Category: Site

CategoriesSiteTechnologyTips & Tricks

Installing Your Own Family Tree

Posted on 23 January 2009by Brian Zalewski

My Tree

You’ve been doing all of this work on your family tree in your software of choice like Rootsmagic or Family Tree Maker. You’re in contact with some people via the Internet about different people and generations in your tree. You find it annoying that you need to type the information into emails and message posts all the time. Plus, when you update the info, the posting is still old. What do you do?

Setting up your family tree onto your own hosted website isn’t very difficult today. There are tons of hosts out there now that are extremely cheap compared to few years ago. For example, my host, Dreamhost, gives you more space and bandwidth than you’d ever need for like $9.95 a month (depending on how much you pay at a time.)

There are a few options out there to host your own family tree website. I’m currently using The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding for my family tree hosting. I had used a free, open-source program before, but it had some issues with my current host so I looked for something else. TNGGS has worked wonderfully for me and it’s very powerful and customizable.

Most Linux-based hosts have all of the items you need to run TNGGS. MySQL and PHP are almost standards in web hosting. A Windows-based host may have these capabilities, also, but your mileage may vary.

The only caveat to using TNGGS is that it’s not free, but I wouldn’t hold that against it. The developer, Darrin Lythgoe, has put a lot of work into it and has answered any questions that I’ve sent to him. I’ve also received free updates since I purchased my original copy.

There are other options such as Ancestry’s online tree and dynastree.com, etc but you don’t have a ton of control over these. The pro for them is that you can search and connect to other people’s trees, which I do also. For example, at Ancestry I wanted to update my online tree with some new information I had. Unfortunately, if I would do this than I would lose all of the items (census, records, etc) I have connected to my family tree.

Now when you need to put some information into an email or a message posting, you can just paste in a URL. The person on the other end can just visit your online tree and see the latest info. Or, if you enable the option, they can log in to your site and add their own info or edits.

Feel free to email me about my experience with TNGGS or stop over at the official site and take a look. I definitely recommend it. I can also help you set it up or answer any questions about hosting, etc. I have a bit of experience.

*This is just a personal opinion. TNGGS has in no way, shape, or form paid for my review.

CategoriesSiteZalewski

Zalewski Update

Posted on 20 February 2008by Brian Zalewski

Sorry for the low post count. Haven’t had a lot of time lately for Genealogy research. Should be back soon enough. For now, I wanted to make sure all new visitors see the Zalewski-related projects I’m working on in case they want to help out. Info linked below.

  • Working to compile the largest database of Zalewski family trees this side of Poland. – Zalewski Family Tree Project
  • Want to find out as much information as you can about the Zalewski surname and where it comes from? Is your Zalewski ancestor related to one of the many Zalewski families being researched by others? Zalewski DNA Project

Feel free to contact me about anything and everything, either in the comments or using my contact form. I’ll respond to everyone. Thanks.

CategoriesPersonalSite

Updates

Posted on 26 June 2007by Brian Zalewski

Well, my Grandpa is doing much better now. My wife and I visited him in the hospital on Saturday and he was his old joking self. Hopefully, he’ll be coming home shortly.

I’ve been out of the “genealogy circuit” here for the last few weeks, so that’s why I’ve been slow on the posts. I’m working on getting more information that will allow me to post more often, even when I’m not actively researching since I don’t always have time to do family research.

For all of you genealogy bloggers out there, where do you find the inspiration and information to be able to post quite often even when not actively researching? I’d like some tips to help me get the ball rolling.

CategoriesFamily TreeSite

Here’s Johnny!

Posted on 13 March 2007by Brian Zalewski

I’m back again or am planning on it at least. I know, I know, you’ve heard that before. Though, I have a lot more free time lately and I’ve already been doing some more research.

I actually found some more leads and doing some more research using my Ancestry.com subscription. I have to admit that their new “My Ancestry” section is wonderful. After I uploaded my tree to it, it automatically helps in searching and attaching sources to my family members. You can also use it to connect to user’s trees together, etc. It’s like Family Tree Maker’s online search function, but a lot better.

I’ve been doing some more research on my wife’s tree. This section of family seems to come from the New York/Connecticut area (if I connected it right.) Does anyone have any good sources to use for research in those areas in the early 1800s and late 1700s?

CategoriesSite

Family Tree Back Up

Posted on 24 February 2006by Brian Zalewski

The family tree area of the site may temporarily be down this afternoon while I install a more robust system (from what I hear.) Stay tuned.

The family tree is back up. I installed some new software called The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding. It’s a bit of a long name, but it works nicely. I’ve always used phpGEDView, which worked fine most of the time, but it seemed to choke on large databases. I don’t mind shelling out a few bucks for something that works and is designed well. I’ll run with it for awhile and see how it pans out. Take a look, it’s pretty neat. It’ll be a lot neater once I get more info into it.

CategoriesPersonalSite

Wiki?

Posted on 23 February 2006by Brian Zalewski

I setup a wiki-based area of my genealogy site that I can use to store all of the miscellaneous information from my tree. Tidbits, letters, information, etc. The first thing I posted is a letter that my great-great uncle, Edwin Corrigan, had wrote to some other family members. Sadly, Edwin died just last June at the age of 95. The letter includes a lot of insight into life in the early 1900s in northern Wisconsin. It’s a very interesting read for anyone who enjoys history. Here is a small excerpt, but you can read the whole thing on the wiki if you’d like, but it is pretty long. Plan on more than few minutes.

To begin with, the were two Corrigan families ““ the first four children were born in Orillia (Mara county, Ontario.) Pa’s first wife, Ellen Ferguson, was buried in Washburn, WI across the bay from Ashland. Don’t know just when they came to the area ““ nor how long they lived in Washburn. The youngest child, Thomas Francis, was born in Washburn, Sept. 15, 1886. Shortly after that they must have moved to Sanborn, where Pa built a saloon and boarding house (the building is still there, but has had an addition put on it.) Three of our family members were born while the folks lived in Sanborn, the rest born (at the Summit) in Ashland. Due to an early stroke, Pa had to get out of the business. He did some kind of a trade with property and got property on the outskirts of Ashland, which included a small five room house and building which house a saloon, dance hall and gambling rooms. Remember these were in the early logging days when Ashland housed many saloons, houses of ill-repute, etc. They lived a short time in the large building and then had the small house moved closer to the road ““ eventually he sold the building (the hall, etc) to the Town of Sanborn to be used as the Town Hall.

Read the whole thing – Edwin Corrigan Letter

CategoriesSite

Welcome

Posted on 14 February 2006by Brian Zalewski

I’ve moved my “weblog” posts into this area because this allows me more control over everything. Watch this site for the latest info on my major surnames, genealogy news, genetic genealogy, and all kinds of other genealogy-related stuff. I promise to keep it updated and fresh. Feel free to comment.

I’ll be moving all of my surname info and other items over here in the next few days.