CuriousFox (Follow Friday)

CuriousFox, http://www.curiousfox.com/, is a gazetteer and message system that connects family and local historians. Every town and village in the UK and Ireland has its own page. (I have not personally used the USA version.) Things I like about CuriousFox include:

• Exact map locations and historic maps.
• Finding relevant entries is easier because you search at town/village level.
• You can search for 'nearby' entries.
• It is easy to edit or delete your entries.
• People will also find your entries via Google searches.
• No spam (the system sends messages between members; no email addresses are visible).
• Free to join, add entries, and search by village or surname.
• Advantages of being a paying member (£5.50/year) include: you can contact and be contacted by all other members (free or paying); you can receive email alerts when people add entries for towns of interest to you; and you can list the URL of your Web page or blog.

 HINTS:

• Give some thought to the wording of your entries. They should be concise, with surnames in capital letters. Specify dates, and use appropriate punctuation.
• For large towns with many entries and multiple pages, I delete my entry every year and immediately resubmit it (updated if necessary) so that it reappears near the top of the list. I did this recently, and within 24hrs a local historian contacted me and offered to send transcriptions of land records for that surname/town!

I hope you will try Curious Fox and share your success stories.

('Follow Friday' is a theme used by Geneabloggers.)