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How to Use a Website to Tell Your Genealogy Story
- 1. How Can a Website Help Tell Your Genealogy Story? Speaker: Chrissie Pollock
- 6. How can a website and/or blog help you tell your genealogy story?
- 18. Search and menu
- 39. What Happens to My Genealogy Story Next?
Editor's Notes
- Who I am - Democratizing the web Why I’m qualified to talk Creative sites I get to see Overwhelming. Support pages My name is Chrissie, and I work as a Happiness Engineer for Automattic -- the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce, etc. Being a Happiness Engineer means I work in support, and I hear people ask about blogs and websites all the time. As a job perk, I get to see all the amazing, creative sites people construct. I’m curious, what were you hoping to get out of today’s session?
- * Aunt Anne’s letters to emails to website. Daily life. Blog vs website Chronological or not Blog def. - recipes and travels Often in support I get asked the difference between a blog and a site. It’s a great question. A blog contains information called posts, set by default to show in reverse chronological order and update as a new post is published. Many think blogs are for sharing recipes or travels. And that's true. They can be, but they can also be many other things.
- Pages - businesses Blog, website, both A website gets your content out there. If you can dream it there’s a good chance you can do it. Changes the definition of genealogy. Some think it’s a family tree, but it can be so much moor. A website can be used for deeper connecting and to put stories in context. YOUR content. does not belong to others. A site can also have pages, which are similar to posts, but they don’t show in reverse chronological order. They stand alone and only change when someone goes in to edit and make the change. As for websites, many think those are only for businesses. But those can be different as well. A website is a site with a static front page. The information only changes when you edit it. Some people think you can only have a blog or a website, but in reality, you can have a site with both. Or one or the other.
- Use sites to tell stories and connect Spark imagination on ides for site Overview on what could be done. How is done by Dennis and at our booth in the Expo Hall. In our talk today I am highlighting examples of different ways people tell their stories and keep connected to family using websites and blogs. My goal is to spark your imagination as you mix and match ideas, and perhaps come up with ideas of your own to create your own site. This is more of an overview of what can be done. My colleague, Dennis, will do a talk later this week on HOW to create the site. Before I really get going, I want to point out a few things.
- * Privacy - come talk to us * We will have time for questions at the end of this talk. So now, let’s start our journey.
- How can a website and/or blog help you tell your genealogy story? If writing a book, what would you want to pass on? (get answers) Keep those thoughts in mind or jot them down. With websites, if you can dream it, you can almost always make it happen. * Aunt Jan digging through archives. When I was a child, I remember learning that my Aunt Jan was delving into our family history. This was at a time where people didn’t have ready access to computers so she was doing all her research by scrolling through hard-copy records. It was an amazing gift for our family.
- List of names. 25 pages Copy Centers Emails Now a download That is something that can be shared. After many trips to a copying center where I copied stacks of documents and mailed them to family members, I can really appreciate the thought they they can go to a site and download a copy easily.
- File block To do this, I added a file block in my editor
- * Published. Now family can keep downloading. Which now looks like this Now my family can have easy access to those records. Good Start.
- Family Crest Part of Puzzle - common family goal - Yield not to adversity Something that really stood out to me when I was a child was the visual of our family coat of arms. How I loved seeing this. It made me feel like I really was a piece in a big puzzle -- a part of something awesome. Not only did I have a family, but we had a common goal. Yield not to adversity.
- Want to know more. Contact form Add to genealogical story Create post with results. Bonus of having the image show up on Google image searches Last year ROOTS woman suggested using form for missing family event info I want to share that on my site so all our family members can see it. But I also want to know more about it so I’m going to ask family members for input then share responses in a future post This adds more to my genealogical story. I made that with a Contact Form. Last year while I was here at ROOTS I was talking with a person about the Contact Form, which I used to create that response form. The person came up with the idea for using it for photos from family events she could not label. Brilliant.
- Special Memories Post with comment Section also an option. A comment section can be used for that as well. Create a post with an image of a special event (maybe last year’s reunion?) and ask people to share their favorite memories from the event.
- Decades and tech. Phone and letters Reconnect and try to remember common interests. Decades went by and technology changed. As did family reunions. Perhaps you can relate. Years ago it was all about playing with cousins seen once or twice a year. Relatives sometimes kept in touch by phone or an occasional letter, but communication wasn’t constant. Reunion time was spent re-creating the family connections and re-discovering common interests.
