User talk:Arolader

Welcome

Welcome to WeRelate, your virtual genealogical community. We're glad you have joined us. At WeRelate you can easily create ancestor web pages, connect with cousins and other genealogists, and find new information.

Video Tour

We strongly recommend that you spend a few minutes taking our video tour. It provides a brief overview of how to use the features of WeRelate. A little time spent here may save you time later. There are also in-depth text tutorials available from the Help button.

Create Webpages

The next thing to do is launch Family Tree Explorer, then select File in the Family Tree Explorer menu and give your family tree a name. You can either upload your GEDCOM or create person and family pages one at a time. To upload your GEDCOM, select File in the Family Tree Explorer menu and then click on Import and choose the GEDCOM file to import. The system will create an editable web page for each person and family in your GEDCOM. To create a page manually, select Add in the Family Tree Explorer menu and click on Add new person; enter the given (first name) and surname (last name), select Add, then fill in the blanks and save.

The Family Tree Explorer is a Flash application and will need to use some space in your computer to cache the files. That's computer talk for "If you store some ancestor page information on your computer, you will be able to view more pages faster. Otherwise, the system has to fetch each page every time you edit or look at it. This would make navigating your tree very slow.

Connect with other genealogists

You should always sign in when you are editing or adding pages. Use the signature button (second button from the right in the menu bar above the edit box) to sign your comments on discussion pages. That way others with similar interests can find you. If you click on the blue user name on any page, you will go to that person's home page. You can leave a message on his/her Discussion page. The Discussion page button is in the light green second level menu bar above.

Shared research pages

Shared research pages act like specialized message boards. Be careful to use only one name spelling and one location in each field; do not use abbreviations. Including postal codes and multiple spellings, names, or locations in these fields will cause your pages to be improperly indexed. It will make it harder for your cousins to find your pages and work with you. For more information see Shared research pages.

Great things you can do at WeRelate

Please see the Great things you can do at WeRelate article.

Thanks for participating in your virtual community.

--Kopuru 11:33, 22 April 2007 (MDT)

Help in getting started

Hi there Arolader! My name is Ronni and I'm one of the volunteers here. I just wanted to give you a few suggestions for your User Page especially in regards to listing your surnames and places of interest.

On your User Page when listing the surnames and places you are interested in, it's best to put only one surname per field and only one place name per field. The reason for this is because as you enter the names and places you are interested in, a corresponding category is also being created. A category such as SMITH in Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky is very specific. For a cousin to easily find your information, he or she would have to create the very same category. The more simple the category, the easier it is for someone to find your research.

You can also list a county or town along with the state or country you are interested in, but again, keep in mind that you are narrowing the field of possibilities. Cast your net wide. <g>

After you've listed a few names and places you are researching, save your work and then look at the bottom of your User Page and see the various categories that were created from the names and places you listed. Now click on the categories and see if there are any other pages already there. If so, then you are already on your way to making a possible connection with a cousin!

As you explore WeRelate, you'll also notice that abbreviations is another area we want to avoid when listing places. Ohio should be used instead of OH, for instance. Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States is the correct version of Columbus, Franklin Co., OH. To help you with typing in all that information each time though, just type in the name of the city or town followed by a comma and wait a few secs. A little window will come up with all the possible links. Just click on the one you want. The more you type, the narrower the choice.

By the way, all of this is covered in the Shared Research Pages mentioned above in the Welcome letter and it's one of the pages you should really try to read first when you get the chance.

I'm a fairly new user here myself and every day I'm learning new things about how powerful wiki can be in allowing us to network with others. If you are experienced in the area of wiki, then great, you can jump right in and get started (and maybe even give me a few pointers <g>). If on the other hand, wiki is something new to you and the site seems a little overwhelming, don't be discouraged. There are plenty of people that are willing to help you get started. In addition to the various HELP pages throughout the site, you can also stop by the Watercooler to see if a problem you are having has already been addressed. You can also visit by my User Page and leave me a message.

Good luck in your research! --Ronni 09:12, 23 April 2007 (MDT)