Should genealogy rely on GPS data?  When I recently heard the query, it gave me pause especially since people seemed pretty agitated over the point. I have to admit, it does seem that the value of GPS data is a point worth pondering, at least for a little while. It is probably worth noting that commercial GPS is really only about 10 years old and is primarily a US national system for establishing global location. To quote the ever popular Wikipedia: GPS is owned and operated by the U.S. Government as a national resource. Also, there are at least two competing and one non-competing GPS system online or soon to…

Technology can and should be an crucial adjunct to your genealogical efforts.  As a matter of fact, I contend that no effort is complete, nor can your genealogy efforts be fully effective, without effective technological support.  The support can be as simple as using a word processor or as complex as writing large databases to manage and maintain your data, documents and images. As I am sure you are aware, today’s technology options are both extensive and cost effective.  They can even be free.  As a web developer and genealogist, I, personally, rely almost exclusively on OpenSource technologies.  To give you a rough example of my software costs, I will…

Grab the data while you can.  I guess that is what every online genealogist needs to have as their motto these days. Today I uploaded a very useful (helpful) WordPress plugin called: Broken Link Checker– It checks your blog for broken links and missing images and notifies you on the dashboard if any are found. Well much to my dismay and surprise when I installed and ran the plugin, it found nearly 175 out of 1055 links ManyRoads to be broken or redirected.  That seemed like a lot to me.  I had been running several ‘free’ services to check my site for broken links and every week; they were reporting…

Many search but few find… I think that old quote pretty much sums up what happens when searching for the right genealogical toolset. Too often, people believe that their hardware or operating platform defines their selection choices.  In truth, it rarely does.  Almost any tool can be run on any platform.  Certainly a bit of technical prowess may be required in order to achieve interoperability but it is very doable. No, the reasons for picking a genealogical toolset should be based on your genealogy management needs not operating or hardware systems. What follows, in no particular order, are most of the factors that I personally see as being important (and…

With the latest release of GRAMPS (version 3.2.2) I have been able to more tightly integrate the WebSite output of GRAMPS with the ManyRoads site.  With this most recent release I have the flexibility of generating html pages- YAY!  I am now able to provide the following functions quite easily: I can add an image -or multiples if I wish- to a GRAMPS generated webpage Now I am able to effectively link from my GRAMPS (subsystem?) back to my main site; link to pages like my Conatct page or a family branch page. Similarly I am able to links from my GRAMPS subsystem to the world-wide web. All in all…

Share your information! It’s a really good idea. Almost certainly someone out there is looking for a family member or two of yours. The corollary is: you know how hard it has been for you to find reliable information, why not make it easier for everyone by generously making your work shareable. Of course, you want to protect your living relatives.  You also want to be acknowledged for your efforts.  Each of these objectives are easily achieved. Gendex files ‘automagically’ protect your living relatives data. Creative Commons offers license schemes, at no cost, to protect your intellectual property. I make my publicly viewable data available on FamilySeekeer and GenealogyToday.  I…