Creating a Family Web Site Can Be Fun & Easy… 2nd Edition (Revised) by Marion Press, MLS, MA; 2007; softbound; 5.5x8.5; 138 pp; ISBN: 1-894018-39-7; Item #HPBook13.

This book will provide you with all the skills necessary to build genealogical web pages.

From the basics of HTML, the language of the web, to details of making pages appealing and easy to navigate, this book covers how to get your family website out of your head (and your file drawers) and online!

Table of Contents

• Reasons to Choose the Web
• Internet & Genealogy Timeline
• What You Will Need to Build Web Pages on the Internet
• A Computer & an Internet Connection
• An Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Text Editing Software
• Family Tree Software
• File Transfer Software
• Web Space
• How the Internet & the World Wide Web Works
• Components of a URL
• The Language of the Web: Hypertext Markup Language
• The Basics of HTML
• Essential Tags on a Web Page
• Figure 1: At this Stage this is all that would be in the body of the web page
• HTML Tabs for Presentation
• HTML Tags for Dividing or Placing Elements on a Page
• Figure 2: A Simple Web Page is now Beginning to Emerge
• Lists of Items
• Figure 3: Lists are Useful for Outlining Family Information in Different Ways
• Links to Other Pages or Resources
• Hyperlinking to an Email Address
• Special Characters in HTML
• Backgrounds & Colors
• Planning Your Web Site
• What Kind of Content is Useful on a Genealogical Web Site?
• Storyboarding Your Web Site
• Figure 4: A simple Linear Path Web Site would follow this Pattern
• Figure 5: A Site with a Central Page & Links Radiating Out to a Number of Separate Pages
• Figure 6: A Hierarchical Web Site would follow this Pattern
• National Genealogical Society Genealogical Standards
• Standards for Sharing Information with Others Guidelines for Publishing Web Pages on the Internet
• Producing HTML
• Building A Page “By Hand”
• Word Processing Software
• HTML Editors
• More Advanced Web Authoring Tools
• Principles of Good Web Design
• A Consistent Look
• Navigation
• How Long Should Your Web Pages Be?
• Design Your Pages for Usability
• Design Your Pages for Search Engines
• The Title of your Web Page
• The First Sentences of a Page
• The Entire Page
• Meta Tags
• Some Combinations of the Above
• Writing for the Web
• Images in a Web Document
• Graphic File Formats
• Producing Your Own Images
• Using Images Others Have Created
• Controlling the Placement of Text & Images
• Tables
• Figure 7: The Coding Displays in this Way
• Figure 8: At the Top of the Page is the Default Placement of Text; Below is the Text Confined Within a Table with One Cell 550 Pixels Wide
• Figure 9: The Toronto Branch, OGS Web Site uses Tables for the Layout of the Page
• Nonbreaking Spaces
• Frames
• More Advanced Web Pages Construction
• Cascading Style Sheets
• Dynamic Web Pages
• Forms
• JavaScript
• Java
• Putting Genealogical Data on the Web
• HTML Output from Your Family Tree Program
• GEDCOM to HTML Converters
• Figure 10: An Index Page generated by GED2HTML
• Figure 11: A Family Group Sheet generated by GEDPAGE
• The WorldConnect Project
• Exporting in Other Formats from Your Family Tree Program
• Coding Your Own Family Tree Data
• Figure 12: A Pedigree Chart using Elaine Johnson’s HTML code
• Additional Options for Your Web Site
• Web Page Counters
• Guestbooks
• Mailing Lists
• Web Page Tracking Service
• A Search Engine
• Getting Your Site Ready for the Web
• Uploading Your Site
• Getting Yourself Noticed on the Web
• Maintaining & Updating Your Web Site
• A Step-by Step Guide for Building a Web Site: Using Rootsweb & the WorldConnect Project
• Plan your Site
• Set up your Web Server Space
• Gather Together all the Information
• Begin the HTML Coding of your Pages
• Check Your Web Pages
• Uploading Your Files
• Test Your Site Immediately
• Sending your GEDCOM files to the WorldConnect Project
• Advertise Your Site
• Selected Books & Web Sites
• Learning About the Internet
• Finding Software
• General Resources for Web Page Developers
• Learning HTML
• Tools for Creating HTML
• Tools for Validating & Checking HTML
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Image & Color for Genealogy Web Pages
• Build Your Own Graphics
• GEDCOM
• GEDCOM to HTML Convertors
• GEDCOM Privacy Tools
• Family Tree Programs
• Family Tree Tools
• Web Design
• Additions to Your Web Site
• Advertising Your Web Site
• Glossary