Recognition

There was a nice message from the US waiting for me when I woke up this morning. It was a message from blogger Jana Last telling me that a post of mine had been included in her

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 29, 2014.

What was especially gratifying was that the post she nominated was one where I strayed from my normal path and wrote about a relative who is very much alive. I can understand why this post would have appealed to Jana as she is also a very proud mother of a beautiful brood of five fine young adults.

In case you missed it here is the post Jana selected: Do as I say not Do as I do... 

Thank you Jana for scouring the internet each week and nominating such a range of interesting posts. I am honoured to be included.

Follow Friday - Wellbelove Genealogy

As I am contemplating starting a one-name study I was interested to find this website (and accompanying blog, Facebook page and Youtube channel)) from Alan Wellbelove. I was rather impressed with the site and thought you might be too.

http://www.wellbelove.org/

How sweet it is....

Each week American family historan and geneablogger, Jana Iverson Last, publishes as a Follow Friday activity a list of Fab Finds consisting of blog posts she sees as worthy of mention. Randy Seaver, a genealogist and geneablogger from San Diego publishes a similar list, Best of the Genea-Blogs.

While liists such as these are subjective they are most valuable in directing those interested in reading and learning about family history to interesting and topical posts.

To be recognised by one's peers in such a list is always an honour, I get such a buzz when one of my posts is selected. While I don't blg for accolades I am trilled to be recognised.  Added advantagesare that new readers are directed to my blog and Australian geneablogging exposed to the world as a result of these shoutouts.

Yesterday Jana left this comment on one of my blog posts:

Jill,

I want to let you know that two of your blog posts are listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/06/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-june-27-2014.html

Needless to say that I was overwhelmed to find that two of my posts, Thinking of 9/11 AND In Praise of Indexes, were included in this weeks Fab Finds from Jana.

Thank you Jana for this honour and thank you for all the time and effort you put into your Fab Finds posts.

Follow Friday - Worldwide Genealogy

I have just found the time to sit and read the first fifteen or so posts on the Worldwide Genealogy Blog and I am gobsmacked. What a diverse and interesting range of people are participating in this amazing activity. 

So what is Worldwide Genealogy? 

To quote its founder, Julie Goucher " It is really quite simple! Each day a blogger from across the genealogy or historical community will post to Worldwide Genealogy. The posts will be about something related to either genealogy, history or local history."

Most of the bloggers including me have committed to a monthly post. So far there are bloggers from Australia, England, Scotland, The United States and Wales. It would be grand to have some other countries represented. Julie still has a couple of spots vacant and would love to hear from you if you are interested.

When the word gets out and others bloggers start reading the posts I am sure there will be a queue of bloggers anxious to join in.

Worldwide Genealogy demonstrates the value of collaborative projects in genealogy.

Follow Friday - Not Genie Blogs This Time

Source http://blog.marketo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/blog.jpg

I am still getting comments about the Top 50 genealogy blogs article that was published recently in Inside History Magazine.

While the blogs on that list and others in a similar vein comprise a major part of my daily reading regime I do not confine myself to reading genealogy blogs. How boring and limiting that would be!

I regularly read a whole host of blogs that in my RSS folders: Books, Technology, Education, Travel and Interesting. Much of the information I glean from these blogs can be applied to genealogy, some resources described are suitable for genealogy and some of the ideas contained in them  give me inspiration for my blog posts. Reading broadly certainly enhances my genealogical knowledge.

A Selection of my Favourites for Follow Friday (in no particular order) follows:

Behind Ballet  http://www.behindballet.com/  I love our Australian Ballet and enjoy reading about news and history

Bite the Book  http://bitethebook.com/ From Pages and Pages a beaut Sydney Bookshop

Dictionary.com Word of the Day http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/  Always trying to grow my vocabulary

Digital Inspiration Technology Blog  http://www.labnol.org/ Amit from India has great tips

Evernote Blogcast  http://blog.evernote.com/ Helpiing me learn to use this tool effectivley

Free Technology for Teachers  http://www.freetech4teachers.com/  Highlights fabulous resources

Learning in the Social Workplace  http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/  Social is now

Librarians are go  http://librariansarego.blogspot.com.au A former colleague - Stacey is a leading light in the Teacher Librarian Community

Misrule  http://misrule.com.au/wordpress/  I love Children's Literature

Social Media Examiner  http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com  Practical suggestions

Thru My Lens http://john-mcculloch.blogspot.com.au  Occasional Aussie photos and anecdotes

What are your favourite non-genealogy blogs?

