Hi guys,
I'm an active poster on a UK site ...
www.rootschat.com which is an easy to use online genealogy forum concentrating on local and family history research in the United Kingdon & Ireland. Local Historians and Family Historians have a great deal of knowledge to share. This service is entirely free, with the hope that you and the historian and genealogy community as a whole will benefit from it.
At the time of writing there are 51389 members and 1362352 posts covering 228193 topics. Since its creation in December 2003, by a couple members know as Sarah and Trystan, RootsChat has maintained a policy of using volunteer moderators working in close co-operation with the RootsChat members in an effort to keep a friendly atmosphere and to welcome new visitors.
The message posting area of the site is organised into various boards, some grouped together. As well as generic beginner and "common room" boards, each of the counties and shires in Britain and Ireland have their own boards to allow people researching in the same area to communicate and share knowledge. There is a strong ethos of sharing resources, with members frequently looking up census and parish records for each other. The RootsChatters are erudite, polite, funny, and committed. Whatever your skills and abilities, a RootsChatter can find a way to contribute to the general knowledge base found here, and get plenty of great stuff in return. And, the speed of those look-ups is astounding!
There are also several very active "Special Interest" boards, including One Name Studies, Emigration/Immigration, Armed Forces, Occupation Interests, Photographic Restoration & Technical Help. In addition to the forums, RootsChat provides free webspace for members to host their family trees and other genealogical information, plus it hosts a great Surnames Interest Table' site amongst others.
Friendship bonds created between members have led to the creation of two boards, the "Lighter Side" and "The Totally Off Topic", and a chatroom for humorous and postings unrelated to family history. You can also get a large amount of genealogical information from members who use the Chatroom.
On a personal note, I joined RootsChat in March 2005 and have posted 5611 messages to date ... that's 5.685 messages a day. The site is a social venue which has allowed me the pleasure of meeting some fellow Rootschatters in person at meets in both Belfast and Dublin. Like many other members I feel I know many of those who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person. I am completely hooked & use RootsChat on a daily basis.
Christopher