Ancestry charges by descendant.
FamilySearch is a wiki tomb.
WordPress is a 14-step trek for a surname-line story.
VeloCMS is the publishing platform genealogy researchers have been waiting for: a permanent home for surname-line narratives with Sosa-Stradonitz structure and primary-source citations, a source-document archive pairing census scans with Evidence Explained transcriptions, and a member-only DNA-match research log with centiMorgan analysis and endogamy pattern notes — all under your own domain, with BYOK Stripe at 0% platform fee.
If you're a family historian, a DNA-match analyst working endogamous lineages, a surname-DNA project coordinator, or a cemetery transcription project lead, VeloCMS gives you the publication infrastructure to build a discoverable, citable, subscriber-supported research archive — the kind that gets cited in Perplexity and ChatGPT Search answers when someone queries your family line.
The platforms genealogy researchers are stuck with
None of the existing options were designed for what you actually do.
Ancestry locks your research behind a paywall — the family tree you spent years building is held hostage by a subscription that rises every year
Ancestry.com is the largest genealogy database in the world, and for certain research tasks it is genuinely indispensable — the newspaper archives, the immigration records, the 1940 census scans. But the platform has an uncomfortable relationship with the research you contribute to it. When you build a family tree on Ancestry, you're building it in Ancestry's garden. The pedigree charts you've constructed across years of primary-source verification, the surname-line story that connects a Prussian patronymic lineage through Ellis Island immigration records to a specific mid-Ohio county in 1887, the GEDCOM-compatible data structure you've painstakingly assembled — all of it is rendered inaccessible the moment your subscription lapses. A VeloCMS genealogy blog publishes your surname-line research under your own domain with full SEO indexing, persistent URLs that LLM crawlers (Perplexity, ChatGPT Search) can cite when someone searches your family line, and a subscriber list that grows every time another researcher working the same surname finds your documentation.
FamilySearch is a wiki tomb — anyone can edit your documented research, there is no monetization, and your surname-line story disappears into an undifferentiated collective
FamilySearch is extraordinary as a source database — the microfilm digitization program alone represents one of the most significant preservation projects in the history of genealogical research. But FamilySearch's collaborative-wiki model creates a specific problem for researchers who invest serious time in primary-source verification and narrative documentation. When you attach a well-sourced ancestor record to the FamilySearch Family Tree, that record is immediately editable by any registered user. Beyond the wiki problem, FamilySearch provides no monetization model for researchers who have built genuine expertise. VeloCMS gives you the publication structure that FamilySearch cannot: a permanent, individually attributed, primary-source-linked narrative that builds your name among researchers working the same lines.
Cemetery transcription projects die in Excel spreadsheets — volunteer contributions pile up in shared drives with no public-facing archive, no search, and no attribution
Cemetery transcription is one of the most labor-intensive and genuinely valuable contributions a genealogical community can make — walking every row of a rural churchyard or a county-seat municipal cemetery, recording inscription data, photographing each stone, and assembling a searchable record. The community organizations that conduct these projects typically manage contributions through a combination of Excel spreadsheets shared via Google Drive, email threads, and PDFs posted to organizational websites that haven't been updated since 2018. None of this infrastructure is searchable by external search engines. A VeloCMS cemetery transcription project blog makes the work publicly discoverable, gives individual contributors byline attribution, and enables a paid member tier for researchers who want transcription pairs with enhanced contextual documentation.
Built for the three core genealogy audiences
Surname-line researcher, DNA-match analyst, or cemetery transcription project lead — the platform fits what you actually publish.
Surname-line researcher — multi-generation ancestor timeline with Sosa-Stradonitz numbering, patronymic and matrilineal branch documentation, primary-source citations, and DNA-match corroboration notes
A surname-line research project is fundamentally a long-form narrative problem: how do you tell the documented story of a specific family line in a format that other researchers working the same line can discover, cite, and build on? VeloCMS's ancestor timeline post format structures each generational unit as a documented entry: Sosa-Stradonitz reference number for placement in the pedigree, birth-marriage-death event dates with source citations, primary-source document image uploads, FAN-club context notes identifying neighbors and associates, and DNA-match corroboration notes citing the centiMorgan range of matches who share this ancestral segment. The Serif theme (Memo Garamond) renders this research in long-form narrative typography that matches the reading experience of published genealogical journals.
