Integrating Reunion Web Project with a website builder?

[CarlSGutekunst]

Back in the dark ages of the WWW, I built a family history website from scratch, including a script that imported Reunion Web Project HTML files into the site. (The import added navigation, tweaked the CSS, linked names to other documents on the site, etc.) Now that I'm old and lazy, I want to restart that old site, but using a modern site builder like WordPress or Wix.

Does anyone have any experience / advice around integrating Reunion Web Projects into a website builder?

[wmgcrowell]

I am in a very similar situation though perhaps with less experience. I had a website on iWeb until Steve Jobs decided to eliminate the program. I'm using TypePad for a couple of blogs on other subjects but find it won't work for my family history needs. Have you decided on a program? Aside from Wix and WordPress have you looked at any others such as Weebly?

[Bob White]

You may want to take a look at Sandvox by Karelia. This is a Mac-centric company who also has an ISP arm to host websites. Sort of like iWeb was but a much bigger and more flexible set of features. See it at http://www.karelia.com/products/sandvox/.

[CAshbridge]

I am not sure about incorporating trees, cards, etc, but I love Everweb. It is the closest thing to iWeb I could find. Their customer support is fantastic.

[Peder]

I was tinkering with Sandvox sometime ago but in the end I used Sparkle to migrate my iWeb website. I just find Sparkle easier. Sparkle have just released version 3. See it at https://sparkleapp.com/

[wmgcrowell]

Thank you for the suggestions. I shall look into them all.

[Joe Finnegan]

Quite a while ago, I used Rapid Weaver as a website builder - I'm guessing Sandvox, Everweb, and Sparkle would work similarly. From memory, if I were to do it, I'd

1. Set up my internet web site using the website builder of choice. Include a link, maybe on the home page, to an index.html file in a new folder. Doesn't matter what's on that page right now.

2. In Reunion's Preferences, select Web > Files > Cover Page, and select index.html. Then build your Reunion Web Project. Reunion will save your entire project in a folder - make sure it matches the name of the folder you set up in step 1.

3. Push this Reunion project folder up to your internet site, typically with FTP. Where does it go? Replace the new folder you created with the website builder with this one. There is other software, but I use Cyberduck as my FTP program to move files and folders to and from the internet. For example, the top-level folder for my web site is public_html - set by my internet host.

4. You should now be able to see your Reunion Web Project on your internet web page, by following the link on your home page.

5. Hints: (a) files and folders should have one-word names, in all lower case. family_tree is best. family tree can work, but it gets complicated and possibly inconsistent. (b) You'll use the same login credentials in Cyberduck as you use in your website builder. (c) These steps are based on how it used to be - stuff changes, and I admittedly haven't tried Sandvox, Everweb, or Sparkle.

Good Luck,

Joe

[wmgcrowell]

Thank you Joe. I'm now working my way through the various programs and will take a look at Rapid Weaver. I'll no doubt have questions.

One question to Bob and Peder (and anyone else) about Sandvox: The most recent version listed on their site is 2.10.12 September 26, 2018, which deals with compatibility issues with Mojave. In the Intro Video there is reference to taking photos from iPhoto, which is no longer supported by Apple. Is there a newer version of Sandvox available or planned?

Sandvox offers hosting. Do any of the others? What other options might there be?

Perhaps it would be helpful if I were to describe what it is I'm doing:
My project is a narrative history of one line of descent from the 17th C when the progenitor arrived in North America down to the present. In addition to information about the individuals in that line and their immediate families, I include basic information about their affines. Beyond that I try to give some context for their lives, describing the communities and societies in which they lived and something about what their lives might have been like. They left no diaries or other personal records that I have found, but I have uncovered quite a bit of information in official records, news papers, and the like. And I have stories from my grandmother and mother, many of which I have found to be unlikely. But they are nonetheless part of the family lore and are presented as such. At this point I have written five chapters that bring the story up to the beginning of the 20th C. My aim is to put the completed ms on line, as well as the photos and documents I have collected. Also included will be briefer descriptions of other lines and at least one unrelated family that was important.

My goal is to provide my granddaughters with a historical background. Their father is German, and they are now living in Germany and unlikely to spend much time in the US where their relations can be counted on the fingers of one hand. (They also have relatives in Taiwan.) That makes it unlikely they will get much introduction into American history, making the historical context necessary. Consequently, at this point reports and the like are of less interest to me than the narrative, though of course the data that would go into reports is essential and Reunion has been invaluable for organizing it.

The girls are curious about this history and these people. Two summers ago my wife and I took them on a trip through Eastern Oregon where my grandparents and my great grandparents lived and were able not only to show the girls where they but take them to meet kids their age who live on ranches and see what life is like in that part of the US before they moved to Europe.

This goes beyond my original question, but it perhaps gives a better idea of what my needs might be. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

[Bob White]

Looks like I need to also look into other web software. Sorry for steering you wrong regarding Sandvox but I haven't done any work with it for a couple years and was unaware. Here's what I found in Wikipedia's description of the company:

As of April 2019, Karelia has not responded to support requests for a year, nor has it responded to questions on its community forum for a year. It last posted a statement on its company blog in July 2018. As of November 2020, the user forum has been taken down.

Just checked and I am able to log in to their hosting site "A2 Hosting" but not sure if it's working. I took my website off line about two years ago. Kinda looks like it is in the process of shutting down.

[wmgcrowell]

Thanks Bob. I do appreciate your willingness to help. It's unfortunate, since Sandvox looked promising until I hit the pages about photos and giving the versions.

[CarlSGutekunst]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I note some parallel discussion in other threads regarding web publishing that were also helpful.

(Since I'd posted the question back in June without any replies I'd given up on it.)

[Kim R]

I am not sure about incorporating trees, cards, etc, but I love Everweb. It is the closest thing to iWeb I could find. Their customer support is fantastic.

I just downloaded Everweb, can you point me in the direction of how I would put my Web Report in Everweb? I did it years ago with iWeb but it was trial and error and I do not know how I did it in the end. I can no longer open iWeb to even take a look at what I might have done. I don't even know what terminology I'm suppose to be searching for to look for help.