Dead Sites

Discussion in Technical Forum started by Fernando `Danny` Gil, May 27, 2015
FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
This is just an observation that others may find interesting.

TP, as with many other genealogical websites, advertise that they have access to thousand of family trees and millions of individuals. That may be true, but it seems many of the sites are dead. i.e., some individual sets up his freebie site then abandons it. I have seen lots of such sites set up years ago, with just a dozen or less individuals, and never updated since, with a handful of visitors.

I maintain a large site and have helped 3 other friends set up theirs, but 2 of them have fallen on their job and the sites are almost dead. I maintain an Excel file to record all these, and here, I will try to present it below. I think it is self-explanatory enough.

Does TP ever consider a clean up?

Danny
Related Link:Click Here

AS
Alan Scott
  website
Hi Danny,

I understand what you are getting at and have thought about the same thing myself. Problem is, how do you know when a site is truly "dead". Some people have nothing new to add to their site. Others may wish to publish their tree, in a free site, for example, and have it remain after their death. I know of a few sites like that and don't really see a problem other than it would be nice to know if the tree owner has passed on. Some of the information from these sites could prove to be useful. How Tribalpages administered this would be a problem for them I would think.

There are site owners I have tried to contact where there is incorrect data in the tree. No reply. Maybe the owner has passed on, leaving a tree with wrong data, rewriting history incorrectly.

One part answer would be for Tribalpages to require annual re-registration of free sites but that in its self would not cover all the issues. I cannot offer a perfect answer. Perhaps Tribaplpages or someone else can.

In saying that I can tell you what happened when I asked RootsWeb if they could correct information in several trees submitted by the same person. I had tried to contact the owner of the trees several times by email and no reply. The trees were quite old. RootsWeb said they would look into the matter. Presumably they tried to contact the owner and failed. They came back to me saying they had deleted the trees.

AS
Alan Scott
  website
Hi Danny, I understand what you are getting at and have thought about the same thing myself. Problem is, how do you know when a site is truly "dead". Some people have nothing new to add to their more ...
site. Others may wish to publish their tree, in a free site, for example, and have it remain after their death. I know of a few sites like that and don't really see a problem other than it would be nice to know if the tree owner has passed on. Some of the information from these sites could prove to be useful. How Tribalpages administered this would be a problem for them I would think. There are site owners I have tried to contact where there is incorrect data in the tree. No reply. Maybe the owner has passed on, leaving a tree with wrong data, rewriting history incorrectly. One part answer would be for Tribalpages to require annual re-registration of free sites but that in its self would not cover all the issues. I cannot offer a perfect answer. Perhaps Tribaplpages or someone else can. In saying that I can tell you what happened when I asked RootsWeb if they could correct information in several trees submitted by the same person. I had tried to contact the owner of the trees several times by email and no reply. The trees were quite old. RootsWeb said they would look into the matter. Presumably they tried to contact the owner and failed. They came back to me saying they had deleted the trees
Just to add to my previous message. I know that with RootsWeb it is possible to add a "Post-em" to a persons name to correct or add information. In my case I was trying to get the names of living people removed, including that of myself and my wife, (actually her correct name was not listed allowing my wife to claim jokingly that I had committed bigamy). A "Post-em" was not adequate for this.
FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
  website
Just to add to my previous message. I know that with RootsWeb it is possible to add a "Post-em" to a persons name to correct or add information. In my case I was trying to get the names of living more ...
people removed, including that of myself and my wife, (actually her correct name was not listed allowing my wife to claim jokingly that I had committed bigamy). A "Post-em" was not adequate for this
Hi Alan,

Thanks for the very informative rejoinder. Yes, I too have seen some sites with my name and family incorrectly posted, but since they can be accessed only with a password, it doesn't bother me that much.

Anyway, allow me to add another Excel file that shows a graph of the TP Hits on my site. Being more interested in the methodology rather than content, I made the graph out of curiosity to see if there was a pattern, such as will it eventually level off or keep rising at the same rate.

Anyway, since you obviously are familiar with many other genealogical sites and software, you might be able to answer my curiosity about Indexes. Using FTW on my laptop, I can generate a Family Tree very similar to the "Descendant Report" on TP. But I go some steps further and by using filtering techniques in MSword and Excel, I can generate a fairly comprehensive Index of names and reference numbers. Can this be generated automatically in other genealogical software? To see an example, kindly click on my site below, then choose any of the 40 Family Trees after hitting "Tanjay Site" on the "Useful Links" section.

