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Thanks for letting me know, Chris. I'll update my records.
Mike
--------------------------------------------------
From: "CHRISTINE M STOREY" <chrissy_7(a)q.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 6:23 AM
To: <idgen(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: Re: [IDGEN] Counties currently or soon to become available
>
>
> I am the coordinator for Twin falls, Cassia and Jerome counties and I have
> updated them in a year and want to keep them.
> Have a great day
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>> From: mike(a)saintclair.org
>> To: idgen(a)rootsweb.com
>> Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:32:10 -0600
>> Subject: [IDGEN] Counties currently or soon to become available
>>
>> According to my records, the following counties are currently vacant and
>> available for a new coordinator:
>>
>> Bannock
>> Butte
>> Custer
>> Minidoka
>> Shoshone
>>
>> The following counties are being released by their current coordinator:
>>
>> Adams
>> Camas
>> Elmore (I am already talking with a candidate Coordinator for this one)
>> Lincoln
>>
>> The following counties are likely to be released for new coordinators
>> shortly because:
>>
>> - The coordinator did not respond to the August roll call AND
>> - The coordinator has not responded to any direct email since August 1st
>> AND
>> - The coordinator has not updated their website in at least a year (in
>> some cases, many years)
>>
>> Bingham
>> Cassia
>> Gooding
>> Jerome
>> Kootenai
>> Lincoln
>>
>> Please notify me if:
>>
>> - you are the coordinator of one of these counties and feel my records
>> are in error
>> - you are aware of any other counties which "should be" on the list of
>> vacancies
>> - you are interested in taking on one of these counties, in addition to
>> those you already are assigned, if you have time available
>> - you are willing to take on one of these counties on a "temporary basis"
>> while another permanent coordinator is found
>> - you are interested in going on the waiting list for any county that is
>> not presently available
>>
>> Mike St. Clair
>> State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
>>
>> -------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
>> IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
>> in the subject and the body of the message
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
Hi Mike,
Not sure if I sent you an email or not, but I would like to move Idaho county as well. I am in no hurry though, so get the others done first.
Thanks
Penny
Idaho County
> From: mike(a)saintclair.org
> To: idgen(a)rootsweb.com
> Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:42:19 -0600
> Subject: [IDGEN] Availability of web space on idgenweb.org for individual counties
>
> I'm in the process of setting the subdomains up for the following counties that have requested space:
>
> Boundary
> Boise
> Canyon
> Gem
> Lewis
> Valley
> Washington
>
> I expect to be finished tonight or tomorrow. I will then work with the coordinators to help them move their web site material to the new server and test. If all goes well, the new URLs will be http://countyname.idgenweb.org/ (e.g. http://boundary.idgenweb.org/).
>
> If you are the coordinator for one of these counties, you will receive a private email message indicating how to connect to the new website. In return, if you want me to do the movement of data to the new server, or to help with any required modications (such as changing absolute URLs to relative URLs) you will need to send me a copy of you access information at Rootsweb. If you have asked for a county site but don't find your county listed here, please remind me.
>
> Mike St. Clair
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
In reviewing the current status of the county websites within IDGENWEB, I noticed a few things that give me some concern.
Of our 44 county websites, 9 are now without coordinators. Another 16 appear not to have been revised at all in at least a year - sometimes many years. That means more than half of our websites are not currently being actively maintained. I also found that 27 of our county sites do not have a local search engine to help our visitors find those hidden gems that they are seeking.
Discussions with some of you have revealed that some believe if there are valuable resources online at a county site, that should be adequate to be a valued part of IDGENWEB. Let me describe briefly some of the reasons why I don't believe that is true, either for the State Coordinator or for the researchers that visit us looking for help in their genealogical endeavors. While doing so, let me assure you that I found far more to like than to raise concerns. I greatly appreciate the effort, energy and creativity that you bring to your website. I'm glad to be associated with all of you in IDGENWEB!
Broken Links:
In the course of time, links that once worked become broken. It can be frustrating to find a link that ostensible points to exactly what I was looking for, yet returns the dreaded 404 error. It takes some effort to stay on top of this sort of change, which is inflicted upon every website.