Follow Friday - The Blogs that got away

I am blown over by the conversations my little article on blogs in the recent issue of Inside History Magazine has brought about on various social media.

To see so many people talking about geneablogging and singing its praises is gratifying for someone who is passionate about blogging as a means of communicating and collaborating in genealogy. I have often said that blogging is a two-way street; it was refreshing this week to see lots of genealogists discussing blogs and blogging as a result of my article.
Limiting a selection to just 50 blogs out of the 300+ that I follow is difficult as there are so many excellent personal and niche blogs in the blogisphere. There are so many worthy blogs that weren't on my list;  last night I remembered that  a blogging theme for today is Follow Friday.
So in this Follow Friday post I am highlighting some other blogs that I regularly read and enjoy:


Australian Blogs
Ancestor Chasing - Kerryn Taylor - http://ancestorchaser.blogspot.com.au/
Australian Genealogy Journeys - Aillin O'Brien - ausgenjourneys.blogspot.com/ 
Dance Skeletons - Fi Basile - http://danceskeletons.blogspot.com.au/
Kylie's Genes - Kylie Willison - blog.kyliesgenes.com/
Leafing through Linda's Tree - Linda Ottery - http://luckyllama.blogspot.com.au
Wishful Linking Family History Blog - http://wishful-linking-family-history.blogspot.com.au


International Blogs
Dear Myrtle - Pat Richley-Ericson blog.dearmyrtle.com


Niche Blogs
Dorset Ancestors - http://dorset-ancestors.com/
Geneawebinars - blog.geneawebinars.com


Organisation Blogs
BillionGraves - blog.billiongraves.com/

Follow Friday - GeneaBloggers Blogtalk Radio

For my Follow Friday post this week I am highlighting a radio show that assists in  breaking down the Tyranny of distance  for Australian genealogists. One of the disadvenatges of living in God's own country is that we are far away from a large number of genealogists who share our interest and perhaps even our ancestors.

Geneabloggers Blogtalk Radio gives Australians an opportunity, at a reasonable time on a Saturday afternoon, to connect with genealogists from other nations. Vibrant personality, Thomas MacEntee, is the host of this two-hour program that understandably has a North American bias. In spite of this there is a lot of discussion that has relevance to genealogists worldwide. Last week I think I was the only Australian tuned in but I had company from the southern hemisphere in a genealogist from New Zealand.

One can simply tune in and listen to the program online or onc can sign up for a free Blogtalk radio account that allows you to jparticipate in the online chat that runs concurrently with the show. There is no special software or equipment needed to listen to the show.  Past programs are archived and available on the program's webpage.


The theme for this weeks show is "Jewish Genealogy – How To Get Started Searching Your Roots".  AlthoughI have no Jewish Ancestry I will be joining in to hear about resources and events, to learn from the expert guests, to be entertained by Thomas and to enjoy the camaderie of my genealogy mates.

Thomas and his friends would be thrilled to have you join them on Geneabloggers Blogtalk Radio on Saturday in Sydney or on Friday 10pm EDT, 9pm CDT, 8pm MDT, and 7pm PDT in the United States.

I haven't followed anyone and it's Friday

I like to follow an Australian Family Website or a blog on Fridays as my recognition of the Follow Friday activity.

I have been so involved editing my presentation for tomorrow's talk at SAG that I have forgotten to highlight such a site. As The Society of Australian Genealogists is on my mind I am suggesting that you take a look at their site.

http://www.sag.org.au

Anyone with an interest in genealogy in Australia will find a wealth of information on the site. One can search the library's extensive catalogue, purchase resources from the online shop, get a membership application, search databases, enrol for educational opportunities, get details of special interest groups and subscribe to a free newsletter.

Follow Friday - Blogs - Springwood Historians

SPRINGWOOD HISTORIANS - established in 2000, are a non-profit making group of independent researchers with a special interest in the social history of the Springwood district – its people, their activities and achievements, their homes, occupations and their place in the history of the wider world.

Springwood, NSW

 I became aware of their blog (http://springwoodhistorians.blogspot.com/) shortly after it was launched in January 2011."The aim of the blog is to disseminate (as well as gather) information to anyone interested in public history...."

Although I only have vague connections with the Springwood area I am enjoying the articles posted on this blog.  Anyone with connections in the Lower Blue Mountains should be reading this blog.

There is a variety of illustrated and well constructed articles on topics such as:

Brief Timeline,  Early Residents - Thomas Boland, Strange doings at Springwood,  Springwood School of Arts - a short history and How did that get its name?: Fels Avenue Springwood.

