FamilySearch Press Release: New version of website

	April 16, 2013
	Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16 April 2013 New Online Tools Help Preserve and Share Precious Family Photos and Memories Features create connections and bring family stories to life FamilySearch New Features Media Kit Infographic FamilySearch.org Video News Release FamilySearch New Features Screenshots Interesting Photos Article: Finding Your Family Story Has Never Been Easier FamilySearch New Features FAQs Current FamilySearch Facts and Stats Training Videos Searching Records Family Tree Photos and Stories SALT LAKE CITY - FamilySearch International, a nonprofit, volunteer-driven genealogy organization, announced the release of significant new enhancements to its web services that allow visitors to collaboratively build their family tree online, preserve and share precious family photos and stories, and receive personal research assistance-all for free. Find out more at FamilySearch.org. "Every person who has ever lived has a right to be remembered and is a story waiting to be told," said Dennis C. Brimhall, CEO for FamilySearch. "Every family is a story in progress." Brimhall explained that the new FamilySearch.org features help move family history beyond research to appeal to a larger audience of people who are very interested in their family's stories, but who don't consider themselves genealogists or researchers. "We all treasure memorable family photos and ancestral stories that inspire, amuse, or connect us. Families can now share and preserve for posterity those social heirlooms that help vitalize their family history," Brimhall added. The enhancements include Family Tree, an online application where users begin by adding information about themselves and then start to add information about their ancestors to collaboratively build, manage, and share their family history. The tree is already populated with over 900 million records contributed by patrons. And there are billions of historic records that can be searched for free to help further expand your family tree. The Photos and Stories feature lets you preserve favorite family photos of ancestors and share them through social media. You can tag people in a photo to identify who they are and connect them to respective ancestor profiles in the Family Tree. The photos can then be easily shared with the online community. You can also upload your favorite stories about an ancestor to preserve them for future generations. Julie Lowe from Missouri is the proverbial photo archivist of her family. She has albums of ancestral photos. Between her and her siblings, they are also walking libraries of countless stories and memories of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, some great-grandparents, and other ancestors. They will be using the Photos and Stories feature to begin preserving their favorite photos and stories for future generations. Each person can save and share up to 5,000 ancestral photos in Family Tree. "When a parent or grandparent takes the time to tell you a story, there's a bonding that occurs there," Brimhall said. "Likewise, a family photo and story preserved and shared in the context of one's family tree, in an instant, can personally touch us and teach us time-honored principles by those who have gone on before us, like the value of hard work, dealing with life's ups and downs, and the impact of choices." Other features added include the interactive Fan Chart, a tool used by millions to create a colorful fan chart of their ancestry; the Family Tree Wizard, a tool that asks questions to help you begin to build your personal family tree and get you started; and Live Help, a global online community that provides free product help and personal research assistance by phone and web chat 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The help website and services are available in 10 languages. About FamilySearch International FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilySearch Support: Most common problems, and an employee's analysis

Although this post was made on GetSatisfaction FamilySearch Feedback to a group of people fortunate to have found the relevant thread, I believe this data can be useful for anyone who has had rough times with FamilySearch Support--or wants to avoid the tough times. In general, FamilySearch Support does an amazing job to solve all of the genealogical community's many, many support needs.

If we as users, Family History Consultants, and others, take the time to understand what the top 5 support problems are, we will not need to contact support so often. We will be able to better help our friends and family when they run into the same problems.

It is encouraging to know that FamilySearch staff go to so much effort to be aware of user feedback and problems--and that they prioritize their efforts to improve the user experience. I have my fair share of complaints when I run into a bug or poor user interface, but I must speak well about what FamilySearch is doing in the background with all their hard work.

Here are the top 5 support problems from the past week:
(The remainder of this post is a direct copy of a publicly accessible post @
https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearchinsidetrack/topics/better_access_to_upper_echelon_support_personnel_in_familysearch_support )