Incomplete Information:
For most counties, what has been posted at our websites is a drop in the bucket compared to what could be there. I realize we all have other important matters in our lives, but taking on the responsibility to be a county coordinator assumes that we have some degree of commitment to making more information available tomorrow than is available today. We should all have a project or two underway to increase what we are providing, limited of course to the time and interest we have.
Stale Information:
Sets of data that were once up-to-date and complete become stale over time. It's not always true, but in many cases there are additions available that will make the data more complete and more valuable with just a little effort to make that additional information available. Births, deaths, marriages, obituaries, etc. continue to happen. And as time goes by, new records that may have been restricted by law become available.
New Features:
A few years ago it would have been a very unusual coordinator who would have something available like a local search engine. New technology makes that a snap now. That's just one example of the massive numbers of new potential features that are coming available to webmasters like our county coordinators. Granted, some are more technically adept than otheres, but what required a "guru" five years ago is possible for the novice today.
Summary:
The bottom line is that your new State Coordinator is not and will not be satisfied with websites that are not growing and improving. If you are interested in some active participation, you are in the right project. If you are NOT interested in growing and improving your site, perhaps you should let someone else take a shot at doing so. I will do my best to offer and provide any help you need in order to fit into this new, somewhat different pattern, for IDGENWEB.
Examples of Future Support you can Expect:
- I will be running a broken link check on each county website at least once a year and make those reports available to you. I will be glad to teach any of you how to do this yourselves, if you desire to.
- I will be providing some suggestions and helps for anyone who would like to add a search engine for their county pages.
- I will be providing some tracking reports to help you know how many pages you have, and what the age of those pages is.
- I will be offering periodic interactive help sessions for anyone who would like to participate.
Be assured that I do appreciate what you have done, as do the researchers. I well recognize that some have more time than others, and some are more technically adept than others. I know that some of you live near your counties, or near repositories that have information about your counties, while some of you are far distant from them. I also know that some counties have very limited resources in the way of records that could be posted, compared to others that have vast amounts. There is room for a wide diversity in personalities, capabilities and time availability in our project. But there is not room for anyone who just wishes to "have" the assignment but has no time or interest to make any additions or improvements to their site.
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
I'm in the process of setting the subdomains up for the following counties that have requested space:
Boundary
Boise
Canyon
Gem
Lewis
Valley
Washington
I expect to be finished tonight or tomorrow. I will then work with the coordinators to help them move their web site material to the new server and test. If all goes well, the new URLs will be http://countyname.idgenweb.org/ (e.g. http://boundary.idgenweb.org/).
If you are the coordinator for one of these counties, you will receive a private email message indicating how to connect to the new website. In return, if you want me to do the movement of data to the new server, or to help with any required modications (such as changing absolute URLs to relative URLs) you will need to send me a copy of you access information at Rootsweb. If you have asked for a county site but don't find your county listed here, please remind me.
Mike St. Clair
According to my records, the following counties are currently vacant and available for a new coordinator:
Bannock
Butte
Custer
Minidoka
Shoshone
The following counties are being released by their current coordinator:
Adams
Camas
Elmore (I am already talking with a candidate Coordinator for this one)
Lincoln
The following counties are likely to be released for new coordinators shortly because:
- The coordinator did not respond to the August roll call AND
- The coordinator has not responded to any direct email since August 1st AND
- The coordinator has not updated their website in at least a year (in some cases, many years)
Bingham
Cassia
Gooding
Jerome
Kootenai
Lincoln
Please notify me if:
- you are the coordinator of one of these counties and feel my records are in error
- you are aware of any other counties which "should be" on the list of vacancies
- you are interested in taking on one of these counties, in addition to those you already are assigned, if you have time available
- you are willing to take on one of these counties on a "temporary basis" while another permanent coordinator is found
- you are interested in going on the waiting list for any county that is not presently available
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
Mike,
I'd like to move Lewis County to IDGenWeb.org
-
Thanks,
Linda Simpson
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike St. Clair/ST
To: idgen(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 3:48 PM
Subject: Re: [IDGEN] New Location for IDGENWEB State Pages
The state pages will no longer be included in the Rootsweb "Search Thingy"
as is true of the national USGENWEB pages and a great number of other state
pages that have already made a similar move. However all the major search
engines will still cover it - e.g. Google, Yahoo, etc.