DNA-match analyst — member-only centiMorgan research logs with endogamy pattern notes, shared-segment mapping, GEDCOM-compatible tree linkage, and cousin-match correspondence archive
DNA genealogy has created a specific publication problem that existing platforms handle poorly. The research methodology is genuinely complex analytical work that benefits from long-form documentation. But most of that documentation involves sensitive information: specific individuals' DNA results, their family relationships, their potential discoveries about biological versus social parentage. VeloCMS's member-only post tier solves this cleanly: the research framework, the centiMorgan threshold analysis methodology, and the endogamy adjustment factors — all publishable at the public level. The specific match records, the individual correspondence archives, and the identified shared-segment patterns — gated behind a free or paid subscriber tier. Your subscriber list in Admin is yours to export and message directly.
Cemetery transcription project lead — crowd-sourced volunteer management, section-assignment workflow, photographic evidence archive, and public-facing searchable record with contributor attribution
Running a county cemetery transcription project involves coordinating dozens of volunteers across months of fieldwork, managing section assignments to avoid duplicate coverage and ensure complete coverage, collecting photographic evidence for each stone alongside the transcription data, and assembling a public-facing archive that researchers can actually find. VeloCMS structures a cemetery transcription project as a blog publication with a defined post format: section identifier, volunteer contributor byline, transcription data per stone, photographic documentation, GPS coordinates, and a source notes section for any contextual documentation.
Three features that define the platform
Designed specifically for genealogical research publication — not adapted from a generic blogging template.
Multi-Generation Surname Story Format — ancestor timeline with birth/marriage/death events, Sosa-Stradonitz placement, primary-source photo gallery, FAN-club context, and occupational lineage narrative
The VeloCMS TipTap editor includes a /ancestor-timeline block that structures genealogical documentation in semantically correct markup: generation label with Sosa-Stradonitz reference number, birth-marriage-death event entries with source citation footnotes inline, a FAN-club context section identifying the neighbors and associates who appear across multiple records, an occupational lineage note placing the individual in the economic context of their time and place, and a DNA-match corroboration block citing the range of matches who share this ancestral segment. The primary-source photo gallery supports AVIF-optimized uploads for census images, vital record scans, and gravestone photographs. An endogamy notation field flags surname lines where standard centiMorgan relationship predictions don't apply. When published, each generation entry has its own anchor link so other researchers citing your work can point directly to the specific individual.
Source Document Archive — census image with transcription pair, original-language transcription with translation, schema.org ArchiveComponent JSON-LD, and primary vs. secondary source classification
The source document archive format in VeloCMS is built around the distinction that every serious genealogical researcher understands and most platforms ignore: primary sources carry fundamentally different evidentiary weight than secondary sources. Each source document post carries a source-type classification field (primary / secondary / derivative / authored narrative — the four-tier classification from Elizabeth Shown Mills's Evidence Explained standard), an original-language transcription field, a translation field where applicable, and the full genealogical citation in Evidence Explained format. The schema.org ArchiveComponent JSON-LD node is auto-emitted from the post metadata, so document posts are discoverable by AI crawlers. The image upload supports AVIF optimization for census page scans. When a surname-line researcher links from their ancestor timeline post to a specific source document post, the link creates a citation trail under your domain.
Member-Only DNA-Match Research — paid-subscriber tier for cousin-match analysis, centiMorgan segment data, endogamy pattern notes, GEDCOM-compatible shared-ancestor hypotheses, and correspondence archive
The member-only DNA-match research tier in VeloCMS solves the publication ethics problem that makes most DNA genealogy research difficult to share. Connect your own Stripe account in Admin, then use the post-level paywall setting to gate specific research logs behind a free or paid subscriber tier. The public portion of each DNA research post contains the methodology framework: how you're approaching a specific match cluster, what the centiMorgan range suggests about the relationship type, and what endogamy adjustments you're making for the population. The member-only portion contains the specific match data. The 0% platform fee means a $7/month subscriber to your cousin-match research log earns you $7 minus Stripe's standard processing fee.
9 genealogy-specific features
Every feature in the list below was designed for genealogical publishing — not ported from a generic CMS with a genealogy label attached.
