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How to Make a Family Tree Online

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By eHow Contributing Writer
(1 Ratings)

Genealogy is just one of the many aspects of our lives that is moving online. A family tree used to be an ink or colored drawing on a piece of paper. Now, tech-savvy families have made theirs into flashy Web pages, searchable databases and other high-tech features.

From Quick Guide: Discovering Your Family Tree
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions
  1. Step 1

    Paste an image into your page with HTML. Use the prompt "img src =" along with the file name to get a tree image onto your page. Draw or print the names onto the tree image in MS Paint, and you have it-a family tree.

  2. Step 2

    Use an image map. Create an additional layer using Web page creation programs to add a map bit to each name in the tree, so that users can click on each name to get more information about an ancestor.

  3. Step 3

    Set up an xml family tree by coding names into an xml file, labeling them "children," "parents," "grandparents," etc. You can easily "tag" generations of names using xml commands for management of a larger family tree structure.

  4. Step 4

    Enable family tree searches with servers and database handling. You can create dossiers for each ancestor in MS Access and use a server-connected page to get information to Web users, who can use items like drop-down lists on a Web page to see all of their relatives for a particular search.

  5. Step 5

    Create your interface. When you have a list of names, there are many ways to display them online, besides the ones listed above. You can choose line styles, boxes, colors and other display options to get a family lineage outlined directly on a searchable Web page.

Tips & Warnings
  • Use family tree online creation services. Companies like TribalPages will help you set up your page, get information from a server or organize your data. This can be a great way to handle a family tree Web page that is just a little too much for you to do yourself.
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