2006 January » A Book of Generations

What does it take?

Jan 172006

Believe it or not, I’ve learned the basics of 3 programming languages since Oct. 2004 when I first bought the sweere.org domain name (CSS, php, and xhtml).

On top of that, I use eight software programs to maintain the site:

1. The Next Generation of Genealogy (TNG) – a database driven program to maintain the online genealogy information.
2. minimal Gallery- a database program for the gallery that is separate from the TNG histories and documents.
3. Lazarus Guestbook- php driven program for the guestbook
5. WordPress – php and xhtml database driven blogging program for the main interface (the front page).
4. Adobe GoLive 6.0- desktop program used to customize all of the above and build additional required webpages
5. Adobe PhotoShop 7.0 to manage images and create image graphics
6. WS_FTP Home to upload all of the above to the server where the website is hosted.
7. Mozilla FireFox – a browser (in addition to Internet Explorer) that features “tabbed” browsing for ease of editing, adding and researching.
8. Mozilla Thunderbird – a FireFox compatible email program for communication with cousins and visitors.

Here’s a breakdown of my costs so far:

TNG – $24.95 + 10.00 for new version upgrade = $34.95
WS_FTP – $34.95
Host Server (vbdigital) and domain name registration = $48.00 per year ( x 2 yrs Oct2004 thru Oct2006) = $96.00
Internet Service Provider- $24.95 per month x 12 = $300 per year

minimal Gallery, Lazarus Guestbook, WordPress, FireFox, Thunderbird are open source (free).

Adobe GoLive and Adobe PhotoShop cost $299 each, but I was given outdated versions from a friend when he upgraded to new versions.

While it’s true I would likely have internet service anyway, I count the cost here because it’s essential to the website maintenence.

I have a few additional needs outside of feeding myself and paying bills that I would like to pursue in order to obtain access to more complete information and sources.

Ideally, I would like to have:

A paid subscription to Ancestry.com in order to access census documents., birth, marriage and death certificates, and obituaries. ($14.95 a month or $179.40 a year).

A membership to the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society ($18.00 annual) and the Wisconsin Historical Society ($40.00 annual) would give me access to state records.

I have a digital camera for headstone images, but I need a new scanner for paper documents.

I’m not looking to make a living wage doing this.I love this project because it gives me an outlet for my creativity and problem solving skills, and a way to quench my thirst for research. I’ve always loved putting puzzles together. I just have to figure out a way not to starve while I do it.

In the pre-Christian epics of Northern Europe, such as Beowulf or the Scandinavian Eddas, a man’s immortality was gained by the tales that were told in his name long after he died. If those stories were great enough to survive over time, immortality was his.

Perhaps this is my family’s small shot at immortality.

ex animo ~Jodi

Updates

Updates 1 Response »

Jan 092006

I created the new “Updates” category in order to track website updates more efficiently. While TNG offers the “What’s New?” page, that particular page doesn’t always account for all the behind-the-scenes activity, such as minor display error corrections or presentation improvements, or new users, or communications via email…just to name a just a few. I’ll probably back-post some of the tasks I knocked off since Christmas, too.

The website was registered with two other websites this morning in order to boost search rankings. Linking with other genealogy sites eventually moves us higher up on the list of websites offered by search engines when someone comes looking for the contenton this website. Of course, this makes it easier for other genealogists and cousins to find us and hopefully, share information. Expect to see links to the those in the next day or two. I just need to decide where the to put them.

On another note, I spent a few hours updating sources in the French Richert line. Those files were among the first I acquired from Rollie when I began to explore my ancestral lines. As a novice genealogist and a working mother, I often got lazy when it came to document my sources properly and a quick-and-dirty cut-and-paste into the “notes” section was the order of the day. It’s one shortcut that’s come back to haunt me, and I have hours of housekeeping to go in that department (yes, Rollie, I’m still doing laundry!). I edited the “La Famalie Richerdt” source to reflect its rightful author, and completed edits through the 4th generation.

Along those same lines, I’ve spot-edited place names as well, working towards my goal of getting all entries into the same format of “city, county, state”, dropping the word ‘county’ as a redundant term and spelling out the state name for clarification. For example, where a place used to be noted as “Hilbert, Calumet county, WI” or Hilbert, Calumet Co., WI” or “Hilbert, WI”, that entry will be replaced with “Hilbert, Calumet, Wisconsin”. Editing as such brings the records more in line with genealogical standards.

In the face-left department, I played around with the style-sheet that governs the display of the homepage, changing the active link colors from red to gray. My original purpose for doing so was to make the archived posts display more visibly on the calendar. Since that CSS tag governs all active links on either side, I was pleasantly suprised with the increased readibility when I made the change. Sometimes little things count.

ex animo, ~J

Gen Home page

Updates 3 Responses »

Jan 082006

The Genealogy home page (as opposed to the main site home page) got a new face lift. Check it out: Genealogy Home.

The handsome young couple greeting you are my parents on their honeymoon at Eagle River “up” in northern Wisconsin. Ma said they stayed in a little out of the way motel that Al Capone was known to frequent and there were bullet holes in the walls.

Damn flatlanders

ex animo ~J

Profile Pictures

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Jan 072006

You might notice some individuals now have small pictures next to their names when you go to visit that page. The lightbulb went on when I read an email fom my TNGusers list where someone asked how to insert a thumbnail image in the page next to the name.

I couldn’t get it to work in the old-style way that the software author suggested, but I love to dabble in Photoshop. I just made my own 100x100px image, then selectively associated the thumbnail image as default to a person who had already had a picture associated with their ID#. Walla!

Check out Maria Johanna Sweere, baby girl of patriarch Theodorus. Isn’t she beautiful?

ex animo ~J

P.S. Maria’s family info has been added, Still need a few minor decscendent and spouse details to complete. And her story is linked over there on the left side, too.