How do i check family history on web gen?

Question:I took a fast look at the google result for web gen, and it looks to me like a site for generating web pages. I see no relationship to genealogy.
If you are wanting to start research, I suggest taking a few minutes at www.cyndislist.com, which is a collection of thousands of resources for genealogy. She has a section for beginners (and don't miss the part of myths and scams).
We have people each day, who come in, and want to "find" their family history, with an assumption that it is all online. I strongly prefer the idea of helping people find out HOW to do research, since everyone's family is not on the internet. Especially living persons are not (and should not be) online. You might find history for several of your ancestors who are already dead.
The MORE sites you are aware of, the better chance you have of finding what you want. The main reason I like cyndislist, is that it focuses on quantity of sources, not "best".

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I took a fast look at the google result for web gen, and it looks to me like a site for generating web pages. I see no relationship to genealogy.
If you are wanting to start research, I suggest taking a few minutes at www.cyndislist.com, which is a collection of thousands of resources for genealogy. She has a section for beginners (and don't miss the part of myths and scams).
We have people each day, who come in, and want to "find" their family history, with an assumption that it is all online. I strongly prefer the idea of helping people find out HOW to do research, since everyone's family is not on the internet. Especially living persons are not (and should not be) online. You might find history for several of your ancestors who are already dead.
The MORE sites you are aware of, the better chance you have of finding what you want. The main reason I like cyndislist, is that it focuses on quantity of sources, not "best".

This is a text file I paste to questions like yours. People ask similar questions 3 - 14 times a day here. You get a long, detailed answer, I don't get finger cramps. It is long because there are over 400,000 free genealogy sites.

It is also long because researching your family tree is as hard as writing a term paper in a History class. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, but you won't do it with five clicks. I could tell you everything I know in 30 minutes, but not 3.

If you didn't mention a country, we can't tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia. I'm in the USA and my links are for it. If you are not, please edit your question to add a country. Genealogists from the UK answer posts here too. They are more experienced and more intelligent than I am. I'm better looking and my jokes are better.

The really good stuff is in your parents' and grandparents' memories. No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960's by smuggling herbs. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late.

You won't find living people on genealogy sites. Don't look for yourself or your parents.

So much for the warnings. Here are some links. These are large and free. Many of them have subtle ads for Ancestry.com in them - ads that ask for a name, then offer a trial subscription. Watch out for those advertisements.

If you try the links and don't find anyone, go to

http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html

It repeats each link, but it has a whole paragraph of tips and instructions for each one.

http://www.cyndislist.com
Cyndi's List has over 250,000 sites.

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/f...
The Mormon's mega-site.

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.c...
RootsWeb World Connect. The links at the top are advertisements. They mislead beginners. Ignore them and scroll down.

http://www.rootsweb.com/
RootsWeb Home.
This is the biggest free (genealogy) site in the world.

http://www.ancestry.com
Ancestry has some free data and some you have to pay for.

http://www.usgenweb.net
US Gen Web. Click on a state. Find a link that says "County".

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/defa...
Surname meanings and origins, one of Ancestry's free pages.

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b...
Social Security Death Index. Click on "Advanced". Women are under their married names. They are under their maiden names in most other sites.

http://find.person.superpages.com/
USA Phone book, for looking up distant cousins.

http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/sear...
California Death Index, 1940 - 1997.

http://www.genforum.com
GenForum has surname, state and county boards.

http://boards.ancestry.com/
Ancestry has surname, state and county boards too. They are free.

Read
http://www.tedpack.org/goodpost.html
before you post on either one.

Read the paragraphs about query boards on
http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html
before you search them.

http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/lis...
Roots Web Mailing List Archives.

Read
http://www.tedpack.org/maillist.html
if genealogy mailing lists are new to you.

Off the Internet, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow Mormons. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly. They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their religion unless you ask a question about it.