family and friends.

You can add a title, a cover image and a table of contents, set the order of the pages, protect your PDF file, and much more.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 17 August 2009, 08:00

Did you know that you can link a document to your online family tree? Not only yours, but also a document uploaded by any GeneaNet user!

Activate Document Linking

Go to "My GeneaNet > Online Records > Link to my family tree" and select the "Activate Document Linking" option.

When deactivating document linking, the existing links will not be removed.

Link A Document To Your Family Tree

Go to your online family tree, log on as "wizard", select an individual, then click on "Add Record/Register" (former "Associate a Document").

GeneaNet - ajouter un acte à son arbre
This open a new pop-up window showing all the documents you have uploaded for the surname of the selected individual.

To link a document indexed to another surname or a document uploaded by another GeneaNet user, just fill in the "Search another document" form.

You can link any document to your family tree, even if the individual doesn't appear on it.

When submitted, reload the individual page. A new section named "Associated documents" show the documents you have linked to the individual.

Link A Document To Your Online Family Tree

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 10 August 2009, 08:00

The GeneaNet Search Engine has been improved and a demo version is available during the month of August. Please let us know if you find some bugs or problems...

You can also access the demo version by clicking the "Try our New Search Engine" link at the upper right corner of the Search Results Lists (see image below).

GeneaNet now offers several methods of searching in a unique search form to allow users to more easily and efficiently locate their ancestors in the GeneaNet database.

The results are now first listed by category:

- Online Family Tree (Collaborative Data)
- Archive (Certificates and Transcriptions)
- Library (Digitized Books, Magazines and Armorials)
- Other Source (Miscellaneous Documents)

Just click any of these categories to access the search results list.

Try the new GeneaNet Search Engine

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 3 August 2009, 08:00

When using the Expert Online Family Tree (GeneWeb), visitors can post a message in your personal family tree forum.

You can now enable/disable this forum at any time from the page "My GeneaNet > Online Family Tree > Personalize > Home Page".

By clicking on the icon at the top left of any user's online family tree (see image below) you can post a message in their forum and an email will be automatically send.

Remember that when you create a new GeneaNet account, the default family tree edit mode is the Basic one.You must go to "My GeneaNet > Online Family Tree > Advanced Options" to switch to the Expert edit mode (GeneWeb).

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 27 July 2009, 08:00

The GeneaNet Tips posted in the blog are now available in the forums via a RSS feed.

These tips will help you improving your GeneaNet Family Tree and your genealogy searches, and we suggest that you read it before starting a new topic.

You can also search the forums using the Search button and read the FAQ before posting. Your question or suggestion may already have been discussed.

Please do not ask the same thing on more sections of the forum and do not post the same topic more than once. GeneaNet Team members frequent the forum every day You'll see the following icon in any GeneaNet Team member's post.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 20 July 2009, 08:00

GeneaNet offers family tree printing on a number of genealogy charts and lists.

Print a Page of your Online Family Tree

A direct link to your browser print function is available at the top of your online family tree pages.

GeneaNet - imprimer sur son Arbre en Ligne
Print a Family Tree List in PDF Format

Select an individual and click on "Ancestors" at the bottom of the page to build your ancestors list (number of generations, siblings, notes, etc.)

Click on the "List" button at the top of the screen to export your list in a PDF file format.

GeneaNet - imprimer sur son Arbre en Ligne Print a Family Tree Chart

Click on the "Chart" button at the top of the screen to print a family tree chart:

- color, 4 generations

- black & white, 8 generations

- PDF and PNG file format

- With or without a background image

GeneaNet - imprimer sur son Arbre en Ligne

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 13 July 2009, 08:00

Preserving all of the information in your Family Tree just as you entered it is important but with the need to protect the privacy of living individuals. GeneaNet offers many features to do so.

Go to "My GeneaNet : Online Family Tree : Manage : Privacy" to configure your privacy settings.

GeneaNet - Gestion des contemporains Show/Hide Living Individuals

- Default: Only the name and surname of individuals born within the past 100 years will be displayed. Information such as life events will not be available.

- Hide Living Individuals: The name and surname of individuals born within the past 100 years will be displayed as "XXX" and information about living persons will only be available in the online search for users with a Wizard Access Right.

- Show Living Individuals: All of the information about living individuals will be displayed in your family tree and available in the online search.

Remove living persons from your online family tree

This will remove every person born within the last 100 years. Please, save your data before processing!

Expert Options - Advanced Access Rights

- Privacy of Living Individuals: To restrict access to living individuals in your family tree, select a number of years then select "Yes" to display these individuals as "XXX".

- Birth Date Unknown: Select if individuals with unknown birth date should be hidden in your family tree.

- Remove Hyperlinks: Select "Yes" to remove hyperlinks on private individuals.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 6 July 2009, 08:00

The GeneaNet Forums have been updated to another software (Simple Machines Forum, SMF). Of course, the skin and some features have been modified to fit the GeneaNet website.

The topics are:

- GeneaNet Help & Support: Ask for help on any topic related to the GeneaNet website. Report a bug. Make a suggestion.
- Family History Searches: If you need help with your family history research then post your question here.
- Surnames: Research and connect with other users around specific surnames. Even if you don't want to contribute, you can search these forums for your family surname.
- Regional: Regional genealogy and local history research. Ask for help on your local history research.
- Digital Photography, DNA - Genetic Genealogy, Genealogy Software, Heraldry & Armorial, Old Pictures: discuss on many genealogy and history topics.

You can change your personal information: Look, Layout and Notificaion Preferences.

Notification Settings:

- Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email.
- Receive reply notification only for the first unread reply.
- Turn notification on when you post or reply to a topic.
- When sending notification of a reply to a topic, send the post in the email (but please don't reply to these emails.)

We hope that you will enjoy these new forums and that they will help you in your genealogy research...

[ GeneaNet Forums ]

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 24 June 2009, 13:09

GeneaNet Club Privilege Members can now automatically compare their online family tree with the one of another GeneaNet user. You can access this new feature from the user Page Contact.

We hope that it will help you make a lot of new connections in your genealogy research!

Remember that the GeneaNet Cross-Database Search feature is available to any GeneaNet user.

Posted by Jean-Yves BAXTER on 24 June 2009, 13:02

We're working to improve the GeneaNet Forums.

They will be updated to another software (Simple Machines Forum, SMF) and a new skin will be unveiled soon.

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