It seems the time has gone by so quickly since those days in late 2014, when The Family History Guide started as a design on paper … and now it has website visitors from over 150 countries. July 25, 2015 was the day the website officially launched, and so we are turning 8 years old this week.

Over the years, the site has gone through thousands of revisions, with hundreds of new features added – all with the purpose of helping to make everyone’s family history journey easier, more efficient, and enjoyable.

Here is a brief summary of some of the highlights of the past eight years with The Family History Guide – enjoy!

Mar. 2015 – Bob Ives and Bob Taylor set up The Family History Guide LLC (which later becomes an L3C).

June 2015 – First public demo of The Family History Guide given at the Sandy Granite FHC.

June 2015 – Our first family history conference: UVTAGG in Provo, Utah.

July 2015 – Website officially released. 

July 2015 – BYU Conference with presentation and booth.

Feb. 2016 – RootsTech and Innovator Showdown (semifinalist), with booths and speaking slot.

Feb 2016 – First meeting with FamilySearch.

May 2016 – First BYU webinar on The Family History Guide.

Nov. 2016 – Initial meeting with FamilySearch.

Nov. 2016 – New mobile-friendly web design launches.

Dec 2016 – Advisory Board formed for The Family History Guide L3C, with Staff members.

Feb. 2017 – RootsTech with expanded booth size and 40 mini-classes offered.

Apr. 2017 – The Family History Guide Association formed as a Utah nonprofit corporation, with a                  Board of Directors.

Aug. 2017 – Partner pages for the website (Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast) enter the Beta stage.

Oct. 2017 – Approved by the IRS as a 501©(3) tax-exempt public charity.

Feb. 2018 – Exhibitor at RootsTech 2018, with an expanded booth size and a general session speaking slot.

Oct 2019 – Exhibitor at RootsTech London (inaugural event).

Feb 2019 – Exhibitor and presenter at RootsTech 2019 with an additionally expanded booth. 

Feb 2020 – Exhibitor and RootsTech and placement as a Sponsoring Organization.

March 2020 – Multiple presentations and training via the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 2021-2022 – RootsTech virtual booth presence, with RootsTech reaching over one million participants.  Multiple Zoom platform presentations to wards, stakes, genealogical societies, and public libraries.

March 2023 – Major presence as a Sponsor at RootsTech 2023.  Introduction To The Family History Guide and  Other presentations by other staff members and BOD members at RT 2023.

May 2023 – The Family History Guide is directly referenced as an instructional resource on FamilySearch.org.

June 2023 – Invited exhibitor at the National Genealogical Society national conference in Richmond, Va.

2023 – Present  Other partnerships with major organizations are pending and will be announced soon.