I have set up a custom Google search engine that covers the new state pages
and it will also include all county pages, wherever they reside. Every page
of the new state website includes a search box that uses that custom search
engine.
It's still completely the option of every county coordinator where they wish
to host their pages, be it Rootsweb, idgenweb.org, or some other web
hosting provider.
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Sharon McConnel" <gem_genweb(a)yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 12:47 PM
To: <idgen(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: Re: [IDGEN] New Location for IDGENWEB State Pages
> I'm confused. If we change servers, won't be moving away from RootsWeb's
> "search thingy" & other search engines?
>
> Sharon
> Gem, Valley, Boise Cos.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Mike St. Clair/ST <mike(a)saintclair.org>
> To: idgen(a)rootsweb.com
> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 10:41:17 PM
> Subject: [IDGEN] New Location for IDGENWEB State Pages
>
> I've just requested that USGENWEB point to our new state home page, at
> http://www.idgenweb.org/. Once that has happened I will make adjustments
> in the pages at Rootsweb to make sure our visitors will find us at the new
> location. I'm also ready to assign space on the new server to any
> counties that would like to reside there.
>
> Mike St. Clair
> State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.98/2371 - Release Date: 09/14/09 17:52:00
After almost a month of work I have finally finished Idaho and Montana of
Bancroft Works, Volume 31 "History of Washington, Idaho and Montana" If it
keeps going well I will have Washington online today, only 2 more chapters
to go!!!!
I have provided bookmarks for the counties that have information and thought
since several of you would be working on your pages now might be a good time
to add some new links to your sites.
http://www.idahogenealogy.com/
One thing I will say about this book, the footnotes contain more information
than some of the pages and for that reason I have put many of them on a page
of their own. The maps are great and will provide some additional research
for our readers. My only complaint was there was no information on Bonner
County.
Thanks
Judy
--
Native American Genealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/
AccessGenealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/
Good questions, Penny.
Let me start by emphasizing that no one is required to move. And as near as
I know, there have not been any hacker intrusions into GENWEB sites resident
at Rootsweb. I deeply appreciate the great service Rootsweb has provided
over the years by allowing GENWEB and other genealogical websites to reside
on their servers, and at no cost. That said, let me explain some pros of
moving the State pages to a different server. Many of these would also
apply to moving county websites.
1 - Elimination of the Ancestry header: Back in 2008 Ancestry, which owns
Rootsweb, decided to begin placing a header on most websites at Rootsweb
making it clear they were part of ancestry.com and advertising for the
commercial services Ancestry offers. I happen to be one of those who
subscribe to Ancestry and find it of great value in my research. But I
think the headers send a message that is inconsistent with the USGENWEB goal
of providing resources for free. It has made some think they were getting
the GENWEB resources from ancestry. Some states and counties don't feel the
same way and have chosen not to move.
2 - Making additional capabilities available: Rootsweb restricts the
available services for those who use their free websites. I'm sure they
have good reasons for doing this, but it does prevent their users from many
modern facilities that most web hosting providers supply, like databases,
scripting like PHP, content management and forum software, etc. These
additional services can substantially decrease the maintenance effort for
websites, for those coodinators who make use of them.
3 - Accounting information: Rootsweb does not provide any accounting
information about what pages are visited and by whom. Most web host
providers supply a substantial amount of such information to help the
webmasters understand how useful their efforts are.
On the con side, someone has to pay for the web space if it is not supplied
free by Rootsweb. I am funding the server space for IDGENWEB. Sometime
later in the year, I will give others the option to contribute small amounts
to carry that account forward in time, but as long as I am part of IDGENWEB
I will make sure we are covered. No one else is required to contribute
unless they would like to. It's not a substantial amount of money (about
$100/year) and there is sufficient space to accommodate all counties that
wish to make use of it.
Now for your last question about what you will need to do if you decide to
move.
All existing files will need to be moved from their present server to the
new one. I am happy to make that transfer for anyone who wishes that help.
If your files refer to absolute addresses at your Rootsweb or other current
location, those links will have to be adjusted. The right way to link is to
use what is called "relative links." I am happy to convert absolute
addresses to relative address in conjunction with a move to idgenweb.org for
any coordinator who would like me to do so.
