Who Was That Person?

Archive for the ‘Rec2Gen Website’ Category

Well, the previous idea for Rec2Gen did not generate much reaction from the genealogical community, so I guess either they were not ready for it, or I failed to properly represent it. Anyhow, the Erie County sample site will remain online with ads for a while, to see if it can earn its keep that way — otherwise it will be removed.

The main Rec2Gen site has been rededicated to memorabilia and photographs. That was a small part of the original concept. Perhaps that original idea was too ambitious, so now the site will just be devoted to photographs, ephemera, advertisements, postcards and similar materials from before 1950 that mention people by name. Most will also include an exact location.

A rough draft of the concept is online, using the material that was already a part of the original site. I’ll post another message here when the reworked site is complete.

Finally got the first-draft of the Rec2Gen website online today. There is still lots to do, especially behind the scenes on the software. I want to make it easy for site administrators to add information, and easy for users to find information. Sounds simple enough.

I welcome comments on the site here on this blog. I hope people can see some of the potential lurking behind the skeleton that is there now … I’ll keep working to expand the data on the main site while finishing up the odds and ends that need to be added — like the privacy policy statement, a contact form and whatnot.

Then I need to get working on the programs that will drive the county sub-sites. I’ll be making a site for Erie County New York (the city of Buffalo and environs) as a working example. Much of the software will be same as on the main site, but much of it needs revision to make it usable by owners of the sub-sites. I know how to work things, the limits and so forth, but another user would not — so I need to program in the checks and warnings to keep them from doing inappropriate things with the data.

For example, dates are always entered in a standard format:  1905-05-23 — it just makes it easier to sort if the year comes first, then the month. Dates are not displayed that way — they are converted to the more familiar genealogy standard of 23 May 1905 style, but they need to be entered correctly. The same goes for locational information, names and just about everything else — the program ‘expects’ the data in a particular format — sometimes the data entry program converts pre-formatted data, other times it must be standardized by the person entering data.

Keep watching this site for further developments and announcements. Why not subscribe to the feed (click on the orange button) — I will not be posting on any regular schedule, so it is easier to get notified by news-feed when there is a new post.