Highly Recommended Free Genealogy Related Web Services
that Can Help You Further Your Research - by Robert Ragan

There are plenty of "Web services" out there that are free. Some have higher memberships with more advanced options for a nominal fee, but the free services are plenty good with a lot to offer.

Note that we have the advantage because Web services, in all their types and varieties, have to give away good stuff or no one would care in the first place.

I'd like to help you use two of these services. One I have used for many years, and one I have just discovered. I encourage you to sign up for BOTH of them. They are very interesting and helpful with your genealogy, and as mentioned, free.

Just wait until you see this first service. It is new to me and I think it has tons of potential. Take a look and I think you will agree.

I will take you step-by-step through the signing in process and show you some of the powerful features that are an eye opener for any genealogy researcher:

This is the main page that you will first see. Note the three sections: Capture, Share, and Preserve. More on these, and what you can do with them, in a minute.

Once you sign up, you can log in form the area on the left. But for now, click on the green "Join Now For Free" button.

This takes you to the registration window. Just add your first name, or if you want a "Group Name" - for example, since my surname is Ragan, I could have named a group something like "The Ragan Family Place."

However, I want to do it as an individual, so am am using my first and last name.

Note that you also need to enter the special code (yours will be different) exactly like it shows in the black box area.

You can even upload a photo. You can do it now or later. This is the picture that will show in your profile.

You can mention the reason you want to use the service, or just leave it blank.

You are almost there. Now all you have to do is click on the green "I accept, create my account" button.

You should now be signed up and looking at your profile.

If you signed up and got turned around, you can always go back to the main page and log in with the user name and password that you just created.

Note the options that you have: Home | My Story | Questions | Connections | Media

Click on the "My Story" link.

From here you can do several things, but pay close attention to where you can create an introduction. This is where you create a summary about you or your Family Group (if you chose to set it up that way).

Look under the "Add Your Story" section. You can Compose an entry to your story, and give it a title, etc., but what I find interesting from a family history and personal autobiography view is the Timeline Date feature.

You can add the Timeline Date and it will automatically keep your timeline in order for you. This is very helpful in keeping track of what's what.

Also note that you can "Search people and stories" and see what other people have done with this Web service for inspiration.

This is an on-line "community." And sure, you can make friends, but what is most important is that you can easily involve your family with this free service. Just send them the link to this lesson on the Treasure Maps Web site.

Hey, they can start writing things about their life stories, too. This is a genealogist dream come true!

Now click on the "Questions" option.

As a reader of the Treasure Maps genealogy newsletter, you've already seen memory joggers and writing prompts to help you or your family members you want to interview. This section makes telling your life story so easy.

Let's say you clicked on the "Beginnings" link: From there you will go through different "Sets" of questions. Each question has a little check box by it. You simply click the checkbox of the question you want to answer.

I picked three questions that I wanted to answer and clicked on the "Answer" button.

Now they automatically show up in the "Pending Questions" area. I can click on a link and answer them whenever I want, but now I have the easiest way that I've ever seen to OUTLINE my autobiography. Here are the questions I picked so far:

• NAME: Do you know who chose your name and why they chose it?
• TRAVEL: Where did you travel in your childhood years?
• RELATIVES: Describe times that you spent with your grandparents or other relatives when you were young.

If you don't want the whole world to see your life story, you can keep it private. More on this in a minute.

Remember how I said that this is a community? You can "Invite People" with the click of the button. I recommend inviting family.

Now click on the "Media" option.

You can upload photos to your different sections in this service. Just click on the "Browse" button to look for a picture on your computer to send to their Web service.

When you click on the "Browse" button, a "Choose file" window should appear. You can pick any picture from your computer to upload.

I suggest keeping your photos in the "My Pictures" folder, which is under the "My Documents" section.

All of this is a default on any computer that uses Windows.

Here's an example: I started an entry about the birth of my son, Michael. Note that I used the Timeline Date feature. Also note that you can make a "Public" or "Restricted" entry. This way, you have control over what you want to keep private.

Also note that you can create and manage "Privacy Circles." There is a lot of potential for working with other genealogy researchers that are researching the same surnames that you are. Think about it...you can get very creative with this - and get further along with your genealogy research as well.

For instance, I could create a circle called the "Ragan Family" circle. I could then have immediate and distant relatives join the circle. I could also invite other Ragan genealogy researchers to the fun on genealogy forums, or by e-mail, etc.

You can easily manage your circles, and view or edit them at any time.

This is only part of what you can do on this wonderful free service. I know you can see the potential here and want to sign up like I did.

So make sure you get signed up and then let's move to part two of the lesson, where I will share another Web service to help you with your genealogy and family history.