RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: suttontrust on Sunday 19 December 04 15:43 GMT (UK)
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:)Webuser magazine did a feature in the latest issue on how to search for your ancestors. Very basic stuff, but in the section on groups, message boards etc there was no mention of Rootschat. The fame of Rootschat is spreading, but obviously not far enough.
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Hi suttontrust
Yes it is a bit strange that the mags haven't picked us up! :(
The only mention I have seen of Rootschat was in the August 2004 edition of Your Family Tree Magazine (page 81).
Best wishes
Ticker
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Nothing to do with the article you mention Suttontrust but I do wonder if people are put off by the "chat" part of the name. I know that I certainly was as I had actually heard of rootschat quite some time before I ventured in. It was the "chat" that deterred me - giving the impression that it was just a chatroom! I don't have the time nor the wish to "chat" - particuarly with strangers - but am happy to assist other people with their family history and learn more about mine along the way.
Casalguidi
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There are so many websites come and go I'm not surprised that magazines haven't made too much of a deal. It's staying power that counts.
I'm sure as the size and quality of work done here continues to grow publicity is going to naturally come. Spread the word...
I know some people have felt the same as you Casalguidi but there is room for everyone and the informality I think does help new-comers.
All the best,
Pam
;D
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No we havn't been picked up by the Glossies yet - which is a shame - hopefully in time they will do a feature on us, or mention us in the same paragraph as other well know sites.
I think one concern for them is that they don't actually know who we are. If a few people wrote a small note to the editors of each of the magazine, I'm sure it would help. Perhaps mentioning how it has helped you would be good.
Casalguiidi - the "chat" part of RootsChat is a bit unfortunate in a way, yes. Some companies put a block on that word to stop their staff going to chat rooms and the like. It would technically be very easy to change the name of RootsChat to something else, but the site would lose its identity.
Trystan
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I also saw the article in WebUser, I was interested to see the screenshot of the yellow coloured page, I don't get that on my PC, it does appear to be an up to date shot as well! :)
On a further note, I was going to suggest using social networking sites to spread the word, but I've just spotted Rootschat on Facebook! Just joined. :)
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It would be great if the mags would pick us up. But our membership is growing significantly, and I do think that personal recommendation is often the best way to get members. I think lots of us recommend Rootschat wherever we go in genie circles - I certainly do! One day, the mags will realise that we are not "fly by night" but are here to stay!
MarieC
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Bit of a shame that rootschat didn't get a mention. I understand that some may be put off by the word "chat" - I'm not one for chat sites either. I did sniff around rootschat for a while before joining, but I did realise that it was a forum - (didn't even know there was a chat side to it till long after I'd joined).
I understand that it's probably not wise to change the name at this stage. Also it would be difficult to get a good catchy dot com address as most genealogical ones have been snapped up.
Perhaps an option may be to add a tag line which explains that rootschat is more than just chat. And of course Trystan's idea of spreading the word to all and sundry might help ;D
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Perhaps it is more to do with three/four (two could be counted together) of the the main UK family history mags running their own forums.
Cheers
Guy
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Very good point Guy.
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Hmmm - yes! If that is one of the penalties of being truly independent, then I guess we have to live with it. But we can all keep promoting it - that will keep bringing in members! ;D
MarieC
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On a further note, I was going to suggest using social networking sites to spread the word, but I've just spotted Rootschat on Facebook! Just joined. :)
Didn't know that. Just joined too :)
meles
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I am well known as a cynic - but how may sites actually "pay" to get mentioned in magazines and similar??
Ever since I discovered that supermarkets make a large % of their profits from manufacturer's paying for shelf space, as opposed to actually selling food to you and me - I doubt that anything is as it may seem.
I'm sure if one advertised in a magazine, there would suddenly be room for an editorial/report on the site
Trish
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Yes Trish, the more ads you pay for = the more coverage you can expect. The more free drinks and meals you give the journos = the more coverage you get. Plus .... plus ....