Ancestor timeline
Structure each generation as a documented entry: Sosa-Stradonitz number, birth-marriage-death events with source citations, FAN-club context, occupational lineage note, and DNA-match corroboration. The ancestor timeline builds a permanent record under your domain that LLM crawlers can cite.
Source-citation footnote system
Inline footnotes with Evidence Explained citation format, source-type classification (primary / secondary / derivative), original-language transcription field, and translation. Each footnote links to the associated source-document archive post for the full image and transcription pair.
DNA-match member tier
Gate cousin-match analysis behind a free or paid subscriber tier. Public portion: methodology framework and endogamy pattern notes. Member-only: specific centiMorgan values, segment data, shared-ancestor hypotheses, and correspondence archive. 0% platform fee via BYOK Stripe.
Cemetery transcription project
Section-by-section posts with volunteer contributor byline, stone inscription transcription, AVIF-optimized stone photography, GPS coordinates, and burial record cross-reference. Subscriber notifications when a section completes. Volunteer management via contributor roles in Admin.
FamilySearch wiki cross-post
Publish your primary-source documentation on VeloCMS under your own domain, then cross-link from FamilySearch source records back to your full narrative post. Drive FamilySearch discovery traffic to your owned blog. Attribution stays with your name, not the wiki's collective authorship.
Surname-DNA project coordination
Manage a surname-specific DNA project participant group: project announcement posts, participant kit-submission guidance, quarterly result summary posts, and member-only research log for coordinators. Subscriber list in Admin captures participant contact data directly.
Archive document scanner
AVIF-optimized upload for census scans, wills, baptismal records, and church register pages. Each image paired with original-language transcription and translation. Schema.org ArchiveComponent JSON-LD auto-emitted for document discovery by AI crawlers and Google Dataset Search.
4-gen pedigree chart embed
Embed a four-generation pedigree chart visualization in any post using the /pedigree-chart block. Ahnentafel-numbered cells link to the corresponding ancestor timeline post for each individual. Renders in SVG for sharp display at all zoom levels including print.
Member-only research log
Gate ongoing surname-line research notes, correspondence archives, and working hypotheses behind a subscriber tier. Research log posts explain what you're currently investigating, what records you've examined, and what you're planning to examine next — the working documentation that serious genealogists actually want to follow.
Platform numbers
The old way vs. the VeloCMS way
Four genealogical publishing workflows that look completely different when the infrastructure fits the work.
Old way
Document a new great-great-grandfather discovered through an 1860 Ohio census match — add him to the Ancestry tree — write narrative notes in a private Ancestry tree description field that no external search engine indexes — build a detailed surname-line narrative in a Word document that lives on your local drive — share it with other researchers via email attachment — the document has no permanent URL, cannot be cited by LLM crawlers, builds no audience, and disappears if your email account or local drive has an issue
VeloCMS way
Same census discovery → open VeloCMS editor → create ancestor timeline post → enter Sosa-Stradonitz number → add birth-marriage-death events with inline footnote citations → upload census scan AVIF → write FAN-club context paragraph → add occupational lineage note → publish → post indexed under your domain → schema.org structured data emitted → subscriber notification fires → another researcher working the same Ohio county finds the post via search → they subscribe → your documented surname line compounding a permanent research audience
Old way
Find a key primary source — German church baptismal register page showing a great-great-grandmother's 1849 birth entry — download the scan from Archion — transcribe the Gothic script in a personal note — translate to English in another note — store image in a folder named after the family — the transcription and image are never publicly available — other researchers working the same surname line in the same parish never discover the work — the research contributes nothing to the community's collective documentation
VeloCMS way
Same church register scan → create source-document archive post in VeloCMS → upload AVIF-optimized scan → enter original German Gothic transcription in primary transcription field → enter English translation → classify source type as Primary → write Evidence Explained citation → tag with parish name, year range, and surname → publish → ArchiveComponent JSON-LD emitted → Google Dataset Search indexes the transcription → researchers working the same Württemberg parish registry find the post → they subscribe and follow the full surname-line documentation
Old way
Identify a significant 150cM DNA match through AncestryDNA — reach out via the platform's messaging system — the match responds with family tree information — you work out a shared-ancestor hypothesis — you want to publish the methodology for other researchers working endogamous Ashkenazi lineages — you can't publish the specific match data publicly because of privacy concerns — so you write nothing — the methodology and endogamy cM-adjustment framework you've developed never reaches the research community that would benefit from it
