A small Florida-based company that helped more than 160 genealogy societies create a new website will be closing down next year, and that has many webmasters and society directors in Canada and the United States scrambling.
After being in business since 2009, EasyNetSites will stop operating at the end of next June.
Email messages sent to EasyNetSites, including its support address, receive an auto-reply message:
“The Management of EasyNetSites regrets to inform you that effective June 30, 2021, the company will cease operations. No new customers or programming request are being accepted. Please email support@easynetsites.com for domain transfers and data export request.”
Genealogy societies and other organizations, including historical societies, chose EasyNetSites because the company provided one-stop shopping for website development at a low cost. They provided the website layout and design with an easy-to-use template, created membership management and email systems, and built and maintained databases.
One of EasyNetSites’ selling features was its membership management tool that featured a dues, expiration and reporting system. With that tool, societies could also create and send emails to all members with just one click. Annual pricing was based on membership size and affordable for even small organizations.
Moving forward
Now, EasyNetSites clients are focused on how to save their website content. They want to export the data from their website databases, including membership lists, and transfer their domain name — website address — to their own organization.
At the same time, these societies need to find a new website platform and host provider and to determine whether or not to design the site themselves or hire someone.
Town hall meeting and advice
To help allay fears and to move forward with possible solutions, Thomas MacEntee held a virtual townhall meeting on Monday. During the meeting, he provided advice and answered questions. Hundreds of people attended. For those who couldn’t attend, the recording is available online, along with the handout.
Coming in January is Mr. MacEntee’s GenSoc Soup, which will be a new community initiative to help genealogy societies improve their websites and web presence. Through this initiative, a grant submission process will be available. The first priority will be societies with no web presence or with websites that need basic upgrades. To kick it off, Mr. MacEntee has donated US$2,500 and made a US$2,500 donation of in-kind services, which will cover his time working on website creation, domain and hosting fees.
Members of the Genealogical Society Webmasters Facebook group continue to discuss what societies can do with their websites moving forward. Anyone can ask to join.
While EasyNetSites has provided no reason for the upcoming closure, it may — or may not — be linked to the owner’s recent legal issue that hasn’t been proven in court.