1. Correcting information, Incorrect Relationships, and Data Problems: 1,322 cases, 20.0% of nFS/FT cases, 11.7% of all cases (3 weeks on this report at number 1; previously at #2 for 1 week)
The bulk of these issues deal with some piece of data being incorrect or missing. Some of the cases are handled by teaching the patron how to correct the problem. The bulk are sent to data quality to be corrected, because for the patron cannot correct the problem themselves. I reviewed 100 cases and here the top issues under that heading
a) 35% - Incorrect relationships (OFT-46870, OFT-55276) – This is really dependent on the users to fix the problems in the system.
b) 14% - Dead to living (and individual is showing as decease when they are actually living and this has to be corrected in the system) (DATA-587, DATA-887, OFT-11783, DATA-833) – This is a result of data not being brought over correctly into Family Tree. Engineering has done some work on this problem and the number of cases is starting to drop.
c) 9% - Wrong gender (TEM-3085, DATA-1293, OFT-55124)– This is really dependent on the users to fix the problems in the system.
d) 8% - Separate incorrectly combined records (DATA-2013, OFT-54334) – this falls under Issue #3
As I have thought about what engineering can do with these problems, the only thing I can suggest is to do mass repairs on the data where there are known problems and they can be fixed. As far as handling by Tier III and Tier II we have to continue teaching the patron when they can solve the issues so they can solve future problems on their own and working with Data Quality to get the other problems fixed.
2. Registration/Login, Registration/Login, Registration, and Login: 1,300 cases, 19.7% of nFS/FT cases, 11.5% of all cases (3 weeks on this report at number 2; previously 1 week at #1)
I broke this data out 3 months ago so it may be a little dated. I have someone breaking it out again and should have better data in a week or so. I thought this would be helpful for now.
a) 25% - Forgot username/password – The main thing that can be done to fix it is to simplify the self-recovery options. ICS has devised a new way of recovering information which should help with this issue. Support can do a better job of teaching the patrons the self –help recovery process. LDS Account Admin style access also helps missionaries better handle these issues.
b) 14% - Unable to sign in (IDENT-2158, IDENT-2129, IDENT-2128) – This has been in the past a result of the patron trying to sign into FT without first signing into nFS. It can also be server problems or problems with the account. Occasionally, it is the result of the wrong username or password. Again, simplifying the site will most likely help with this problem. We need to work to make sure the improvements made on the ICS side of registration and login are translated and readily available on the FamilySearch side.
c) 14% - Email not working – This is usually a problem of the patron unable to activate their account or unable to receive the self help emails. Engineering’s efforts is LDS Account 5.2 should help as there will be more methods of recovering information and for LDS accounts with a membership number and email activation will no longer be needed.
The bulk of the problems in a) and c) are handled in the GSC so there are not jira tickets applicable to them.
I am really interested to see how the implementation of LDS Account 5.2 changes our traffic volumes. Hopefully, with that implementation we will see a reduction in volume. We will keep monitoring this so we can see how requests from our patrons change.
3. Merge/Unmerge/Recreate, Combine (Match or Merge), and Separate: 406 cases, 6.2% of nFS/FT cases, 3.6% of all cases (10 weeks on this report at number 3)
I examined 50 cases under these headings they really come down to a core problem with some outlying issues.
a) 68% of the cases I examined revolve around the problem if being unable to merge or separate records. (OFT-55852, OFT-55829, OFT-55654, OFT-55700) – One of the big problems is the system has not given a proper undo function in Family Tree when the records were merge in new FamilySearch. There are still problems with large records and combining records with membership records. Part of the issue is a lot of individuals are need to be taught how to combine and separate, especially because we Family Tree is a new system for them. Engineering could help with this problem by providing better tools to work with IOUS records. Fixing the problem with nFS separated records showing a method of separating the records in Family Tree.
b) 6 % - Unable to find duplicates (OFT-54974, OFT-55051)– the ability to find duplicate records has been improving, but there are still things that can be done to improve this problem.
c) 6% - Looping pedigrees (DATA-569, OFT-28347) – It would be helpful to have better tools for handling these problems. A method to do bulk separates would be helpful. This problem has gotten much better also and most of our efforts need to be focused on the problems with merging and unmerging.
4. Policy/Procedure and Policy/Procedure: 379 cases, 5.7% of nFS/FT cases, 3.4% of all cases (10 weeks on this report at number 4)
a) 18% - Policy Questions
b) 14% - Release ordinances
c) 10% - Correct Information
d) 8% - Print a Family Group Sheet
e) 6% - Privacy Issues
We do not have any specific suggestions for this group at this time.
5. Using Family Tree: 282 cases, 4.3% of nFS/FT cases, 2.5% of all cases (10 weeks on this report at number 5)

FamilySearch Photos just went live on Family Tree!

FamilySearch Photos just went live on Family Tree!

