Online resources for project administrators

This is a listing of online resources for project administrators.

Mailing lists and Facebook groups for project administrators

ISOGG mailing list for project administrators A members-only mailing list founded in March 2005 for members of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy. The list is intended for those who are administrators of DNA projects and genetic genealogy educators (bloggers, lecturers, authors, etc). The list was originally hosted at Yahoo Groups but with the closure of Yahoo moved to IO Groups on 25th November 2020. The Yahoo Archives are no longer accessible online.
Facebook group for FTDNA project administrators
Facebook group for Y-DNA project administrators
Family Tree DNA group administrators forum

Former lists

Y-DNA Projects list. A former Rootsweb mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding practical issues related to STR testing for Y-DNA surname projects in a genealogical time frame only. The archives are available here.

ISOGG resources for project administrators

ISOGG Project Administrator Guidelines
A comparison of communication methods used by ISOGG project administrators → Archived April 17, 2015 at the Wayback Machine
A project administration handbook by ISOGG member Ralph Taylor
DNA 101: Y chromosome testing John Blair's guide to Y-DNA testing for beginners
Recruiting participants by ISOGG member John A Blair
Towards improvements in Y-DNA surname project administration by James M. Irvine. Journal of Genetic Genealogy, Fall 2010, Volume 6, Number 1. The Surname Population Matrix used in this paper can be downloaded here.
Admin checklist Georgia Kinney Bopp's checklist aids DNA Project Admins with everything they need to know to keep track of their project participants.
Genetic Genealogy - Y-DNA, Ancestral Trees and Mutation Graphs Tutorial notes from Robert Baber.

Resources from the Guild of One-Name Studies

An introduction to DNA A collection of articles about DNA testing and surname project administration from the Guild of One-Name Studies with links to articles that are of particular relevance for beginners.

Blog posts

Getting the most out of your Y-DNA test by Maurice Gleeson, DNA and Family Tree Research blog, 1 April 2016. Maurice provides a template of testing advice which can be adapted for use by individual projects.
Getting cousins to test, a Rootstech talk by Kitty Cooper. Kitty Cooper's Blog, 7 February 2014.
Contacting/approaching potential DNA testers by Emily Aulicino, Genealem blog, 1 October 2008
Make FTDNA GAP WYSIWYG and MS Word play nice by Rebekah Canada, Haplogroup blog, 14 July 2013.

Family Tree DNA resources

FTDNA projects FTDNA surname, lineage and geographical projects
Group Administrator Quick Start Guide
Group Administrator Page (GAP): Reference Questions and Answers about being a Group Project administrator or co-administrator.
FTDNA Group Administrator Terms and Policies
Group Administrator Quick Start Guide
How to use the FTDNA GAP
GAP: Interpretation Questions and Answers about interpreting and explaining your project members' results
Group Administration Page: Filters and FTQL The FTDNA FAQ section for the new Filters and the FTQL query language

FTDNA Facts and Genes articles

Family Tree DNA's newsletter Facts and Genes has sometimes contained useful articles relating to project administration. These newsletters are no longer available on the Family Tree DNA website but are preserved in the Internet Archive:

Recruiting participants: surnames Volume 4, Issue 5, October 12, 2005
Action items for group administrators: surname variants and co-administrators Volume 4, Issue 5, October 12, 2005
Y-DNA Projects, recruiting participants: opportunities, and action items Volume 4, Issue 6, December 5, 2005
Recruiting participants: annual update Volume 5, Issue 1, March 27, 2006
Recruiting participants: fund raising Volume 5, Issue 2, August 08, 2006
Recruiting participants: cost justification Volume 5, Issue 3, November 12, 2006
Recruiting participants: your Google ranking and annual update Volume 6, Issue 1, March 05, 2007
Recruiting participants: donations Volume 6, Issue 3, July 27, 2007
Y-DNA: global view of the surname Volume 6, Issue 4, September 06, 2007
Recruiting participants: recruitment is a process Volume 6, Issue 4, September 06, 2007
For group administrators: annual update Volume 7, Issue 1, February 20, 2008
Recruiting participants: tips and techniques Volume 7, Issue 4, August 15, 2008
Y-DNA surnames and one-name studies Volume 7, Issue 5, November 24, 2008
For group administrators: recruiting in the ancestral country Volume 7, Issue 5, November 24, 2008

Other resources

Tutorial for surname DNA tests (Internet Archive version) A very useful four-page tutorial from DNA Heritage (now part of Family Tree DNA) showing how Y-chromosome STR testing can be used within a surname DNA project.
Tips for a successful project A World Families tutorial.
Diary of a product administrator The musings of the administrator of the Bolt DNA project.

Online resources for project administrators

From ISOGG Wiki

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