www.Leazott.com

The "Down-Low" on "What's Up"!!                                             2015 08 01
We're Gaining Direction!!



This Months Biggest News...

More big news this month for the family website!
The new Family Tree Software is uploaded and working well!
Reports are being posted in The Leazott Family Tree and The Leazott Family Calendar!!
As a starting point, the family members that have been in previous and current L-Pages are shown.

There was a LOT of time spent last month learning the software and adding members to the tree.
Current tree-members include 380 family surnames (Ours plus those married into or from).
These family individuals total 1997 combining directly and indirectly related. More added monthly.
Consider this is a basic tree with rudementary info such as birth and death dates, places and spouses.

Last month, as many as possible were readied in time for publishing with their data sheets connected.
The census's were attached to each member, and work well with the viewer in the downloads section.
Additional/future pictures or documents will be linked to their pages, as well as summaries if needed.
So far, the ones published are working very well, and they link to the others as they should.

You can get the software, then follow along, and add the pages to your own tree.
Check the data and references, and report any discrepancies so we can all enjoy a better site!
Use the uploader page to add additional information, documents and photographs you may have.
New information is always welcome!



The Deeper Story...


An Unexpected Double-Whammo!!...
Downloading time for the newly aquired census files halted when The Family Tree Software started.
There are only so many hours in a day, and we all do what's most important.

So as the tree was being worked on, occasionally a new census was needed for info verification.
Not only did this add to the census download files, but it gave a first-hand practice at using them!
Folks, this is not nearly as difficult as you would think!

There are a few basic things you need to know in order to use these files effectively.
Which, when you think about them, they're all just common sense!

The more of this information you know, the easier your search becomes.
They are listed here in a very specific order of their importance...

1-Census Year        (Year The Subject Lived In-The Very Basic Starting Point)
2-State                  (State The Subject Lived In-States Fall Into Numerical/Alphabetical Breakdowns)
3-County               (County Within Their State/"Usually" Alphabetical, With A Few Exceptions)
4-Township Name   (Town Within Their County/"Usually" Alphabetical, With A Few Exceptions)
5-District Number   (District Within Their Town/"Usually" In Numerical Order, With A Few Exceptions)
6-Page Number      (Page Within A Given District-Speeds Up The Process Instead Of Looking At Each)
7-Persons Name     (Name Spelling Within Reason-Needed To Find The Persons Name On The Page)

Some pages actually list the street names on them, but the above items make your search quicker.
Street names aid in confirming it's a correct person-Similar names are used more often than you think!
The "Exceptions" generally happen more often during the earlier years. The newer the better on this.

The information sequence I just gave you is the "Fast-Track" to geanealogy 101.
Armed with that, you begin much faster than I did, and suffer less burnout by the end of each day!

Like anything else, hindsight is 20/20, and it took much longer to learn their "system" than it should.
Those that are reading this before starting will benefit, but many will start out before seeing this info.

Another plus side to using this software was that as census files were needed, they were retrieved!
Meaning, time was spent directly on the ones most needed instead of additional ones.
Whammo!! Still making progress on the census's AND the family tree all within the same timeframe!!
Of course, more will be downloaded as members spread out, but the initial info is what's needed now.

When you purchase the census files on CD's, you'll find these and more names even faster than me!
Knowing this system you'll have many hours of fun and excitement (Not to mention learning!).
Good luck, have fun and enjoy!



This Months L-Page...

This months subject: Victor Leonard Leazott 1870-1946.
Wondering who that is? You'll need to join first, then read here.

L-Page characters are chosen each month in connection with others being added to the family tree.
This way, we see how the family relationships grew, and the roles they played within their families.
As a bonus, the family tree flow-chart grows each month without having any gaps or "orphan pages".

If you haven't gotten it already, Download The Family Tree Software In The Geneology Section.
Follow along every month for new stories, and add the subjects to your tree!



The Newest L-Games...

Here's a fun way to learn bits and pieces of information that would otherwise slip by.
Play online if you've already joined. If not, just print the PDF's for crayons & highlighters.
Youngsters too small for computers can still learn about their family history tree!

Plans are to have various topics relating to learning the family tree and it's information.
If possible, each month a new variation of one of the games to the website.
There's already word search, with plans for crosswords and quiz's still to come!!
Links to previous games will be left for all as long as webspace allows.

Be sure to leave some feedback about it for creating ones with more difficulty or easier needs.