Still, one may still reasonably expect a tiny little mention even without any monetary outlays.
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:)Webuser magazine did a feature in the latest issue on how to search for your ancestors. Very basic stuff, but in the section on groups, message boards etc there was no mention of Rootschat. The fame of Rootschat is spreading, but obviously not far enough.
I can't understand why not. A couple of days ago I Googled some text to try to help someone with a problem in the technical section, and the only link that Google found was the original post in Roots Chat - and it had only been posted about 3 hours before I searched :o
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I am not suggesting in any way that RC should pay to be mentioned, purely commenting that many of the ones mentioned may (only may, I have no knowledge) do this. I don't know how much publicity RC wants or gets
I am very happy with just being part of it 8) 8)
Trish
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That's not being cynical Trish, that's being realistic.
As a business owner I can assure you that when a newspaper or magazine calls up and offers space for an editorial they also ask for advertising. The only time you ever get it free is when you make front page news.
Leonie.
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Bear in mind that my original post was a long time ago - 2004. I'm sure things have changed by now! I'm cynical about computer magazines anyway. Some time ago there was a discussion on the radio about the benefits of open source software, and they got on the editor of one of the best-selling PC mags. This chap uncomfortably said that the lay person would probably find open source too technical for them. I could only surmise that he didn't want to offend his advertisers.
I'm glad someone pointed out Rootschat on Facebook - I hadn't thought to look.
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Suttontrust, I didn't notice that you started this thread in 2004 :-[. !
I agree with Nick, whenever I google anything remotely family history related, even surnames, or places, more often that not rootschat will get numerous hits, and the majority of them towards the top of the list.
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Hi ST
I didn't notice the 2004 either - its nice to know a conversation you started 4 years ago is still topical :D
Trish
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Me too - just shows how well some of us read the dates of things! :o :o :o
Anyway, Google is a good comprehensive search engine, and obviously is well tuned in to Rootschat, so that should lead lots of people to us! ;D
MarieC
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Interesting to see that someone other than the usual suspect(s) has answered an ancient post :)
Usually (in my experience - sorry C) it's 'Christopher' who digs up, and replies to, ancient posts. I've been caught out before by this - so much so that I always check the OP date of C's replies. ::)
And I'm not the only one who does so :D
A bit of a trap - but not normally something one would think of checking :o
Cheers,
JAP
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Why a trap? Sometimes a person responding to an old (not ancient) post is supplying a brand new insight.
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Suttontrust,
Yes, that is often the case if the person posting has noticed the original date and decided that they have something new to offer after the time lapse! Not like me, who totally failed to notice the date (mea culpa, mea maxima culpa... ! ::) )
MarieC
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Well it was me who replied originally to the thread, I certainly didn't realise it was 4 yrs old! :-[
Webuser did another article called Genealogy Tips last issue. It featured 12 ways to improve your genealogy research! Forums came in at number 5, with Rootschat gaining an honourable mention. :)
Certainly no trap, I searched to see if it had been mentioned and didn't notice the date. Someone at Webuser obviously likes Rootschat.
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I for one am so glad Webuser mentioned Rootschat because thats how I found you.
What a friendly and informative site this is.
I have really enjoyed reading through all the old posts and have found one inquiring about my family.
Keep up the good work :)
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Hi sheden
Welcome to RC - glad you found us, regardless as to how :D - I found RC via google but rarely visit other forums any more - this one being as you say such a friendly and informative site ;D
good luck with your searching
Trish
So pleased Webuser has seen the light of day MarkyP ;D
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My 2c,
If RootsChat really wants to gain search hits, consider some of these ideas.
When I use google to see if someone else has anything on the person I am looking for I might search for something like Henderson Genealogy Berwick Upon Tweed. For google to decide that a RootsChat page would be a good suggestion for that search it would need to find as many of these words as possible on the page.
Suggestion 1: Make sure that the word Genealogy appears at least once on every page.
