Dear All:
Some of you have posted really nice and comprehensive
descriptions of your brick walls on the roll call. There is also
an very interesting method to utilize the combined benefits
of the message boards and the mailing lists that could be
of use to everyone.
We can use of the archiving capability of the message board
and the address of the URL of that message to keep your
information available and easy to reach for viewers.
The process is:
A: Most genealogy software programs will allow you to segment a
specific portion of the family tree. So create the descendants tree
or ancestry tree in your program or from your ancestry files
and then copy that to the clipboard.
B: Open the message board at
www.rootsweb.com
for the specific surname and or Clan.
C: Create a new post and copy the material of the ancestor
from above into that post.
D: Go to Tools or other options on your email program and open
the sig lines feature option
E: Create the Sig Line block in your email program
Insert the name of the brick wall or person at the top of the chart
along with the highlights of location and time etc. This is effectively
your subject lines so make it eye catching and complete. Then copy
the message URL into the next line just below the subject line.
E: You now have a 2 line sig line! It lets a viewer go to the same
reference point by merely clicking on the URL. If they reply, then
you will get that reply automatically. It also gathers all the
information
on that ancestor in one location so you have a stream of replies for
all
to see and comment on. That URL becomes a universal locator for
you to add to all your outgoing messages and other messages.
Especially
if you have a lot of documentation etc it will help to confirm to
other
viewers that this is the right tree.
F: Then when you post to the SURNAME-L(a)rootsweb.com "insert" and select
the appropriate sig line in that message instead of merely the long
line of
surnames that nobody really looks at. It will then be a sig line of
interest
to people in that mailing list with a really easy way to check to see
if
it fits their family lines. This allows you to post your SPECIFIC brick
wall on
every post to that specific surname list! That way the more help
you give
others by posting , the more visibility your brick wall receives and
thence
the more chances you have of getting help in return :-)
G: It will also benefit the new search engines that are coming on stream
here
at Rootsweb. That search engine will then find your messages that
relate
to that specific ancestor you are researching.
You are now using the message boards as an online archiving and retrieval
system. Most people will not go to the threaded archives etc but a simple
click on the url below an interesting subject line will likely get their
attention.
It has the added benefits of:
A: always visible forever.
B: easier to find than the archives list.
C: keeps the threads across many months and years
D: there will be an auto reply to you whenever a reply is given.
E: New search engine will find related messages.
Let's use the combined benefits of the message boards and
the mailing lists to our mutual advantage. Please feel free to pass
this email to anyone of interest.
Best Regards
John A Hansen
List Admin
jahansen(a)qwest.net
BTW: Example below for one of my brick walls :-)
Isaac Brownell > Mass > 1772 ( My ALDEN Line)
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=surnames.bro...