It is much sooner and much better than I expected this soon. Try it out, and let me know what you think.

Sneak peek to next version of FamilySearch Family Tree?

Rather than duplicate what was already posted, I am simply providing you a link to screenshots:
https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/faq_where_do_i_see_my_photos_in_familytree

While the post is meant to assure FamilySearch Photos beta users that their work will be preserved and shared, a close look at the screenshots reveals some encouraging user interface improvements for Family Tree.

• quick click-able links to the sections for Vitals, Other, Family, Sources, Discussion, and Ordinances (LDS). Currently, users must scroll to the section they want. I see this as a major improvement on usability, even though it is a small thing.
• a larger portrait, and removal of the view tree button (presumably replaced by the tree icon). I like the bigger photo portrait area, but I'm not sure I like the tree button. What do you think?
• and of course, the photos tab. Wonderful. 

These developments are encouraging. Small steps. No release date, but I would guess this will roll out by the end of RootsTech in March. There is always room for improvement. I hope this news will encourage someone about the future of Family Tree as it has done for me. They are still working to make it better.

FamilySearch FamilyTree Beta Review

Since March 2011 I have been covering the FamilySearch FamilyTree Beta. Notable genealogy enthusiasts have recently noted that little has been said since then.1, 2, 3

I'm prepared to announce that is no longer accurate. At least as far as I'm concerned. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure they meant FamilySearch was quiet, not me--oh well I'm not FamilySearch but, here I go making noise. Please excuse the blue boxes. I was protecting the privacy of living individuals such as myself.

I apologize to those of you who are completely unfamiliar with the beta. This video is tailored to those who knew about it already, but were not granted access or people who want to know about the progress of the beta. Please leave your questions as comments to this post and I will gladly address them.

The two main things I talk about are: 1. the new Watch List, and 2. the new ability to edit in the beta
      
Enjoy the video here or click this link for the full size: http://www.screencast.com/t/mmJdnzarRb

1 "New.FamilySearch.org - Still very much the same as usual, although there is a Beta test floating around out there in the ether which hasn't been referenced for some time."
- James Tanner, "Old FamilySearch.org Website still alive?" Genealogy's Star blog, 8 Jan 2012.

2 "New FamilySearch, now known as FamilySearch Family Tree, went in Limited Private Beta early this year and FamilySearch has not even announced that there will be Public Beta next year."
- Tamura Jones, "FamilySearch Family Tree API Public," Modern Software Experience, 22 Dec 2011.

3 "New.FamilySearch.org is long overdue for a substantial makeover to address the multitude of present limitations in the program. There was a not too confidential release of a Beta version of a preliminary version of the program circulating. But since the sort-of introduction of a Beta version, there has been no further communication I have picked up."
- James Tanner, "My Predictions for FamilySearch," Genealogy's Star blog, 9 Jan 2012.

FamilySearch Family Tree in Beta

Back in March I stumbled across a link to what looked like a beta of the new FamilySearch Family Tree and took some screen shots before the link disappeared.

Here is the post: http://enduringlegacygenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/03/familysearch-family-tree-leak.html

There are 2 other posts talking more about the same thing on my blog in March. At the time, I had no word from anyone officially what that was all about.

Yesterday, my fellow GeneaBlogger, James Tanner, posted about this beta: http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2011/10/beta-test-of-familyseachs-family-tree.html

Evidently, a document about this beta was released in April to a select few: https://help.familysearch.org/kb/guides/en/The_Case_for_Our_Tree_FamilySearch.pdf

There is a feedback page on FamilySearch.org for the beta:
 http://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/products/familysearch_family_tree_beta

As James Tanner mentioned in his blog post, FamilySearch likely does not give more information because this process is in the development stage. Betas for FamilySearch are known to sometimes last years as in the case of version 1 of new.familysearch.org which is now being moved to FamilySearch.org in the form of this beta.

The FamilySearch Tree's "Universal" Future

NOTE: FamilySearch attended this year's Open Source Convention (OSCON), held on July 25th-29th in Portland, Oregon. At this event Gordon Clark of FamilySearch was interviewed. The latter part of this post is a summary of that interview.

Genealogically relevant data is being posted online at an intense rate. New technology expands crowd-sourcing techniques, smartphones allow instant uploads of records with GPS tags, advanced cameras can convert all types of media into digital format in less time than ever before, and "the cloud" provides flexible data storage options for all that new information. Throughout this technology boom several different companies and organizations have recognized the opportunity to provide better genealogy services.

