2011

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, a global celebration of the achievements of women. First celebrated in Germany in 1911, the holiday is now recognized on March 8 of each year by over 100 different countries.  The holiday observes women’s struggle for equality and empowerment throughout history. In honor of the holiday, today’s Family Tree Tuesday highlights Susan B. Anthony, one of the most prominent figures of the women’s rights movement in… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Aldous Huxley http://www.geni.com/people/Aldous-Leonard-Huxley/6000000010799521427

The fun thing about working at a genealogy company is that we can see how a lot of us are related to each other in the big tree. Today, I want to show you how I’m related to four Geni employees in the big tree. As more of our team works on their family trees, we’ll find how we’re related to even more people. So, how are you related to us?

One of the strong points of Geni is the ability to collaborate with your close relatives very easily. Today, I’m going to show you how to invite your family to work on your tree. First, find the profile of the person you want to invite. Then, enter their email address in the field on their profile page, and press invite. Next, an email will be sent to that person. When they receive it, it will… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Alexander Graham Bell http://www.geni.com/people/Alexander-Bell/6000000011624971392

As of 1 PM ET on March 11, 2011, this contest is closed. What you could win: • A 12-month Geni Pro Account How to enter: 1. Tweet this phrase: “I want to win a #Geni Pro Account — http://tinyurl.com/GeniWin #genealogy” 2. Post a link to your tweet in the comment section of *this* post. Rules: 1. No purchase necessary. 2. Winners will be chosen randomly. 3. Odds of winning are directly related to how… Read the full story

Profile of the Day Natalie Portman Johnny Cash Dr. Seuss Francis Scott Key Lonel Richie Geni How To How To: Make a Public or Private Discussion How To: Make a Profile Public Interesting Geni Blog Posts The Geni Podcast: Welcome, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak Look Who’s Related: Tony Blair and the Royal Family The Genealogy Experience by Thomas Pileggi Family Tree Tuesday – George Clooney Additional Updates to Geni More Documents and Sources Enhancements Introducing Profile… Read the full story

We have two positions available at our West Hollywood, CA (USA) office, and we’d love it if you helped spread the word to any local folks who may be interested. The positions are: Director of Monetization Customer Service Representative Info about all open positions at Geni can be found at http://jobs.geni.com. Thanks!

This week we highlight the Great Composers of Classical Music project. This project includes some of the most renowned classical composers whose music has left a significant mark in history. Today, their compositions are performed and enjoyed throughout the world. Here’s a look at a few of the profiles included: Ludwig van Beethoven – He is considered one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. Even after he became completely deaf, Beethoven… Read the full story

With the latest version of their product, 23andMe tests over one million SNPs all over your genome. That’s a million points of data about what makes you who you are from a biological standpoint. That’s pretty impressive just knowing that. When you factor in that the testing kit, the processing, the analysis, and one year of updated results come in at about $260 USD, it starts to become more compelling from a consumer standpoint. Now,… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Lionel Richie http://www.geni.com/people/Lionel-Richie/6000000007008689102

While court records may be a little more difficult to research, they may yield some unique information you may not find anywhere else. Before you jump into these documents, you will first need to have an idea about what type of court records you are looking for and in what location. This is key to knowing which archives to search. Remember, county, state and federal cases are archived at different levels. Here are a few of… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Francis Scott Key http://www.geni.com/people/Francis-Scott-Key/6000000001180341043

Documentation is extremely important to genealogy. Sadly, the documents we find are often in pretty bad shape. First thing we need to do is get them scanned. Once we have a digital copy of the original document, we can start touching it up to be more legible. To get started, you’ll need some image editing software. Some of the more affordable applications are Photoshop Elements, Acorn, Pixelmator, and The GIMP. Now, open up your image… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Dr. Seuss http://www.geni.com/people/Theodor-Geisel/5529202663300088565

Gene, our Systems Engineer, took a plane over West Hollywood. Here is what the Geni offices look like from 1400 feet.