To date there have only been 32 articles posted. As more are added this blog will become an extremely useful resource for  genealogists with roots in the area. If other Australian historical and genealogical societies followed the lead of SPRINGWOOD HISTORIANS and published similar blogs we could have a wealth of  knowledge about our country's history in the public domain.

The blog is visually appealing and uncluttered, I do hope the cloudy background is an image from the Springwood area. I like the positioning of the Google search bar that has been placed prominently just below the header so that visitors can quickly gain access to pertinent articles. The articles are tagged with relevant labels, it would be helpful, however, if those articles that are part of a series could have a tag describing the series eg Early Residents, World War Two.

I congratulate Springwood Historians on this resource and commend it to all with an interest in the Springwood area or with a curiousity for Australian history.

I'm not Robinson Crusoe after all

When I wrote my "Sometimes less is more" post about Follow Friday tweets a couple of days ago I wondered what kind of a reaction I would get. It seems as though a number of my readers agree with what I had to say.

Before another Friday rolls around and our Twitter accounts overflow with lots of Follow Fiday posts I thought I would share the comments that had been made on that post.

10 comments:

Judy Webster said...

Good to know that I have some support! I agree with your comment about 'Follow Friday posts that resemble shopping lists and are produced by some automated service.' I'm pleased that Shauna singled you out with her 'one #FF recommendation'. You deserve it.

March 7, 2011 10:02 AM

Geniaus said...

Judy, Good to know I am not Robinson Crusoe!

March 7, 2011 10:23 AM

Joan Miller (Luxegen) said...

Thank goodness you wrote about this! I've been thinking the same thing, especially when it came to bot type programs to help people do the #FF! The way it was going with me was I'd see mentions of myself in #FF, then I'd feel guilty I hadn't reciprocated and would fire off a few. Then I'd think this is ridiculous - why am I doing this? I should have clued in there were others feeling the same way. What I have started doing instead is promoting folks that are giving talks or have books or great blog post contributions for the better of genealogy. I think that is more valuable than #FF. And I can do that ANY day of the week :) Thanks again for bringing it up!

March 7, 2011 12:40 PM

Alex said...

Viva la revolution! I've always been baffled by mass #FF myself. Like everyone I only have a limited amount of time, so I only follow people who add something worthwhile to my day - if you want to know who those people are, anyone can click on my Following list and see for themselves! Alex aka @wychwoodnz and @oneplacestudies

March 7, 2011 4:16 PM

Aillin said...

feeling a little sheepish...that would be my Twitter account Judy replied to in that screenshot you showed...I had been sort of using the #FollowFriday to show whose tweets I found most interesting that week, whose tweets I retweeted etc. The ffhelper program wasn't exactly automated, it gave lists showing who you had retweeted or mentioned recently in your tweets and you could chose whom to include in a FF post. That said though, I will certainly be using the 'less is more' option from now on. Useful lesson learned. Thanks :)

March 7, 2011 5:41 PM

Tanya Honey said...

I was also very happy to see your's and Judy's comments about #FF. Whilst it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you see your own twitter name (rarely for me I might add!), it did clog up Friday's tweeting. Posting one #FF will be a lot more interesting.

March 7, 2011 10:19 PM

Shauna said...

I was also feeling a bit overwhelmed by #FF but then found it very hard to try and choose just one of the many great people that I follow. As someone said to me, it will take me years to get round everyone! That said, I still think it is a better way to go than the mass tweets we were seeing.

March 8, 2011 10:14 AM

Judy Webster said...

To give credit where it is due... It was Carole Riley who started the ball rolling with this.

March 8, 2011 11:42 AM

Carole Riley said...

I'm just now catching up on blogs and had no idea of what I'd started! I'd been feeling guilty about not returning the #FFs for ages, but then when I followed someone's link to an automated thing that found all my re-tweeters I used it and thought 'what am I doing????'. Never again! So when I saw that post I thought it was worth putting it out there.

March 9, 2011 10:12 PM

Shelley said...

As above. What they said. :-)

March 9, 2011 10:25 PM

Sometimes less is more.

 Follow Friday posts that are generated by some sort of automated program have been annoying me for quite a while. I thought it may have been because I am getting old and crabby but thanks to Carole Riley who directed her readers to a blog post, Please put a stop to the mass Follow Friday tweets, on this subject I realise that I am not alone.

