Bluebonnet Country Genealogy

Mary Tennessee Turner Rogers, James Richard Wright, Maryland Sue Stanley Hall. Home of Miles Francis Stanley II, Fort Worth, TX. February, 1968. Digital scan of original photograph from Mom’s Red Photo Album. Private collection Ruth Stephens, Benbrook, TX. 2008.

Tags: Hall, Rogers, Stanley, Turner

A big Thank You! to Bruce from RootsMagic for his input on my post Finally!. Bruce saw what I had written about my concerns about exporting images from RootsMagic for import into my TNG database and clarified that process for me.

This morning I created 2 more pages of Mom’s Red Photo Album, after not touching it for about 3 weeks. Last night I posted the album itself, to see if I could. (With my WordPress.com blog, I couldn’t post it!). Glad to get back into that task.

I also learned how to add images to my TNG database. Pretty simple, actually. This program really needs a manual! If I need help, I have to consult either their wiki or forum pages, where I may or may not find answers to my questions…

For whatever reason, my RootsMagic GEDCOM is easily imported into TNG, but the images are not. I have RM set to export images, but the images don’t make it into TNG. The name and info about the images arrive, but not the images themselves. Have I got TNG set-up incorrectly? Quite possibly, as I said there is no manual.

So my plan is this: add all data & images to RM, then as I complete each surname, I will export a GEDCOM and import it into TNG, and add that surname’s images at the same time. Having the online TNG database is great, but if I should lose my internet connection (ex: Gustav!), all of my data would then be inaccessible. Of, course on the other hand, if something happens to my real-time data, I have it all safely stored online. A fair trade, I think!

Just trying to see if I can get Mom’s Red Photo Album into a post (still learning about this self-hosted WordPress!). Seems to work pretty well!

P. S. The album’s not complete yet. Stay tuned!

One moment patting myself on the back… and the next instant, I’m kicking myself!

You see, I decided that I didn’t like to theme for my TNG database…so, just like the Grinch, I thought about it and thought about it…so I think I figured out how to change the theme to another of the themes that came with the program…I figured that I would just have to trade the present like-files for the ones in the new theme…so I tried it with one image file…and it worked…so I traded out the rest of the files…and it still worked…problem was, the photographs in the new theme where of who knows who…and I wanted my ancestors’ pix in there…so I found those image files, open them up in my Paint Shop Pro, and redid them as my ancestors’ photographs…so it traded these new image files…and it worked yet again!…so I went to my WordPress blog to tell you all about how d-mn smart I am, and…my blog was nothing but a bunch of error messages!…panic!…panic!…panic!…but, wait, maybe I just put a file in the wrong directory?…looks like I put the index.php file into the WordPress directory, instead of the TNG directory…so I downloaded another WordPress, found the file I needed, and uploaded it into the Wordpress directory, and…YOU’RE BACK!!!

Another busy day! I have re-written my Welcome page, deleted the Surname pages and cleaned up and cut back the massive list of categories. As for TNG, that will take a while. A big learning curve to master…

In the past week I have been extremely busy! I made the move to self-hosting, and then had to download to my computer the WordPress.org version and then upload and install in on my hosted site, and then export/import my blog into it. A real hair-puller-outer, let me tell ya! (Need help? Read WordPress for Dummies) But I finally got that up and running pretty smoothly.

Next step was a online GEDCOM-type program that could be added to my new site. I was originally looking at PhpGedView, which is open-source and therefor FREE, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it installed. I have a basic working knowledge of code and can even write a bit, as long as I have my handy-dandy Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML in my lap! And I am quickly learning, through much trial-and-error, about MySQL and PHP and the mechanics of self-hosting. So I’m not totally over my head, but I’m not treading water, either. (You like the poorly-disguised reference to Hurricane Gustav? He’s headed for the Louisiana/Texas coast with a vengence!)

My next choice for my genealogy database was The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding, TNG for short. TNG is very similar to PhpGedView…with one major exception: my hosting company will install it and get it set up for free! Well, that was a no-brainer. TNG costs $29.99, a good investment for me, certainly cheaper than treating a new ulcer!

So now I have my Wordpress.org blog and my genealogical database program both installed and functioning on my hosted site.

But what I really want is for TNG to be accessed through my blog, so how to make the connection?

Plugins, my Dear Watson!

Here the versatility of WordPress.org presents itself. I went to the WordPress plugin directory and found a plugin called Page Links To, which “allows you to make certain WordPress pages or posts link to a URL of your choosing, instead of their WordPress page or post URL.” Easy to install and activate (download zipped file, unzip, unload to plugins directory, go to plugins page from administration page, find plugin listed, click on activate button).

Now all I had to do was create a new page and add the URL of my database to the final configuration “question”, and now I have a direct link to my TNG database. Notice the Database tab at the top of the screen.

What’s left to do? Lots!

• Rewrite my Welcome page to reflect the changes
• Probably delete the Surname pages altogether, as this data can now be found through the TNG page
• Eventually “personalize” the TNG look a bit. I have already managed to change the title on the home page and insert a different image. As I said, I know a little code (fast food vs home cooking!)
• Reorganize and consolidate my blog’s categories listing. Through this process of changing to WordPress.org, I realized that I have way too many categories, too confusing. Need a little pruning there.

I spent most of yesterday tweeking the new self-hosted Bluebonnet Country Genealogy. One problem remained that I had to contact my hosting company over, but I got a message back from them this evening, and it was quickly remedied.

When I got home from work this evening, my daughter and granddaughter were close on my heals, and… I finally got my computer back about half an hour ago! My granddaughter got on her computer and my daughter grabbed mine, so I was about 1 laptop short again! Family time at my house, courtesy of DSL!

Anyway, hopefully tomorrow I can get back to research.

Or a new host, at least!

I am in the process of moving this Wordpress.com blog to a Wordpress.org blog at a hosted site, so please bear with me. The blog itself is moved and functioning quite well, but my bluebonnetcountry.com domain name isn’t active just yet, should be 24-48 hrs from last night (soon, I hope!).

I haven’t gotten all of the personalization completed, yet. But I do have a new header. I am also looking at new themes, although at this point MistyLook is still the best!

And about the WordPress.org Famous Five Minute Installation…It only took me 3 1/2 hours and 3 44oz Sonic Dr Peppers to get this beast off the ground! I’m really glad that I don’t smoke…

I just discovered Bluebonnet County Genealogy at Alltop! Hi, everyone!