Our engineers are always working to make Geni better. When a lot of updates are happening like yesterday, there is occasionally points where Geni.com won’t be available for a short period of time. To better serve you, we’ve implemented an Uptime monitoring system that you can follow on Twitter (@GeniUptime). If you’re not a Twitter user, just keep your eyes right here on the Geni blog. As soon as we update the Twitter account, there… Read the full story

Last summer we introduced the ability to view revisions on Geni, and shortly before Christmas we added the ability to view and revert text revisions for profiles, surnames and projects. Today marks our next major “revisions” release:  profile revisions. When you click on the revisions tab for a profile you will see this interface, which allows you to view the revision history and revert to previous values for each of the profile fields displayed.  A… Read the full story

In addition to the new profile revision features, today we released some enhancements for sourcing profiles on Geni. All sourced fields on a profile show a document icon; hovering over the icon will display a hover card containing the document providing the evidence for the field: The ‘Edit Profile’ screen also contains the document icons with hover cards. The ability to add sources is a little easier now, too.  When you click on the Add… Read the full story

Today we released profile revision features and additional document and source features, as well as some additional enhancements that make Geni better for our users. Set your time zone Now you can set your time zone, and over the course of the next few weeks we will update timestamps across the site to reflect your local time. To set your time zone, visit your profile and click on ‘Edit Profile’.  In the next screen, you have… Read the full story

Oscar winning actor and director George Clooney is best known for his roles on the television show ER and movies such as Ocean’s Eleven, Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck which he co-wrote and directed. Clooney has also devoted much of his time to his humanitarian work, raising awareness for the conflict in Darfur and raising funds for several recent natural disasters throughout the world. Clooney was born on May 6, 1961 to parents Nick and… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Johnny Cash http://www.geni.com/people/Johnny-Cash/6000000000315787220

I was reading wall posts on the Geni Facebook page, and I saw a particularly interesting post from a man named Thomas Pileggi. I thought it would be worthwhile for him to share his genealogy experience with our readers, so I asked him to write up a summary. Here is what he said: I did my first family tree around 1979 or 1980 as part of a training in Family Therapy. I spoke to a… Read the full story

The best part of having a World Family Tree with over 53 million profiles is the ability to find out how all of those people are related. Last week, we showcased how the US Presidents are related. Today, I want to show how Tony Blair, famed former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is related to Prince Charles and the royal family. As you can see from the relationship path pictured above, Tony Blair and… Read the full story

Discussions are a great way to communicate with fellow genealogists. Here’s how to get started.

Profile of the Day Kim Cattrall Ella Fitzgerald Coretta Scott King George Washington Geni How To How To: Merge Profiles How To: Upload Documents How To: Tag a Photo with a Profile ID How To: Find Other People’s Relationship Paths Interesting Geni Blog Posts Look Who’s Related: George Washington and all the Presidents Family Tree Tuesday – J. Paul Getty Family Stories from the Raj Looking Through Land Records Featured Project: Authors of Great Literature… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Natalie Portman http://www.geni.com/people/Natalie-Portman/6000000009677719251

Today, we sit down with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak — a very well known genealogist. We discuss her most recent book as well as some of the interesting things she’s done up to this point. Afterwards, we discuss her thoughts on the start of the second season of Who Do You Think You Are? This episode is a great primer for those new to the genealogy community, so don’t hesitate to jump in. [Download This Episode]… Read the full story

Your third-great grandparents and closer are marked as private by default. If there is a reason to change that, it’s easy to make any given adult profile public. Here’s how.

Today we feature the Authors of Great Literature project. From the times of ancient Greece to the 20th century, the works of these authors have withstood the test of time and continue to be read by new generations today. Is your favorite author included? Check out the Authors of Great Literature project and help contribute more great authors to Geni! Here’s a look at a few of the 127 profiles already included in this project:… Read the full story

Ever wanted to know how to merge two profiles together? Here’s how. Our tools even allow you to merge duplicates surrounding the merged profiles.

Profile of the Day: Kim Cattrall http://www.geni.com/people/Kim-Cattrall/6000000011348794972

This is a visual guide for uploading your documents from your computer to Geni.com.

