Frequently Asked Questions



Do I need to log in to use this site?


No. There are roughly 1,000 pages of information throughout the site, and the vast majority of them are open to the public. You do not need to be a member of the St. Louis Genealogical Society to view them.

The site does contain a “Members Only” area, and to view the pages contained in that section of the site you must be a member of the Society and you must also log in to the site (see below).


I am a member of the Society. How do I log in?


To view any of the materials in our “Members Only” area or to receive the members’ discount on any purchases made on this site, you must first log in. To do this, click on the “Log In” icon immediately below the banner in the upper right of any page. In the next window, you enter your Membership Number and password.

The first time that you ever log in to the site you must click on the “set up your account” link in the log in window. In the next window you will enter your Membership Number (see below) and you will also create your password. You must remember this password, as you will need to enter it each time you log in to the site. In this same window you will also enter your e-mail address and your first and last name.


What’s my Membership Number, and where do I find it?


When you join the St. Louis Genealogical Society, you are given a Membership Number. You retain this number throughout your lifetime; even if you let your membership lapse and re-join  the Society at a later date, you will still have the same number.

The Membership Number is five (5) characters long. The first character is a letter; the remaining four characters are numbers. Thus, if the second character is a 0, this is the number 0, not the letter O.
Exception: If your name begins with “Sc” or “Mc”, your membership code will be “SC” or “MC” respectively followed by three numbers.

Your membership number is on the card you received when you joined the Society. If you are not sure what your Membership Number is, you can locate it in the top line of the mailing label on any Society mailing, such as your News ’n Notes or Quarterly.

 


 

Note:  Unless your name is John Q. Member, your membership number is not M0222.


Where do I find my password?


You will not see your password on any Society document. The password is something that you make up when you first set up your account. You are the only person who knows what it is.

When you create your account, you should make a written note of your password.


What if I forget my password?


If you forget your password, first click on the “Log In” icon. In the window that opens, click on the “Forgot Password?” link. You will then enter your Membership Number and your e-mail address, and you will then receive an e-mail message to remind you of your password.

If you have any further difficulties with logging in to the website, feel free to contact our office to get your problem resolved.


Is it safe to use my credit card to make purchases from this site?


Credit card purchases on this website are not handled by the St. Louis Genealogical Society. They are processed by an independent service called VeriSign. VeriSign is the largest independent processor of Internet credit card transactions. They provide a reliable and secure service to millions of Internet-based credit card transactions.

 

 

Whenever you use your credit card to purchase a product or service, you will click through several screens. Your transaction is not complete until you have been directed to the VeriSign site, which looks as follows:

 

 


I’m looking for my ancestor. Where’s the data?


By and large, all of the data on St. Louis area ancestors can be found within the Research section of the website. There are several ways to locate data of interest to you. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use the Search feature.
Almost every page within the site has a “Search this site” icon immediately below the banner in the upper right corner of the page. Simply enter your search term(s)—such as a surname or subject – into the box and click on the “Search” icon.

The search engine includes many advanced search options. For a full discussion of the search system’s capabilities, click on the “search tips” link on the search results page.

2. Use the Resources/Records page <http://www.stlgs.org/stLouisRecords.htm>.
This page provides a directory for the pages in the Research area. It lists each of the major sections and all sub-sections of the Research area, as well as each of the individual data pages, where the names of your ancestors might be found.

3. Use the drop-down menus within the Research area.
The Research area is divided into six major sections:

Take some time to scroll through each of these broad areas of research to discover all of the gems that are contained within each.

Finally, there is a page for submitting a Research Request to the Society volunteers who provide a fee-based research service.


I have a comment about the site.  How do I contact the Society?


Because this is a large site there are many different ways to organize its contents and to access the information within it. If you are having any difficulty in using the site, have a suggestion on how to improve the site, or have had a success in finding a long-lost ancestor, we want to hear from you.

The website contains a Feedback page which you may use to send an e-mail to us about any issue or comment concerning this website.

For general comments to be addressed to the Society, please see the Contact Us page.


How do I move around on this site?


The main means of navigation on the website is the Navigation Bar, which appears on each web page.

 

 

Moving your cursor over any of these headings (except Home) activates a drop down list with sub-headings.

 

 

Each entry can be clicked when its background changes to white to open a new web page. An entry with the “>” character at the right, activates a new level of pages.

Secondly, many pages, especially in the Research area, contain an additional list of links on the left hand side of the page. Most of those links lead directly, or nearly directly, to data pages.

 

 

Finally, many pages have additional links imbedded in the text. These links are shown in blue bold text.