Genealogy techies like me no longer ask, "Will the records I need ever be within my reach?" Now we are more concerned with, "Do I have to spend hours looking at different websites? Why can't I see everything I want in one place?"

For those not familiar with technology this question may seem deceptively simple. With several different companies and organizations involved it is unrealistic to believe there will ever be one website onto which all genealogy data will go. Such effort toward a genealogical monopoly is not only overwhelming administratively, but would harm the entrepreneurial creative spirit. It is also difficult to imagine the look of a website on which all the historically and genealogically relevant data about an individual could be put in one place. There is simply too much data.

Many online family tree services allow images to be uploaded to the user's tree. For example, if I take a headstone picture and upload it on FindAGrave.com I can also upload it separately to my tree on Ancestry.com. Every time I upload a file to another website it is duplicating the file's web presence--in hopes to increase the odds it will be seen--but with the new concept being worked on at FamilySearch uploading on multiple sites becomes unnecessary. Using what is called a Person Identifier, any data about your ancestor can be linked to the Family Tree. During this year's OSCON, Gordon Clark of FamilySearch explained his company's vision regarding the FamilySearch Family Tree and the way it will become "universal."

"You link to the data... A good way to look at that is when in geo-mapping the anchor is a longitude and latitude... we want to have a clear understanding of who this person is, where they are in time, and who their parents and who their children are. Then that person--our person ID which we hope will be universal someday--then all the richness of the material on the web which has been digitized can be linked to our person in our master tree."

This vision of a universally linked tree allows FamilySearch to avoid duplication in technology development and use of resources. FamilySearch's position as the largest genealogy organization in the world came about through their focus on volunteerism, free data access, and efficiency. To an audience of software developers at OSCON, Clark said, "Web services is what we're all about... what we're all about is the building up of the data and the sharing of the data so there can be lots of innovative applications..."

FamilySearch's data is built upon a platform so they have API's (Application Program Interface) for app developers to use which enable users to interact with FamilySearch data from within 3rd-party apps. Clark explained the purpose of FamilySearch API's:

"...to generate more clients, more innovation--in how you access the data that we have."

Suggested uses of the FamilySearch API included

• Mobile applications that search FamilySearch
  
• Applications that consider the audience, including:
  
• culturally oriented applications
• applications that consider age of user
• applications that consider computer skill of user

FamilySearch's vision of sharing data openly was being expressed at the BYU Family History Conference at the same time that OSCON was live in Portland. Ransom H. Love of FamilySearch spoke about the budget problems of archives and FamilySearch's efforts to help digitize and index records. Generally, when FamilySearch microfilms, digitizes, and indexes the records of an organization the only "payment" is a copy of the records to be held by FamilySearch. For legal reasons, some organizations may wish to retain full control over all copies of their data. With this in mind FamilySearch has recently begun undertaking select preservation efforts without requiring a copy of the records.

With FamilySearch's long-term vision, flexibility, and encouragement of innovation family history lovers can expect many new tools and resources to advance their work.

Tech Tuesday - FamilySearch Family Tree

NOTE: This Family Tree has not been released officially to the public yet. In order to view the family tree you may have to try a method listed in my "...Sneaking up on you?" post linked to below. One user reported not being able to access the tree with that method due to not having access to new.familysearch.org.
Those with new.familysearch.org access are currently able to access this tree.

On Sunday I stumbled upon the long awaited FamilySearch Family Tree when using the FamilySearch.org website.

You can read more about my experience Sunday in my post:
FamilySearch Family Tree: Sneaking up on us?
For screenshots of the new tree see my post:
FamilySearch Family Tree Leak!

In this post I provide you with some similar technologies to compare this new Family Tree with so you can better understand what is different about this new way of viewing a family tree.

This Family Tree is one big collaborative tree built on the submissions of FamilySearch users.
The technology is not entirely new in the world of genealogy. In fact some impressive ventures have already happened and died out trying to do this same thing.

OneWorldTree was one of the sites I remember using and then it was taken on by Ancestry.com and it changed a bit in navigation and editing ability. It no longer accepts direct submissions.
OneGreatFamily is another service designed to provide one big tree for everyone, but it is less popular than others, partly due to the immediate use of screens asking for payment.

