RootsWeb WorldConnect Project Launched RootsWeb.com, http://www.rootsweb.com, the Internet's oldest and largest genealogy site, today launched a new Genealogical Data Communication (GEDCOM) hosting program entitled the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com. "In the 4 weeks of its beta test period, users have uploaded more than 5.5 million names to the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project," stated Dr. Brian Leverich, Founder and Chairman of the Board, RootsWeb.com, Inc. GEDCOM is a standard file format developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and enables the exchange of information among genealogy software programs. RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project allows individuals, in a very simple, user-friendly way, to upload, revise, delete and download GEDCOMs on RootsWeb. The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project is hailed as the most user friendly and unrestricted of its kind on the Web. Unlike with other Web sites, RootsWeb users have complete control over their GEDCOMs and can change or remove them at any time. RootsWeb will never burn a user's GEDCOM onto a CD-ROM or charge others to access it. RootsWeb's software is the newest, most comprehensive and advanced available on the Web. Key features allow users to: * Upload a GEDCOM file generated by ANY of the major software applications WITHOUT first having to convert the file to HTML; * Revise or delete GEDCOMs as well as change the display or download options at any time; * Link the GEDCOM to a home page; * Screen or remove information about living individuals from the GEDCOM; * Attach Post-Em notes both from the GEDCOM originator and from other RootsWeb users to the record of a particular individual, similar to the Post-Em Notes in Rootsweb's Social Security Death Index; * Link a GEDCOM to other GEDCOMs using Post-Ems; * Download subsets (portions) of the original GEDCOM, starting with a specific person and choosing either ancestors or descendants; and * Display GEDCOMs in the most highly flexible ways available on the Web. A user need not have a Web site or even Internet access to post a GEDCOM. RootsWeb will accept GEDCOMs on floppy disks or ZIP drive disks. Users having trouble uploading a GEDCOM for any reason should send it on a floppy disk or ZIP disk to: RootsWeb WorldConnect Project, 1001 Tower Way, Suite #120, Bakersfield, CA 93309. RootsWeb will upload the GEDCOM and send notification by e-mail of such user's account name and password. RootsWeb's default display choice is to remove the names of everyone in a user's GEDCOM who was born within the past 100 years. Thereafter, the user can change the viewing options at any time by going to http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com. Users should remember to enclose an e-mail address with the disk containing the GEDCOM or RootsWeb will have no way to notify them regarding their account name and password. Please also note that RootsWeb will destroy the disks it receives after uploading the GEDCOMs they contain. "Our GEDCOM program has been months in the making and was developed by some of the most talented programmers in the business," said Dr. Leverich. "The display capabilities set a new standard. This new feature reinforces RootsWeb's leadership position in the rapidly expanding online genealogical community which we helped to create and continue to define." "RootsWeb prides itself on being the consumer's friend. You will never see it taking the hard work of RootsWeb users and burning that information into a CD-ROM or charging others to access," said Dr. Leverich. "In addition, users have FULL control of their GEDCOMs and can change or remove them at any time."