Feedback from the Webmaster - Watson/Canet Family History Site

I get a bit of a buzz when a reader actually comments on something about which I have blogged. I blog mainly for myself but love it when something I have written elicits a response.

In response to my post yesterday about her website Michelle posted a comment. As people who have read the post may not go back a second time to look at the comment I am reposting it. In this comment Michelle answers some of the questions I raised about her site.

Thanks, Michelle, for your comments and your gracious acceptance of my post.

"Dear Geniaus,

Thanks for the feature. I thought I'd answer some of your questions:

Software - the website is entirely coded in HTML, with extensive use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). I use Dreamweaver to develop and manage my websites. CSS allows me to completely change the look of the site by changing one .css file. I used CSS for two reasons, it allows me to update navigation and other standard elements contained on all pages by changing a single .css file and it allows me to better optimise page viewing for text based users including those viewing the site on mobile devices.

The site is nearly completely text based. All this means it loads very quickly and it looks exactly the same on a computer monitor as it does on an iPhone or iPad.

For example the trees are not generated by family tree software but are manually coded tables made using HTML.

This site wasn't so much a replacement for a full family tree but to make my research more accessible and to make it more likely to be harvested and listed in search engines.

What I need to do is to add links to both my blog and to my Ancestry family tree, which is much more extensive.

Cheers,
Michelle"