Website Generators

ikas · Post by **ikas** » 16 Apr 2012 09:41

Hi,

Having now had the opportunity to study v5 'create a website' facility I have decided to go down the route of using external website generating software.

I have looked at webtrees (Open Source successor to phpgedview) in some detail and am very impressed with the recent developments. It is being actively developed with new releases every few months.

However before making a final decision I would be interested in others experience with website generating software. I am aware of Gedmill and TNG but are there others out there that FH users have experience of?

Any comments (as well as on TNG, Gedmill) would be welcome.

Thanks

ID:6150

Merenwen · Post by **Merenwen** » 16 Apr 2012 12:22

I have made a site with PhPGedView before and was very impressed. However, it's not worth the hassle if no-one else is going to edit the data. Most family members will only look at it once, maybe twice and then not bother. So why go throught the hassle/expense of getting a webserver that supports php 5.5 and MySQL?

My next site is going to be FH generated or something simluar. Something HTML based that I can upload to the basic webspace that comes with my broadband.

Have a look at some of these sites http://www.fhug.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cg ... mberssites and you'll see the different programs people have used.

Post by **tatewise** » 16 Apr 2012 13:46

What is it about the FH Create a Website features that you don't like?

ikas · Post by **ikas** » 16 Apr 2012 16:15

Merenwen - I do not intend to implement the edit facilities on webtrees as I do not think any of my lot would use them. They do however want to view the data and I want an easy way to keep the data up to date. phpgedview is not being developed now but the main developers have moved onto webtrees. At first, like you, I did not think webtrees was worth the effort but have changed my mind with the most recent develoments and with the pace of development which is very impressive. Costs roughly £100/year for a shared server with specialist webtrees support. I still intend to use FH to edit/input though because I think it is vastly superior and the new plugin facility has huge potential.

tatewise - I just do not think the FH output compares with either TNG or webtrees. Although I could customise the output from FH I feel that route is too time consuming for me. I simply cannot compete with a team of developers.

More or less already made the decision but just thought I would check if there was anything else out there as until recently I had not come across TNG.

Cambiz · Post by **Cambiz** » 16 Apr 2012 16:39

The only thing I really disliked with Webtrees were the fan charts.

That and the fact I'd have to fork out another couple of quid a month for my web site provider to allow me to use mysql.

I think the charts are good - pedigree, descendant, hourglass and an interactive one.

I'm hoping there will be a plug in to add pedigree and descendant charts to web pages.

Merenwen · Post by **Merenwen** » 16 Apr 2012 16:40

tatewise said:
What is it about the FH Create a Website features that you don't like?

For me, it's the lack of hyperlinked trees, but I've decided PhP server is too much work. I'll spend the time on custom diagrams instead!

Ikas, you can get free websites that run php, like heliohost, but their requirement to log into the control pannel once a month got the better of me!

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » 16 Apr 2012 17:22

I do not know how much you are paying Chris but I have just signed somebody up to https://www.vidahost.com/web-hosting/overview and they are priced well if you signup for a year.

jeemo · Post by **jeemo** » 16 Apr 2012 23:30

Ikas
I use a programme called GED-GEN (http://www.ged-gen.com) which for static pages, I regard as being without peer. The extent of customisation is marvellous. Through its linking capabilities I link to a Family Historian customised Individual Narrative Report for each person. On the main family pages generated I have a customised Descendant Diagram as a .png image.
For site hosting what is wrong with Rootsweb's Freepages? (http://accounts.rootsweb.ancestry.com/i ... eagree.htm).

ikas · Post by **ikas** » 18 Apr 2012 16:45

John,

Thanks. I will have a look at GED-GEN before I decide.

Just to clarify - the £100/year is for hosting and support ie the hosting company installs webtrees, uploads your GEDCOM, and configures your set-up. Good option for those who want to avoid the hassle of doing it themselves.

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » 18 Apr 2012 18:50

Sounds quite expensive to me but as you say you should be hassel free.

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