This article clearly echoed my feelings and set out some guidelines fo Follow Friday posts. I am posting the rules put forward by the author (full details can be found in the post) as I believe that they are eminently sensible:

1) If you’re going to Follow Friday someone, make it just ONE person per #FF tweet per week. 
2) Say why you recommend them.
3) Just do it Friday.  

Joseph Ranseth says:
" The Right Way…

Follow Friday is an opportunity to share with our friends the people that we value. We are saying “this is someone that I get value from, and I want you to enjoy what they have to offer as well”. It’s about sharing, giving and providing value to others.

…and the Wrong Way

Follow Friday is NOT about getting more followers. Some people (either ignorant of the law, or possessing a lack mentality) will recommend as many people as they can for #followfriday in hopes that some of them will feel obligated to reciprocate that gesture. By accomplishing this, they hope that they will attract new followers. Sadly, they just don’t get it…"

A lot of my Twitter pals from the world of genealogy just don't get it either. After Judy Webster from Queensland  posted the following on Twitter last Friday there were a few tweets around the topic.

Bravo, Judy. I never take any notice of  my mentions in Follow Friday posts that resemble shopping lists and are produced by some automated service. It was pleasing to see a number of people adopting Judy's policy last week.

I was bowled over by a tweet from Shauna Hicks, who last week also abandoned the automated style and opted for just 1 descriptive #FF post. Shauna selected @geniaus as the one person for her #FF tweet. Thankyou most sincerely, Shauna, this Follow Friday post meant a lot to me.

Follow Friday - Australian Familysites - Munkman Page Family History

I was just too busy with my trip to Rootstech in Salt Lake City for a Follow Friday post for the last two weeks. This weeek I have chosen an older site that I only recently discovered, Munkman Page Family History.

Munkman Page Family History

Although this site hasn't been updated for nearly three years having a presence on the web should still net valuable connections for the authors. The website was established on 26th August 2005 to share the family history of Bill (William Edward) Munkman and Nell (Alice) Page who were married on the 14th October 1939 at Casino, New South Wales, Australia. The site was developed by one of the couple's children, Noel.

It appears that the site  has been produced using a web authoring program with the descendancy charts produced with RELATIVELY YOURS..

Follow Friday - Australian Familysites and Genealogy Blogs - Davis

@JudyQld in a tweet that I missed in December pointed out a new genealogy blog from Australia, Davis Genealogy Project. I didn't find the blog until recently and added it ot my RSS feeds. From perusing the blog I noticed that the blogger, Greg Davis, also had a family website, Davis McDougall Family .

Davis Genealogy Project

I am making these resources the subject of my Follow Friday post today. Greg relates on Davis McDougall Family that he had no knowledge of his family history beyond the names of his parents and siblings in 1997 when someone asked him his grandparents' names. He tells the story of his family realationships on the Main Page of his site.

Davis McDougall Family

Whilst Greg has elected to use Blogger for his blog he is hosting his family website on his own domain. The blog was born in May 2010 with the post:
"This is my new genealogy blog site where I plan to place questions and answers about members of the family I am researching. I hope you enjoy and get some value from my blog." Since that time Greg has written over 20 posts about his family.

Greg's Familysite has been published using Second Site about which I have blogged previously in FollowFriday posts at http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/09/follow-friday-australian-familysites_24.html and  http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2010/09/secondsite.html . Second Site  produces a website from the author's TMG data.

Greg's website is clean and uncluttered and benefits from the features offered by using a program such as SecondSite. Both the blog and the website would benefit from crosslinks to each other. Curious visitors to either site would most likely click on a link to the sister site of it was available.

Site URL	http://www.gdavis.id.au/
Site Name	Davis McDougall Family
Author	Greg Davis
Author's Contact Details	Email Link provided
Last Updated	31 May 2010 at 1:04:39 PM
Age of Site	Established 2010
Software Used	Second Site
Persons in Database	On a page outside of Second Site are listed 12305 families made up of 26780 people at 31/01/2011
Time Span	18th Century -
Index of names	Surname Index and full list
Prominent Surnames	Displayed on home page
Password Protected	Free access
Details of Living Persons Supressed	No
Data Sourced	Some
Search Facility	No
Photos/Documents	Quite a number of photographs and narratives for some ancestors
Geodata	No
Navigation	Would benefit from a site search facility. Second Site are easy to navigate
Design	Basic - clean and uncluttered

Follow Friday - Australian Familysites

I have highlighted a number of Australian Family Websites in my Follow Friday series and will continue to do so from time to time but this week I am going to deviate and follow something different - watch out for my next post.

