Mar 042016
 

So many things can hinge on a simple decision. For all of us in the genealogy world it was a decision  that changed things for the better for all of us.

The decision to collect the known at that time online links to sites useful to genealogists and then putting the whole 1125 of them on a website because “somebody might find that list of links useful”

led to a site beloved and essential to many.


That decision was made 20 years ago today! So it is Happy Birthday to Cyndi’s List!!!!!

That 20 years has seen the list of useful sites to the genealogist grow from 1025 to over 330 788+ links!

If you went to each and every link and spent just one hour at that link you wou need to spend 24 hours a day for the next 37.76 years!

That is 330 788 links that have been checked and categorised for us to use. This is not a one time job. Links constantly change and need to be repaired. Categories need to be expanded and new categories developed, indeed a never ending job.

A never ending job for a site that is totally free, yes that is correct, free for all to use.

What is even more amazing is that this is not being done by the very large team of people you would expect. Instead, apart from some limited help from a family member a number of years ago, all this work was done and is being done by one very amazing lady!

The amazing Cyndi Ingle, the lady who never sleeps!

I was privileged enough to meet Cyndi in person in person at RootsTech in 2013 and she is truly an amazing person who I am honoured to now call my friend.

Me with Cyndi Ingle (centre) and Alona Tester (right)

Thank you Cyndi for all you do!

We can all help Cyndi by reporting broken links (and I don’t mean just filling in the webform Cyndi provides by saying the link is broken!) It is a broken link form after all!

However we can provide the new URL. If we are a society webmaster and we change links we can let Cyndi know, we can submit new links ideally with some information about the link  The submit a new link, report a broken link, update a link buttons are visible on every page.

We can all help Cyndi by saving her time so she can continue to make her creation even better!

We can also click on the Donate to CyndisList to help Cyndi keep the site running and help pay the outstanding costs of the major upgrade of the site. The major upgrade and face-lift of the site  was many thousands of dollars.  

So to celebrate the 20 years of fantastic many hours effort every day by a fantastic lady why not consider donating an amount for all the help you have received by using the links Cyndi has put together for you.

Thank you Cyndi and Happy 20th Birthday to Cyndi’s List!

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