Two Provo men recently launched a simple Web site to post family pictures and news.

Duane Johnson has been a Web developer for a number of years and was building a site for his family to enjoy and use when Dave Stevenson came across it on the Web.

"I saw it and said, 'Hey, you've got something special,'" Stevenson said. "Let's take this idea and let any family be able to use it. ... Any family can sign up for it and benefit from it."

The goal in creating FamilyAnywhere.com was to accommodate every member of the family, including those grandparents and other family members who are not computer-savvy. With Stevenson's sponsorship, Johnson finished developing the site and launched it in May.

Once the Web site was developed, Stevenson's wife, Liz, researched about 10 other family Web sites, finding them difficult to maneuver through, not user-friendly and confusing.

Stevenson then asked her to view FamilyAnywhere.com.

"To me it was so happy, friendly and easy to understand," said Liz. "It got me really excited about it [the Web site] compared to all the other family Web sites."

Johnson said the main purpose of the creation is to keep family members connected.

"We are a pretty tight family and we are all growing up ... and just want to stay connected," Johnson said.

It takes about five minutes to create a site for a family and there is a 14-day trial period to experience the site at no cost. To continue, it costs $9 a month, which is average for family Web sites.

"The result is what you see, a really simple family Web site," Johnson said. "... I have done a lot of Web building in the past and nothing is as rewarding as doing something for your family."

Copyright Brigham Young University 12 Jun 2006