Technical Articles on Genealogy Websites

What is a ''Hosting Plan''?
Provides the web server to house the files of the website as well as internet access to them

What is a ''Website Authoring Application''?
An application purchased by the website author that is used to construct the website. The website authoring application allows the author to design each web page of the website then generates them into the necessary HTML of the web page .

What is an ''Online File Folder''?
An easy-to-use server-based file storage service which can be used to upload or download files using any web browser. It has a friendly user-interface providing online disk storage whereever you go in the world!

Why pay for a website?
The free ad-supported websites are a great way to get started but they do have advertising displayed on the top of each web page. Does this send the right message to your visitors? Genealogy is a serious, scholarly avocation. For a modest fee, you can have an ad-free website!

What is ''Website Tonight''?
A special hosting plan that provides a template-driven website authoring service to build a website using easy-to-use, friendly dialogs without requiring technical knowledge. It is used from any web browser and is all that is needed to build a professional website.

What is a ''standard hosting plan''?
The normal hosting plan used by most websites. In a standard hosting plan, the website author has complete responsibility for all technical aspects of the website but also has maximum control over the website.

What is the ''Economy Hosting Plan''?
The least expensive of the standard hosting plans provided by www.genealogyhosting.com (in a standard hosting plan, the website author has complete responsibility for all technical aspects of the website but also has maximum control over the website). The Economy Hosting Plan is perfect for any genealogy website: it is packed with features such as plenty of disk space, e-mail accounts, and data transfer allotments.

What is ''Traffic Blazer®''?
A search engine optimization and submission service. It provides all the tools you will need to analyze your website, optimize its contents for search engine spiders, submit your website to the search engines, and track the results of your campaign to get your website listed in the search engines.

What is ''Private Domain Registration''?
When you register a domain name, your registration information (name, address, e-mail address, phone no) is placed in the public domain name registry. With the Private Domain Registration service, you can have an unlisted domain name registration in which we are your surrogate so our information is made public rather than yours. However, you are still the owner with all the benefits of domain name registration.

What is ''c-Site®''?
A service to easily obtain a federal copyright of your genealogy website. A federal copyright is the indisputable legal proof you need to claim authorship of your work.

What is a ''blog''?
A blog is a social networking application in which an author can share information with the world and obtain comments or feedback from visitors. A blog website is the perfect first genealogy website because it can be used to instantly post preliminary genealogy information obtained in the early phases of research and get feedback on the information from fellow genealogists. No web technology expertise is required to have a blog website.

About Accounts?
You will administer all your hosting services such as domain names, e-mail accounts, hosting plans, etc. from your account control panel at www.genealogyhosting.com. Your account is used to not only purchase hosting services but also to update the settings of your various hosting services. There is no obligation to opening an account.

What is a ''domain name''?
The last two nodes of a website name (e.g., for a website of ''www.mysite.org,'' the domain name is ''mysite.org''. Domain names are registered and owned by the website author. The domain name is used to form the network name of servers (computers on the internet). The network name is a human readable moniker (e.g., ''www.mysite.org'') which is used to lookup the internet protocol address (IP address) of the server on the internet (e.g., "64.202.163.121"). Once translated, messages intended for that network name (e.g., ''www.mysite.org'') are routed to the actual IP address (e.g., "64.202.163.121").


	The access code you see is part of an additional security process GenealogyHosting.com has developed to protect you. Since the access code is provided as a graphic picture it cannot be read by a "script" program. As a result, these types of programs which are often used by individuals for various devious purposes, are prevented from entering our systems. Once you've keyed in the number displayed, you can proceed with your order, or obtain the information you requested.


	FREE Hosting with domain name is Ad-supported Hosting. Ad-supported Web sites contain relevant online advertising on a small portion of the site, but DO NOT include obtrusive pop-up ads.


	What is a ''blog''? A web log (or ''blog'') is similar to an online journal. It's largely text-based, so it's easy for anyone to update. Blogs are used to share all types of information, from personal stories and photos to sharing your thoughts on world events. In addition, most blogs allow visitors to post responses to entries and leave feedback for the owner of the site. Overall, a blog is a fast, easy and fun way to establish an online presence.


