The Florida Genealogy Project and Trails to the Past are all about adding Data to our websites and enjoying each others company while we're doing it - that's it. You pretty much need to know how to type - accuracy is more important than speed. You need to have access to non-copyrighted data to transcribe for your county and the desire to transcribe that data.
You must know how to make a basic webpage.
What's involved in being a host?
1. The largest responsibility is to transcribe and post data on a regular basis.
The good news is there are no schedules. Many of our hosts try to make monthly updates,
some weekly, others every two or three months. Some folks work in spurts as their schedules
allow and that is fine too.
Just make the effort to keep the website current and we'll be happy. Websites that sit without
any new data added to them for extended periods of time quickly lose their appeal to researchers.
The more you transcribe, the more likely your website visitors will be inspired to contribute data
to your site.
Data to be included are items such as Census, Cemeteries, Marriages, Deaths, Histories,
Biographies, etc. following all copyright laws.
A good place to begin is with the documents you already have gathered from your own family history. Putting your data online will also increase the chances you'll meet up with somebody researching your own family.
2. Accept data contributions from others and place them online.
If researchers donate their records to your County, it's your job to place that data online, giving
a credit to the person who submitted the material.
What should your website look like?
You can be as creative as you'd like with your pages in the style and color of your choice, making
sure to include the following WEBPAGE ELEMENTS:
LINKS - Required ones are: back to our main Trails to the Past page, your state's main index
page and to the surrounding counties. The links must be displayed on your main index page,
usually near the top of the page is a good place. The counties can be linked on a page called
the neighbors if you prefer.
CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESS - displayed in an obvious place on the index page of the website
so researchers can contact you with questions or data contributions.
LOGO: Your main page must include the OFFICIAL Trails to the Past Logo of your choice and it
needs to be displayed near the top of your index page. Once you join us, you can visit our
Graphics Page to pick up one of the OFFICIAL Trails to the Past Logo. (You cannot make your
own logo, nor can you alter one of ours) We don't require logos on every page of the website, but
you should be sure to include a link back to your county's own main index page for the visitor's
convenience.
Your site should Include a brief history of your County. Let visitors know what your County was
all about. You can include historical photographs, biographies, public officials, tax lists from the
past. Libraries are excellent places to find public-domain materials like this to include. Other than that, you're free to add whatever other copyright-free data you can find.
You can create your pages in any style or color that you like, as long as the above elements are
present. Our data files are in html format, trying to keep the webpages as simple as possible for
the fastest loading possible.
Where do I place my site?
Rootsweb offers free web site hosting for Trails to the Past members. Ask your State Administrator
for more information.
Ready to host a county?
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