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Posting links

How to post links - and what links are permissible

Can I post links to other websites?

 

Links posted by members of these forums should meet the following criteria:

 

·         Relevant and specific - the website should be relevant to the part of the forum in which the link is posted, but also post in the forum or discussion which is most specific. For example, if you want to recommend a website that relates to Devon, post it in the Devon area, not the England area.

·         Tried and tested - we want to know about sites that you can recommend from your own experience (just because a site is free doesn't make it useful - there are hundreds of thousands of free sites). If there are many different resources at the site tell us which ones you recommend (and any that you consider are best avoided).

·         Best in breed - if the site offers access to the same resources that can be found elsewhere tell us how the site you're recommending is better or different: for example, it might be easier to use, cheaper, or have a more powerful search.

·         Be direct - it will save members a lot of time if you link to the part(s) of the site with the resources that you recommend. If it's not possible to link to specific resources because of the way that the site works, and the site is complicated for a new user (or in a foreign language) please provide some guidance.

·         Content - the site should have content of its own, not simply links to other sites. Sites with hundreds or thousands of links will inevitably have some links to good sites, some links to bad sites, and some links that don't work at all. Sites which consist mainly of links often fail the next test.....

·         Trustworthy - if the site isn't a well-known one, can it be trusted? Sites which don't tell you precisely who is running them or which don't provide a postal address are suspicious, and may be involved in some scam.

·         Don't disappoint - try to avoid overselling the site you are recommending. Unless you tell them otherwise forum members are likely to assume that a site is free and that the data you talk about is online.

·         Follow the rules - make sure you read the Rules of these forums and stick to them.

 

If in doubt ask the moderator of the forum for advice.

 

 

Where should I post links?

 

If you've found a great website then you want other people to know about it - but not everyone, only the people who are likely to find it useful.

 

If you take a look around these forums you'll see that there are sections for countries and counties, plus topics like Migration, Occupations, and DNA. Each part of the forum has a Resources page where useful links, hints, and tips are provided, but also a subforum called More XXXX Resources (where XXXX is the county, country etc).

 

Usually the best place to post a link will be the relevant More Resources forum.

 

 

How do I post links?

 

The first step is to find the relevant page on the website you intend to link to - sometimes this will be the home page, but usually you can make your post more useful by linking to a page within the website, perhaps a Search page, or a page that describes the content. Remember that whilst you're only posting the link once, it could be used hundreds of times - so it's worth taking a little time to get it right.

 

Now type the title of the link - this could be the name of the website or the title of the records that you're linking to - then highlight the title and click the icon that looks like a chain (as the mouse hovers over it the words Insert/edit link are displayed). After a second or two a long thin box will appear - paste the web address of the page you're linking to into the box and click the Insert button. It doesn't matter if the link is longer than the box.

 

Tip: you can use Ctrl-C to copy text and Ctrl-V to paste it.

 

 

You'll find further guidance elsewhere in the New Members area of the forum.

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