Cheers,

Danny
Related Link:Click Here

FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
  website
Hi Alan, Thanks for the very informative rejoinder. Yes, I too have seen some sites with my name and family incorrectly posted, but since they can be accessed only with a password, it doesn't bother more ...
me that much. Anyway, allow me to add another Excel file that shows a graph of the TP Hits on my site. Being more interested in the methodology rather than content, I made the graph out of curiosity to see if there was a pattern, such as will it eventually level off or keep rising at the same rate. Anyway, since you obviously are familiar with many other genealogical sites and software, you might be able to answer my curiosity about Indexes. Using FTW on my laptop, I can generate a Family Tree very similar to the "Descendant Report" on TP. But I go some steps further and by using filtering techniques in MSword and Excel, I can generate a fairly comprehensive Index of names and reference numbers. Can this be generated automatically in other genealogical software? To see an example, kindly click on my site below, then choose any of the 40 Family Trees after hitting "Tanjay Site" on the "Useful Links" section. Cheers, Dann
Sorry, forgot to link up my site.

Danny
Related Link:Click Here

AS
Alan Scott
  website
Hi Alan, Thanks for the very informative rejoinder. Yes, I too have seen some sites with my name and family incorrectly posted, but since they can be accessed only with a password, it doesn't bother more ...
me that much. Anyway, allow me to add another Excel file that shows a graph of the TP Hits on my site. Being more interested in the methodology rather than content, I made the graph out of curiosity to see if there was a pattern, such as will it eventually level off or keep rising at the same rate. Anyway, since you obviously are familiar with many other genealogical sites and software, you might be able to answer my curiosity about Indexes. Using FTW on my laptop, I can generate a Family Tree very similar to the "Descendant Report" on TP. But I go some steps further and by using filtering techniques in MSword and Excel, I can generate a fairly comprehensive Index of names and reference numbers. Can this be generated automatically in other genealogical software? To see an example, kindly click on my site below, then choose any of the 40 Family Trees after hitting "Tanjay Site" on the "Useful Links" section. Cheers, Dann
Hi Danny,

I have not printed a Ahnentafel report for a long time. Just had a look at Tribalpages and as you have found, no index of names.

The other family history program I have in my computer is Roots Magic 6. Just looked up their Ahnentafel report and that has an index of names and also of places.

Last time I printed that particular report I have a feeling I used PAF Companion but not even sure if that is now available . I had it in association with the FamilySearch PAF program. which has been discontinued.

I would imagine that there are other programs that have an index with this report. Maybe someone else can help you with this.

L
Les
  website
Hi Danny, I have not printed a Ahnentafel report for a long time. Just had a look at Tribalpages and as you have found, no index of names. The other family history program I have in my computer is Roots more ...
Magic 6. Just looked up their Ahnentafel report and that has an index of names and also of places. Last time I printed that particular report I have a feeling I used PAF Companion but not even sure if that is now available . I had it in association with the FamilySearch PAF program. which has been discontinued. I would imagine that there are other programs that have an index with this report. Maybe someone else can help you with this
Hi Alan, not sure, but does not KIN do the same as Ahnentafel?.

All the best

Les

AS
Alan Scott
  website
Hi Alan, not sure, but does not KIN do the same as Ahnentafel?. All the best Les
Hi Les,

Not really. Have a read of Danny's messages and go to his site. The way I read Danny's message is that he is asking what family history programs provide the type of report he had done and that program also includes an index of names as part of the report.

Danny can correct me if I am wrong and he may want to comment further on the report. To me it appears as if Danny has shown great skill, more than I could do, and improved the report his own program prints so that it also shows an index of names.

Take it from there Danny.

FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
Hi Les, Not really. Have a read of Danny's messages and go to his site. The way I read Danny's message is that he is asking what family history programs provide the type of report he had done more ...
and that program also includes an index of names as part of the report. Danny can correct me if I am wrong and he may want to comment further on the report. To me it appears as if Danny has shown great skill, more than I could do, and improved the report his own program prints so that it also shows an index of names. Take it from there Danny
Hi Alan,

Thanks for the heads up. You are absolutely correct. I was just curious about other software, but I am perfectly satisfied doing the gyrations to produce Indexes from the Ahnentafel or KIN (whatever they are?) reports that my FTW software generates. Takes just a few minutes. The resulting report is most ideal for printing out for family gatherings.

Basically, by using Word and Excel in the text mode, I isolate the name and the reference number, then do an alphabetical sort. Briefly, in Word, substitute all " with the hash # and all commas and all spaces with a tab. After reopening in Excel, delete all cells that don't have the ref number and names. By shifting back and forth a few times, and doing more substitutions, one can rearrange the columns to have the reference number on the right, and the alphabetized surnames on the left, with a comma after the surname, and a dash before the ref number.

L
Les
  website
Hi Alan, Thanks for the heads up. You are absolutely correct. I was just curious about other software, but I am perfectly satisfied doing the gyrations to produce Indexes from the Ahnentafel or KIN more ...
(whatever they are?) reports that my FTW software generates. Takes just a few minutes. The resulting report is most ideal for printing out for family gatherings. Basically, by using Word and Excel in the text mode, I isolate the name and the reference number, then do an alphabetical sort. Briefly, in Word, substitute all " with the hash # and all commas and all spaces with a tab. After reopening in Excel, delete all cells that don't have the ref number and names. By shifting back and forth a few times, and doing more substitutions, one can rearrange the columns to have the reference number on the right, and the alphabetized surnames on the left, with a comma after the surname, and a dash before the ref number
Hi Danny, I have used GEDxlate for sometime to convert GEDCOMS into Excel or Word.

Have a look at the LINK and select. It isFREE but may save you a lot of work.

Hope that it helps.

Regards

Les

I like KIN on Tribal Pages, as obviously you have the Paternal and Maternal lines, but clicking on a Name brings up an informative box, with other Links
Related Link:Click Here

L
Les
  website
Hi Danny, I have used GEDxlate for sometime to convert GEDCOMS into Excel or Word. Have a look at the LINK and select. It isFREE but may save you a lot of work. Hope that it helps. Regards Les I like more ...
KIN on Tribal Pages, as obviously you have the Paternal and Maternal lines, but clicking on a Name brings up an informative box, with other Link

Related Link:Click Here
FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
Hi Danny, I have used GEDxlate for sometime to convert GEDCOMS into Excel or Word. Have a look at the LINK and select. It isFREE but may save you a lot of work. Hope that it helps. Regards Les I like more ...
KIN on Tribal Pages, as obviously you have the Paternal and Maternal lines, but clicking on a Name brings up an informative box, with other Link
Hi Les,

Thanks for your tip about using GEDxlate. I have been using that, too.

Thanks, too, for your mentioning KIN, as I now see what it's all about. I can't use it on my minimalist site because with 34,000 names and hundreds of family trees, it'll just get too complicated.

Cheers and belated birthday greetings,

Danny

MB
marie byatt
  website
Hi Danny, I have not printed a Ahnentafel report for a long time. Just had a look at Tribalpages and as you have found, no index of names. The other family history program I have in my computer is Roots more ...
Magic 6. Just looked up their Ahnentafel report and that has an index of names and also of places. Last time I printed that particular report I have a feeling I used PAF Companion but not even sure if that is now available . I had it in association with the FamilySearch PAF program. which has been discontinued. I would imagine that there are other programs that have an index with this report. Maybe someone else can help you with this
Roots Magic definately does an index on any narrative report - and will even produce an index on a full book if you set one up.

I believe Legacy does too - in fact I'm very surprised that FTM doesn't

AS
Alan Scott
  website
Roots Magic definately does an index on any narrative report - and will even produce an index on a full book if you set one up. I believe Legacy does too - in fact I'm very surprised that FTM doesn't
Hi Marie

Thanks. I have had Roots Magic for some time but have not printed reports as yet. When I looked, in order to respond to Danny's message, I noted that it indexed places as well as persons names.

I have found Roots Magic to be very useful for searching purposes with it working in conjunction with FamilySearch.

I may have a look at printing a book one day. I probably should do that.