For the convenience of those who haven't looked at those websites I have followed here is a list of those posts. Please take a look - you may get some ideas on what to do and what not to do when developing your family website!

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Leaver Genealogy

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - The Penhall Family

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Castellorizo Genealogy Pages

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Hornsby Family Tree

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Watson / Canet Family History site

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Hickman History

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Our Family Lines

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Gransden Family 

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Judkins

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Newman

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Leaver Genealogy

Leaver Genealogy is the family site of one of the members of The Australian Genealogists Group on GenealogyWise.  This site is ten years old and appears to make use of the tools that were available at that time.

It seems that the author has developed the pages in a web page editor. From tables on the index page he has linked to pages for each of the branches he is researching. On each family line page there is a varying amount of information. Some pages contain quite detailed narratives of various family members while some have pedigrees included. It appears that these pedigrees have been produced in a genealogy software program and pasted onto the various family line programs.

I commend Bill for putting his family history on the web over ten years ago and for continually maintaining and updating the data.

Site URL	http://members.iinet.net.au/~billeah/
Site Name	Leaver Genealogy
Author	Bill
Author's Contact Details	Email Link provided
Last Updated	January 2011
Age of Site	Established 2000
Software Used	Appears to be plain web pages
Persons in Database	5028
Time Span	1725-
Index of names	Surname Index
Prominent Surnames	Displayed on home page
Password Protected	Free access
Details of Living Persons Supressed	Does not appear to include living people
Data Sourced	Some
Search Facility	No
Photos/Documents	Family Pics
Geodata	No
Navigation	Through links from home page
Design	Basic
Extras	Other pages relating to family interests

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Castellorizo Genealogy Pages

The Castellorizo Genealogy Pages is the site that encouraged me to set my family site up using the TNG ( The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding) software. I had been looking around for a software package with Web2.0 capabilities and searching for some Greek connections when I came across this site. The TNG package was just what I wanted.

The Castellorizo Genealogy Pages is not a site for just one family but for the larger Castellorizian family. The site aims to document the genealogy of all persons with ancestry from this Greek Island.

Unfortunately since I first visited this site Allan has restricted access "Note that from February 2010 access to this website is only available by Registering. Information concerning all individuals is withheld from public view. If you wish to have access to the database, you will need to register here. In the registration page please do indicate the reason for the access (ie. "My grandmother was an Xanthis"). Without some validation for your need to register, access to information on living persons will not be available"  

I imagine that Allan has his reasons for doing this but it precludes casual enquiries from those who may have a connection and you , my readers, cannot see an example of the power and flexibility of the TNG software.


In this case I suggest you take a look at some other Aussie Sites that are built using TNG.


Clan Cameron Australia  http://www.clan-cameron.org.au/
King and McKay Genealogy Pages http://family.shhdtm.com/
Roy - Royes Family Links http://royroyes.net/genealogy/index.php
GlendaFae Genealogy http://www.glendafae.com/
Bobby Family Tree http://www.bobbyfamilytree.com/genealogy/index.php

Site URL	http://www.castellorizo.org/
Site Name	Castellorizo Genealogy Pages
Author	Allan Cresswell
Author's Contact Details	Email Link provided
Last Updated	2010
Age of Site	Not evident
Software Used	TNG ( The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding)
Persons in Database	27 July 2010 - 18019 persons and 6239 families now listed on this website.
Time Span	Need Login
Index of names	Need Login
Prominent Surnames	Need Login
Password Protected	Yes
Details of Living Persons Supressed	Need Login
Data Sourced	Cannot ascertain - Need login
Search Facility	Yes but useless without login
Photos/Documents	Site contains 1728 media items (photos, documents, etc).
Geodata	Need Login
Navigation	TNG navigation is excellent presume it is on this site with a login
Design	Very good elements
Extras	1. Guestbook 2. Links to other Castellorizo & Greek Geni Websites

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Hornsby Family Tree

It's a brief FollowFriday post today as I have been distracted by the birth last night of a new grand-daughter.

I hadn't thought of using Blogger for a family site until I came across the Hornsby Family Tree.

Hornsby Family Tree

The benefits in using Blogger are that it is free and easy to use and it puts one's information out on the web for search engines and potential relatives to find. One is also able to allow for an element of collaboration and communication by enabling multiple authors and enabling the comments facility.

The disadvantages, when compared with a dedicated genealogy software application, relate to the inability to view data in standard genealogy formats such as charts and trees.

