Custom Formats Contributed by Users
Some users have submitted custom Formats for your use. See the Custom Formats Contributed by Users page.
SecondSite-L
Second Site has a dedicated RootsWeb mailing list, SecondSite-L. Subscribe today to discuss how to use Second Site with other users.
Downloads
See the Downloads page for files related to Second Site that are not included in the latest installation package but that you may find useful.
Web Site Resources
Second Site will make web pages for you. The only other thing you need to know is how to publish those pages, but you may want to know a lot more. The resources listed here can help.
Web Site Hosting Services
If you plan to share your web pages on the World Wide Web, you will need a web hosting service. Your ISP may include web space with your account. A good resource for selecting a web hosting service is Web Hosting Ratings. Their FAQ explains some terms you'll encounter when you are shopping for a service.
My web hosting service is FutureQuest. I am a very satisfied customer, but I think their web hosting packages are better suited for commercial sites than for personal sites. Web hosting services that are rated highly by Web Hosting Ratings and mentioned frequently by Second Site users are
When shopping for web hosting services, it's important to remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. All web hosting services have a finite amount of resources (bandwidth, disk space, etc.) and those resources are shared in some manner by customers. Some deceptive web hosting services promise each customer oodles of disk space, etc., but when any particular customer attempts to use more than a fraction of what was promised, the company deactivates the account. Other companies simply over-sell their services and while they do not deactivate accounts, their customers are disappointed by poor response time or other problems. Caveat emptor.
Registering a Domain
If you want your own domain name, you need to register a domain. Web hosting services will often include a service to register a domain, and using that service may be an inexpensive option. Domain names are separate from web hosting services, however, and it is important that you retain control over the domain. In the future, you may want to move your site from one web hosting service to another. If your web hosting provider has control over the domain, that will complicate the process.
There are a number of comnpanies that offer domain registration services. The grand-daddy of all is Network Solutions, Inc. Their service may be better suited to more technical users. Another choice is GoDaddy.
General
A guide I recommend, and one that is specific to genealogical web sites, is part of the Cyndi's List site: Cyndi's Genealogy Home Page Construction Kit.
Another genealogy specific resource of note is recommended by the National Genealogy Society: Guidelines For Publishing Web Pages On The Internet.
thesitewizard.com includes information about website design, promotion, and implementation.
The Web Design Group (WDG) provides references and tools on their HTML Help page.
The W3Schools.com site has a lot of information about web technologies, but it is more appropriate for intermediate and advanced users than for beginners.
Specific to Second Site
Terry Reigel's Using Second Site to Share Your TMG Data includes multiple articles that decribe how Terry uses Second Site.
CD Resources
You can make the contents for a genealogy CD using Second Site. If you want to create many copies of a CD, consider using the CD & DVD Duplication service from Wholly Genes.
FTP Resources
Many web hosting services allow FTP access to their servers for their users to manage web site content. Check for FTP clients at the following sites:
| FTP Clients by Rating from CWSApps | WS_FTP LE |
| CuteFTP | WS_FTP Pro |
TMG Resources
Many testers said that Second Site helped them find problems with their data and their TMG sentences. If you have a question about TMG, make sure you visit the Wholly Genes web site and Lee Hoffman's TMG Tips web site. Lee's site includes links to many other pages and resources.
TMG Companion Programs
See my home page for other TMG companion programs.
Search Engine Resources
The article How to Improve Your Search Engine Ranking on Google by Christopher Heng provides some tips on improving the chances that someone using Google will find your site. Google explains how their search works on the Our Search: Google Technology page.
Thanks to John Davis, a Second Site user who identified the search engine resources described above in a SecondSite-L message.