Current successful family tree ventures include sites like
MyHeritage and Geni

More than these other services I would compare the FamilySearch Family Tree to the Ancestry.com Member Trees except the Ancestry trees are maintained separately and linked through "Member Connect" while the FamilySearch Family Tree is one big inseparable tree.
While I spend less time with the MyHeritage and Geni services I understand that they are like Ancestry.com's Member Trees in that they are separately maintained and can be linked to other trees.

Current features of FamilySearch Family Tree

• Navigating the tree currently available at new.familysearch.org
• Searching the tree currently available at new.familysearch.org

Some of the features to be added in the future

• Discussing individuals on the tree
• Adding sources
• Adding photographs 1
• Editing the Family Tree
• LDS Account related services

This Family Tree has been in development for several years in the form of new.familysearch.org which has been available to select individuals in my area since late 2008. Officially it is still in beta on the new.familysearch.org system.

The goal at FamilySearch is to move the functionality of that beta system into the more user friendly "Family Tree" system at FamilySearch.org

For this Family Tree to do everything users want it to do we will have to learn patience. Keep in mind that this technology will replicate much of the best of several family tree sites while remaining entirely free. This takes time. For now, the public may wish to stick with some of the other services I mentioned.

ABOUT FAMILYSEARCH INTERNATIONAL
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilySearch Family Tree Leak!

NOTE: This article contains screenshots which can be clicked for a larger view of FamilySearch.org website changes.

Read my post from earlier today to find out how I stumbled upon this.

The first page you'll see on the new Family Tree is the "Tree" page:


After clicking any name you'll be able to view the tree from there or see the individual's details ("Ancestor" page).



Here is the "Ancestor" page for my ancestor Moses Cherry:


Because the link to this page was in a less noticeable place - the wiki - I am assuming FamilySearch does not expect the public to be using this yet. Not to mention I had to trick the system to get logged in.

The ordinance function for LDS Account holders is not ready yet so we will still be using new.familysearch.org.

There are some definite pluses to this new version of the FamilyTree moving away from new.familysearch.org

• Navigating the tree is much easier than on new.familysearch.org
• There is already a working search function which could be used by the general public soon
  

There are also some signs of coming improvements.

• There is a place for individual photographs
• A sources tab for each person

This is not the Wiki style many of us bloggers have been anticipating, but SCOE will likely be an issue for some time.
Learn more about the wiki concept and SCOE here & here.

My conclusion? The functionality clearly needs some work, but the fact that it is online at all amazes me!

FamilySearch Family Tree: Sneaking up on us?

NOTE: This article contains screenshots which can be clicked for a larger view of FamilySearch.org website changes.

After reading GenealogyStar James Tanner's post from earlier today I decided to do a little digging around on FamilySearch.org and see what is new.

Keep reading for the secret of how to view the new FamilySearch Family Tree before anyone else knows it is online!

First off I have to say that I notice little changes almost every time I go to the site which happen so often that I think several things get missed by us bloggers.

The biggest change I noticed today was a link which did not appear at FamilySearch.org, but appeared when I went to the wiki - "Family Tree" (the first link next to FamilySearch logo)


Clicking on this Family Tree link takes me to https://familysearch.org/tree/
This page asks me to log in, but that function is not working for me so I am stuck there, but I noticed something...


Above the sign in box are three links: Tree, Ancestor, and Search.
What could this all be?

It seems like new.familysearch.org is closer to being part of FamilySearch.org than I guessed.

Some websites load annoying boxes asking you to authorize or log in in order to continue viewing the site. I have a trick for you, but it is hard to time - click the stop button repeatedly right after clicking refresh and before the annoying log in box appears. This way you will be able to see stuff otherwise restricted. In this manner you can trick the system into letting you preview the 3 different tabs. :) hehe... I'd tell you what I saw, but I'll let you try it.
I'm excited...

Oh, and if you want to do it the easy way you can log in by clicking https://familysearch.org/, signing in at the link on the upper right of that FamilySearch.org page. Then add /tree so that you are at http://www.familysearch.org/tree. The pop-up log in does not work for me, but if you log in the way I just explained you get access to the Family Tree already. Wow!

