Thanks for the feedback Bill. Your comment about getting my own domain to publish a website is one I tried a couple of years ago. I registered the domain name and arranged with my cousin to load the files on his server. It turned out to be a hassle as it was difficult to get him to update the files, and I'm not computer savvy enough to attempt this on my own.
I've also been concerned with commercial sites for the reason that you stated - once the the data is uploaded to their servers, who's to say that the data will not end up in someone's tree despite their claims of security. What struck me about Google Sites is what I read in their Help file. If you later decide to delete your website, the following message is issued: "WARNING: Deleting a site is permanent!. Recovery is not possible and you will not be able to recreate a site at this location." I may be wrong, but I took this to mean the data is not backed up, so will be permanently deleted. This coupled with the access restrictions that are allowed are what got me interested in Google sites. I'm going to take up Ron's offer and contact him off-list re: Google Sites to get his take on it. Thanks again Stan Bill wrote: > > Stan: > > One way to share with just family members could be to get your own domain and > publish your information to your own website with password protection. I did > this for a while because I distrust the bigger genealogy websites that claim > they have security. They all backup to their own servers and there's no > telling where that data will end up years later. Personal experience proved > this for me when data I deleted years before was reposted when the company > bought out the website I posted it to. > > A big challenge of posting to your own website is format. The many online > genealogy tree websites make it easy to just upload a GEDCOM file. Doing this > on your own website is much more difficult unless you just want to turn a > Legacy report into HTML which would be the easier solution. > > If you are going to publish publicly, I wouldn't include sources. I was told > years ago that the source is your website address. This information came from > the owner of a company that puts out a well-known genealogy program and I > thought it was a good idea. Don't give too much away for others to steal. I > also don't include full dates either--just years. I'd also remove any notes > especially if they are personal. If they want the information, they can > contact you directly and then you can decide if you want to give them the > full details. Generally I see what they have to offer first before I hand > over my hard work. > > My reasons for being suspicious are valid. While some people have been good > sources of information when contacting me, others had self-serving motives. > One told me he was a well-known writer and was looking for historical > information I might have on a famous ancestor. Because the data he was > seeking was for a person who was very distant to me, I didn't mind sharing > but made it clear that in his book he was to use the name of the person who I > got this information from and not myself. After that I never heard back from > him and I also found that he lied about being a well-known writer. Another > person I entrusted with my data used it for publication and I received no > credit. They gave the credit to themselves. This was information that was not > available online or anywhere else because it came from unpublished family > sources. > > I guard my data very carefully now and only share with family and distant > cousins I have found over the years. The rest can wait for the book. > > Bill Boswell > > -----Original Message----- > From: s megraw [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 8:20 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Google Sites & Legacy > > > I appreciate your comments Ellen. I have thought long and hard about putting > my family history online. It is something I have resisted because of the bad > experiences of the others. Your message is another reminder that I should > continue to resist and find other means of sharing information with family > members. > > Thanks > > Stan > > > Ellen wrote: > > Stan, just some food for thought. I'm sorry that I cannot answer your > > specific question. However, I forget if I read it in "Professional > > Genealogy" or where it was. Although many people are into putting their > > research online, it is not something that everyone does nor is it > > considered professional. The Board for the Certification of Genealogists > > and the International Commission of Accredited Professional Genealogists do > > not permit their certified or accredited genealogists to publish work in > > this manner. Every person whose information is published should technically > > sign a release for that purpose before publishing if you want to seek > > genealogical credentials. Just in case you are looking into getting > > genealogical credentials, you might want to get a copy of "Professional > > Genealogy." I just got it for Christmas and I have been looking into this > > for quite some time since I believe that family information should be > > guarded a good bit more than most people do. The BCG also has articles on > > their website www.bcgcertification.org and ICAPGen has training videos on > > their site www.icapgen.org. Maybe you would like to review those for > > another viewpoint. Some people I have encountered people who believe that > > online publishing is expected and encouraged by all. For those of us who do > > not publish online for a myriad of reasons, I thought I would interject > > this. > > > > God bless, > > Ellen > > > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