Software Downloads List...

Each month, another good piece (or pieces) of usable software will be highlighted.
They may be related to genealogy, computers, websites, or for just plain fun!
Click here for a brief rundown on each of the highlighted selections!
If you've a particular need or interest, feel free to make a suggestion in the guestbook!






Improving The Website...

Every month, many new features are added to the website and older ones improved upon.
This section is a chance to brag a little bit about the past months accomplishments.
It's just a way to make sure all the hard work doesn't get forgotten or go un-noticed!

Sometimes, it may take days and days just to make a very small item work properly on the web.
Although users may not notice at all, it's a real sense of accomplishment to overcome these obstacles.
So big or small, this is the section where they get to shine!


New Page Added...

A Research page has been added.
It's present function is to ask for user help to identify other families that were in Canada and the US.
Help is needed for MANY surnames, so if you have access to the data being sought, please help out!
Take a look, and send in an info link if you know of one or other help if you have it.

In the future, this will hopefully evolve into links to aid in researching family and individuals.
Possibly with helpful tips for beginners on how to avoid wasted time and incorrect or false data.
Sometimes, the best advancements are simply to minimize the pitfalls.


Family Tree Report...

People always want to know just how much of our family has been accounted for.
With the family tree being such a main interest of this website, a monthly count will be posted here.

Family Tree individuals total 1997 combining directly and indirectly related (Inc basic members).
Current tree-members include 380 family surnames (Our variations plus those married into or from).
Most of them aren't published yet. More are posted weekly or monthly as the data becomes available.
After an individuals data has been completed and confirmed, they will then be added to the postings.
Posting has started with the members of and relating to the L-Pages for connecting purposes.
Other family surnames have variations also, and are included in those numbers.

Most of the lines are accounted for, and others will be found for connecting or by user requests.
The focus now is on "Phase 2"-Collecting and posting basic historical genealogy data and documents.
Numerical increases will still continue to happen sporatically while the information is being gathered.
These numbers are by no means at an end. They continue growing as new lines are discovered.

Keep in mind that these numbers include wives or husbands families married into, plus their children.
One of the main reasons for this method are as "lead-ins" for other family trees to blend into ours.
Usually there are reasons from the past that tie two or more families together for generations.
You may find other heritages mixing with our own even further back than you'd thought!

Addendum:
Keeping a list of finished tree members already published is proving extremely difficult.
If done in a sequence such as alphabetical, birth date, death date, etc, numbers could be provided.
However, these methods mingle persons from all areas, times and places in a chosen method.

In order to post familys together, and with in-laws, the list appears to read very randomly spaced.
It's "possible" at first to give tally's, but will become increasingly difficult as posted numbers climb.
The starting point for posted members is around 14, and is expected to increase by 30-60 per month.
As a system is for this phase develops, the numbers should become closer to the high end or better.
More could be attained, but forgone in lieu of time spent researching for additional tree members.

Starting next month, a link will be provided to a page with room enough for monthly updated info.
Posting progress may turn out to be more or less than estimated, but will be reported accurately.


Demo Link Pages...

Demo Link pages have been tabled for this month in order to formulate a more concentrated plan.
The idea now is that we should have just one main "Demo Page" to link all new demo's from.
Not only does this simplifies the work, but also has the benefit of showing many items in one glance.
The last minute halt on this should be well worth the extra wait for all.

The Census Demo-link is up and running.
It will work for you if you've downloaded the viewer already.


Demo Links For The Family Tree...
(Coming Soon)


Demo Links For The Family Calendar...
(Coming Soon)


Demo Links For The Census CD's...
Up and Running!


Please Help Donation Buttons...

Don't feel pressured, and if you can't afford to contribute, don't sweat it...
There's a lot that goes into the maintaining and improving a genealogy site.
Any and all help is truely appreciated!


Homepage Design...

The homepage had been in need of a more flowing way to convey information.
Although not perfected, it's much better for illustrating what the sites intentions are.
Hopefully those that find it take the time to read and further their understanding.
Quicklinks were also added for convience. Other things will be added as necessary.




Site Feature Reminders For All...


Census Records Downloading Is Still Ongoing!!

Concentrating on the oldest first (1790), and moving toward the newer.
Newer records and family tree members are probably what most of us already have.
Many scattered ones have also been saved as well due to family tree building.