I am going to give you a few minutes to take this all in... Okay, I can't help it anymore, I'm going to do another post with screenshots of the Family Tree.
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A couple other website update tid-bits:

VIEWER
Recently I spoke to Brian Pugh for more details on the HTML viewer he mentioned in his speech at RootsTech 2011. Going to any historic document you will see the document within what we call a viewer. There have been some good blog discussions lately about ways this viewer could be updated in the near future. Brian was able to tell me how to access the HTML version of the viewer. Simply remove "/show" from the URL in your browser's address bar and hit enter to load the image in the HTML viewer.

While functionality differences are not earth shattering in scope, it is fun to know there are 2 versions of the viewer online right now.

LEARN
The new YouTube channel has been preparing for the past couple months so that the "Getting Started" videos could be integrated into the Learn tab at FamilySearch. They have finally been integrated and can be watched from the comfort of FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch: newFamilySearch begins public Rollout

newFamilySearch begins public Rollout, it's not just for Mormons anymore

FamilySearch has been running a new Family Tree system called newFamilySearch for members of their parent organization The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was pleased to have access to this beta and see it grow since 2008. The website can be found at new.familysearch.org

The idea is to make one family tree for everyone who has ever lived on the earth. It isn't a new concept among genealogists, but having a big player like FamilySearch working on this project leaves us expecting something that will change the way we do genealogy forever. My review? That expectation is a valid one.

The system isn't as smooth as many other family tree websites, but the concept is highly promising. We may see some major changes before the tree comes out of beta. One change that is being discussed is creating a more wiki like environment for the tree.

Don't get yourself too excited. Rumors have been around for awhile that newFamilySearch would rollout to the public soon and that it would start with a small test group before going to everyone. The good news is that we have received word that the test group has been selected.

Read more about the Public nFS Rollout here.

FamilySearch: "a bajillion times faster... six months to a year away" by Dan Lawyer

Lawyer said one way to improve the chances of genealogical success is to stop thinking "My Tree" and start thinking "Our Tree." He suggested genealogical research could be something akin to Wikipedia, which is slowly gaining credibility as people add and subtract information from the popular website.

"People want to make the data right," he said. "But people feel better if they can see evidence that supports changes."

Lawyer sees a day coming when documentation can be scanned into the database that proves without dispute a particular date or place. That day is probably only six months to a year away, he said.

"The goal is to release as much as possible for the lowest cost possible," Lawyer said.

To facilitate that end, much more help is needed with indexing records. Currently, 2.4 million records are waiting to be done, with more coming online every day.

"That's one way you can help," Lawyer said. "That will make it go a bajillion times faster."

The above is copied from this Mormon Times article.

It is that time again, new FamilySearch receiving an update.

Click this link to see the official statement for what will be new with the June 2010 release.

As usual, each update leaves me hungry for so much more in terms of updates, but I must say I see this as a significant turn for the better.

Making disputes, finding notes and commenting on data on the family tree was seen by many users as overly difficult. Now we are given a very simple way to add our thoughts to a person. One might dispute, ask for help, save stories etc. with this feature. It is very streamlined and user friendly.

The down side, in my opinion, is that it is a little too streamlined. It seems to me that it would help the system greatly if each discussion topic could be identified in some sort of predetermined menu as being of a certain category. Categories might include: disputes, questions, research notes, transcriptions &c. When viewing the discussions in the details box a filter should be added so that those individuals who have many discussion threads attached will be easier to navigate through their discussion threads. The filter might allow a person to view only discussion topics labeled as disputes or perhaps only those labeled as questions etc. A feature to search the discussion threads for a person looking for specific words or a phrase would also help find previously viewed threads that are now overrun by others in a person of high interest. Further data should be gathered. For example, a drop down menu activiated when selecting dispute as the discussion topic type should allow a person to select the fact they dispute (name, gender, birth date, birth place, relationship to [then the person would be selected whose relation to is disputed]).

I don't like the idea of getting rid of the old dispute system entirely. I think by selecting dispute as a category a link should be formed to a familiar dispute symbol next to the disputed fact on other screens. That link should take a person to the relevant discussion topic.

March 2010 - new.FamilySearch.org Update

Note: This article will be of interest and use only to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yesterday I went to new.FamilySearch.org (hereafter nFS) to help a member of my local Branch sign up and learn how to enter data. At my surprise, I found that I could no longer log in with my original sign-in name. With excitement I read these words on my screen:

• We are changing the sign-in system so that one user name and password works for participating FamilySearch Web sites. From now on, please use your LDS Account for new.familySearch.org. If you don't have an LDS Account, enter your new.familysearch.org user name and password, and we'll help you upgrade.

