TNG, also known as “The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding”, has long been a popular genealogy program that many people have installed on their own websites to make their own genealogy research available to others, but also to have access to their genealogy program anywhere and anytime. However, you have to maintain the software, server and website yourself, but what do you do if it stops working? Here are three tips to make sure you don’t lose your work.
Software installed on a website needs an environment to be in just like software installed on PCs. The big difference is that PCs are fairly static when it comes to this type of software, even though updates can be made.
A server is like a powerful, always-on computer that sends web pages to people who want to visit them. In order for the server to display web pages correctly, it needs special programs, a bit like tools in a toolbox.
One of these programs is called PHP, which helps the server to create pages that can change, such as displaying the day’s news or user accounts. The content of the website, such as text and images, is stored in a kind of digital archive called a database. When someone clicks on a web page, the server retrieves information from the archive, puts it together with PHP, and sends a finished web page to the person in seconds.
TNG is designed to work with different versions of programs that the server runs on and if these are changed, TNG may stop working.
1. Resetting PHP
The most common error that causes TNG to stop working is that PHP has been updated on the server. This can happen automatically with many server providers, as you often share a server with others so that the provider can offer the service at a lower price.
If TNG has stopped working, it may be worth trying to reset PHP to an earlier version. If you have Cpanel access, you can easily reset PHP under “software” and “Select php version”. Select a new version from the drop-down list and try to access your website where TNG is reinstalled.
Does it work? Congratulations, if not, it may be that you have an outdated version of TNG and that the PHP version to be used is simply no longer available for the server your website is on. Then the next possible solution is to update the TNG program.
2. Update the program
Although TNG is developed by one person, the developer has proven to be someone you can trust. There have been regular updates, which means that the program continues to work even if servers are updated.
This entails some expense as you have to buy a newer version of TNG and upgrade your current version.
a) Make a backup: Before you do anything, make a backup of both your files and your database. This ensures that you can recover everything if something goes wrong.
b) Download the update: Go to TNG’s official website and download the latest version or update package suitable for your current version.
c) Upload the files: Use an FTP program (such as FileZilla) or your server’s file manager to upload the new files to the TNG folder on your server. Do not delete your existing “config” or “media” folders, as these contain customizations and data.
d) Overwrite files: When uploading, you will be asked if you want to overwrite existing files – select yes, but be careful with files you have customized.
e) Run the update script (important): Even if you don’t use the admin panel, you need to run the TNG update script via your browser. Visit:
https://din-nettside.com/admin_upgrade.php
This updates the database and completes the upgrade.
f) Test the website: After the update, check that the website is working properly and that no data is missing.
3. Extract your work in GEDCOM format and import it into a new program
If you are unable to reset the PHP version and don’t want to upgrade TNG, you can extract your work as a GEDCOM file and import it into another genealogy program. You can then continue your genealogical research from where you left off, but in a new program.
Read also: What is GEDCOM?
To retrieve your work as a GEDCOM file, you must have access to the files on the server. If you have cPanel, go to the root of the files or a folder called “public_html”. Here you will find a folder called something as intuitive as “gedcom files”. In this folder you will find one or more files ending in .ged. These are GEDCOM files that you can import into other genealogy programs and access your work again. Legacy Family Tree is an example of a program that accepts GEDCOM files.
What about images? These can be found in a couple of other folders, such as “documents” and “headstones” if you have uploaded images of gravestones.
It’s worth having a look around the folder structure so you don’t miss out on securing some of your work, but much is done once you’ve secured the GEDCOM file and the media found in “documents” and “headstones”.
