Free MyHeritage account and New & Updated listings...
Mar 13, 2021 3:21 am
Hope you're having a great week!
The genealogy community is still abuzz with all the great presentations at RootsTech two weeks ago.
NEW - Animate Photos
The MyHeritage site has been very busy with customers trying out the new feature, Animate Photos.
If you don't have an account at MyHeritage but would like to test this feature on your family photos, you can follow the instructions in this blog to create a free MyHeritage account. It will allow you to build a tree with up to 250 people and you can test up to 10 photos in the Animate Photos feature.
No time to create a free account? Check out their animated photos shared on International Women's Day.
Your free account - This is NOT a free trial requiring a credit card. Follow the instructions in the blog to bypass the pop-up for a free trial at MyHeritage. I love their site, and my husband, Mike, works for MyHeritage, but I'm not trying to push the product on anyone. Just follow the instructions in the blog to create a free account and see what the buzz is all about.
My parents have been deceased for 30 years and I thought it might be creepy to see them brought to life, but it was actually somewhat comforting, so I'm a fan of the new feature.
Funny Story
Mike is a perfectionist and a bit of a genealogy purist. I'm a hobbyist and am just doing this for fun. He saw how enthused I was with Bright Branches and said, "It's a fan chart" as in, 'Same 'ole, same 'ole, why are you so excited?'
I explained Bright Branches features, "It can be interactive, I can download free printable trees..." and he said, "Well you can't print that tree."
"Uh, I just did."
Then he said, "Well it has errors...I don't know why anyone prints their tree."
Okay, I can't even go down that rabbit hole.
So, if you are a perfectionist like my husband, here's the family tree product for you...L²Innovations. I'm buying him the 8 generation family tree version. This is a printable family tree that you fill in by hand...stay with me...with the new Frixion pens. These are similar to writing on a white board but it takes a little more effort to erase--so it won't be accidentally erased. The pens have an eraser that removes the ink and they also come with a microfiber cloth that, when wetted and used with pressure, also removes the ink. If you want to know how well this works BEFORE you commit to purchasing this product, you can buy a less expensive product at Amazon.com.
At Amazon or other stores, look for the Rocketbook Smart Reusable notebook (this is NOT an affiliate link). I own the Rocketbook spiral lined notebook and it comes with a Frixion pen & cloth. I take notes in the spiral, use the Rocketbook app to take a picture of my notes, send them to my computer as a digital file AND have the app send an OCRd version (turning my notes into typed text), and then I erase the notes from the Rocketbook notebook and reuse the blank pages. If I were selecting a new Rocketbook, I'd choose the smaller, executive size. I like the lined letter pages, some people prefer pages which include planner pages, etc. But you can get one in the $20 range and see if you like the technology.
Back to L²Innovations. They have several nice family tree designs. You'll need to do the work of filling out the tree by hand, but you can edit to your heart's content. With the scroll you get two pens, blue and black, and they suggest you only use the black pen for confirmed genealogical data. Use the blue pen when you're still researching the facts. It's a perfectionists' DREAM chart. And if you hate your handwriting you can probably pay some teenager to fill it out for you. I work with teenagers and can't believe how artistic some of them are with their handwriting. (But with what teenagers expect to be paid these days, that might not be cost-effective. No offense to any teenage readers, but really, I started out weaving palm fronds for a florist for 25 cents a frond.) Anyway, there's a product for every type of genealogy enthusiast.
New Listings
French Federation of Genealogy/Fédération Française de Généalogie
Updated Listings
Kentucky Public Records Online
Illinois Public Records Online
Florida Bureau of Archives and Records Management
Indiana Archives and Records Administration
Blogs
Updated How To Get Your Free MyHeritage Account
This newsletter went long, so even though I said I'd talk about the Innovators Portal this week, I'll wait till the next newsletter to give those updates--but it was fun!
Best with your research,
Alyson Mansfield