I am just kicking around ideas, but what do you think if I invited people on my Celenza site to post their family trees or link them. Would that be a good idea or too personal? A lot of people are using my guest book to make contacts. The town is so small, I think most people are related. I am trying to think of a way to help people connect without being Miss Cathy and extracting the entire town. I don't have her energy!!!!

I was at one time thinking of a bulletin board but I hear they get spammed all the time....unless I use some sort of google or yahoo forum/ I don't know....Can any one help me brainstorm???

Poipu04 wrote:

The town is so small, I think most people are related. I am trying to think of a way to help people connect without being Miss Cathy and extracting the entire town. I don't have her energy!!!!

I don't have her energy either! lol Why not a start a forum like James Bianco has on The Carini Exchange? Or, there are Yahoo Groups set up for this sort of networking. I belong to a few and I beleive James has a Carini group. I think the Yahoo Groups are very simple to set up and are fairly secure. He would know more.

That is exactly the reason I started the "Carini Exchange". I wanted to have all of us exchange what we have uncovered in our Carini Ancestry research. I think three people out of more than 100 members ever posted their charts. The others unfortunately came, researched ... and left without a word or even joining one of my two forums. One guy recently even took my whole Carini families database (that my cousin Michel compiled from the church records 1538-1777 on my website) and uploaded it to Ancestry.com!!

I would really love to have people share, its a great idea, but I have had no luck getting them to do so.

I know what you mean. A few people have shared pics and stories for my site, which is great. But the only way we can really connect is if everyone shares. Instead, I am like a match maker, culling through my e-mail contacts and guest book and trying to put people in touch with each other. That is fine for now because I only have a few really active visitors who e-mail me a lot.

So, do you think I should try to start a yahoo group or something or put an appeal on my home page that if you want to link your family histories on my site, contact me?

Well I started with a yahoo group, before my website. It did well for a while and then as soon as I started putting records up, the dialogue decreased. You might try one, how can it hurt?

I actually prefer my own Forum, and have this past year de-linked the Yahoo group from my cariniexchange website. The yahoo group still does link to my site though.

I would like a guestbook actually, maybe i'll work on creating one.

Hey Lori,

Extracting a whole town is not easy..Had I known Ardore was so big (well, to me its big) I may have thought twice. But there is a certain satisfaction you get out of working on a project like that.

As for one town forum, its hard only because I think people get stuck on that one town and don't realize that people really moved around quite a bit. Besides, James has given them everything they need to research Carini with no personal financial gain. There are lots of websites out there but none is as comprehensive or as complete as the Carini Exchange! I think he is the one that keeps Cathy and I on our toes...

I would invite people to share their info on your site. Ask them to mail you their info and to make sure they consent to having YOU put their info online. Then go for it. See what happens.

Lori,
You know I have had a hard time keeping up with everything but I am trying to work on my Montalto Uffugo site a little more even if it means slacking on the records a little ( *ducks Bianco's whap*). I have received many pictures and passports and all sorts of information. I need to get it all online and I am hoping as I do it will inspire others to contribute. I am in the process of emailing those who have emailed me and begging for stories, pictures and information. I am asking them to pass it on. I'll let you know if that works. I have mixed passports sent to me with some that fell off the Ancestry site. I have no clue how they ended up on my hard drive - really!!
Montalto Uffugo Passport Gallery

OMG. I love the passport gallery...so some are from ancestry? Or did they fall off of ancestry the way something "falls off a truck"? LOL? I would assume that since they are public documents, it would be ok to publish the images without ancestry's permission. I guess I should ask my atty. hubby. But that has inspired me!!!

I have a basic question about yahoo groups. I already have a few yahoo e-mails that are not related to Celenza (just personal business). Do I have to created another uder i.d. to create a yahoo group for Celenza?

I'm not sure what you are asking. Yahoo Groups are separate from other yahoo services. If you do not want your personal info on your email contact creat a new yahoo email address and create your group. Since I only visit Yahoo Groups, I do not know how to do this but I assume they explain in on the site. Or if James Bianco is lurking around, maybe he can explain it. He created a group for Carini.

Hey, Cathy thanks! My other question...and maybe I should move this to the PC board, is the pros and cons of free message board services? If I google "free message boards" I see a bunch with this service. However, my poor friend on www.paduli-in-american.net get slammed with porn on his board all the time. I definitely don't want that!

Lori, I found some guest books that look exactly like forums. Also, have you considered a free forum? Remember the old Gente? And Jim Bianco (again with the Bianco reference! ) has a forum for Carini using the same free provider as the old Gente. Perhaps Nuccia can give you some feedback on that. I would think it would be easier to remove spam from an actual forum.

Oh, great ideas! I will write to Jim!

Hey Everyone,

Just reading through all this so I am a bit late in jumping in. This is my two cents worth ... Hope no one minds.

Ancestry records are ok to use (public domain). Ancestry owns the compilation, not the records. Taking a few records is ok as long as you do not create a whole "story" using their info and compilation. This I got directly from the legal department at ancestry.

As for yahoo groups...I don't like them at all. I find them difficult to use and very cheesy looking. They are also hard to find when someone goes looking for one.

The free forum site I used was great. I did have a lot of problems witht he servers going down since when they spam the site, they spam the WHOLE site so everyone goes down. They have since improved that problem. Yes, spammers join but you can tell who they are most of the time. There is a way. Again though, you are limited to templates and such if that it important to you, but they are very easy to find in the search engines. They also have pop up ads unless you pay to have they blocked from your site.

All in all..a forum versus the yahoo group is best in my opinion. Just prepare to keep busy.

Let me know if you need any help.