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About
Webified Genealogy v2.6 (WebGene) is a tool which publishes family history
information on the Web. It publishes this information from a standard file
type used typically to exchange data between genealogy software applications.
This file type is called GEDCOM. Additionally, WebGene uses the GEDCOM
file to publish the family history information dynamically. Dynamically
means that a Web page is produced on the fly from a GEDCOM file when the user accesses it. This cuts
down on storage space required to publish one's family history because you don't
have to store many static Web pages. The GEDCOM
file, a text document which you can edit in a word processor, does not look
very interesting. WebGene indexes the information in the GEDCOM file and
presents it in an appealing graphical format suitable for the Internet. Further,
it enables the lookup and cross-referencing of surnames and family
relationships in familiar genealogy pages:
pedigree charts,
individual and
family information sheets,
descendant charts,
and surname lists. Select the
respective genealogy pages to see examples.
Disclaimer: The genealogical data on the pages provided through the
WebGene service are only as accurate as the submitter's research. As in all
good practice of genealogical research, verify the data you find herein.
History
Webified Genealogy has been online since fall of 1995. Rex Myer, founder of WebGene, wrote it
because he wanted to publish his family history on the Internet. At that
time there were not many genealogical resources on the Internet. The
few that existed did not have the features that he wanted: dynamic page
generation, graphical presentation, searching capabilities, and all of
which would take advantage of the complete GEDCOM data.
Rex did not make it available as a product because he was experimenting
with learning Perl and did not want to worry about supporting the
scripts which many users could modify. He endeavored to make it a
service by charging a monthly fee for storage of the GEDCOM files.
This he did because his host service charged by the megabyte per month.
This did not go over very well in the online genealogy community.
After all as a genealogy hobbiest, you already pay for library access,
photocopies, travel fares, clerk fees, internet service provider,
telephone line, computer, etc. just to do the research.
Why also pay for internet publishing? Fortunately, he has had a chance to benefit
from publishing my family history through Webified Genealogy. He has
made many cousin contacts from researchers who found my research on the
site. This has enabled collaboration, and now knows more of his
ancestors as a result. It has been well worth his personal
expense of its development and support.
Over time, the server which hosted Webified Genealogy tightened the
belt on its resources allocated for it to operate. This caused some
of the features to be disabled. Rex decided he needed to rewrite it in
C++ (a computer programming language) in order for it to run more
efficiently. Version 2 is that rewrite realized. He also spruced up
some of the look and feel of the site so that it is more readable
and appealing.
Also during this time he has had interest expressed from various
genealogical organizations and individuals wanting to use it for
themselves or wanting to host it on their site. This they offered
because of the resource restrictions on Webified Genealogy's host site.
After a while he got so behind in his email that he had to stop responding.
Also during this time he changed jobs several times, went back
to school, changed his mind, moved intrastate twice, and had a third
addition to his family. Whew! You can see why he did not finish it
sooner. Also this is not his only software genealogy project
(see Family Tracker).
Rex and his extended family got together on their genealogical interests
and formed the company Attic Memories. Webified Genealogy was folded into it.
WebGene moved to a new site with more resources and is now accepting submissions.
We would like to thank all who have contributed their suggestions to
the project. It would not be what it is without their suggestions.
Future
Future plans for enhancements include:
- General search engine like in the original.
- Create installation procedure
- Write documentation for administrators
- Release Webified Genealogy as a product
- Other ideas forthcoming.
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