There is constant conversation on USGenWeb lists, including other state lists. I thought
I would lump a few recent items in one message. You may want to save this email for future
reference, and/or post relevant information on your county and local sites.
Any USGenWeb Project member may subscribe to the DISCUSS-L to post, read, or respond to
any relevant discussion.
DISCUSS is a list open to all Project members. The list is a place where members may
comment on items of interest at the Project's National level. It often contains
political comments and the volume of mail can get heavy at times. You can subscribe by
sending a message to:
USGENWEB-DISCUSS-L-request(a)rootsweb.com for individual e-mails or
USGENWEB-DISCUSS-D-request(a)rootsweb.com for digest mail.
***
Rhio's Graphics. Those of you who have been around awhile may have seen or used these
excellent genealogy graphics on your websites. The current URL is:
http://www.rhiossampler.net/ Apparently, the old address goes to an unrelated site. IF
you use any of these free graphics on your pages, please read her requirements,
particularly, the requirement to display her logo on every page which contains a graphic,
with a link back to her page. Also, you may not alter the graphics in any way. After many
years of building pages, it's a good time to check our sites and make sure that we are
giving credit where it is due. I may be an offender!
***
Ancestry.Com/Rootsweb Search Boxes at the top of sites housed on RootsWeb. Recently,
Ancestry.Com has added a Search box at the top of USGenWeb sites housed there. If you have
a site on RW and are concerned about this, I can send you the instructions to remove the
box on your .html page, OR you may add language to the top of the page with a prominent
link to your local site search. I am a believer that there is no free lunch. If you feel
strongly about this issue, we do have space on the CTGenWeb server, and it is paid up for
3 years.
IF YOU HAVE MISPLACED YOUR ROOTSWEB PASSWORD, you should be able to retrieve it here:
http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ . If that doesn't work, the folks in
customer server are pretty responsive.
***
Chronicling America - Library of Congress
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
I'm sure most of you have used this site, but if not, it is a wonderful resource for
old newspapers. If you don't find anything in your county or town, it's worth
checking periodically for newly scanned newspapers. A few months ago I found the answer to
one of my biggest questions! :-)))
***
Making Our Sites More Mobile Friendly. I confess that I had not given this a single
thought until recent discussions on the lists. Most of us have hundreds, or thousands, of
pages created with a variety of composer software. Many date to the 1990's. It is a
daunting task, but I think we should each view our pages on different devices, to see how
they appear. I now check mine on my 24"monitor, my 12" laptop, and my Android
phone, and often go back and adjustments on the page.
Lynn Tooley knows a lot about creating or improving pages to be mobile friendly, and I
invite her to share basic information on this list.
Whether or not we are able and willing to rebuild current sites, there are ways to improve
the "readability" of old pages. If you have a smart phone, open your internet
page. You should see the entire page and scroll down the page. If you turn the phone to
a horizontal position, you'll more easily read the text. If you struggle to read the
text, you may need to enlarge the size, and/or increase the contrast. If you click on a
link, and hit the wrong one, you probably need to space them farther apart. I'm still
working on this myself in multiple counties and states.
Have a good weekend!
Pat S.
http://www.ctgenweb.org
patricia.sabin(a)comcast.net
Alternate Email: newlondon(a)patsabin.com