TheFamilyForest.com received a much needed face-lift today, along with some important fixes for cross browser compatibility. The new centered layout and other stylistic changes (like the new menu icons) should improve the overall usability. Additionally, we've added the capability to increase the width of certain pages. In the future this will allow for the expansion and addition of new features.

Coming Soon: Family Friends

The Family Friend relationship is starting to shape up. Unlike other social networks, the goal of TheFamilyForest is to connect only with your most intimate family and friends. Instead of a popularity test, we intent to be a website that stresses usefulness and convenience. Therefore, we are designing the Family Friend relationship to have the functionality of some one who's "one of the family".

This would allow us to make sure that users aren't inviting everyone they know to be a friend. The consequence will be a far less useful experience. In the future this will allow us to have friends deviate further from families and build a system of cliches. Of course that is more of a thought and nothing like that is in the works.

The upward scaling of TheFamilyForest.com has been going well and to ease the process of inviting family members and signing up, beta keys are no longer required. Anyone is now able to create an account.

We've got some cool new features in the work, so keep the suggestions coming and enjoy!

We're happy to announce the release of our latest feature: Family Maps. Now you'll be able to view a world map that shows the location of all your relatives. Since our launch, our goal has been simple. Keep families connected no matter how far apart they may be. What better way to start than with a collective shared push-pin map?

When designing the map feature, we didn't just want to make a map. Maps are fun to look at, but even more fun to play with. So we allow anyone to drag their pin around. What if you're on vacation in Europe? Drag your pin there and let your family know you're on vacation...or at school...or on business. Well, you get the point.

We'll be looking to expand on this feature in the future, so keep checking back for updates and enjoy!

Here at TheFamilyForest.com, we've taken a different approach to family networking. Traditionally, family "website" websites use a centralized website to which users can subscribe to. However, this system can cause problems. For example, in most cases, users would have to subscribe to several family websites if they wanted to be in touch with their extended relatives.

Our solution was simple. No centralized website. Instead, allow users to make relationships with other users in over 40 different ways. Based on how you're related, be it cousins, siblings, in laws, or any other relationship type, there are a host of options when submitting content to specify exactly who should see the content.

We expect this system to allow for the building of even more useful and intuitive features.

This is the official blog of TheFamilyForest.com. Check back here often for news, updates, and other information pertaining to TheFamilyForest.com.