- Social Media Not re-meeting/reconnecting but actually bonding More time to talk about family stories and ways to contribute to family history Family tree becomes more real But then social media happened. Suddenly reunions weren’t about re-meeting but became more focused on bonding. This opened opportunities for stories about family history. Very cool stuff. Suddenly, the names on that original family tree became real.
- ROOTS last year - scheduling posts for birthdays and other special occasions Draft before publish Family connections Another person from last year told me they were taking advantage of the option to schedule posts so they could write a post for each family member they were close to. The posts would come out on the family member’s birthday. What a gift to that person, and to the rest of the family as well, as they get to know a relative better.
- Use website to share info/commonalities Builds over time with contributions Edit as one goes along No need to reprint at a publisher. Family bond stronger and think of things you can share This can happen with a website, too. As family members talk, share treasures and reminisce, the bond grows stronger. And imagine how this can build over time! Unlike a book, a website can continue expanding, and facts can be edited and added on to as time progresses without having to go back to a printer. Think of the things you might share:
- Poetry a relative wrote nearly a century ago? A letter from a foxhole during WWII? All treasures the family can now have at their fingertips.
- With the search tool on a website, the treasures are easily found. (screencast)
- Organization on site - Searches and menus are very handy tools for telling a genealogy story in an organized fashion. Family branches highlighted by color. Different sites for Mom and Dad connected in many with custom link You might notice in that screencast that branches of the family were highlighted by color. With WordPress.com, people can have more than one site on an account. Some families might choose to have a site for a father’s line and another for a mother’s line (or other family members). These sites can be interlinked from the menu as well. Searches and menus are very handy tools for telling a genealogy story in an organized fashion.
- Importance of aesthetics Category pages in menu Sub menu items - family branches and fun family info As with a book, aesthetics are important and you don’t want to overwhelm people who come to the site to learn about family treasures. You can use sub-menu items to highlight branches of a family as well as other fun family items for sharing.
- Uncle Charlie’s famous egg nog? Great memories.
- Grandma Emma’s pancakes? Always a favorites asked for on birthdays.
- Dad’s chicken recipe?
- (screencast) All now written and easily accessibly for family sharing. Good if you travel, too
- Other ways for family members to share genealogical story Aside from recorded posts and pages, there are also other ways families can share experiences on a website. Bookclub planning on website One family I know has a book club. This can be organized through a website , and you can add a calendar showing the date of a meeting. There is even a countdown widget you can add to a site to note the event. (This is also handy for family reunions).
- Arrange time and meet using a widget - what a widget is Location not an issue tlk.io When the time comes, there can be a group chat about the book. Even if a family is spread out across the country, it’s still entirely feasible to start a chat using a widget to discuss a book or talk about other topics, without ever having to leave the website. Forum - tlk.io
- Write post and link to book Importance of links Enhance a genealogical story - birth records, newspaper articles, public records, websites of family members Research citations and footnotes - original sources Someone can take notes and write a summary post for the family who couldn’t join to see. In that summary, there can even be a link to the book discussed. Links Links are one of the greatest features of a website and can be used to really enhance a genealogical story. They can be used to add details to a family story. Birth records, descriptions of hometowns, public records of events a family member was written up in. If other family members have websites highlighting their own lives or their businesses, links to those sites fill in the gaps in the family story. When content on a page comes from research, links are great for citations and footnotes. A simple click will lead people to original resources.
- Not always a link Related Posts Pockets - Mor Mor Sometimes there is nothing to link to. That’s okay. There is a tool built in to WordPress.com that you can turn on. It’s called related posts. These lead people to other posts you have written that connect to similar topics. For example, in a post I wrote recently, I mentioned Mor Mor sewing pockets for my cousin, and the related post at the base of my current post was my article about Mor Mor from when she died.
- Screenshots Christmas decades ago - https://www.weather.org/weather-history/ Another handy way to help people experience the story you are sharing is to use images and documents to make stories real by grabbing screenshots of information you don’t want to link to that might add to a story. For example, if you wanted to write a story about a family trip on Christmas day from decades ago, you can go to a site such as https://www.weather.org/weather-history/
- Screenshot to add to post or page Readers connect without having to leave the page. Embed maps another option. Grandfather nice story - better with link to hometown And take a screenshot of the weather from that day - (Weather in SLC) That way your readers will have more of a connection to the story but don’t actually have to break away from your page by following a link. You can also embed maps. If I read a story about my grandfather from Hungary, I would think it was interesting. But if I followed a link to a page that told me about the history of the area and the cultural treasures of the area.