Zipped folders with single page document browsing are being used.
Since pages are viewed one at a time, the entire census isn't doesn't have to be loaded into memory.
This might be a bit slower to find what you want, but will lessen the computer resouces needed.
They have excellent clarity for enlargements that are sometimes necessary to decipher penmanship.

Uploadings are a building process, and being done in a certain order and at scheduled times.
Their size would be far too much for this website to hold, and so are offered only as CD for now.
Downloading of the census files will continue while other methods of conveyance are looked into.



Website Software At The Download Section!!

Several primary software downloads used for this site are available in the download section.
With these you can build your own family tree for viewing either at home or your own website.

Each month, other new software will be in the spotlight as a free download too.
Topics vary according to the website, computer and other necessary needs.
If anyone is interested in a specific category, just make it known!



A Newsletter Signup Page Has Been Added!!

Use this link for easy signup, and to opt out if you should ever decide that also.
The page continues to be available here, but sometimes an email reminder is handy too.

The newsletters are being sent only to those that have joined this site.
Emails take up server resources, and after a while, consume a significant amount of cash flow.

While I'm thrilled that others might like to read about our stories and progress, it costs money.
Those interested enough to join should be the ones to benefit from their support (Thank You!).



Visitor Survey Page

The survey page is placed in the "News & Info" tabs, and open to visitors for responses.
Basic one-click yes/no answer format with an optional block for things to add if you desire.
Visitors can help decide what's important enough to put on the website-Even what questions to add!
Please take a look, it's very fast and big help for us all.



Send Comments Through The Guestbook!!

Your help and suggestions are very much appreciated, and this should help make it easy for you!
It'll be added to the upper right of most pages for easy access whenever you're reading articles.
Use it often!



The Search Engine Feature Has Been Added!!

The feature will become more and more useful as L-Pages and family history items are added.
The Family Tree section has it's own separate search/sort features.

The software manual says that it has the ability to remember searches and get faster (AI).
So when adding family history stories, remember to use words that others might search for.
Your message or photo can't be seen if it can't be found. Img0012578 isn't likely to be searched for.
This is a nice add-on to make things easier in the future, and found at the top of each page.



The "Share-This" Icons Are On Every Page!!

Hopefully, when some of you are seeing these pages, you'll share them for other family members.
You can share any page to any social network, or email the page straight from the left-side links.
Give them a try and help spread the word!!









Here's What's Been Planned For The Future...



This list will stay on the newsletter, and be added to or subtracted from as needed.
Mostly as a "To Do" list, and something to be accountable to for making progress!
They're listed in no particular order of importance or lineup.
As the ideas or needs came into focus, they were written in...
Of course, with effort later to add new ones near related ones for train of thought.

Some items may be quick to get accomplished, while others may take longer...
Many may not even work out at all.
But we'll cross those bridges when we come to them.


Email Address Purchase Page Needs Updating...
It needs to tell more about the product details, and payment links.
It works fine as it is, go ahead and use the checkout.
But we all like for things to be simple and easy, don't we?
As time goes by, it'll get there.


Some Page Menu Changes Are Planned...
Probably a re-ordering of pagelinks in the menu column will be the result.
This should make it very easy to look, email & share pages with each other.
One step at a time... Some have already started...


The "Events" section could use a good calendar...
Searching for some online for an entire day yealded nothing but "snooper programs"...
Many were loaded & installed only to find they were the 30 day, monthly fee or other junk types.
If anyone knows of a good event calendar that can be used for websites, please speak up!
Thanks.

Update:
The Family Tree Calendar "might" be able to fill a second use-Uncertain results yet.
If it becomes a popular enough to become a priority, more time will be allocated to it.
Any results will be posted in the "What's been done section"...


Possibly a higher quality blog may be created so users can better interact...
Somewhere down the line possibly... Does anyone know of a good software program?
One with file attachment and other capabilities that users might want.
File uploading for picture sharing, email responses to their posts, etc.... Something fun!
This one would be for members only due to picture postings and other interactive ability.


As ideas and knowledge grow, so will the site-Let's have some input!

All I can do is implement the ideas....
You are the ones that can help guide the site where you want to go!

So many needs...
And so little webspace...


Please join in and help us all to find our heritage.
It belongs to all of us.
It belongs here.

So that's the down-low on what's-up!
Thanks for reading,


Massachusetts

Our family. Our website.
Leazott.com