Steps to adopting a Florida county
1) New and Prospective County Coordinators need to familiarize yourself with the contents of this page. If you have any Questions regarding these procedures, don't hesitate in asking questions. Upon receiving a County Assignment, you will be accountable for the compliance of these instructions.
2) Look on the County Selection List to see if the county you are interested in is available. If so, go to the next step. If not, consider volunteering to assist the person who coordinates that county.
3) Read the US GenWeb Project County rules posted at
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/CCguidelines.shtml and make sure you will be able to meet the requirements. They are simple enough and we will work with you on any you need help with.
4) Read the Florida GenWeb Project rules below.
5) If you have read all these long boring rules and have decided "Yep, I can do this," send email and we'll get you signed up!
Florida Rules
Make sure you meet these elements for Florida and all of the USGenWeb required elements.
1) Adopting a county means it is a part of The USGenWeb Project. Some people adopt counties only to promote their family genealogy or genealogical society. This is not the purpose of the US GenWeb Project or the Florida GenWeb Project and pages of this type will not be accepted.
You may include your family genealogy on your pages, but it may not be the primary focus of the page. Providing research information about the COUNTY is the primary focus. Visitors should know it is a USGenWeb Project/FLGenWeb Project page and not a family page or Genealogical Society site.
The name of your page should be something like Pasco County, Florida, USGenWeb Project (or FLGenWeb Project), and not "Jones Family Genealogy" or "Smith County Genealogical Society."
2) All county pages are required to have the official names and logos displayed near the top of your main county page. The national project is called "The USGenWeb Project." Our portion of the project is "The FLGenWeb Project." We do now have a permanent LOGO, which you will also be required to display on your main county page. It does not have to appear on each page of your site, but does need to be on the main page.
3) All County Coordinators MUST subscribe to our mailing list. All matters regarding the project will be posted and discussed here. Due to the large number of counties and coordinators involved, the state coordinator cannot always email each of you individually when changes or messages need to be relayed, so this list is a VITAL link in keeping everyone informed. This list is NOT for posting of queries, but is for FLGenWeb Project business and site development discussion.
To join the FLGEN-L , send mail to
flgen-l-request@rootsweb.com
in the BODY of the message write : SUBSCRIBE
Leave the body of the message blank (if you have a signature file, delete it or turn it off)
4) Volunteers to sponsor County sites should have their pages online within a reasonable amount of time. We don't expect your site to appear within a day or a week, but after one month you should at least have a basic page online. You can always go back later and add more when you have time. If after one month the basic pages are not up, we will need to re-assign the county. It is not fair to make researchers or other volunteers wait for a county site to go online for much longer than a month.
Should a special situation arise, such as waiting for account setup from Rootsweb or another ISP, or a server problem or a family crisis, we understand this and will work with you so long as you LET US KNOW you are having difficulty. Otherwise, if another volunteer is waiting, we will need to give them the opportunity to get the page online. It has been proven in the past that volunteers who did not have time to get their pages online also did not have time to maintain the site once it was up.
5) For protection from possible lawsuits by publishers or authors there are a few steps that you should follow.
A) If the reference material is not in the public domain, you should first check the Authors Who have Submitted Permission page to see if the author has already granted permission, and the Authors who have refused permission page. (So far, only ONE person has refused!). If they are not on either list you should try to obtain written permission from the author or publisher of that material and be sure it is on file with USGenWeb Project. You may obtain a copy of the permission to do lookups form, and instruction on how to file that permission HERE.
B) You should also include the USGenWeb copyright disclaimer on your lookup page and BE SURE YOUR LOOKUP VOLUNTEERS READ THIS this disclaimer. Suggested versions of wording you may use can be found here. The complete USGenWeb copyright FAQ may be view at: http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.html
Suggested disclaimers:
6) County Coordinators shall be required to check in with the State Coordinator or designated representative each month. Any County Coordinator failing to check in two consecutive months, will be subject to Advisory Board Review and possibly having their county being reassigned. It is the responsibility of each County Coordinator to notify the State Coordinator of changes in their e-mail address. It is also advisable if you're going away for an extended time period, post a vaction sign on your county main page.
