The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding 7.1.1

The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding 7.1.1 is a surprisingly effective and powerful way to manage and display your genealogy data on the Internet, all without generating a single page of HTML. Instead, your information is stored in MySQL database tables and dynamically displayed in attractive fashion with PHP (a scripting language).

Major Features:

1. No HTML pages to generate
   • Other genealogy web site tools create a set of finished ("static") HTML pages, sometim`weak the look and feel, you do it in one location and it's done for the entire site!
2. Extremely customizable
   • Use one of TNG's pre-built templates to get off to a running start, or do everything yourself. A style sheet allows you to pick all colors, sizes and fonts — plus a whole lot more if you're up to it. A settings page allows you to easily change the values of many system variables. In addition, TNG also allows you to put a custom header and footer on each page. Add a menu at the top or down the left side, or enclose the main content inside a table — whatever you want. A look at some of the many sites already running TNG will reveal a fraction of what's possible.
3. Still visible to search engines
   • Even though TNG pages are not created until requested, they can still be indexed by external search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN, Ask, etc. That's because the finished pages are still just HTML, and the engines have to request the pages the same way you or I would. Just remember that it sometimes takes a while for the robots & crawlers to find your pages. Don't want them to find you? TNG will let you do that too.
4. Get your site indexed on the TNG Network
   • Until 2004, a site called GENDEX.com allowed any personal genealogy site to be indexed at a central location, so long as that site could create a special GENDEX file and was registered with GENDEX.com. Unfortunately that site has ceased to exist, but now you can join the TNG Network, which indexes TNG-created sites in much the same way. It's an excellent way to get your data in front of others who are searching for a connection. Have a look!
5. Mailing lists & support forum
   • Besides asking the author directly, you can also ask for help from other users with the aid of a TNG mailing list and a user forum message board.
   • Wordpress, PHPNuke, Zikula, CPG Nuke, Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, Lucid, Xoops, php_fusion and e107 compatible
   • Not only does TNG work great on its own, it can also function seamlessly as a module under any of these systems (with single sign-on) when used with an approved freeware add-on program. Use whatever theme you want!
6. Easy-to-read Individual pages
   • All individual and family records are laid out in a simple user-friendly format, one person to a page. With each person you'll also see links to photos, histories, headstones and other media, pedigree, descendancy, timeline and relationship charts, plus notes and sources, and family records for each marriage. If you see a problem, you can even use the Suggest tab to send a note back to the webmaster.
7. User Registration
   • Allow visitors to register for their own login. No accounts will be activated until you, the administrator, approve of the action. When you do, you can also elect to have TNG send out an automatic notification to the requestor.
8. Display messages translated into several languages
   • The public and administrative display messages have been translated into Afrikaans, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish, and the public messages have been translated into Icelandic and Serbian. The Help files & installation instructions have also been translated into French and Dutch. The display messages should be fairly easy to translate into any language, since they have been separated out into their own files. In other words, you don't have to hunt through any code to find the text.
9. Advanced pedigree charts
   • TNG's pedigree charts can display an indefinite number of generations (you decide the maximum you'll allow) in several different formats for every person in your database. Attached photos and dropdown data boxes with additional information make it the centerpiece of the whole application. With a single click, jump to the individual page or a new pedigree for anyone on the chart. You can even switch parents! And if that's not enough, the standard TNG pedigree charts now use a technology called AJAX to allow smooth browsing from one generation to the next. Climb up and down the entire tree without ever refreshing the page!
10. Relationship chart
    • Start with any individual, then pick any other person in your tree and TNG will display a graphical chart of their relationship. If the individuals are not related within a designated number of generations, TNG will tell you that as well.
11. Timeline
    • Display a bar chart comparing the lifespans of an unlimited number of individuals from your database. Start from any individual and add any person you browse to, or others. Plus, the chart is saved until you close your browser window. Add your own events to the timeline as well!
12. Descendancy chart
    • In a glance see an indefinite number of descendant generations for every person in your file (again, you decide the maximum), with links to each person's individual page. In the text-only chart, collapse or expand each generation. For each descendant listed on the text-only chart, you can also click to view a graphical tree tracing the line. Plus, switch easily between Standard and Register formats.
13. Register chart
    • As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Standard descendancy chart can instantly be toggled to display in text-only or Register format, which for some means a more readable alternative. More data in many cases as well.
14. Graphical descendancy tracing
    • An icon next to each descendant on the Standard descendancy chart links quickly to a boxes-and-connecting-lines display of parents, children and siblings, from the primary individual down to the person selected. Inset photos (like on the pedigree chart) and vital years make this a valuable visual tool. See an example here.
15. Printer-friendly pages
    • A link on each page now shows you the same page in a new window, without any headers, sidebars or page backgrounds, making it easier to create printouts of what you see without having it cluttered or pushed off the page.
16. PDF Reports available: Pedigree, descendancy and individual pages may now be exported in PDF format.
17. Simple and advanced searching
    • Search just on first name/last name, or try the Advanced Search to limit or expand the number of matches found. Use the Advanced Search to query by just about any event in your database. Choose whether the data "starts with", "ends with", "equals" or "contains" your search terms, or match by Soundex or metaphones. Use date ranges, plus show names of spouses if desired! Even decide whether to join all criteria with "AND" or "OR".
18. Surnames lookup
    • Track down individuals by surname, but not from an endless unreadable paragraph. Instead, view names in neat columns, and limit your search only to those beginning with a certain letter or symbol. Also see a list of the top 25 surnames in your file, or choose to see all surnames on a single page.
19. Collaboration possibilities
    • Set up various users and give them each their own set of rights (see living data, see LDS data, add/edit/delete, etc.). Anyone can still visit your site, but logged-in users will see even more (as much as you want them to), and can even help you add to or maintain your data.
20. Tentative Edit rights
    • Starting in TNG 5, you can grant users "tentative edit" rights, meaning that they will be able to edit existing events and submit proposed changes, but these changes will not become permanent unless you (the administrator) decide to accept them. Whenever you're ready to review these tentative edits, a list of them will be waiting for you in the Admin area.
21. Multiple family trees
    • If you have multiple GEDCOM files that need to be kept separate, you can do it by putting each one in its own Tree. Visitors can still search across all trees, but maintenance can be done on a particular Tree without affecting any others. Most users will only need one Tree.
22. Branches
    • Label different sections of your family tree and grant different users different permissions to those sections, or "branches". Now your family can have edit rights to their side only, and your spouse's family can have the same for theirs. New: Now each person can belong to multiple branches.
23. Dynamic language switching
    • If you've translated TNG's display messages into multiple languages, you can have TNG switch dynamically among them. Selecting a language from a dropdown box (visible on most public pages) instantly causes the page (and all subsequent pages until the next switch) to be displayed in the new language.
24. Media
    • Upload and link several photos, documents, histories, videos or audio recordings to individuals, families and sources. Give each item a title and description as well. You can even apply an image map, allowing you to assign different links to various parts of the photo or people in the picture. For histories, you can even compose your text right in TNG, or simply cut and paste your text or HTML from another application. Browse all media at once, or search for a keyword to help you find the ones you want. Or, pick one person and cycle through their own private list. Provide (or have TNG generate) a small thumbnail to be used on the pedigree & descendancy charts, and at the top of each individual page.

Requirements:

• PHP (a scripting language, 4.0 or higher preferred); and
• MySQL (a database, 4.0.1 or higher).