If someone wants to move, or to try a move, I will set up the new account
and provide you with the access information so you can work on the new site
using FTP. (Server name, user name, password). Once the move has taken
place and tested to your satisfaction, I would then point the State pages to
the new location for the county page involved. I currently have requests
from several of you and will set up those accounts by this coming weekend.
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
--------------------------------------------------
From: "PENNY CASEY" <penny_randy(a)msn.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 8:36 PM
To: <idgen(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: Re: [IDGEN] New Location for IDGENWEB State Pages
>
> Can you tell me why you are changing to a different server? Is it just
> because of the hacker?
>
> Also, what are the pros and cons of moving our county site? And what do
> we need to do on our end if we decide to move it?
>
>
>
> Guess I have missed some emails or something. . . .
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Penny
>
> Idaho County
After almost a month of work I have finally finished Idaho and Montana of
Bancroft Works, Volume 31 "History of Washington, Idaho and Montana" If it
keeps going well I will have Washington online today, only 2 more chapters
to go!!!!
I have provided bookmarks for the counties that have information and thought
since several of you would be working on your pages now might be a good time
to add some new links to your sites.
http://www.idahogenealogy.com/
One thing I will say about this book, the footnotes contain more information
than some of the pages and for that reason I have put many of them on a page
of their own. The maps are great and will provide some additional research
for our readers. My only complaint was there was no information on Bonner
County.
Thanks
Judy
Native American Genealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/
AccessGenealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/
I've just requested that USGENWEB point to our new state home page, at http://www.idgenweb.org/. Once that has happened I will make adjustments in the pages at Rootsweb to make sure our visitors will find us at the new location. I'm also ready to assign space on the new server to any counties that would like to reside there.
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
A hacker has been attacking the national USGENWEB and some other project
sites. It would be best to stay away from the national website and the
Wisconsin State site until they have full resolved the problem.
Mike St. Clair
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Sherri" <ldrbelties(a)earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 7:11 PM
To: <usgenweb-all(a)rootsweb.com>; <board(a)rootsweb.com>;
<usgenweb-discuss(a)rootsweb.com>; <state-coord(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: [STATE-COORD] USGenWeb Project Site
> ************ Please share with other lists **********************
>
> The hacker that has played havoc with the USGenWeb National site and some
> of
> the other Project sites is still at it. We thought we'd tracked down all
> of
> the files, but we seem to have missed at least one. Please let your
> Project
> volunteers know of the problem and urge caution.
>
> When we have things under control, I'll let everyone know.
>
> Thanks,
> Sherri Bradley
> National Coordinator
> USGenWeb Project
> http://usgenweb.org
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> STATE-COORD-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
> quotes in the subject and the body of the message
FYI.
Mike St. Clair
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Sherri" <ldrbelties(a)earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 8:04 PM
To: <board(a)rootsweb.com>; <usgenweb-all(a)rootsweb.com>;
<usgenweb-discuss(a)rootsweb.com>; <state-coord(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: [STATE-COORD] USGenWeb National Site Unavailability
> *********** Please forward to other lists **********************
>
> The USGenWeb National site may be unavailable for a bit later tonight as
> it
> is completely reloaded in an attempt to contain the damage caused by a
> second hacker's attack in two days. If difficulties are encountered when
> trying to access the site anytime before tomorrow morning, please give it
> a
> bit of time and try again.
>
> We are very sorry for the inconvenience, but want to be sure that any
> residual effects from the attack are contained as best we can.
>
> Sherri Bradley
> National Coordinator
> USGenWeb Project
> http://usgenweb.org
Thanks for sending this, signed the petition.
Oma Sanders
Boundary County, Idaho
On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 12:40 PM, Mike St. Clair/ST <mike(a)saintclair.org>wrote:
> For background on this and a link to the petition, see the posting by the
> Federation of Genealogical Society's Records Preservation and Access
> Committee - http://www.fgs.org/rpac/
>
> Mike St. Clair
> State Coordinator - IDGENWEB
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> IDGEN-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
>
--
In God We Trust
For background on this and a link to the petition, see the posting by the Federation of Genealogical Society's Records Preservation and Access Committee - http://www.fgs.org/rpac/
Mike St. Clair
State Coordinator - IDGENWEB