At first I expected to be asked to merge my accounts like I did with FamilySearch Indexing, but was pleased to find that this is not necessary. Anyone who already had a LDS Account (as I did) could simply log in using that account. All their previous work under the old sign in was right there! If you never made an LDS Account then you would be prompted to do so after using your nFS sign-in name.

Having one sign in for all church websites will significantly decrease the frustration an LDS member will feel when asked to get on one of the church websites. Anyone that has been on their ward website, FamilySearch Indexing, FamilySearch Wiki or nFS (to name just a few) will be able to access the other websites with the same user name and password. Thus only having to go through the registration process once.

As a Family History Consultant I find that many members do not have the information they need to register easily on hand. A person's record number and confirmation date are necessary. Using one user name will decrease the time I spend as a Family History Consultant walking people through the registration process. I am so happy that I can now focus more energy on helping people with the important part: family history and temple work!

There are some other updates to the website that make it much more user friendly. The ordinance list now completely self loads instead of stopping at the most recent 20 ordinances reserved. The link that was at the bottom of the screen to extend this list was difficult for many to notice. People wondered what happened to their lists when they had reserved over 20 individuals. Now I can see my 155 rows of ordinances waiting to be completed which not only is easier to work with, but does more to encourage me to get the work done.

The Family Tree view is more user friendly. I found that it was much easier for me to discover how to edit information from this view after the March update. Before this update I could not figure out how to edit information here. Now I found that double-clicking a name brings up an individual's detail box where I can change whatever I want.

I also found that when navigating away from the tree and going back it is much easier to pick up where one left off. I feel that there is much more work to be done though this update is a HUGE user friendliness improvement. When I clicked on my 3rd-great grandfather Samuel McCormick in Family Tree view and then moved back to Family Pedigree with Details, I expected to see my ancestor Samuel McCormick. It disappointed me that it does not work that way.

Which ever person is in the primary view on the Family Tree will be in the primary view when switching to Family Pedigree with Details and vice versa. In order to change the primary person in Family Tree view you must right click a name and select the appropriate option. I am an experienced family history website addict and it took me some playing around to realize that right clicking a name in the Family Tree view allowed me to "Show Ancestors" or "Show Descendants." For the average user, I think they will wonder why they keep losing their place when that was "fixed" with this update.

I did notice that even this did not always work. Sometimes within my nFS session I would click a different tab and click back to test this upgrade and the tree would be back on my name, even after I had put it on someone else a couple of times.

Overall, this update is AMAZING! I simply can't wait until the next updates come because I know if I am confused at some things still most of the members I help will be tempted to throw their hands in the air and wait for the next update.

History of Compiled Genealogies within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This article was directly copied from a BYU, Hist 482 manual with minor additions in order to mention some newer systems that were not in the original. This article is for education purposes only and personal authorship is denied by the administrator of this blog.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been creating indexes and gathering other compiled materials since the creation of the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1894. Both the IGI and the Ancestral File have predecessors that still have value to researchers. To understand those of the IGI, it is important to understand that the IGI is in reality an index of names of individuals or couples, submitted from among their own families or by extraction of consecutive entries in original sources such as census or church records by members of the LDS church. The only difference between the IGI and the LDS Ordinance Index (found only at LDS Family History Centers) is that the latter has the dates and temples for the LDS religious rites that were performed on behalf of those deceased individuals.

The history of the systems used to submit names for performance of LDS religious ordinances will help to both understand the strengths and weaknesses of the IGI, and to identify other sources related to those earlier submission processes. Beginning in 1844, baptisms were performed on behalf of the dead. Other religious rites for deceased persons did not begin until 1877, when the temple in St. George, Utah was opened. From those earliest times until into the mid 1920s, a member of the church merely selected a name of a deceased person and went directly to a temple (by 1927 there were seven such temples) to perform the ordinances. Each temple maintained a register of such ordinance work. In 1925 the secretary of the Genealogical Society of Utah objected to the duplication and inefficiency in the system, suggesting that an index be created of all work already performed, and that in the future all names submitted be checked against that index and cleared before ordinances were performed. From that request the Temple Index Bureau (TIB) was created. The TIB only indexed those ordinances known as endowments and, therefore, did not necessarily contain names of persons for whom baptisms (performed before 1877) or marriage sealings were performed. The TIB was a file card index and grew to fill a large room with millions of cards in hundreds of file drawers before it was discontinued on 1 January, 1970.

