Progress and Pain

Back on December 28, 2008 I made some resolutions, on which I will report progress today in this post. This is not a 30 day or quarterly report, I am writing it because I don’t know what else to write today, and this may help me decide what to write tomorrow.

No more foot dragging, here are my resolutions for genealogical research:

1. Enter all the information from the BOX into my database. No exceptions, no cheating.
2. I will file all the paperwork in the proper place, not in piles on the floor, desk, or in any convenient box.

These two resolutions are complete. I do have a folder of newly gather information, but that was not part of the resolution, right? Hmmm.

And for my blogs:

1. I will post on either GrannyPam or Granny’s Genealogy every day.
2. I will finish posting all the data from my “old” genealogy site to Granny’s Genealogy.

It would take a little checking, but I am pretty sure I have missed a day here and there. However, my overall post total has more than met my unstated goal of 365 posts for 2009. A review of the numbers shows that I have posted more here on Granny’s Genealogy than on my personal blog. I have also made several posts on Papa’s site, which was not in the mix back when I made the resolution to write every day. The bottom line is that I probably never will write every day, but I can manage writing most days, and scheduling when I am too busy or away from home to write.

Posts in 2009 (after this is published) 485, as follows:
Granny’s Genealogy: January: 30, February: 32, March: 38, April: 32, May: 34, June: 33, July: 65, August: 10, September: 31, October: 23, total: 328.
GrannyPam: January: 15, February: 15, March: 26, April: 22, May: 22, June: 13, July: 15, August: 11, September: 10, October: 8, total: 157.

Traffic is up on Granny’s Genealogy, and down on GrannyPam, and checking the post numbers explains why.

Now the thing that is not complete, posting all the data from my old site to this blog. This has proved much more difficult that I thought it would be. I have started, but some of those pages were written in 2003. I know more now, so I feel I should update them. Additionally, a web page is different from a blog post, and things don’t translate as well as I thought they would.

I took a big bite and did the cemetery photos from my old blog. I had to split them into more posts than I had web pages, and format them differently, and link the photos differently. I am still not sure if I am satisfied with what I did, but this is a blog, so I need to post and move forward.

The organization factor has been bothering me, and I have partly addressed it. In the side bar, you will see monthly archives, category archives and a new tool, “Series” I found this little widget when trying to find a practical way to index my posts. I am not satisfied without an index, and am still working on that, but the series widget has helped some. When you click on it, it gives you the posts in a given series from the first one to the last one, in order. That is pretty hard to beat in some circumstances. For the cemetery posts, the first to last order doesn’t matter much, perhaps an alphabetical list of cemetery locations or names would be better. But for things like my Grandma’s books, it does put them in order, and make them accessible in one place as a group.

I am happy with my progress on genealogical resolutions, but not sure what direction I am headed. I believe I will need a new resolution before the year ends, or at least a new direction. The data from my old site will run out quickly, and I will need to decide how and when to post on this blog. I really do well with a list, but I am out of artifacts to list and describe. Except perhaps for a large group of old photos. I will have to put my thinking cap on, and see what feels right.

Thanks to everyone who has hung with me through my growing pains and continues to visit my blogs. I have great appreciation for the many geneabloggers who continue to produce valuable and thoughtful posts day in and day out. What talent!