The Moral of the Story. . .

Since my last post, I’ve decided to completely redo both the genealogy site and the blog and now I’m left with a mess that includes not only a partially functioning database and loss of all my media links, but also a renewed determination to make this thing work like I want it to.

The Backstory

From the beginning, I’ve wanted a website that included a blog as the home page and the genealogy database (referred to hereafter as TNG) as a subfolder, with the two linked together, so that blog posts could be accessed from TNG and the TNG menus could be accessed from the blog. This is not easily accomplished with TNG, because of the way the style sheets are set up (however, it is still the best genealogy website software available; I certainly don’t want to switch). At the time (December 2007), I couldn’t find any examples of TNG websites that worked like I wanted; several people in the TNG forums were working on solutions, but none had achieved the kind of integration that I wanted.

My first priority was the genealogy database, so I decided to focus on that and set up the blog at Blogger, with simple links back to each on their respective homepages. This worked fine for a while, but I soon tired of editing the static html home page on the TNG site and of logging into a separate application to make blog posts (hence the lack of blog activity over the past few months).

The Past Week

I stumbled across a website that integrates Wordpress and TNG exactly the way I want (and also includes some cool TNG mods). What’s more, the owner includes instructions on her site for accomplishing the “mashup,” as she calls it. I can’t really code on my own, but I can certainly follow directions. Oh, if it were only that easy.

So far, I’ve installed and reinstalled Wordpress four times. I’ve edited all the files as directed, but I can’t get the theme to work; it’s just a gray screen. On the TNG side, I’ve tried moving the files into a subfolder, deleting, reinstalling, restoring, repeat, repeat, repeat. Each time, I discovered one thing I wish I had done differently.

However, I made one, almost, fatal flaw. The last time I did a reinstall, I uploaded a gedcom backup. I had exported said gedcom last weekend, before I started the TNG upgrade mentioned in the previous post, so I didn’t think I needed to do another export, as I had made no content changes during the week. In the midst of the upload, I realized that I hadn’t included media links when I exported the gedcom. I’ve tried and tried, but I can’t get them back. I’ve decided I can live with it; I’ll have to manually link all my photos and other media.

The moral of the story? Do a fresh backup of everything, absolutely everything, whether you think you’ll need it or not.

Website Update

This summer, TNG came out with a new version of the software I use to power my genealogy website. I had put off upgrading, because, frankly, I was apprehensive; I was afraid I would "break" the site and I wasn't sure how much time would be required to redo all the modifications I had made. I know just enough about coding to be dangerous.

Since the weather wasn't great yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet. I downloaded the upgrade, transferred all the files to my host, Simply Hosting, using Smart FTP. I followed the instructions step-by-step, until I got to the point where I was supposed to open the instructions from the website, rather than my local computer. I couldn't figure out how to do that. So, I forged on as best I could, but, sure enough, the site was broken. I played around for awhile and finally figured out how to open the file using Legacy File Manager, rather than File Manager in cPanel. This allowed me to click on a link to run a script and voila the site was fixed.

However, as I had suspected, many of my prior mods were gone. Rather than try to fix them, I decided to switch templates to create a new look and feel. I had been thinking about doing this for awhile, so it made sense to spend the time modifying a new template instead of the old one. (TNG users: I switched from template 6 to template 4.) I had always liked the layout of template 6, but I found the brick red color scheme too harsh. I had changed many of the colors in the old template, so I knew I could change this one also.

I'm happy with the new layout, but I still have some work to do. My next post will be about the specific changes I've made and how I did it.

Zoom. Write and Learn « FamHist Blog

I haven't tried this application of Google Earth, yet, but it sounds very promising and lots of fun. And I have to second his comment regarding researching ancestors using Google Books. I have Google Books on my list of research tasks for every name and have found invaluable resources and data.

Zoom. Write and Learn « FamHist Blog

The Kindness of Strangers

A few weeks ago, I posted about Find a Grave. One of the features they offers is a "Request a Photo" program. Users of the website can volunteer to take headstone photographs and Find a Grave keeps track of their locations. When another user requests a photo from a particular cemetery, the website sends out an automatic email to volunteers in that area, letting them know for which headstone a photo has been requested.

Last weekend, I was researching my g-g-grandmother, Mary Patterson Whitener. Family legend says that she is at least part-Cherokee. After marrying, she and my g-g-grandfather moved to Oklahoma, supposedly to be near her relatives, and they lived there until her death. I knew that she was buried in Wards Grove Cemetery in Foyil, Oklahoma.

I looked up this cemetery and there she was, listed on the interment roll, but alas, no photograph. I decided to give Request a Photo a try. Find a Grave informed me that there were 19 volunteers within 10 miles of the cemetery, so I proceeded with the request.

Yesterday, I received an email saying that my request was successful. I now have headstone photo from a cemetery that I will probably never be able to visit in person and I have confirmation that Mary's maiden name was Patterson.

Thanks again to the kind person who took time out of his day to help a stranger in another state with her research.

SHOESTRING GENEALOGY: Cemetery Research

I found an interesting website with a good article on cemetery research. Based on this article, I'm sure there is more good stuff to be found at this site. . .

SHOESTRING GENEALOGY: Cemetery Research