November 2009

http://www.geni.com/people/Helen-Charis-Weston/6000000002802989763 Edward Henry Weston's (an American Photographer) widow died on November 20th at the age of 95. Her name was Helen Charis Wilson and she was often used as his subject. Are you related to them?

http://www.geni.com/people/Sir-Winston-Churchill/6000000003222187286 On this day in 1874 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born.

http://www.geni.com/people/anne-shakespeare/6000000006233231539 

http://www.geni.com/people/william-shakespeare/6000000006232999550  On this day in 1582, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were married. Are you related to either of them? If so, perhaps you can include a photo for their profiles?

http://www.geni.com/people/John-Alden/6000000003454509677 Perhaps you have some information about this orphaned Pilgrim, John Alden? He was married to Priscilla Mullins and had quite a few children. Do you know the names of his parents?

http://www.geni.com/people/John-Howland/6000000004107089622 One of our users mentioned John Howland, who was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact and co-founded Plymouth Colony. Perhaps you are also related to him?

http://www.geni.com/people/Priscilla-Mullins/304672972480005601 Priscilla Sara Mullins Alden was a member of Plymouth Colony. Are you related to her?

One of Today’s Highlighted Profiles is William Bradford: http://www.geni.com/people/Gov-William-Bradford-III/6000000000931679088

http://www.geni.com/people/Myles-Standis h/5564156509240137001   This week Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. In honor of this tradition, we are highlighting someone who was on the Mayflower: Myles Standish.    

Today’s Highlighted Profile is John F. Kennedy. http://www.geni.com/people/John-F-Kennedy/6000000006349587260

http://www.geni.com/people/Jamie-Lee-Haden-Guest/6000000005034223426 Jamie Lee Haden-Guest (Curtis) turns 51 years old today. Are you related to her?

http://www.geni.com/people/Sarah-Palin/6000000001727703089 This person was once the Governor of Alaska, and ran for Vice President in America’s last election. Her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life was published yesterday, the 17th of November.    

http://www.geni.com/people/Walt-Disney/6 000000005291270001 On this day in 1928, Mickey Mouse appeared in Steamboat Willie, produced by Walt Disney. Walt Disney is today’s Profile of the Day.            

Two features that were previously available to Pro users only are now free for all Geni users: Statistics Now all users can view the entire suite of fifteen statistics for their ancestors and blood relatives. From average life expectancy and country of birth to most common first names and surnames, now you can learn about your relatives in a visual, easy to read format. Every chart is also a link to the list of names… Read the full story

When you view a profile we search other trees to find matching profiles. We've enhanced this matching algorithm to greatly increase the accuracy and reduce the number of false positives. Although accuracy will never be 100%, in some cases we've seen the new algorithm cut the number of bad matches by 50% or more. Note that the new algorithm will only update the match count when someone actually views the list of matches for a… Read the full story

Recently we introduced your family address book. This is a great way to collect all of the contact information for your relatives in one convenient place. We've made this list even more useful by adding an export feature. Use the "Export as CSV…" on the bottom left of any page of your address book. We'll generate the list and send you an email when it is ready for download as a CSV file (comma separated… Read the full story

The list of the most popular Geni profiles for the month of October is now available. The top ten includes the current US President, a former US President, a Queen, five celebrities, and two Biblical figures. Can you guess who they are from their profile photos? View any of these profiles to see if you're related. And don't forget you can use the "Send this profile" link to post interesting profiles to Facebook, Twitter, or… Read the full story

The new family address book gathers all of your family’s contact information into one handy list: email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses. Use the last name index to jump directly to relatives with last names that start with a specific letter. There are two ways to add more data to your address book. Use the quick edit link in the actions column to quickly add details to one person. If you’d like to quickly add… Read the full story

We’ve added two new features to the tree: a five-generation horizontal tree and an advanced add node form. The horizontal view is an easy way to see a profile’s ancestry in a compact format and it makes tree building much faster. You should not have to wait for a tree redraw after adding a node. The advanced add node form, which replaces the "more" version of the add node form, allows you to add a… Read the full story

Now you can view your 100 most popular ancestors and blood relatives, sorted by popularity. This is a great way to find interesting new relatives. Who knows, you may find that you’re related to royalty or someone famous! Also look for the new Top 100 badge. This indicates that the profile is one of the most popular of all Geni profiles. Click the badge to view all popular profiles. View Popular Profiles  

List Filters Now you can hide profiles in lists that don’t have a Photo, Child, Spouse, Sibling, or Parent. Click twice for the red x and those profiles will be excluded from your list. Resolve Duplicates If you find a person in the tree with duplicates in their immediate family, use the resolve duplicates option in their more menu. This will open a mini-tree where you can drag the duplicates on each other to merge… Read the full story