VeloCMS way
Same DNA match analysis → create research log post in VeloCMS → write methodology framework in the public section (endogamy adjustment, cM threshold reasoning, shared-ancestor hypothesis approach) → add specific match data in the member-only section (kit ID initials, cM value, chromosome segment, correspondence notes) → publish → researchers interested in the same analytical methodology subscribe to the member tier → paid subscribers receive the complete analytical record → your 0% platform fee subscriber earns you directly via your own Stripe account
Old way
Lead a county genealogical society cemetery transcription project — coordinate 12 volunteers via email — collect section assignments in a shared Excel spreadsheet — receive completed transcription sheets as email attachments — compile them into a master PDF — post the PDF to the society's website in a folder nobody can search — new volunteers who want to contribute can't find the project via search — researchers searching for specific surnames from that cemetery can't find the transcription data — the contributing volunteers receive no public credit for their work
VeloCMS way
Same transcription project → set up VeloCMS as the project blog → create section-assignment posts → invite contributors as editors in Admin → contributors submit their section posts with stone photos and transcription data → coordinator reviews and publishes → each post carries contributor byline attribution → posts indexed under the project domain → surname researchers find specific transcriptions via search → new volunteers discover the project and subscribe → completed sections accumulate as a permanently searchable public archive
What the alternatives actually cost
Ancestry $25–45/mo + FamilySearch free-but-wiki + Wikitree free-but-no-revenue + Squarespace $28/mo + Mailchimp $20/mo vs. VeloCMS Pro flat.
| Feature | VeloCMS | Ancestry | FamilySearch | WikiTree | Squarespace | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly platform cost | $9/mo Pro (flat) | $25-45/mo — your research builds Ancestry's database, not your personal brand; no custom domain; no subscriber monetization; access lapses if subscription lapses | Free — but wiki-editable by any user; no custom domain; no monetization; no subscriber email list; collaborative platform not individual publication | Free — but no custom domain, no monetization, no email capture, no member-only content, no source-archive format | $28/mo — generic website builder without genealogy-specific formats, no source-citation footnote system, no ahnentafel structure, no member-tier DNA research capability | $20/mo for email only — no blog, no source archive, no subscriber-to-research-log pipeline, requires separate website |
| Custom domain + SSL | — | — | — | — | ||
| Surname-line narrative format | Ancestor timeline block with ahnentafel, citations, FAN club | Tree view only — no narrative publication format | Wiki profile only — no narrative, collaborative edit by anyone | Profile page only — no narrative, collaborative edit | — | — |
| Primary-source archive with transcription pairs | Source-document post with AVIF image + transcription + JSON-LD | Attached source hints — no standalone transcription archive | Source records — no personal annotation or custom transcription archive | — | — | — |
| Member-only DNA-match research | BYOK Stripe, 0% platform fee | — | — | — | Requires third-party membership plugin | — |
| Cemetery transcription project | Section posts with contributor attribution + volunteer management | — | Memorial records only — no section-based project management | Memorial tagging — no project coordination, no contributor attribution | — | — |
| Owned subscriber email list | Exportable from Admin at any time | — | — | — | With paid marketing plan | |
| Schema.org JSON-LD for source documents | ArchiveComponent auto-emitted | — | — | — | — | — |
Which genealogy researcher are you?
Three different approaches to genealogical publishing — the platform serves all of them.
Surname-Line Researcher
You've been working the same family line for years. You have documented ancestors back twelve generations across three countries with primary-source evidence for most of them. You want a publication platform that reflects the depth of that work — long-form narrative with inline citations, ancestor timeline structure, source-document archive, and a subscriber list of other researchers working the same lines. The Serif Memo Garamond theme renders your research in the typography of published genealogical journals. Your domain builds your name in the genealogical community.
Start your surname-line blogDNA-Match Analyst
You work with DNA results the way other genealogists work with documentary records — systematically, analytically, building hypotheses and testing them against evidence. You've developed methodology for specific populations (endogamy adjustments, shared-segment mapping across known cousin groups, correspondence strategies for non-responsive matches) that other analysts working the same populations would find genuinely useful. You need a member-tier model that lets you share the framework publicly while protecting individual match data behind a subscriber paywall. BYOK Stripe 0% platform fee.
