gen-search

Generate search links for a many genealogy websites.

Try the Demo

• Usage
• Installation Instructions
• Person Data Schema
• Supported Sites
• Contributor's Guide

Usage

// Generate a search link for FamilySearch
var url = gensearch('familysearch', {
  givenName: "Joe William",
  familyName: "Clark"
});

// Some options can be changed. Here we modify the birth year range
var url = gensearch('familysearch', data, {
  birthRange: 5
});

// Or we can set the configuration option once and have it apply to all future searches.
gensearch.config('familysearch', {
  birthRange: 5
});

// We can also set options for multiple sites at once
gensearch.config({
  familysearch: {
    birthRange: 5
  },
  archives: {
    deathRange: 10
  }
});

Install

Web

Download the gensearch.js file and include on your page.

<script src="gensearch.js"></script>

Node

npm install gen-search

var genSearch = require('gen-search');

Schema

• givenName
• familyName
• birthPlace
• birthDate
• deathPlace
• deathDate
• marriagePlace
• marriageDate
• fatherGivenName
• fatherFamilyName
• motherGivenName
• motherFamilyName
• spouseGivenName
• spouseFamilyName

Sites

• ancestry
• archives
• billiongraves
• familysearch
• findagrave
• findmypast
• fold3
• genealogieonline
• genealogybank
• geni
• newspapers
• openarchives
• werelate
• worldvitalrecords

ancestry

http://ancestry.com

var url = gensearch('ancestry', data, [options]);

option	default	notes
db		Search within a specific database. This value equates to the 'db' parameter value used by Ancestry.

archives

http://archives.com

var url = gensearch('archives', data);

option	default
birthRange	2
deathRange	2

billiongraves

http://billiongraves.com/

var url = gensearch('billiongraves', data, [options]);

option	default
yearRange	2

familysearch

https://familysearch.org

var url = gensearch('familysearch', data, [options]);

option	default	notes
birthRange	2
deathRange	2
marriageRange	2
collectionId		Only search within a specific collection.

findagrave

http://findagrave.com

var url = gensearch('findagrave', data);

findmypast

http://findmypast.co.uk

var url = gensearch('findmypast', data, [options]);

option	default	notes
event		Type of event to search for. Valid values are birth, death, and other. The otherDate and otherPlace options are used when event is other.
birthRange	2
deathRange	2
otherRange	2
otherDate		Only used when event is other.
otherPlace		Only used when event is other.

fold3

http://fold3.com

var url = gensearch('fold3', data);

Only givenName and familyName are used for Fold3 searches.

genealogieonline

http://genealogieonline.nl/en/

var url = gensearch('genealogieonline', data, [options]);

option	default
birthRange	5
deathRange	5

genealogybank

http://genealogybank.com

var url = gensearch('genealogybank', data, [options]);

option	default	notes
lifespan	90	If either a birthDate or deathDate exists, but not both, then this value is used to approximate the missing year. For example, if the birthDate is 2 Feb 1856 and no deathDate was given then we would subtract lifespan from the birth year to get an approximate death year of 1766.
datePadding	5	This value is substracted from the calculated birth year and added to the calculated death year.

geni

http://geni.com

var url = gensearch('geni', data);

Only givenName and familyName are used for Geni searches.

newspapers

http://www.newspapers.com/

var url = gensearch('newspapers', data, [options]);

option	default	notes
lifespan	90	If either a birthDate or deathDate exists, but not both, then this value is used to approximate the missing year. For example, if the birthDate is 2 Feb 1856 and no deathDate was given then we would subtract lifespan from the birth year to get an approximate death year of 1766.
datePadding	5	This value is substracted from the calculated birth year and added to the calculated death year.

openarchives

http://openarch.nl

var url = gensearch('openarch', data);

Only givenName and familyName are used for Open Archive searches.

werelate

http://werelate.org

var url = gensearch('werelate', data, [options]);

option	default
birthRange	2
deathRange	2

worldvitalrecords

http://worldvitalrecords.com

var url = gensearch('worldvitalrecords', data, [options]);

option	default
dateRange	2

Contribute

Setup

git clone https://github.com/genealogysystems/gen-search.git
cd gen-search
npm install

Add a site

1. Create the site file in the src/sites directory. Look at archives.js for a simple example or familysearch.js for a more complex example.
2. Add the new site to the src/search.js site list, in alphabetical order please.
3. Add a test file in the test/sites directory. Look at any of the other site test files for an example.
4. Run tests with npm test. The gensearch.js file will be automatically built with browserify before the tests are run.
5. Document the new site in the README file, in alphabetical order please. Be sure to add a link in the site list just before the site specific docs.
6. Commit and submit a pull request.