How to Get Started With The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding

The following announcement was written by John Pfost:

Several of you have asked how you can learn more about The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG). So I have written a couple of papers that provide a complete introduction to TNG.

Introducing The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding - provides a brief history of genealogy Web sites, an overview and description of TNG, a listing of its notable features and functions, a discussion of the underlying technologies, and a description of the system and personal requirements to implement a TNG Web site.

Getting Started with The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding - provides a detailed description of all of the products and services one would need to develop a dynamic TNG-based family history Web site. It describes the key components - TNG, the Webmaster's Guide, a domain name, and Web services hosting provider - that are required, as well as the many additional resources that are available.

You can download these papers from the TNG-Resources site at http://www.tng-resources.com by subscribing to the TNG-Resources newsletter and then accessing the Additional Resources page.

Please feel free to pass these papers along to your genealogy organizations, associations, professional societies, and friends.

Best regards,

John Pfost

Comments

[Dae Powell]

John Pfost has an amazing product here. I visited around 60 of the sample sites he has linked and most are very good. The others are from users who are likely new to web design and should improve over time and with experience. This is well-worth the $30 he is asking. AND the service he promises sounds excellent, too. I'll let you know when MY family site is online, so you can critique it. Heck, you may even find some matches!

Happy Dae·
http://ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[Jon Schweitzer]

Very expensive if you have several sites!

About $30 for one.
$60 for two.
$90 ...

"Can I use TNG on more than one web site?
You can, but it would require you to buy an additional license. TNG may be used on one web site only,..."

Jon

[theKiwi]

From the TNG License

"The software may be installed multiple times on the same site (ie, www.mysite.com/this and www.mysite.com/that) without requiring an extra licence, provided that all licenses are for your own personal use. The software may also be installed on the user's private computer without requiring an extra license if that computer is not connected to the Internet."

So if you want http://myWebSite/HusbandFamily/ and http://myWebSite/WifeFamily/ then that is a single license.

And within each TNG database is the ability to have multiple trees - 1 of my sites has over 200 trees in it now - that are sets of quite unlinked/unrelated data.

TNG is one of the best $27 (it was cheaper back in 2002 when I started with it) I ever spent, both in terms of what it can do, and the support from the author.

Roger

[Ian Towler]

You should also check out PhpGedview (PGV) its open source, Free, and quite powerful. Its one of the best in terms of privacy and privacy based on relationship...

http://www.phpgedview.net/

I use it on my site http://familytree.itowler.com

Ian Towler

[Jim Lynch]

I installed TNG7 in January and have been quite impressed. I started with about 2,500 in my database, and the uploading of four GEDCOMs from additional contacts increased that to over 1,7000 in a smooth transition - all i had to do was to stitch the common relatives together.

I suggested to the software author and to the person who write the manual that the GUI was quite complex, and that someone ought to create a Help file with step-by-step instructions on doing each task, but that did not get a very warm reception.

For instance, an average user may try to add a spouse to a family's child and hit a brick wall as far as progress is concerned. Unless you know that by adding a spouse you are creating another Family Object (a programming term) that progress will remain at zero until you might muddle it out without really knowing what you did to achieve success. The next time will involve another muddle and more time wasted.

The software otherwise is fast and easy to install (and to modify, with a little programming knowledge). It comes with seven templates which plug right in without needing any special knowledge at all.

I liked the optional security feature, where on setting it up that way the public can see your front page but not enter and view the database unless given specific permission. And that permission can be qualified from read-only all the way in increments to full administrative rights.

I give it a 9 out of 10, the missing point being for the difficulty for the average user without providing simple step-by-step instructions.

Jim Lynch