The purchase and sale of land is one of the most well documented sources you may find in your genealogy research. In the U.S., the sale of public land can be traced back to the beginnings of westward expansion and the passage of the Homestead Act. In many cases, you can even trace the ownership of land back to when America was first colonized and land grants were distributed to early settlers. After the American Revolutionary War, the… Read the full story

Here is a visual walkthrough on how to tag a photo on Geni using the profile ID from any person. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below this post.

Profile of the Day: Ella Fitzgerald http://www.geni.com/people/Ella-Fitzgerald/6000000004569848355

Profile of the Day: Coretta Scott King http://www.geni.com/people/Coretta-King/6000000004024016334

From 1858 to 1947, the British ruled over southern Asia. During this time period, many British women went to India to find their future husbands. A woman by the name of Anne de Courcy is currently in the process of writing a book about these young women from this fascinating period of time. Anne is on the look out for well-substantiated stories, letters, or journals from any women who went to India during the Raj,… Read the full story

J. Paul Getty was an American industrialist and founder of the Getty Oil Company. Getty’s father, George, was a lawyer and successful oilman, amassing a great fortune at the time of his death. After taking over the family business, J. Paul Getty’s successes in the oil industry made him one of the richest men in the world. An avid collector of arts and antiquities, Getty founded the J. Paul Getty Museum, which holds an impressive… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: George Washington http://www.geni.com/people/George-Washington-1st-President-of-the-USA/6000000008211776777

If you’re a Geni Pro Member, you have the ability to view relationship paths. Put simply, this features shows you how any two people are most closely related on the World Family Tree. Here’s how to view the relationship between two people without your profile being one of them. First, search for the profile you’d like to start with. In this example, I’m starting with Prince William. Once you find the profile, go to the… Read the full story

The biggest strength of the world family tree is the ability to find out how everyone’s related. Last week, I showed you how Vice President Joe Biden is related to President John Adams. Today, I want to show you how George Washington, the first US President, is related to every other US President. John Adams is George Washington’s 10th cousin once removed Thomas Jefferson is George Washington’s 8th cousin thrice removed James Madison is George… Read the full story

Geni Projects is a great feature for genealogists. It allows you to make a dedicated section to keep track of a specific aspect of your research. For example, today’s highlighted Project is the US Presidents and Vice Presidents. If you want to make a cool new Project, here’s how: First, go to the More drop-down menu, and then select “Projects” Next, click the “Start a new Project” button. Now, a lightbox will pop up with… Read the full story

This coming Monday is Presidents Day in the U.S. Also known as Washington’s Birthday, the holiday has evolved overtime to not only honor George Washington‘s birthday (February 22, 1732), but also Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday (February 12, 1809) and the legacies of all U.S. presidents. Today we highlight the U.S. Presidents and Vice Presidents project in honor of  the upcoming holiday. In this project you can find the master profiles of all 44 U.S. presidents and their vice… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Rosie O’Donnell http://www.geni.com/people/Rosie-O-Donnell/6000000011112054103

Although church records may not have been kept with genealogy in mind, these records can provide genealogists with vital information to help fill the gaps in their research. Even if your ancestor was not a regular attendant, you may find detailed information on births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. How do you go about obtaining these records? If you’re lucky enough to have access to your family Bible, you may be able to gather enough… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Halle Berry http://www.geni.com/people/Halle-Berry/6000000008470524294

So, now that you’ve ordered your kit, taken your test, and received your results, how do you put them to good use in your genealogy research? Well, it depends on which company you decided to do your testing through. I have personal experience with 23andMe, so that is the example I’ll use today. Before you do anything else, go to the mechanism that matches people with similar DNA. 23andMe calls this feature “Relative Finder.” This… Read the full story

One of the strengths of collaborative genealogy is finding out how we’re all related. Geni has a great tool for Pro members that allows you to find the path through the “Big Tree” from one person to another. This series of posts is designed to show off how cool this is. Today, I want to show how Joe Biden, the current US Vice President, is related to the first US Vice President John Adams. As… Read the full story

While we at Geni were in Salt Lake City, Utah for RootsTech, we toured the LDS church’s Family History Library. This huge building has innumerable amounts of data. From books to microfiche, this library is one of the best resources in the United States for genealogical information. Check it out.