	Online Photo Filer Share, store and even order prints for your favorite photos, right from your domain name, with your own personal online photo album! FREE Online Photo Filer with domain name is ad-supported containing relevant online advertising on a small portion of the site, but DO NOT include obtrusive pop-up ads.


	Personalized Email Our FREE personalized email accounts let you to pick the exact email address you want, including your own personal domain name that you may use for your Web site!


	Starter Web Page Enjoy a professionally designed home on the Web in seconds! Customize with your own text, graphics and links - even choose color combinations.


	''For Sale'' Page Put your domain up for sale at its own address with a ready-made ''For Sale'' page.


	Parked Page Not ready to build a web site yet? No problem. You can leave it parked with GenealogyHosting.com for the length of your registration.


	Getting Started Guide ''Making the Internet Work for You'' is your guide to the Internet basics, from domains to Web sites, e-commerce to marketing and MORE.


	Domain Forwarding & Masking Forwarding automatically redirects/forwards traffic to whatever URL you choose. And with masking, users don't see the underlying address, only what they type.


	Domain Forwarding Forwarding automatically redirects/forwards traffic to whatever URL you choose.


	Domain Masking With masking, users don't see the underlying address, only what they type.


	100-Pack Email Forwarding Create up to 100 variations on your basic ''@domainname'' email address, and automatically redirect these emails to an existing account, keeping your main email address private.


	Total DNS Control Our Domain Control Center makes it easy to manage your domain name server (DNS) records, set your email, FTP, sub-directories, web site location, and more.


	Change of Registration Assign your domain name to another registrant, right online. You can change all four contact fields for the domain at anytime.


	Status Alerts Monitor key status indicators to your domain and get instant alerts if there's any change.


	Domain Locking Prevent anyone from making changes to your domain's vital ownership/administrative information. Domain Locking blocks unauthorized or accidental transfers, and stops anyone from misdirecting your name servers.


	Entering a Domain Name Enter the domain name you're interested in registering and select your TLD extension (.com, .net, .org, etc.) from the pull-down menu.


	.mobi - the domain for the mobile Internet! There are already more digital mobile phones worldwide than televisions and PCs combined. And most have Internet capabilities. A .mobi domain name can tap into this technology. Build .mobi pages and make your mobile device useful for Internet browsing and data services. http://pc.mtld.mobi/mobilenet/whydotmobi.html (5/18/2006)


	Auto Renew will send you email reminders prior to your domain's expiration date so you can verify and/or update your billing information. We will then attempt to automatically renew your domain name on its expiration date, using your payment method on file.


	Quick Blogcast Quick Blogcast lets you create, manage and promote your own blog and podcast. Post your stories, thoughts and ideas on your blog and invite readers to leave comments. Use our recording tool to create your own audio or video podcast and upload it to your blog to share with visitors. Publish and promote your podcast (and the blog it's hosted on) with automatic notifications to popular listing services including iTunes�, Feedburner and more


	FREE Online Photo Filer with domain name is Ad-supported. Ad-supported Web sites contain relevant online advertising on a small portion of the site, but DO NOT include obtrusive pop-up ads.


	Quick Blogcast Quick Blogcast lets you create, manage and promote your own blog and podcast. Post your stories, thoughts and ideas on your blog and invite readers to leave comments. Use our recording tool to create your own audio or video podcast and upload it to your blog to share with visitors. Publish and promote your podcast (and the blog it's hosted on) with automatic notifications to popular listing services including iTunes�, Feedburner and more

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Free Articles about Genealogy Websites