Wording #1
The USGenWeb Project policy statement on lookups:
USGenWeb Project, FLGenWeb and XXXX County FLGenWeb Project policy prohibits lookup volunteers from infringing on copyrights, so please do not ask for large quantities of information, information on multiple people, or photocopies of pages from the books. We will not condone, defend or be held responsible for violations of law committed by said volunteers. You may review the USGenWeb policy on copyright issues at: http://www.usgenweb.org/faq/uscopyrt.htm.
If you see a book listed for lookups which you hold the copyright to and do not want it included in the Project listings, please contact the FLGenWeb Project State coordinator and/or the county coordinator.
(Please replace the XXXX County FLGenWeb Project with the name of your county)
Wording #2
USGenWeb Project, FLGenWeb Project and XXXX County FLGenWeb Project policy prohibits lookup volunteers participating in copyright violations. Please be advised that in responding to your request, volunteers have been directed to comply with U. S. copyright laws. You may review the USGenWeb copyright policy statement applying to all lookups which is located at this site: http://www.usgenweb.org/faq/uscopyrt.htm
USGenWeb Project Rules
There are a few basic requirements that every county page must meet in order to be associated with our project and be included on the Master County Index Page for a state. These requirements may be found HERE. (Use your back button to return to this page)
Please remember that USGenWeb Project and FLGenWeb Project are dedicated to providing FREE genealogical help to visitors to the sites. You may not CHARGE for lookups or SELL information to visitors. A page on your site dedicated to providing information about the local Genealogical Society may list publications for sale if your server allows it, but it must be made clear that the GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY is the seller, not the FLGenWeb Project or USGenWeb Project. We do NOT CHARGE for our services.
Building your FLGenWeb Project Site
OK, you've decided to join us and take a county...NOW what do you do? How do you build your pages, where do you find graphics, how can I get some html help?
Here are a few links where you can find help for some of those things!
Color Maker
This nifty little utility will allow you to "try out" color schemes for your page AND gives you the html code to place on your page..you just copy and paste the code and the colors are yours!
Frame Shop
While some folks don't like frames on their pages, some do. This tool, from the same people who brought you Color Maker, takes the hassle out of making frame sections for your pages.
Table Maker
Probably the easiest way to make tables for your data...easy to use, great results...a GREAT tool!
Cyndi's Genealogy Home Page Construction Kit
This site provides a listing of just about everything you need to know to build a great genealogy site! Links to graphics, HTML helpers, free home pages, guestbooks, counters, the WORKS! An added plus is her "outline" of what makes a good page; things to include, things NOT to do. It's a GREAT place to begin your journey into the wide world of "webmasters!"
Genealogy Graphics by Autumn
Brought to you by the coordinator for the Taylor Co KYGenWeb Project..nice earthy tones and replicas of old documents can be found here
Some new FLGenWeb Logo Designs
New logo designs to represent the FLGenWeb Project. After we get a few more designs in the collection, all County Coordinators will be asked to vote on the ones we want to use as our official logos, so go take a look!
WebStep Top 100 Free Listings
This site will allow you to get your site URL listed on 100 of the best search engines available. It takes a bit of time to get listed on them all, but you can do it for free or if you are lazy you may pay them to do it for you.
Web Clip Art
brought to you by miningco.com. You have to click on the "more links" at the bottom of the list and genealogy links are on the next page.
USGenWeb New Volunteers Survival Guide.
Info on mailing lists, uploading your pages, getting space for your site and much more!
You may also want to review the USGenWeb New Volunteers Survival Guide.
For html help with your FLGenWeb Project Site, you may also contact: Jim Powell, or Darrel Bell. who has offered to help those who need a little assist with html.
The CCHelp blog
The blog is viewable by anyone but only members can post.
This should get you started! If you're still lost and confused, you can always post a question on the FLGEN-L list...other county coordinators may have your answer at the tip of their fingers!
Email Darrel R. Bell or Jim Powell, Jr. with questions or comments about the content of this website.
Email Darrel R. Bell or Patrice Green with any problems with this website.