Every member of the Guild of One-Name Studies with a registered study has a profile page on the main Guild website.

The advantage of this is that when someone searches for the surname, if it is registered, the profile page is displayed. Some members have added lots of information about their study, the origins of the surname, the geographical spread. There are links to the website of the study and DNA project, if applicable.

I have written profiles for both of my studies, Orlando and Butcher both profiles are different in terms of content and depth. The Butcher profile is more of a work in progress and I should get this just how I want it sometime later this month (hopefully!).

The profile page is the shop window to your study. It enables people researching your surname to find you and the more details you add to your profile the more chance you have of receiving contact from others.

The webmaster gave a presentation at the February 2017 Guild seminar, which as titled a walk run around the website and there was time given to explaining how easy it was to produce and use member’s benefit. Members will find the recording in the members area under seminars and those undertaking the Pharos Introduction to One-Name Studies will see the link in their course material.

Once you have searched for a surname, using the search box on the right hand side of the Guild website and profile appears (if the surname is registered), if you look towards the bottom the website also lists the instances where the surname appears in the Guild indexes. Try doing a search for Butcher and see how many instances there are.