Regards,

Alan

FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
Hi Marie Thanks. I have had Roots Magic for some time but have not printed reports as yet. When I looked, in order to respond to Danny's message, I noted that it indexed places as well as persons more ...
names. I have found Roots Magic to be very useful for searching purposes with it working in conjunction with FamilySearch. I may have a look at printing a book one day. I probably should do that. Regards, Ala
Hi Marie,

Thanks for the info. I will indeed try out Roots Magic.

Regarding Alan's considered venture into printing a book, let me add some notes.

Hi Alan, I believe it is simple enough. That Ahnentafel report (whatever software generates it) can be exported as an RTF file, then converted to Word or any word processor file. At least that's what I have been doing to those 40 family trees I maintain using FTM. Then it can be converted to a single print-ready PDF file. See one such sample in link below.

Coincidentally, this Ferrer Family had a grand reunion last month, and being one of the clan, I was deputized by the organizers to make "a book". I got the file, added their Intros and Messages and color pictures and some more Excel bio-data-sheets of newer members, and stitched them all together in a single print-ready PDF file, which I posted on the Clan's YahooGroup Listing, telling each member that they could print out hard copies themselves.

Coincidentally again, one of my friend-publishers who is a subcontractor to Amazon Books saw it and after a little editing, he had it published as a POD (Print-On-Demand) item at no cost to us. Anybody with a credit card can now order the book on line. Saves my kin the hassle of printing and binding a hard copy.
Related Link:Click Here

MB
marie byatt
  website
Hi Marie, Thanks for the info. I will indeed try out Roots Magic. Regarding Alan's considered venture into printing a book, let me add some notes. Hi Alan, I believe it is simple enough. That more ...
Ahnentafel report (whatever software generates it) can be exported as an RTF file, then converted to Word or any word processor file. At least that's what I have been doing to those 40 family trees I maintain using FTM. Then it can be converted to a single print-ready PDF file. See one such sample in link below. Coincidentally, this Ferrer Family had a grand reunion last month, and being one of the clan, I was deputized by the organizers to make "a book". I got the file, added their Intros and Messages and color pictures and some more Excel bio-data-sheets of newer members, and stitched them all together in a single print-ready PDF file, which I posted on the Clan's YahooGroup Listing, telling each member that they could print out hard copies themselves. Coincidentally again, one of my friend-publishers who is a subcontractor to Amazon Books saw it and after a little editing, he had it published as a POD (Print-On-Demand) item at no cost to us. Anybody with a credit card can now order the book on line. Saves my kin the hassle of printing and binding a hard copy
Actually Roots Magic does all the conversion parts for you in their publishing option.

You pick the people and the type of report you want put it in the order you want for the book and it puts in the page counts, Indexes, etc.Really easy

I did one on my mother's paternal and maternal lines for her for her 90th birthday - Title page, Table of Contents, Modified register from earliest paternal ancestor, Family group sheet for grandparents and Ggrandparents, some text to fill in more details and then the same for her maternal side.

Then Rootsmagic created a full name index for the book, a source index and a bibliography and numbered the pages. And produced the PDF to take to the printer or ebook publisher

FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
Actually Roots Magic does all the conversion parts for you in their publishing option. You pick the people and the type of report you want put it in the order you want for the book and it puts in the more ...
page counts, Indexes, etc.Really easy I did one on my mother's paternal and maternal lines for her for her 90th birthday - Title page, Table of Contents, Modified register from earliest paternal ancestor, Family group sheet for grandparents and Ggrandparents, some text to fill in more details and then the same for her maternal side. Then Rootsmagic created a full name index for the book, a source index and a bibliography and numbered the pages. And produced the PDF to take to the printer or ebook publishe
Hi Marie,

Thanks a lot. I suppose all that jazz is on Root Magic's paid site? Is there a freebie version I can start playing around with?

Oh well, let to check it out myself.

Cheers,

Danny

MB
marie byatt
  website
Hi Marie, Thanks a lot. I suppose all that jazz is on Root Magic's paid site? Is there a freebie version I can start playing around with? Oh well, let to check it out myself. Cheers, Danny
Yes there is a free version
FG
Fernando `Danny` Gil
Yes there is a free version
I did download the software, bought the full version, and it is great. Have to explore it more now. Thanks.