CYNDI’S LIST IS NEW, EASIER AND UPDATED
Brenda Kellow
June 26, 2011
Anyone who has been researching his or her family history for a while knows about Cyndi’s List, at www.cindislist.com. On June 6, she released her newly upgraded Web site with improved navigation, a custom database, and a custom administrative interface. This makes visiting the site quicker and easier. The owner and administrator Cyndi Ingle Howells with the assistance of the staff of fusionSpan of Maryland made the improvements to implement the new technology that is perfect for our genealogical community. It categorizes subjects relative to all our genealogy research. Although newly upgraded, Cyndi’s List remains the world's largest one-woman family history resource. Her purpose and intent of Cyndi's List is to be a free jumping-off point for your daily genealogical research.
Some of the new upgrade, according to the announcement, are:
· The front page of the Cyndi's List site has a rolling genealogy news feed and a link to The Cyndi’s List Daily. Start each day with the front page of Cyndi's List and read the current genealogy news stories.
· The links are now contained within a database and pages will be dynamically loaded on each visit.
· Updates made to Cyndi's List will be immediately available to the public.
· Previous to the upgrade, the "What's New" page and mailing list post contained only new links submitted by visitors. The new "What's New" page and e-mail will contain those, as well as links added to the site during the day by Cyndi, *and* existing links that have been updated throughout the site (new addresses, updated descriptions, etc.).
· Across the site links have been labeled with graphics as "new" or "updated" when appropriate. With the upgrade these will now be text-based notations (easily spotted in green), which means that you can search on a page for "new" or "updated" with the Edit>Find function in your web browser.
· Now sub-categories within a category heading each have their own page. And each page displays 20 links, with pagination in place to go to the next page and so on.
· Intuitive navigation at the top of the category makes it easy to find your way to previous category headings.
· The number of links within each category/sub-category is displayed at the top right on each page.
· Each of the U.S. counties (more than 3,100) now has a designated page of its own.
· URLs (addresses) for the pages have changed so bookmarks, favorites, and links to Cyndi's List will need to be updated.
What Has Stayed the Same?
· The category and sub-category names are the same, likewise the layout and format of the links are the same.
· Related Categories are highlighted at the top right on each category.
· The Cyndi's List Mailing List will still distribute a daily What's New e-mail and a daily Link Activity e-mail and will cover information about all new and updated links.
TALKS ON LOCAL DIGITIZATION PROJECTS: Tara Coldwell from the University of North Texas (UNT) will speak at the W. O. Haggard Library first floor program room on July 16. In her talk, Tara will acquaint us with the UNT Digital Libraries and the Portal to Texas History. These are great resources available locally to all researchers. The talk, sponsored by Genealogy Friends, begins at 10:30 and ends around noon. Come learn, network with other genealogists and historians over coffee and refreshments.
The group sponsors an all-day workshop on November 19 featuring Kelvin Myers as the speaker.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
Some of the new upgrade, according to the announcement, are:
· The front page of the Cyndi's List site has a rolling genealogy news feed and a link to The Cyndi’s List Daily. Start each day with the front page of Cyndi's List and read the current genealogy news stories.
· The links are now contained within a database and pages will be dynamically loaded on each visit.
· Updates made to Cyndi's List will be immediately available to the public.
· Previous to the upgrade, the "What's New" page and mailing list post contained only new links submitted by visitors. The new "What's New" page and e-mail will contain those, as well as links added to the site during the day by Cyndi, *and* existing links that have been updated throughout the site (new addresses, updated descriptions, etc.).
· Across the site links have been labeled with graphics as "new" or "updated" when appropriate. With the upgrade these will now be text-based notations (easily spotted in green), which means that you can search on a page for "new" or "updated" with the Edit>Find function in your web browser.
· Now sub-categories within a category heading each have their own page. And each page displays 20 links, with pagination in place to go to the next page and so on.
· Intuitive navigation at the top of the category makes it easy to find your way to previous category headings.
· The number of links within each category/sub-category is displayed at the top right on each page.
· Each of the U.S. counties (more than 3,100) now has a designated page of its own.
· URLs (addresses) for the pages have changed so bookmarks, favorites, and links to Cyndi's List will need to be updated.
What Has Stayed the Same?
· The category and sub-category names are the same, likewise the layout and format of the links are the same.
· Related Categories are highlighted at the top right on each category.
· The Cyndi's List Mailing List will still distribute a daily What's New e-mail and a daily Link Activity e-mail and will cover information about all new and updated links.
TALKS ON LOCAL DIGITIZATION PROJECTS: Tara Coldwell from the University of North Texas (UNT) will speak at the W. O. Haggard Library first floor program room on July 16. In her talk, Tara will acquaint us with the UNT Digital Libraries and the Portal to Texas History. These are great resources available locally to all researchers. The talk, sponsored by Genealogy Friends, begins at 10:30 and ends around noon. Come learn, network with other genealogists and historians over coffee and refreshments.
The group sponsors an all-day workshop on November 19 featuring Kelvin Myers as the speaker.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].