It’s almost time to turn a new page on the yearly calendar, and it has been a great one for The Family History Guide website. Let’s take a look at what we feel are the top 20 additions and updates made to The Family History Guide in 2018, from 20 to 1 …

20. Exercises for Partner pages—Exercises are added to the Project pages for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. These also serve as reference points for using the Tracker, providing criteria for Good and Proficient skill levels.

19. MyHeritage DNA Project info—Goal 3 is updated with information on taking a MyHeritage DNA test, and Goal 4 is added to provide info on DNA Matching and Ethnicity features .

18. Redesign of Topics page and Activities Index—Both pages have a cleaner design with a handy column format that makes it easier to find more entries, faster.

17. Goal Quizzes—There are currently 10 Goal Quizzes for FamilySearch, with more coming for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast. The Goal Quizzes have five questions each, and they tend to drill into more detail than the Project Quizzes.

16. New “Contact Us” form—Gone is the old Contact page, and in its place is a handy Jot Form with more response fields and better usability.

15. Info and More—You can hover over Info buttons to see a list of topics that are included in an article or video, without having to open the item. The “More” links take you to pages with additional information on FamilySearch articles. Info buttons and More links will continue to be added to the website in 2019.

14. Redesigned Computer Basics page—Computer Basics now is now organized with Goals, Choices, and Steps, similar to the other Projects in The Family History Guide. There are seven Computer Basics projects, covering PC, Mac, apps, social media, and mobile devices.

13. Redesigned Trainers section—Pages in the Trainers menu have been updated with a cleaner look and feel. The menu also now include links to Certified Trainers info and the Facebook Group for Trainers, Consultants, and Directors (now over 1,000 members).

12. 15-Minute button and page—On the Home page, the 15-Minute button leads to a page with resources and tips for those with busy schedules who want to include family history in their lives, in small and regular amounts.

11. Study Center—A recent addition, the Study Center provides an organized approach to regular study of the Projects in The Family History Guide

And now for the Top 10 …

10. Redesigned Get Started page—New users of The Family History Guide can quickly find ways to get started, with Family History Basics, Project Overviews, Computer Basics, and Projects from FamilySearch or Partners.

9. Updated Blog page design—The Blog page has an easy-to-navigate WordPress theme, introduced in 2018. Nearly 150 blog posts were published on the page in the past year.

8. Certified Trainers pages—It was formerly the Regional Trainers program; now it’s the Certified Trainers program. This new direction provides opportunities for many more to train others with The Family History Guide, supported by a series of pages in the Certified Trainers link of the Trainers menu.

7. Training Quizzes and Quiz page—There are now 17 interactive quizzes are available on the Quizzes page: Overview, FamilySearch Projects (2), FamilySearch Goals (10), Ancestry Projects (2), MyHeritage Project, and Findmypast Project. More quizzes will be added in 2019.

6. Kids Corner—Formerly known as the Children’s page, the Kids Corner has an updated look and feel, with many new activities. It’s now designed for kids to use directly, rather than speaking primarily to adults.

5. Faiths menu—This menu includes pages for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths.

4. Inline QUIKLinks for record collections—QUIKLinks, or shortcuts that take you directly to record searches, now appear directly after the research Goals they apply to, rather than as a collection at the bottom of a page. This provides just-in-time research aid in context with instructional articles and videos.

3. Over 1,000 links to Partner Pages, main pages, and the Vault—This has been a huge effort, spread out over the course of the year. Goals and Choices have been filled out more completely, with links to high-quality articles and videos on hundreds of family history topics.

2. Updated Home page – simpler flow & sections, tiles, embed videos—The Home page is now more streamlined and easier to use than ever. Buttons for Quick Tour, Get Started, and 15 Minutes provide entry-level help, and the Watch and Learn and Featured Videos sections provide embedded videos you can watch right on the page.

1. Mobile-friendly design—This update provides a consistent viewing experience across all types of devices, such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones. The familiar “hamburger” menu system provides a left-margin menu selection for smaller screens.