When was the last time you heard from cousin Billy? Perhaps more pertinent, when was the last time you found out what your brother is up to in Missouri?

Well, there are lots of tools to help us stay in touch, but even good tools like the phone and email have their limitations. One great way to stay connected, especially for a group of people, is to set up a website. Now, many cringe and think that means they’re going to have to learn to code or hand over the project to their tech-savvy nephew, but there are some very easy alternatives.

For the Non-Tech-Savvy:

MyFamily.com – If you’re looking to keep track of family and don’t want to worry at all about modifying website code, checkout MyFamily.com at http://www.myfamily.com. Just create an account, and whammo, your site is created and all ready to go. You can now easily upload a few pictures, write about what’s going on in your family, and even upload video. Keep track of birthdays automatically; it just keeps getting better and better. Concerned about privacy? By default, only those that you invite can see what you’ve created.

WordPress.com – If you’re looking for a website to share with the world your thoughts and happenings in your life, try WordPress at http://www.wordpress.com. WordPress has a very easy to use system. You’ll fall in love with it if you give it a chance.

Picasa Web Albums – If all you want to do is share pictures and post a comment or two about them, try Picasa Web Albums which is a free and easy to use service.

For the Tech-Savvy:

WordPress.org – If you’re one of those folks that likes to create things on your own, run them on your own server, etc., you could try WordPress for your own server at http://www.wordpress.org

Joomla – Another option would be to go full out with a Content Management System (CMS). We recommend Joomla found at http://www.joomla.org You’ll find a lot of flexibility with a CMS, but it can also be quite complex.

Whether you’re tech-savvy or not, there are plenty of easy solutions to help keep your family connected through the web.