Powell Roots & Branches Family History & Genealogy Help
How To Plant Your Family Tree On The Web

Presented by The Three Sisters

Three Sisters recommends Rootsweb World Connect as the very best option for your genealogy webpage. If you have your family data in a genealogy program that will export your data in gedcom format, all you that is required is a few button clicks to upload your file. Rootsweb will, in a matter of minutes, create your searchable database online. Rootsweb provides Help Resource Files for those needing greater assistance and instruction on uploading gedcom files to World Connect. Please view the Three Sisters World Connect Database for an example of one of our many (5 and still counting) World Connect projects. Still, if you must 'do it yourself', we have helpful suggestions and links to other help sites.

Our second recommendation is to let my-ged.com do the work for you. All you do is attach your genealogy gedcom file to an e-mail message and the rest is taken care by my-ged.com. You can specify a simple cover page with links to other sites you may have. Your gedcom is converted to nicely formatted html files with your e-mail link on every page. Your pages are indexed on Gene Starks Gendex. Your files will be posted within a few hours after your first message. To update your pages, you just shoot off a revised gedcom and your new pages are posted within a couple of hours. This is the simplest, easiest, and cleanest way I have found to keep an updated version of my genealogy database out there online [with the exception of Rootsweb World Connect]. You can view The Three Sisters my-ged files. The steps that follow will assist you if you would rather do the work yourself.

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Step-By-Step Guide

  1. Learn HTML:
     You will need a working knowledge of HTML, the web publishing language, to build your web pages. Basic HTML is not difficult to learn and the web is packed with help on the subject. It is wise to try a few practice pages with the help of some of the HTML assistant programs before attempting to build your actual web page. HTML Helplinks:

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  2. Build your Tree:
    • To Build a Searchable Database for the Web You Need:
      • A Genealogy Database program capable of exporting a GEDCOM file. Several programs of this type are available for downloading from the web: Cyndi's Index of Genealogy Software, and About.com provides a list of links to genealogy programs, along with Genealogy Program Reviews or try Personal Ancestral File , the database program that started the Gedcom standard from LDS. It is free for the download, and a very adaquate program for a beginner. After obtaining a Genealogy Database program you will need to enter your family history data in the program and export a GEDCOM file to use to build your web database. Each genealogy program contains instructions on how to export a GEDCOM file.
      • If you have a Genealogy Database capable of exporting a GEDCOM file and have your genealogy data entered into this program, export a GEDCOM file and use one of the GEDCOM to HTML converter programs to automatically build your web page database. Your genealogy program will have instructions on how to export a GEDCOM file.
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  3. To Convert Your GEDCOM file To a Web Page Database you need a translator program:
    • WebGed Is the program I used to create my family tree database on this site. It is free, but you will need to pay a $20 registartion fee if you want your Web Ged Program to build you a GENDEX.txt file for the purpose of indexing your web files, which I do reccommend. It is well worth $20. If you are very new to HTML (the language spoken by all Web Pages) keep in mind that I modified my Web Ged files to my own needs, however I believe even a beginner could build an impressive Family Tree Database web site with this very useful and easy to use program. In addition, it produces fewer, more compact files than some of the other Gedcom Web converter programs.
    • Personal Ancestral File a FREE genealogy program from LDS, will automatically build a linked webpages from your gedcom file.
    • GED2HTML: This is the program I used to build my first family tree database. It was developed by Eugene W. Stark and contains detailed instructions on how to convert your GEDCOM file to HTML files you can upload to your web page. It builds web page files automatically from your GEDCOM file with very little input from you. It is best to experiment with the output of GED2HTML on your local hard drive to get a database that suits you. The resulting files can be very large. To limit their size, export a new GEDCOM containing fewer names and run GED2HTML again. Try the files out with your web browser to ensure they are workable before attempting to place them on a web server.
    • GED2WWW is a GEDCOM to HTML program written by Leslie Howard. Information on Using this program is readily available. I have not tried GED2WWW myself, but I have seen some very good genealogy pages that were built with this program.
    • Other Simular Programs: Information on another method of indexing GEDCOM files for web pages is available at Roots Web. Or try Cyndi's Index of Genealogy Software for additional options.
    • Cyndi's Genealogy Construction Kit lists many other links with help on GEDCOM file conversion.

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  4. Find a Home for Your Tree:

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  5. Web Page Tips
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  6. Advertise & Share
    Links to Sites that will Register your Database Site or Surnames so others can find you:

    Links to Sites that will accept your GEDCOM file via e-mail and make it accessable to others:

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  7. Links to Search Sites for Genealogy Databases on the Web:
    Find a researcher working on your Surname.
  8. If you are searching for Powell Relatives Try
  9. Links to Query Sites

    Links to Sites with Comprehensive General Genealogy Content - Starting Points:
    • UsGenWeb, Or for faster loading try Cyndi's GenWeb List. GenWeb is a great research starting point. Absolutely every link I have listed here can be found by following links from this page. Choose States, Your State, Your County. The Best!
    • ROOTS-L ROOTS-L Resources: - United States Resources
      For each state, where are the Family History Centers located? What books are there in the Library of Congress? How does one obtain vital records? Pointers to other interesting files and sites are also often included.
    • Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites If you have ever thought of indexing genealogy sites on the web, it's been done.
    • Index of Genealogical Pages Genealogy WWW pages, good list of general interest links
    • The National Genealogical Society (NGS) Good for general help and beginners, comprehensive links list.
    • How to for Beginners Links to several sites for beginners
    • The Genealogy Gateway To The Web Well Over 12,000 Genealogy & History Resource Listings.

    Other Ways to Search:
    • Simplify Search type your Surname and Genealogy in the search box. It is simpily elegant, and elegantly simple.
    • Google.com is a good multipurpose search engine.
    • A Simple Starter Page Excellent links edited by John C. Dvorak. This is a nice page you can save to your hard dirve, and use as your Personal Portal to the Web.
    • Yahoo's Genealogy Search could help.
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Happy Hunting!!

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If you have an interest in Powell genealogy The Three Sisters would like to hear from you. Please contact us at:

Fleta Aday fleta@cswnet.com
Betty Renfroe brenfroe@cswnet.com
Patsy Poor, P. O. Box 126, Ridgedale, MO 65739



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