On this blog each post is devoted to one member of the Hornsby family. Where there is further information about other people cited in an entry there is a hyperlink to the entry about that person. There are also hyperlinks to newspaper articles  from some of the posts.

Typical post on Hornsby Family Tree

The appearance of the blog that has used a simple Blogger template is clear annd uncluttered.

 I am always impressed by creative uses of software and was pleased when I found this use of Blogger for genealogy. I look forward to watching the site develop and hope that its presence on the web initiates some worthwile contacts for the writer, Hornsby.

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Watson / Canet Family History site

Watson/Canet Home Page

 Although this site does not tick all of the boxes in my familysite rubric. I really like it. The design is neat and clean with subdued colours, a clear font and an uncluttered feel. Michelle has made the decision to break up her tree into family groups and to display each of these groups in chart form on separate pages.  The welcome page on the site carries a succinct message.

From each of the entries on the chart there is a link to a narrative about the individual. These range from rather long entries with photos and documents to shorter entries.

Whitley Family Group Chart

This attractive site demonstrates a unique approach to publishing family history on the web. It is well worth a look.

Site URL	http://watsoncanet.webcon.net.au/
Site Name	Watson and Canet Family History Site
Author	Michelle
Author's Contact Details	Email Link provided
Last Updated	Not evident
Age of Site	Not evident
Software Used	Cannot ascertain. Appears to use genealogy program on family line pages
Persons in Database	Cannot ascertain
Time Span	4 generations for each family line
Index of names	Not evident
Prominent Surnames	Displayed on home page
Password Protected	Free access
Details of Living Persons Supressed	Does not appear to include living people
Data Sourced	Sources mentioned in individual narratives
Search Facility	No
Photos/Documents	Photos and relevant documents included in individual narratives
Geodata	No
Navigation	Site Navigation sidebar on all pages makes navigating easy. Plus smaller menu at bottom of pages
Design	Very good elements
Extras	1. Pages for Brickwall ancestors with opportunities for fellow researchers to register details. 2. Links to Places of Interest, Genealogy and Online sites

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Reappearing tomorrow

Several weeks ago I embarked on a series of posts in which I aim to highlight, as part of the "Follow Friday"theme, sites where Australians have placed their family trees on the web.

I had a little holiday with the family so haven't posted for a few Fridays. I have selected another site for tomorrow so please take a look then.  In the interim I am posting the links to those sites I have already highlighted.

Gransden Family
Hickman History
Judkins and Steel Family History
A Newman Family Tree
Our Family Lines

I am always on the lookout for Australian sites to add to my list on Delicious.

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Our Family Lines

My selection for this week's Follow Friday Australian FamilySite is different from my earlier two as it uses a piece of proprietry software, SecondSite, to produce a website from the author's TMG data.

I am not sure of the name of this site.  It could be "A Tribute to our Pioneering Ancestors Who Immigrated to Australia 1841 - 1883- They came, they stayed &  they prospered", or "Our Family Lines" or "They came, they stayed."

Using SecondSite enables those with little knowledge of website creation  to create an attractive,  linked and searchable site. It is disappointing that Second Site does not appear to give the user an option to search by date, place or name. It could be because the user has selected to disable these options that may be available.

Page showing an individual entry

Site URL	http://theycametheystayed.com/index.htm
Site Name	A Tribute to our Pioneering Ancestors who immigrated to Australia 1841 - 1883 - They came, They stayed & They prospered.
Author	Audrey
Author's Contact Details	Email link from site
Last Updated	15 September 2010
Age of Site	Established 2008 ?
Software Used	John Cardinal's Second Site
Persons in Database	6514 persons
Time Span	1645-
Index of names	Surname list, then individuals under each surname. Broken into pages organised by letters of alphabet.
Prominent Surnames	AUSTIN, BURGESS, CHAMBERS, CHIVELL, EYLES, FRENCH, GILLIS/GILLIES, HOOPER JEFFERIS, JONES, LOWER, MADDERN, MCGREGOR, ROBINSON, STAINES, WERNER, WOODS
Password Protected	Open access
Details of Living Persons Supressed	Only includes persons born up to 1916
Data Sourced	Yes and contributions of others recognised.
Search Facility	No
Photos/Documents	Photo Gallery,plus images on individual records
Geodata	No apparent
Navigation	Consistent main menu bar. Links within pages.
Design	Attractive gray/blue/white theme. Consistent headers on each page The home page would be enhanced with some images and having the lengthy text moved to an 'about' page. Individual entry pages well set out with links to charts, family members etc.
Extras	Do you recognise anyone? A page of unidentified photographs.