RootsChat remains the biggest and busiest of the UK-focused, general-purpose genealogy forums, and boasts more than 6.5 million posts from over 200,000 members. As always, I\u2019d suggest that newbies head straight to the section aimed at beginners, which is full of guidance, tips and war stories to help you avoid common pitfalls. The various threads are grouped by subject or theme, such as conflicts, occupations, record types, time periods and areas. There\u2019s all sorts of material relating to surnames<\/a> and one-name studies<\/a>, as well as glossaries of archaic terms, long-running threads compiling useful websites and lots more besides. If you have a handwritten<\/a> document that you can\u2019t decipher, just upload it and wait for the responses.<\/p>\n

2. Great War Forum<\/a><\/h2>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nSet up to complement Chris Baker\u2019s website The Long, Long Trail<\/a>, First World War<\/a> genealogy forum the Great War Forum has gone on to have a thriving life all its own. Moderators try to ensure that replies are backed up with citable evidence from the likes of Medal Index Cards, service records, War Diaries and old newspaper<\/a> articles, and there\u2019s a focus on keeping the forum a friendly place for members. Alongside various subject\/theme subdivisions, a Gallery section has old photographs<\/a>, maps<\/a> and documents (free membership is required for access), as well as specialist blogs and \u2018long reads\u2019. There\u2019s also a mobile app in the offing to improve the visitor experience for smartphone and tablet users.\n
3. Reddit<\/a><\/h2>\n
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Reddit members submit content (links, images, questions, videos, etc) which is then voted up or down by other members, making it an ideal place for family historians to share and discuss. Posts are organised into communities of \u2018subreddits\u2019. The above URL takes you to the all-encompassing genealogy forum, and I\u2019d suggest venturing down into the numerous subreddits. If you\u2019re wading through some of the jargon and marketing hype that revolves around DNA tests<\/a>, for example, you\u2019re bound to find some redditors in the same boat. The AncestryDNA<\/a> thread (r\/AncestryDNA) is full of people sharing results, often alongside confused emojis.<\/p>\n
4. Family Tree Forum<\/a><\/h2>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nA quick way to gauge the health of a forum is simply to check the main page and see the dates of latest activity. And another thriving general-interest genealogy forum, but with a strong UK focus, is Family Tree Forum, which boasts some 61,417 topics, with 820,594 posts from 18,960 members. Registration is free, and there\u2019s a huge reference library of material here, including thousands of pages with information and recommended links. There\u2019s also a spin-off digital magazine put together by members of the forum, which was launched in August 2007 (when the parent website was just one year old) and ran until November 2010.\n
5. RootsWeb<\/a><\/h2>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nThe first genealogy forums were mailing lists. And RootsWeb started out in 1996, slowly becoming a not-for-profit and open-to-all host for hundreds then thousands of message boards and mailing lists. The website grew into a hosting service for countless genealogical websites, large and small, before being taken over and maintained by Ancestry<\/a> in 2000. Although the mailing-lists functionality was shut down in 2020 (some found new homes at Groups.io<\/a>), you can still search the archived lists and discussions, or, for something current, you\u2019re directed towards Ancestry\u2019s own message boards<\/a>.\n
6. Expert\u2019s choice: Who When Where Genealogy<\/a>
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Hilary Crane, co-founder of the Who When Where Genealogy Forum:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to break through a brick wall, websites dedicated to specific subjects can often provide the eureka moment that we all hope and look for, but sometimes just a fresh pair of eyes can be all that is needed. That\u2019s why I have chosen the forum that I helped launch, and one that I couldn\u2019t do without: the Who When Where Genealogy Forum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set up the website to fill the gap left when the Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine<\/em> forum sadly closed in 2020. The new forum has already proved popular for both experienced and new researchers, and for some family historians a forum is preferable to social media when asking for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe site is divided into various sub-forums enabling any users to target their question to the correct area of expertise, including military questions, photo identification, useful resources, wanted\/unwanted certificates and, of course, DNA. The site also has useful areas listing specialist websites whose details one can never remember when needed, and a \u2018Genealogy Chat\u2019 section where (polite!) comments on any aspect of genealogy can be posted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany members of the forum are experienced researchers who enjoy the challenge of breaking down brick walls for others as well as themselves, and will happily contribute to discussions on any question posed. For the novice researcher, the wealth of information and experience that the members have is invaluable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Who When Where Genealogy Forum is free to join and very friendly, so whether you\u2019re new to the hobby or an experienced family historian you\u2019ll find that we\u2019re well worth bookmarking.\u201d<\/p>\n
More UK genealogy forums<\/h2>\n7. Anglo Boer War<\/a><\/h3>\n
This Boer War<\/a> genealogy website\u2019s forum is buzzing with information when it comes to medals, monuments, uniforms, insignia, badges and equipment.<\/p>\n
8. British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum<\/a><\/h3>\n
Learn more about identifying your ancestors\u2019 military badges and buttons.<\/p>\n
9. Family History UK<\/a><\/h3>\n
This is another popular UK-centric genealogy forum with subject divisions including overseas options.<\/p>\n
10. FamilyTreeDNA<\/a><\/h3>\n
Hosted by the commercial DNA-testing<\/a> company based in Texas, the genealogy forum includes success stories and advice for researchers.<\/p>\n
11. Forces Reunited<\/a><\/h3>\n
Originally created for former military personnel, this forum is teeming with regimental reunions, campaigns, controversies and photo galleries.<\/p>\n
12. Genealogists\u2019 Forum<\/a><\/h3>\n
This active UK genealogy forum has regular contributors helping members with their brick walls.<\/p>\n
13. Genes Reunited<\/a><\/h3>\n
\u2018General Chat\u2019 is the most popular section of Genes Reunited\u2019s genealogy message boards.<\/p>\n
14. TalkingScot<\/a><\/h3>\n
This Scottish<\/a> genealogy forum has a host of interesting threads and discussions.<\/p>\n
15. Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine<\/em> Group<\/a><\/h3>\n
The magazine\u2019s lively Facebook group has more than 9,000 very helpful members.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonathan Scott is the author of<\/em> A Dictionary of Family History<\/a><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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