Friday 12 February 2016

My First Impressions of Twile - Winner of The Peoples Choice Award at Rootstech 2016

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This photograph is from the Twile Blog to find out more see the link below.

What is Twile?

Twile is a website which creates a timeline of your family memories that you can share with those in your family who may not be the avid genealogist that you are. 
Only the people you allow can see what you share but it allows us to share all those moments that we forget to record in our software programs.
Here is a link to why it was created and I shall leave you to explore their blog to find out more.

How I found the site

I first found out about this website when the semi finalists for the Innovator Showdown at Rootstech 2016 were announced and decided to sign up for the trial to see what it was all about. 

The Demonstration at Rootstech 2016

Life got in the way and I saw the video of the Innovator Showdown Semi-Final and decided I needed to get my GEDCOM file uploaded to the site so that I can start adding memories and sharing with my family. I know that many others are interested in this site as it won the vote from the audience including those watching online. Here is a link to the Innovator Showdown Finals 2016 if you have not had a chance to see it.


Exploring the website

I am only just starting to use this but I am impressed by the feedback from the team who run the website. They will be inundated with people wanting to join and try out the website. They are still managing to get back to answer individual queries and provide a solution in a timely manner.
Customer service is so important if you want the users to keep coming back.

Gedcom is up and working and I am adding profile pictures to my ancestors and adding living members. You can invite your family by email, and as the website can be accessed by tablets and smartphones, I expect it to be popular with the younger generations of the family.

The comment from my son after I sent an email invite  was " I received an email saying you added me to your family tree, I thought I was already a member! ". This sparked a conversation and I showed him the family timeline I am building which currently has only my side of the family and my husband. He looked at the date his grandfather died, knowing it was the same day that his cousin was born and the date the following week when we had the cremation, these are things that he remembers. 
He also asked if it was private so I told him that only the family could see this if I invite them. 
The more of them that join, even just the free part of the site, the better it will be for everyone. 
I love the timeline as it really helps to put things together in relation to each other in a way that those in the family, not "doing genealogy", can interact with and add contributions.
I like that you can add more than just the usual things like births, marriages and deaths. 
I have uploaded a few photographs from a couple of family get togethers today as milestone events.

From what I have seen so far I am almost certain I will sign up to be a premier member. 

We should all share in the mission to get the younger generations engaged, to ensure that the stories and memories we are creating today and have created or had passed on to us are saved, in a way that our families will want to share in the future. 
Photographs and stories are what inspire us to find out more. 
We have so many ways to record and store them but the best thing we can do is to share.

Just as I finish writing this there is more good news for Twile in this announcement
I already have an ongoing subscription with find my past so hopefully this will lead to integration between the sites.

2 comments:

  1. I can't wait to start using it. I been blogging to much about Rootstech. His partner emailed me a Thank You letter. I know TapGenes won but this was my favorite and I knew I would get the most use out of it. I also liked Pass it Down. Twile is off to a Wonderful start. I'm so glad I got to spend the most time with them at Innovators Alley. They had me hooked! Thanks for posting this information. It's something we all need. Public or Private!

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  2. Thanks for this write-up, Hilary - we really appreciate your comments. RootsTech was an amazing experience for the Twile team and we'll certainly be back next year.

    Winning two awards in the Innovator Showdown and our new partnership with Findmypast means we are ready and raring to go!

    Twile is getting bigger and better all the time and it's mostly down to our amazing customers and the feedback they give. Keep it up!

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