What is The Occasional Genealogist Community?
The Occasional Genealogist Community is a subscriber-only exclusive space to dive deeper into genealogy, share discoveries, and connect with fellow hobbyists who understand the struggle of research interruptions!
Inside, you'll find members-only content—insightful genealogy tips, strategies, and more. Plus, our Member Discussion area lets you ask questions, swap ideas, and celebrate breakthroughs with others who love the hunt as much as you do.
Our free Resource Library is now hosted within The Community as well, giving you one place to access our free subscriber exclusives.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why would I want to join The Community?
If you love genealogy but struggle to make progress due to time constraints or research roadblocks, this is the place for you! The Community gives you access to exclusive content, genealogy strategies, and a supportive network of fellow hobbyists who share your passion. It’s a great way to stay engaged, get inspired, and keep moving forward in your research.
How do I join The Occasional Genealogist Community?
The Community is subscriber-only, which means you must be subscribed to The Occasional Genealogist emails to gain access.
To join automatically, click the special link in your weekly Newsletter or other email from us. This link confirms your subscription and grants you access. If you’re already subscribed but can’t find the link, check your email for recent messages from us.
If you’re not subscribed, clicking the link will take you to The Community log-in page but not grant you access.
I clicked "Join" on the community page, but nothing happened. Why?
Clicking the "Join" button on the Community’s main page does not grant access automatically. For instant access, you must use the special link in your email and be a current subscriber.
If you clicked "Join" on the main page, we’ll manually check your request, but this process takes longer.
I requested to join manually—how long will it take to be approved?
Manual approvals take longer. A human has to verify your subscription status. We check these requests once a week. We provide you the "magic link" in your email to give you instant access so please use it. Using that link is the fastest way to get in!
Do I need a separate login to access The Community?
Nope! If you've taken a course from The Occasional Genealogist Academy, you'll use the same login to access The Community.* However, you must still join The Community separately—just having a login doesn’t give you access automatically. If you’re not interested in The Community, no problem! You can still use your login to access your courses as usual.
*The Academy moved in February 2025. You will need to create a new log-in. If you already joined The Community you'll find your courses there. If you haven't accessed the new site, you'll use the same email address but create a new password.
I’m a subscriber but don’t have access. What should I do?
We only automatically grant you access to The Community for one subscription type, this is the free Resource Library (because it is hosted within The Community). If you are getting our emails via any other type of sign-up, you will need to use one of the special links sent in the Newsletter or other email message to join.
If you’re subscribed but still can’t get in, try the following:
If you just clicked the link in the Newsletter/email message to get automatic approval, wait a minute. Sometimes the internet had a hiccup and your automatic approval hasn't finished its automated journey. Use the link to The Community or exclusive content again once you've waited and/or hit refresh on The Community page.
Check your email for a Newsletter containing the join link. Using the join button on The Community main page requires manual approval (see the FAQs above).
Did someone forward you the email? The link does not work if it was forwarded, even if you are also a subscriber. Use a link in an email sent directly to you.
Make sure you’re using the correct email address (the one subscribed to The Occasional Genealogist emails). We can add another email address to your account but we have to do this manually, so please email us for help with this.
If you still need help, contact us via email for assistance.
Can I get help with my genealogy research in The Community?
Yes—from other members! The Community is a member-to-member discussion space, meaning you can ask for help, share ideas, and collaborate with others.
However, The Occasional Genealogist team does not provide research assistance in this free group. If you need personalized help, consider our paid research services or check out our paid groups for additional support.
Can I get help with Occasional Genealogist products in The Community?
Once again, only from other members. The Community is not a support group for Occasional Genealogist products. If you need help with a purchase, please email us directly so we can assist you.
What if I unsubscribed but want to rejoin?
If you unsubscribe from our emails, your access to The Community will be revoked. To regain access, simply resubscribe and use the special email link to join again.
If I unsubscribe, will I lose access to everything?
You’ll still have access to any courses you've purchased through The Occasional Genealogist Academy. However, unsubscribing will revoke your access to The Community since it is reserved for active email subscribers only.
What if I just want access to The Community but don't want to receive emails?
Well, that's not a subscriber. To be considered a subscriber, you are receiving our free Newsletter and special announcements. You can unsubscribe from other emails such as an educational support series for one of our free or paid products but you must be receiving the Newsletter/special announcements.
We put a lot of time into the resources in The Community. We don't charge a monetary cost for access. Your cost is allowing us to email you.
Is The Community private and secure?
While The Community is a private group for subscribers, it is not highly secure. Anyone who subscribes to our newsletter or products can join, and we do not verify identities. If privacy is a major concern for you, we do not recommend joining.
Additionally, when you join, a username is automatically created for you, which includes your name as shown at the time of joining. This username cannot be changed and is visible to all members.
Remember, The Community is a group you must join. You can still access your courses by logging in, even if you don't want to join The Community.
Will my email address be visible to other members?
No, your email address is not visible to other members unless you choose to display it. Admins can see members' email addresses, but they are not publicly shared.
What if I want to share more information about myself to aid in sharing about my research in the Member Discussion channel?
You can do that! Click your avatar in the upper right corner. Choose "Manage Your Account." It should open to the "Profile" option.
Update your information. The software we use is not designed explicitly for genealogy, so feel free to use the fields displayed on your profile for genealogy information. You only have a limited number of characters unfortunately (you can link to posts you make which will allow you to link to a post that contains information instead of retyping it--this would be a great thing to organize in your Digital Dashboard!).
Go to the "Social Media" option to choose if you want to display your email, phone number, and social media accounts. You must choose to make your phone number or email publicly visible. Your publicly visible email can be different from your login email.
Are there any rules I should follow in The Community?
Yes! To help keep The Community welcoming and useful for everyone, we have rules which we are refining as The Community grows. After joining, please take a moment to read them inside the Members’ Discussion area. These guidelines ensure a positive experience for all members.
What if I have issues with another user or a post?
There are three primary options to allow you to keep using The Community but deal with issues from fellow members.
First, you can report a post if you think it doesn't follow our rules. Reported posts are reviewed by a human. There is no automated penalty for a post being reported since reportable issues can be very minor (promoting something appropriate for genealogy but against our rules, being unintentionally rude, etc.) or very serious (you know what this would include). Admins do not monitor group activity so it is up to you to report problems to us.
You can also block a user from contacting you (if this is a serious problem, please let us know. We do have the ability to ban members if their behavior is completely unacceptable versus just annoying and blocking them is all you feel is necessary).
You can also toggle the option on or off to allow fellow members to chat with you. Find this in the "Manage Your Account" settings under "Communities & Chat."
If these options aren't what you need, you can email us.
Remember, anyone can gain access to this private group by subscribing and joining. We suspect a few spammers and trolls will slip in over time. Help us by reporting anything inappropriate but also monitoring your own interactions to make sure they are polite and respectful (we know typed messages sometimes unintentionally sound rude--you can edit your own posts to address this).
This is a free group so if we have to spend too much time addressing problems, we will have to close the group to preserve our time for running the business. We appreciate your help keeping The Community a vibrate place for busy genealogists to interact.
