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Programs I use and recommend

I put all my data onto Legacy 7 Family tree software. Its free unless you choose to pay extra for the deluxe version. (Which I do).
Down load it free from LEGACY
It happily handles the 100+ trees that I work with.


From Legacy I initially upload the GEDCOM to GENES REUNITED to see who else might be researching the particular tree I'm working on at present.
Although there is a fee for this site, it has certainly paid dividends for me year after year.

TNG (The Next Generation)

It is with this this program that I have displayed all my Mitchell trees to the world on the internet.
Although initially it will require some skill to set up the SQL database, after that the looks of the program are down to your own imagination.
Templates are provided to give "standard" looking pages (which I have used) but many users have adopted their own versions with great success.
The program is not free, but is not expensive either and I don't know how Darrin Lythgoe (the author) manages to make a living from it.
Buy it at TNG
See other users of TNG at Other User Sites


W3C Markup Validation Service
This is a free service to check the validation of your web pages.
Incorrectly coded web pages may initially look OK on the browser that you use, it may look OK on a PC using Windows.
But how do you know that it displays correctly on other browsers, systems or computers like perhaps an Apple Mac?
The only way you can (nearly always) guarantee it, is to have perfectly coded pages. W3C will check this for you instantly.
Just click the W3C icon above this paragraph to see it in operation.
I must admit I have not got all my pages perfectly validated as it is continuous work in progress.
Well validated pages will increase your ranking with google and other search engines as their "bots" do not like poorly coded pages.
W3C will also check your CSS for you.


For many years, because Microsoft included Internet Explorer in the Windows bundle, that's all people used.
Now however there are many browsers available, usually at no cost.
Firefox has to be the leader of this pack. I don't know current statistics but if Firefox hasn't already overtaken IE, it soon will.
See a survey on YouTube

Pics4mail

This is a great little FREE program. Basically it will reduce that enormous photo, using enormous memory down to a sensible size suitable for emailing or even putting pictures on websites where memory is at a premium.
It will also do basic cropping. Down load it from Midnightmonkey  (Its safe I promise).


This has to be one of my biggest sources now-a-days for census data (taken from the image, not transcriptions) and British GRO data.
Yes it is expensive but there are always ways of getting 20% off. Does anyone pay the full upfront price?
For instance buy Family Tree maker from Ancestry for £59.99 and get Ancestry free for 6 months worth £65. So not only have you saved £6 but got a free program to boot!
When it comes to renewal time, don't renew, (remember to cancel), wait about 6 weeks and they will invite you back with a 20% discount!
Attend a Genealogy show where Ancestry are displaying, moan about the cost and they will give you a 20% off voucher, no trouble.
I have now probably bu**ered up any chance of getting a discount again, my file will be marked but if I have got 50 extra people to get it cheaper, it was worth it.

Other websites

There are far to many to begin to list but (assuming you are researching UK families) you should always checkout the locality with GENUKI.
This might lead you to other websites where perhaps a local genealogist has transcribed all the local parish records and put them on line.
This is particularly true in Cornwall, plus all sorts of other local information.


This has nothing to do with genealogy but has to be the greatest FREE word processor/database/spreadsheet program out there.
I have been using it for years and it just gets better and better with every upgrade and version that comes out.
Download it FREE from OpenOffice

Note

I don't ask for any payment or commission from the above websites, it just gives me satisfaction to acknowledge their usefulness to me.