Happy New Year – 2017

My Best of 2016

I changed my blogging platform during 2016. Switching from Blogger to WordPress was a challenge and switching from blog.dtaylorgenealogy.com to www.dontaylorgenealogy.com was even worse.  My former domain, dtaylorgenealogy.com was supposed to redirect to the new domain, but it never worked reliably.  I don’t know why. Eventually, I just let the old domain lapse. Anyway, because of the changes, statistics are not available in one place but rather are spread between the two like apple butter and orange marmalade. Both are good on toast but don’t go together at all.

WordPress

As I mentioned, in September I switched to WordPress from Blogger. It has taken much longer to rebuild my direct following then I expected. I still have more “followers” via Blogger than I do via WordPress. As I am no longer posting to the Blogger site, anyone subscribing to via Blogger should subscribe using WordPress using the widget Right Column – Top instead. Actually, if you want to follow my genealogy blog, that is the best place to do so.  Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter are nearly as reliable to follow with.

Looking at the site statistics on the WordPress site, interestingly, the number one posting in views is a 2013 article regarding the McAllister Murder – Murder Suspect and Wife – Jan 20^th. [Darling Research]

My number 1 article from 2016 is an April article posted on the Blogger site and moved to the WordPress site regarding the MGS Spring Workshop. [Reviews]

Finally, the number one posting since I made the switch to WordPress is about the Birth Record of Patience A. Roberts. [Roberts Research]

Google Search is, by far, the most common referrer to my site. FaceBook is a distant second.

Blogger

The review of Family Tree Maker Mac 3 that I did in 2013 is still, by far, my most read posting on Blogger. [Reviews]

My most viewed family history posting on Blogger was an article about my William Price (1782-1846). [Howell Research]

Finally, my most read Blogger post, and my most read posting of 2016 was Compulsive Searching – Bert Allen Roberts (1903-1949).  That is an article about my excitement regarding researching my grandfather, show name I only determined a few weeks before.[Roberts Research]

Again, Google was the most common referrer to my site, and Facebook a second. Ow.ly was the third most common referrer. I post links to my site to Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter using HootSuite which uses ow.ly as the URL to shorten the link.

I think the most interesting posting I have done during the past year are was Compulsive Searching – Bert Allen Roberts (1903-1949). [Roberts Research]

2017 – The Future

Certainly, my five major research lines will take the majority of my effort.  These are my ancestors on the Brown and Roberts lines and my wife ancestral lines of Darling and Howell.  Also, the vaudeville career of my grandmother, Donna Montran, will be a major thread in my activities.  I’ll probably drop activity regarding the “Great War” as a major category and move it under “Other.”

My volunteer work at the Scarborough Historical Society has been growing.  I’ve developed a website for them and expect that I’ll post quite a lot there. Check it out at scarboroughhistoricalsociety.org.  I suspect that much of my work that I post there I will cross post here. So, look for SHS as a new major topic on my Blog.

I am also involved with the Maine Genealogical Society and the Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society. I anticipate that I will be posting content regarding them, their activities, and my participation in those activities.

I have several projects that I am working on. I expect to continue working on many of them and posting about them.  I may break active projects out of “Other” into its own category.

DNA – Genetic Genealogy is a really important part of my research. It has provided clues to determining my biological father. It has also provided the starting point for connections to cousins I might otherwise have never gotten to know. I also have a significant project to learn the biological father of my half-sister Glennis.  I think I am zeroing in on potential candidates. This is a very exciting project for both Glennis and me.

Finally, I still have my food and travel blog, D. Taylor’s Food and Travel. I don’t spend a lot of energy on it, but you might find it interesting.

My blogs are:

• Don Taylor Genealogy – My Genealogy Blog
• Taylor’s Food and Travel – My Food Blog

Blogs I maintain for others:

• Scarborough Historical Society
• Maine Genealogical DNA Interest Group
• Smyrna Historical and Genealogical Society (legacy)

Please let me know what you would like me to focus upon on my blog posting activities.  Are there specific areas you would like me to focus upon?  If so, please let me know.  Are there any of my posts that you found to be particularly interesting? Please use the comments form below. If you do not want your comments made public, please add “Please do not publish” to the first line of text in your message.

————-Disclaimer————-