- Embedded map even better Relationship to self Use the writing to create more connection and context. Get the sow story out. Living scrapbooks Then looked at a map to see where Budapest was located in relationship to where I live, then I will feel more connected.
- Current family connections - coffee in travels Privacy Map with locations - tour through family history That’s great for stories from the past. It’s also handy to have maps that show current family connections. Adding a map to a site shows other family members where you live. If you are traveling to an area, check the map to see if anyone is close. It’s great for a coffee and catch-up. Of course, this would all be voluntary so only people who want their locations showing would have it there. In addition to adding maps to specific stories, you can put maps on separate pages showing where family members came from in case anyone wants to take a tour through their family history.
- Roberta Estes traveled grandfather’s path Grandfather’s voice That’s what Roberta Estes did. She has a blog on https://dna-explained.com and one of my favorite posts on her site is https://dna-explained.com/2018/10/07/jacob-lentz-speaks-rescue-from-the-death-ship-52-ancestors-211/. She wrote a story in the voice of her grandfather, and actually travelled to the places his story took place in.
- Voices - audio embeds and Video embeds Mor Mor interview on cassette Dad Pollock sermons - children and grandchildren hear Speaking of voices, do you have audio recordings of family history? Or videos? Back in the early 1990’s I interviewed my grandmother, asking her story of the past. It was a Christmas gift for my extended family. Now I can take the cassette and convert it to an mp3 and add it to the website so we can hear her voice regale our family history. We have videos of my father-in-law preaching from years before he died. Now we can embed them into a website so our children and grandchildren can seem him and listen to him.
- Create a hard copy book People buy the book. Family reunion t-shirts. People wear and find more family connections. No checks in mail and figuring out sizes. If there are particular stories one might want to share, it’s also possible to turn a site into a hard-copy book for others. Perhaps you want to share your book with others and need them to help cover costs. Or order shirts for a family reunion. Gone are the days where you have to call relatives and wait for checks to come in the mail as you meticulously keep a list of who gets what. You can now take payments and orders right through your website.
- PayPal Call to Action This is how you can set up payments on a free site with PayPal. You can use a Call to Action Button to add this option, linking to PayPal. Or if you have an upgrade, you can use Simple Payments.
- Upgrade has Simple Payments Business Plan has store - drop ship
- * Swag poll Not only that, but if you wanted to create some special swag for reunions you can find the most popular items or designs by setting up a poll on your website.
- So many ways to share genealogy story. Not around to maintain site So many things you can do to share your story! On a serious note, one question I get asked a lot is this: What happens to my site when I’m no longer around or are too busy to maintain the site?
- Active until cancelled on WordPress.com User Roles - trusted admin On WordPress.com, your site will remain an active site until it’s cancelled. It’s recommended that one uses the User Role options to add a trusted few people as Administrators. They can then keep the site going if the site creator is no longer able to work on the site.
- You are not alone Remember you are not alone Followers can still comment and take part in polls. Contributors can submit research and stories for others to approve Authors can submit stories and research and edit their own work. Editors can provide content review Admins can do anything Steps to share genealogy story across platforms You probably know this even more than I. You are not alone. Your genealogy story has so many facets. With our user roles, others can contribute to the family story, and you can still have the final say regarding what is actually published. A site can have admins, editors, authors, contributors, and of course, followers. Each who can contribute in their own way. Admins can do anything. Editors can provide content review, Authors can submit stories and research and edit their own work. Contributors can submit research and stories for others to approve, and followers can still comment and take part in polls. There are many other things you can do to tell your genealogy story. And sharing the work to get your genealogy story told can stretch across platforms.
- Publicize Sharing With Publicize and Sharing tools, you can share your work to a Facebook page, Twitter feed and other social media platforms.
- Email following Follow Blog Widget Newsletters - Mailchimp Podcast Plugins - Family Trees and to integrate with genealogy software Focus here was on free If you have relatives who aren’t comfortable with browsers, they can follow the site by email so they are updated whenever you create a new post. You can also create a newsletter for the family. Or highlight a podcast. With upgrades, you can use plugins to embed and expand family trees or share information from some genealogy software you use. In this session I wanted to highlight could be done for free.