It’s well-known that The Family History Guide website has a lot of information, on a wide variety of family history topics. For new visitors to the site, this can seem a lot to take in at first. So on Tuesday, December 16 we will be implementing a few changes to the website, to give it a somewhat “lighter” look and feel.

Below is a partial screen shot of the new home page (links not active in the picture):

Here are some of the important changes we’re making to the site:

• Single column flow for the home page: Instead of two columns and extensive additional information, the new design uses one continuous and centered area, focusing on the essential options. These options are indicated with the four pictures shown above, and their text captions.
• Lighter look for the top menu: In the example below, you’ll see a “More” option in the Intro menu.

The “old” Intro menu has twice as many entries, going to pages that are secondary in importance. These entries are being replaced by a “More” link which goes to a collector page for all the items. This gives a lighter feel to the menu.

• New landing pages: The picture links on the home page go to these landing pages; “About”, “Learning Paths”, “Research” and “Activities”. These pages have feature videos hosed by our avatars, as well as other essential links. The material in these pages is also available in the top menu. These landing pages will take the place of the old “Get Started page. Below is sample screen shot of the About landing page:

It features a main video near the top, which introduces The Family History Guide, plus additional videos in the Learn More section. The other landing pages follow a similar format, with an introductory video and links to additional videos and resources.

We hope you enjoy the new design for The Family History Guide home page and landing pages. Look for these pages to be part of the site on Tuesday, December 16.