At 10:37 AM 3/14/98 -0500, Mdouglass1 wrote: >George, I, for one thank you for the service you provide to fellow >genealogists. I think you do a terrific job of diseminating information. Is >this program "idiot simple"? This old gal needs to learn a few new tricks, but >I'm not very computer savvy. Where can I find it? Mary Hi Mary. Thanks for the compliments. Makes me feel good. (GRIN) I used ProGenitor last night, converted a GEDCOM containing almost 1000 names to HTML, uploaded the resulting files, made a new link on my "Database" page on the web site, and accessed the files, all in less than 20 minutes. Idiot Simple? Almost. Once installed, and once you call up the program, clicking on "Help" starts your web browser and pulls up an HTML file that the installation created. All you have to do is follow the links; in- structions are clear, simple, and complete. Actual use of the program is very simple. You click the button to pick the GEDCOM you wish to use (you DO have to know where it is located on your hard-drive), then click the button for setting the Options, then the button for "Create Files". You have to answer some questions along the way, such as "what are you going to call this particular database?" I called my first test FILLERS1 since I was using a FILLERS GEDCOM file and figured that later I might get a FILLERS file from a different branch of the family. The program automatically makes a subdirectory named whatever you call the database, in this case the subdirectory is "FILLERS1". There is actually nothing you have to do in order for this program to create HTML files from your GEDCOM, other than point and click. I DID make some changes in the Options, such as specify a background .gif file for the web pages, choose the fonts I wanted to use, choose background color (in case you don't want to use a graphics file for the background), etc. Before you upload the resulting files (34 in number) you have to use some FTP program to access your server account and create a sub-directory for this database. Don't know what you use, but let me recommend WS_FTP. It is far superior to any of the utilities that come with web browsers such as Netscape or MSIE. Anyway, once the subdirectory is created, just copy the files from your hard-drive to the directory on your server and you're ready to go. One nice thing I like about this program, is once you have registered it (at a paltry sum of $20), users can use the "search" feature and look for indivi- dual surnames, such as BROWN, or specific names, such as John W. BROWN. Users can pull up ancestor charts, descendant charts, etc., and PRINT THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE WEB SITE. You can read about the program, download a shareware version, or register it for $20 at this URL: http://www.access.digex.net/~giammot/webged/ As I stated above, the program makes 34 files for each database, 18 of which are specific database files, and 16 are generic files for the program. The total size for the 34 files, for a 1000 person database, is about 500 Kb, or .5 Mb. The instructions tell you that you can put ALL database files in one subdirectory on your server, saving the space for those 16 program files. To do this, it is a little complicated, you have to do some manual renaming of the database files. For most people, having only one or a few database files, it is best to have a separate subdirectory for each family branch. If you have 5,000 names in your GEDCOM file, you will end up using about 2.5 Mb on your server. I have not found ANY program that will produce files with this small size before ProGenitor. Using my previous program, a 5,000 name database would cost me about 10 Mb on my server. If your server charges you for each Mb above your default limit, this program will pay for itself with just one large database. If you, or anyone else, would like to learn more, let me know via private email to my email address. Regards, SgtGeorge