FamilyCentral Offers Online Gathering Place for Families

Posted on August 1, 1997

At FamilyCentral, a free family hangout on the Web from FamilyWare International, Inc., you can go to dozens of cyberrooms already set up with Internet links, articles and special information related to subjects ranging from infant care, fitness and family games to pets, camping and nature.

You can also create your own customized cyberhome containing information on your areas of special interest; enter your family history or other vital family facts; connect directly to online information about community events, resources and even the local weather; and use the site's calendar, address book and e-mail utility as your one-stop personal organization tool. Family and friends can also come to visit at your special FamilyCentral address to see when your son's next hockey game is, read your family memoirs or simply leave a message.

"We are pioneering a new kind of Web site that reflects the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words," said FamilyWare CEO Michael Brown, who developed the concept as an outgrowth of a series of software titles that managed family information. "By focusing on family needs and getting away from text-based content, we have created a truly user-friendly site that even grandparents or small children can use."

In addition to offering built-in links to family-oriented Web sites like the Lego company and the USDA's Food and Nutrition Center, FamilyCentral serves as a personalized Web site builder that can be tailored to individual tastes. One family member can choose to create customized cyberhome pages with Web links and other material focusing on inline skating, birdwatching and computers, while another might emphasize the Civil War, classical music and retirement planning. A publication template makes it possible to record family stories, information about your train collection or anything else of personal significance.

In keeping with the family theme, FamilyCentral ranks each Web site in its database according to age suitability. Parents can bar children from inappropriate Web sites in the database by assigning suitability levels to each child. And because FamilyCentral has its own navigation bar that limits browsing to the FamilyCentral site, children cannot surf their way to other sites that may contain questionable material. For additional protection, FamilyCentral limits children creating their own cyberhomes to using information from the FamilyCentral database. Older children and adults can add external links to Web sites of their choice.