It does not need to be big. Just something like RootsChat Genealogy Forum.
Search engines rate the popularity of the pages they crawl by counting outgoing, incoming and internal links. The more the better. Obviously we can't do a lot about the incoming side but internal is certainly easy and outgoing should be moderately easy.
Suggestion 2: Put a link to Bob's brilliant Lexicon on every page.
Better still, name it RootsChat Genealogy Lexicon and put it at the bottom of every page and kill two birds with one stone. :)
Suggestion 3: Try to think of a way of naming the parishes in each county board. Ideally, name all towns in each parish.
Hmm ... isn't that how Genuki does it? Probably not a good idea to start a competition.
One of the most annoying effects of using google is that they deliver far too many misses. This is because if you are looking for, say Deborah Henderson b1790, google will give you all pages with all the words on it. Not quite what you are looking for in this case.
Suggestion 4: Build an index of people's names and dates mentioned throughout RootsSpace.
This would require some programming. I'd consider volunteering.
A word of caution. Would RootsChat really benefit from a lot more hits/visitors/members? To me, RootsChat is a comfortable, relaxed place where I can discuss my hobby with like-minded polite people. Would it really be the same place if membership doubled or went up tenfold?
Paul
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Paul
You seem to have made a number of good points here and I hope admin takes note of them!
I do think Google already recognises Rootschat quite well. If I Google a name, it often takes me to posts on here. But I do agree with you that Bob's Lexicon should be featured more prominently on pages! :D
Rootschat has grown pretty massively since I joined, but it is still a friendly place. I think members make it what it is, and hopefully we will always have these friendly helpful members! The mods do a great job overseeing the site to make sure there is none of the nastiness that sometimes creeps into other sites. Of course, their jobs are growing as Rootschat grows, and perhaps Admin will have to appoint more mods in due course to keep in touch with it all!
MarieC
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Suggestion 1: Make sure that the word Genealogy appears at least once on every page.
What you don't see, but every search engine does, are the so called meta-tags which are a part of the "innards" of every HTML-page:
<meta content="Chat about your British and Irish Genealogy UK Family History around England Wales Scotland
Ireland. 1881 1901 Census lookups of your ancestors. Fun and easy to use. recommended" name="description" />
<meta content="Census, 1901, 1881, Genealogy, British, Britain, Irish, Family, History, Messaging, Forum,
UK, United, Kingdom, RootsChat, Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland, Isle,
Cymru, Cymraeg, Gwreiddiau, Teulu, Ancestry, Ancestor, BMD, Birth, Marriage,
Death" name="keywords" />All search engines look at these meta tags as well as the contents of the pages. Right click on any internet page and click on "View page source" (or "show source text " or whatever it's called in your browser).
Suggestion 2: Put a link to Bob's brilliant Lexicon on every page.
"Coming attractions ...." ;D we are already working on it, and it will be called the RootsChat Reference Library (http://surname.rootschat.com/lexicon), as the Lexicon is only one aspect of it.
Suggestion 4: Build an index of people's names and dates mentioned throughout RootsSpace.
If everybody would enter ALL their names in the Surname Interests Table (http://surname.rootschat.com/), then we already have it ;D
:)
Bob
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Wow, I've just found Bob's Lexicon, a fantastic resource, it must of taken ages to do! I see it's in The RootsChat Reference Library, which I didn't even know existed! :( Can we only get to it through a link within a post in Useful Links? I can't find any link to it on the main page, or am I missing something?
Just seen Bob's previous reply, obviously it's not finished yet!
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There is a mention for RootsChat in issue 8 of an Australian Magazine called "Ultimate Guides".
Odd little magazine ... looks like it appears monthly and each month covers a different computer based topic aimed at the general family market.
This month it is Family History and Rootschat gets a mention (under the topic "Where to get help") and a picture on page 26. The site arewerelated.co.uk (very few members :-\) gets the first mention, also rootsweb and british-genealogy.com .....
;D