Here is a growing list of articles on various aspects of creating a genealogy website. Each article can be viewed by clicking on the link to open its PDF. Be sure and check back occasionally since new articles are added or updated all the time. If you want, you can be reminded automatically when new articles are created by signing up for our mailing list.
	Why Have a Genealogy Website?
		The "e" Imperative This article defines what it means to “publish” genealogy information. We give an overview of the different ways to publish your genealogy information on the internet with a discussion of the corresponding level of technical commitment required (including time, expense, and expertise).
	Getting Started
		Overview - Getting Started on Your Genealogy Website This is the first chapter from the book "Getting Started on Your Genealogy Website." This first chapter contains a complete overview of the process of planning, designing, and building a genealogy website.
		Stake your Claim with a Domain Name! This article discusses the topic of domain names for genealogy websites. We discuss their purpose, strategies for obtaining a meaningful domain name and how to register a domain name at www.genealogyhosting.com.
		Domain Forwarding (Have Your Cake and Eat it too) This article shows how to use a domain name to access a free genealogy website such as provided by Rootsweb.com’s FreePages services. This is possible using a technical feature called domain forwarding. Domain forwarding is a standard feature provided by any domain registrar such as www.genealogyhosting.com to forward all network messages from a domain name to an existing website.
		Instant Genealogy Website When you register a domain name at www.genealogyhosting.com, you receive a free, ad-supported website. This article is a summary how to quickly create a genealogy website using your free website by exporting your data from your genealogy software program to a series of HTML web pages. Any modern genealogy software program is capbable of this and the exported HTML files are a complete "mini-website." Then you upload this mini-website to your free website. At that point you have a genealogy website and for the small yearly fee of a domain name!
	How To
		Your Lifetime Email Address (How to End Email Chaos) - This article shows how to use your domain name as your lifetime email address. This is possible because of the technical feature called email forwarding that can be easily implemented on any email account at www.genealogyhosting.com. Also, email forwarding is very useful to convert from an old eMail account to a new eMail account .
		The Genealogy Road Warrior This article explains how to adapt your computer tool set for use on a genealogy research trip. We will show you how to use your hosting services at www.genealogyhosting.com to make the research trip as effective as possible.
		Sharing a Hosting Plan (Many Websites - One Hosting Plan) This article explains how to share a hosting plan among several websites. Sharing a hosting plan has the advantage that the cost of each individual website is prorated and there’s a central control point of the shared websites.
	Theory
		Using the Multilayered Structure to Design a Genealogy Website This article explains how to use a multilayered structure to design a genealogy website. A multilayered structure is a theoretical construct to organize a body of information.
		The Three-Layered Genealogy Website (Simple and Very Effective) This article gives an explanation of how to create a three-layered genealogy website. Not only is this form of a genealogy website easy to create, it is also a very effective way to organize any genealogy website.
	Sample Genealogy Websites
		Surname Website This article explains the surname website www.mannigel.org. A surname website focuses on one surname and presents genealogy information and biographies of the author's ancestors with that surname.
		Elusive Ancestor Website This article explains the elusive ancestor website www.poill27.info. An elusive ancestor website attempts to prove the genealogy of a very difficult ancestor in which the author must piece together scrapes of information to prove the theory of the ancestor.
		Genealogy Workbench This article explains the genealogy workbench www.martygale.name. A genealogy workbench does not contain genealogy information but is rather a tool for the genealogist to perform genealogy research.
		The Genealogy Essay (A Website with Meaning) This article explains how to publish a genealogy essay as a single-purpose website. The genealogy essay is a high quality literary work that captures some of the meaning of the author’s family heritage.

Types of Genealogy Websites

Genealogists are very creative and there are many different types of genealogy websites. Here is a list of the most common types of genealogy websites:
	Genealogy Essay - This simple genealogy website contains an essay about the family.. See example
	Surname - Presents the genealogy of a surname. See example
	Family History - Celebrates the author's contemporary extended family.
	Local History - Presents the historical and current record of a locaity (county, city).
	Local Genealogy - Consolidates and describes the genealogy resources of a locality.
	Descendant - Presents the genealogy of the projeny of one ancestral couple.
	Pedigree - Presents the genealogy of the author focusing on direct ancestors. Most common type of genealogy website.
	Elusive Ancestor - Presents and proves the genealogy of a very difficult ancestor. See example
	Noteworthy Ancestor - Focuses on a favorite ancestor of the author and tells his or her story.
	Tickle Site - A research tool that creates a communication forum to "tickle" fellow genealogists into indepth discussions of a specific genealogy topic.
	Genealogy Workbench - Research tool containing the author's reference information and links to research websites. See example



		Additional Resources