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Dear Family -- After several years of maintaining this website I have decided to move the Family Tree over to the Ancestry.com software platform. There are many reasons for this decision, but the bottom-line is it will be much easier for you to access and maintain information about the tree, and it is 100% free. This website (ourfamilyorigin.tribalpages.com) will be hosted until January 2014 at which time it will be terminated. In the meantime, I have saved and moved your pictures and information to the new website. DO NOT ADD MORE INFO TO THIS WEBSITE. For access to the website contact me at gallen1@san.rr.com and I will link you to the new Ancestry.com site (which is up and running with about 7,000 names). 
 Tom Allen

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As of Sunday 1/27/08 I have loaded the "REAL" Family tree in to the  data base -- we are LIVE. I am also loading pictures and expect to have over a  1,000 shortly. I have decided to load the oldest ones first and hopefully allow you  to load which current family photos you want to publish. For right now I have  restricted the site access only to family members that have the passwords. In the  future we will open the access to others on the web, but ALWAYS restrict information  and pictures about living persons.

Because each of you has access to edit the information on this site, I am asking that  we ALL adhere to the following rules:
    1. Only add or edit information where you have first hand knowledge about it's  accuracy or have a source record (a document that establishes it accuracy).    2. Do not DELETE records (but you may edit information). Please send me what you  want to delete and I will take care of this process.
    3. Do not add any personal information (such as social security numbers,passwords,  etc.) if you DO NOT want it displayed on the internet. Always be concerned about  security.
    4. Add your contact information to the ADDRESS BOOK. This is a great way of  insuring we all have your latest contact information. To do this locate your name in  the NAMES INDEX under the PEOPLE TAB. Click on your NAME and open your record. Next  to your name (on the left) is an edit symbol, click on this icon. Your record will  open containing all of your Family Tree information. You may edit the information. At  the bottom of the page under the word CONTACT is a link to entering your contact  information. Click the word "here" in the record and you will expand the record to  include entries where you can add the contact information. Add you information and  remember to click "Save" at the bottom of the page.
    5. When you add pictures (for all to share) please put them in an appropriate  album. The "Default" album is where most pictures are initially loaded. You then need  to select the picture in the default album and move it into the appropriate family  album. We have also added albums that are not associated with a family or individual,  such as the following:
      a.	Allen Family Bible
      b.	Family Heirlooms -- pictures of family artwork, furniture, awards, etc.      c.	Gravestones
      d.	Maps
      e.	Holiday Photos -- pictures for recent family gatherings you want to share      f.	Source Records -- key records of the family (wills, letters, etc.)      g.	Unknown -- pictures of people was are trying to identify    6. Note that we do not have a section of the website dedicated to family  history. This is a limitation of the web service provider that will be remedied in  the near future. In the meantime we are implementing "OurFamilyOrgins" BLOG which  will be a companion website where the family can post history and stories about the  family. It is very COOL. The BLOG is located at www.ourfamilyorgin.wordpress.com.  Because this is limited to family members at this time, I must send you an invitation  to join. Just simply send me a request at gallen1@san.rr.com and I'll send you the  passwords, etc. You MUST visit it as there are quite a few articles about the family  history.
    7. Any entry that is inaccurate, unsubstantiated, or inappropriate will be  deleted.

If you have any questions please e-mail me (gallen1@san.rr.com) or you can always  call. Also our hosting partner has provided a link to HELP support and FAQ. Go to  http://www.tribalpages.com/tpsupport.html.

More to come in the next few weeks, including our family BLOG!  Have FUN ...