Site Longevity and Shutdown Notification

Question

Hello gidgreen,

I'm a regular user of Familly echo and find it incredibly useful. Thank you for creating and maintaining it.

I have a couple of questions regarding its future, as I and other users invest time and content here:

 

Site Longevity: 

Could you share any insights into your long-term plans for the site? 

Understanding its stability would be reassuring for the community. 

Are there mechanisms in place or being considered to ensure its continued operation?

 

Shutdown Notification: 

In the event that you might need to cease operating the site for any reason, what would be the process for notifying users? 

Would there be an advance warning so we could, for example, save any personal data ?

We understand that running a private site is a significant commitment. Any clarity you can provide on these points would be greatly appreciated by the community.

Thanks again for everything!

 

Yossi

Answer 1

I’ve used Family Echo for years too, and it’s comforting to know it’s still going strong. It’s been live since 2007 with no plans to shut down, and the team encourages users to treat it as a long-term resource. Just in case, they offer an easy export option—GEDCOM or HTML—so your data’s always safe offline. No official shutdown notice system is posted, but they’d likely give users a heads-up. For extra peace of mind, I keep a copy of my tree backed up and even store it on platforms like YourRootsDNA!

 

Helpful links:

Family Echo FAQ: https://www.familyecho.com/?page=faqs

Resources page: https://www.familyecho.com/?page=resources

YourRoots: https://yourrootsdna.com/

Gideon Greenspan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gidgreen

His homepage: http://www.gidgreen.com/