Start your DNA research blogCemetery Project Lead
You coordinate volunteers, manage section assignments, review submissions, and compile transcription data for a cemetery that researchers have been trying to document for decades. You want a publication infrastructure that makes the completed sections publicly searchable, gives your contributors visible attribution for their work, and lets you recruit new volunteers through search-visible project posts. VeloCMS structures the project as a permanent searchable archive under your own domain.
Start your transcription projectQuestions genealogists actually ask
No marketing fluff — answers to the technical questions that matter for research publishing.
forNiches.genealogyResearchers.faq.title
Can I tag posts by surname and generation number?
Yes. The VeloCMS tag system lets you use any combination — surname tags (MÜLLER, SCHNEIDER, KOWALSKI), generation tags (Gen-3, Gen-4), geographic tags (Württemberg, County-Cork, Ohio-Franklin), and source-type tags (primary, secondary). Your archive becomes filterable by any combination a researcher might search for.
Is there a source-citation footnote system?
There is. The TipTap editor includes inline footnote blocks that format in Evidence Explained citation style: repository, collection name, specific record identifier, and a source-type classification field. Each footnote can link to the corresponding source-document archive post where the full image and transcription live.
How does the DNA-match member tier work?
You connect your own Stripe account in Admin — Settings — Integrations. Individual posts have a paywall toggle that gates content below a divider behind a subscriber tier. The public portion (methodology, endogamy notes, analytical framework) is free. Specific match data, centiMorgan values, and correspondence archives live in the member-only section. 0% platform fee; your subscribers pay you directly through Stripe.
Can I run a cemetery transcription project with multiple volunteer contributors?
Yes. Admin — Users lets you invite contributors with a limited editor role. Each contributor submits their section post including stone transcriptions and gravestone photos. You review and publish. Published posts carry the contributor's byline. The whole project accumulates as a searchable archive under your project domain.
Does VeloCMS support GEDCOM import?
VeloCMS is a narrative publishing platform rather than a GEDCOM database manager. It doesn't import GEDCOM files into a tree view. The intended workflow is: maintain your GEDCOM data in your preferred genealogy software (Gramps, RootsMagic, Legacy, MacFamilyTree), then publish narrative posts and source-document archives from that research to VeloCMS for public-facing documentation and monetization.
Can I embed a pedigree chart in a post?
Yes. The /pedigree-chart block embeds a four-generation ahnentafel-numbered chart with cells linking to the corresponding ancestor timeline posts. It renders in SVG so it scales cleanly at any zoom level including print. For larger pedigree visualizations, the standard approach is to embed an image export from your genealogy software.
How does surname-DNA project page work?
A surname-DNA project is just a VeloCMS blog with a defined content structure: project announcement post, quarterly results summary posts, participant guidance posts (how to submit your kit for the project's group administrator), and a member-only coordinator research log. The subscriber list captures participant email addresses directly so you own that contact list independent of any DNA testing company's messaging restrictions.
Can I publish in languages other than English?
VeloCMS is language-agnostic — you can write posts in German, French, Polish, or any Latin-script language without issue. Right-to-left scripts aren't currently supported at the theme level. Original-language transcription fields for Gothic German, Latin church register Latin, and pre-reform spelling variants work fine in the source-document archive post format.
“Genealogy research is one of the most document-intensive, evidence-driven, and deeply personal forms of publishing that exists. You're not writing opinions — you're reconstructing documented history from primary sources, one record at a time. The platforms that currently serve the community (Ancestry, FamilySearch, WikiTree) are designed as databases, not as publication environments. They're optimized for data entry and collaborative editing, not for the kind of long-form primary-source narrative that builds a researcher's reputation and creates a discoverable permanent record under their own name. VeloCMS gives genealogists the publication infrastructure the community has never had: a permanent, indexed, individually attributed home for surname-line research that LLM crawlers can cite, other researchers can subscribe to, and readers can find twelve years from now without a subscription lapsing.”
See also: VeloCMS for Academic Researchers (peer-reviewed research, arXiv companion, LaTeX rendering — different audience from genealogy) and VeloCMS for Writers (long-form narrative, distraction-free editor, newsletter paywall).
Your surname-line research deserves a permanent home
Start with the Serif Memo Garamond theme — the typography of published genealogical journals, free on all plans. Your domain, your subscriber list, your research archive. 0% platform fee on everything you earn.