Trailhead Training · Level 2 · Contributing Steward
Learn to build posts that get real answers and grow participation in KHGN history and genealogy groups, while staying well sourced, respectful of living people, free of politics and paywalls, and safe from the spam filter. Finish the module to earn your Contributing Steward banner, the level just below Moderator on the Volunteer Leadership Path.
Prerequisite: Community Steward. Complete The Tipple Trial before starting this level.
You write. The tools critique. At KHGN, AI and automated tools may review your draft and point out problems, but they never write your post for you. Your words, your research, and your sources are what make a post trustworthy. The checker in this module works the same way: it flags issues and explains them, and it never changes a single word of what you wrote.
Open with the who, where, and when. End with a clear question members can answer, and reply to the people who respond. Good posts start conversations; they never beg for likes or shares.
Say where the information came from: a census year, a deed book and page, a cemetery, a courthouse record, or a library collection.
Never share private details about living people: no birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, or emails.
Don't paste content from paid sites. Credit original authors, and check a site's Terms of Use before sharing its records.
No support or opposition of candidates or modern political debates. This protects KHGN's nonprofit status.
No advertising, sales, or paid lookups. Point people to free resources like KYGenWeb instead.
Limit links, never use link shorteners, avoid "share before it's deleted" urgency, and don't paste the same post across groups.
Want more detail on copyright? Read the KHGN Learning Center guide to copyright and public domain.
Write a post you might share in a KHGN county group, such as a question about an ancestor or a record you found. This stays in your browser and is never sent or saved.
Answer all six correctly. You can change answers and try again as many times as you need.
Add the name you'd like on your banner, or leave it blank.
Your banner is drawn in your browser. The name you type is never sent to or stored by KHGN.