Ohio Genealogical Society Launches New Website

The Ohio Genealogical Society has officially launched its new website today, 13 May 2020. More than a year in the creation, it is now the best in class among state genealogical society sites for its design, integrated access to database content, new catalog interface, consolidated blog, and much more.The site is located at https://www.ogs.org/

The following was received on 30 April 2020 from now former president Margaret Cheney and the OGS Board of Trustees.

__________________________________________________________ Dear Members and Supporters of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society mission: Protecting and sharing Ohio's family history resources, developing engaging educational opportunities, and connecting genealogists Our previous communications about our new website were about visual appeal, finding your way around the website, and how to search for people in the database and other genealogy resources. We are a month or so away from launching our new website and we want to let you know about several other exciting features and remind you about a few key ones some of which have slightly changed as we fine tune the details. You will receive another communication as we get closer to the launch date. Soon we will send you a Website User Manual that will help you learn how to navigate the new website a little easier. How to Login as a Member      To login, click on My Account on the top of the menu line. If you are a member whose email address we have on file, you will now use your email address as your "Username or email address" (under the heading Login on the My Account page) when you login.   If we do not have your email address, your Username will be the first six letters of your last name (no hyphens, apostrophes, or spaces) followed immediately by your member number. If your last name is shorter than six characters it will be your last name followed immediately by your member number. Examples are anders123456, smith234567, and okelly345678. You may then enter your email address at My Account>Account Details and will use your email address as your Username on your later visits to the website. The first time you login you will use your member number as your password. We ask that you change your password to whatever you choose so long as it satisfies the website security requirements. This will help secure our valuable genealogical data and standardize the log-in procedure. Events, Blog, Library Catalog Our events (get there by clicking on Events in the main menu line) will appear in a calendar form making them easier to see and find. To see details of an event on the calendar just click it. Our two blogs are merging into one and it will be on our new website (click Blog on the top menu line). You will also notice a new library catalog search page (click Visit the Library on the top menu line>Card Catalog) . Search Database and Genealogy Resources Choose Search Database (on the main menu line) to find information about an ancestor in our database or general information about an Ohio cemetery. You may search for an ancestor by entering a first and last name or a cemetery by entering any part of the cemetery name and/or a county and/or a township. We decided not to include any filters in this section for the initial launch. You may access information and digital material in Genealogy Resources (click one of the nine selections under Genealogy Resources on the main menu line) by using filters, searches, or a combination of those two. Genealogy Resources include digitized books, digitized manuscripts, OGS periodicals, cemetery research tools, library special collections, webinars, external links, and our two research Centers. The two research Centers are about the Civil War and African Americans. Questions and Issues We have done our best to discover and fix problems. We expect that it may take a little time to adjust to new features and the organization of the website. We have put into place a process to answer questions and respond to issues that arise. To ask a question or report an issue about the website you may click Contact Us in the footer of any webpage (bottom left of any webpage), fill out the Contact Us form, and click Submit. Or you may send an email to  ogs@ogs.org or webmaster@ogs.org. You may also call us. Our new website will help us fulfill our mission (see the OGS mission at the top of this communication). The website was made possible by your ideas, suggestions, and feedback from the 2018 survey. Many of your suggestions were used for this initial phase of the website. We hope that you enjoy using the new OGS website and visit it often to discover new information as we add it. Thank you for your continued support as we advance our Society's technology for the benefit of people researching their Ohio family history roots. As always, thank you for your continued support.    Genially,

Margaret Cheney, President and The Board of Trustees of OGS