What is the best genealogy website?

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Question:

I'm looking for something that will give me a comprehensive family tree at a reasonable price!. What are the pro's and cons of each choice!? Has anyone used any of these sites personally and if so what did you like or not like about them!? Any input would be great!. Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

My favorite website to get information for my genealogy is www!.ancestry!.com!. It has the most records of any site I have found so far!. It also has easily navigated search features!. I have found the census records, the birth record, the marriage records, and the military records the most helpful for me!. I do occasionally look at the information other users have submitted but I never combine a name with my tree without first verifying the information!. To many want to take the easy way out and get information from someone else but people make mistakes so it is always best to verify the information for yourself!. I have also used www!.mytrees!.com and it is ok but the searches aren't as good but you can get it free by doing transcribing online so when my ancestry subscription runs out and I am short on cash I use it!. For census records you can also go through library websites and access heritage quest which is also really good when you are short on money!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Depends really in which country you are located and if you are tracing relies in that patch !. In the UK it varies because of the differences in the constituent countries !. In Scotland , ScotlandsPeople is the best giving you actual certificates whilst in England and Wales Ancestry !.co!.uk is the most comprehensive !. Ancestry out with the UK is probably the most comprehensive !. The Family Search site ( LDS ) is useful and free but not based on prime sources !.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The best one depends on where you and your ancestors are!. South Africans, for instance, don't have much use for the US Census that Ancestry!.com sells!.

In the US, I'd say Ancestry is well worth the money IF you devote an hour or two a day to it!. If not, it is like paying for HBO and not watching any movies!. I subscribe to the US documents, including the census!. I look up dead ancestors constantly!.

No site is going to give you a family tree; you have to research it yourself!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Asking for a good website and one that will give you a comprehensive family tree is not the same thing!.

There are a lot of websites, some free and some or not!. When you view the websites, you must distinguish between the original source records and subscriber submitted family trees!.

Information in family trees must be viewed with caution and verified!. They are not submitted by some expert working for the website, but by folks like you and me!. The only way any of your family will be in one of them is if someone in your family or some person who has married into your family has submitted the information!.

You will see different information on the same people from different subscribers!. Then you will see the absolute same info from different subscribers on the same people, BUT that is no proof it is correct!. A lot of people copy without verifying!. The information can be useful only as clues as to where to get the documentation!.

Most of the trees on the web are not documented or poorly documented!.

Now, my own opinion about the best is merely because of the total amount of original source records they have online is Ancestry!.Com!.

Ancestry!.Com has all the U!.S!. censuses through 1930!. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet!. They have U!.K!. censuses through 1901!. They have military, land, immigration and other records!. They have indexes to vital records(birth,marriage and death) from many U!.
S!. states!.

Now, no way are all records online!. You can't expect to do it all online!.

It is not a free website, but your public library might have a subscription to it you can use!. Actually, it would be wise to work on it awhile at your public library and get familiar with it before subscibing to it!.

They have transcribed the records but you can still view the original images!. There are errors in their transcriptions, particularly the censuses, but when you view the original you can have a lot of sympathy for the transcriber!.

Still be cautious when taking as absolute fact what is in family trees and this applies to ALL genealogy website that have family trees!. You can make up a family tree and submit it to any of the genealogy websites and it would be accepted!. There is no way at all they can verify all the information people submit!.

FamilySearch!.org and Rootsweb are two good free sites but they don't have the same amount of records online that Ancestry!.Com has!.

Cyndi'sList!.Com is a website with links to many other websites, some free and some aren't, which are helpful to genealogist!.

If you decide to put your family tree online, Ancestry!.Com has 4 programs!. Ancestry World Tree is their oldest and largest but I have a feeliing they are trying to phase it out!. I no longer can update mine!. One World Tree is the one I feel they should phase out as it is nothing but trash!. When they set it up their system brought forth information that people had put into Ancestry World Tree and decided to lump an individual into one with all the different info subscribers had on them!. I have seen more than once where they combined two people into one!. I saw where someone said they will populate your tree for you!. Uh Oh!., you don't want that!. You don't want their system or anyone else's system determining what is in YOUR family tree!. You want to verify the information yourself that is in your family tree!.

Public Member Tree and Private Member Tree are two of their new programs!. I am using Public Member Tree and find it a joy to use!. Their system will notify you if they have records on someone in your tree!. You do need to verify that it is the same person!. I have found a few times it isn't!. also, if their system advises you of information from One World Tree realize this is from someone else's submission and might or might not be accurate!.

Don't expect to find living people in family trees as that is considered an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft!.

Genealogy!.Com is another fairly good site!. However, don't take them up on combining someone else's family tree into yours!. Documentation is the source of good family history, not copying what someone else has!.
Even from a published book , you should look for documentation!.Www@QuestionHome@Com