In 1943, the means of submitting names to the temples was changed from one of submitting individual names to submitting complete family groups on family group sheets. That system likewise continued in use until 1 January, 1970, when it was replaced by a computerized system. The original family group sheets submitted were filed in binders and stored in the Family History Library in Salt Lake in what became known as the Family Group Records Archives—Main Section. Endowment ordinances that appeared on these sheets continued to be added to the TIB and a notation was placed on the TIB cards in the form of a C and/or a P in the upper right hand corner of the card to indicate if that person appeared as a child and/or a parent on a family group record. In addition to the information currently found on the IGI, these sheets often had source notes and other comments about the families. Throughout this period, individual temples continued to also maintain registers of work done. In January 1970, use of both the TIB and the family group records was discontinued and the temples shifted to a computerized system of record keeping. At that time nearly all submissions of names of deceased persons were done on 8½ by 11 inch sheets on which the names of from one to six individuals or married couples could be listed. In addition to space for each person’s or couples’ vital statistics, a space was provided for notes concerning sources of information. All of the vital statistics, along with the dates when temple ordinances were performed, were entered into a computer and the resultant index was initially known as the Computer File Index. In the early 1980s, the name was changed to the International Genealogical Index. As a result of this historical development, information on names submitted to the temples for ordinance work can be found in four sources:

Temple Registers. Most are available on microfilm, as identified in the Family History Library Catalog.

Temple Index Bureau. Available on microfilm at the Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake and on microfilm at the Family History Center in the library of Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, it is only available for consultation by members of the LDS Church.

Family Group Records Archives. These are available in their original format at the Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake, and on microfilm that can be ordered to Family History Centers throughout the world.

International Genealogical Index. This index contains not only names of persons whose LDS temple work has been performed since 1 January 1970, but, through a major transfer effort to vital statistic information from the first three sources discussed. For names submitted by individuals and not added by extraction programs, a copy of the original sheet as prepared by the individual submitter can be viewed on microfilm. The pamphlets on the IGI explain the process of identifying batch numbers and searching for these in the FHLC. The researcher should remember that none of the information concerning submitters and their relationships to the deceased person, nor the information concerning sources, was transferred to the IGI. Also, the IGI does not contain information about baptisms for the living performed outside of the temples that may appear on the TIB cards.

Today all of the former systems have merged into one, newFamilySearch. While newFamilySearch will always be a work in progress, as people continue to add data, it fulfills the purposes of the earlier systems: preparing names for temple work, avoiding duplication and recording sources.

Prior to newFamilySearch, Pedigree Resource File was the means of submitting one’s genealogy for safekeeping and sharing. Before that it was Ancestral File. Rumor has it that when the FamilySearch website was introduced it was discovered that transferring the offline Ancestral File database to an online environment was not going to work. Some say it is at that realization that the new database was introduced. As early as the 1920s, the Genealogical Society of Utah encouraged its members to submit copies of their genealogies to the Society for those purposes. Those early efforts through 1963, now known as the Old Patron section, are available though the FHLC. Beginning in 1963, the LDS Church urged its members to submit at least their first four generations on family group sheets. These—with an incredible amount of duplication and contradiction—were gathered together in the Family Group Records Archives—Patrons Section. They likewise are available in the original at the Family Search Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake and on microfilms that can be ordered to Family History Centers throughout the world.

Even in geographic research areas where one may think there would be of little value, these indexes should be checked. I cannot count the number of times I have sent Latin American and southern European researchers into these collections and they have returned disappointed at not finding anything. Nevertheless, just when I have begun to consider not having them do so anymore, I have found in these indexes such valuable materials as complete parishes in Bilbao, Spain that are indexed on the IGI, or a series of over four hundred family group sheets from the colonial period in Jalisco, Mexico extending a line back to the 1520s that can be found in the Family Group Records Archives Main Section and accessed through the IGI. These indexes should always be checked when new surnames, time periods or places become available during the research process.

This article was directly copied from a BYU, Hist 482 manual with minor additions in order to mention some newer systems that were not in the original. This article is for education purposes only and personal authorship is denied by the administrator of this blog.

newFamilySearch Beta

Received an encouraging message today
from nFS Beta Release Team:

The Family History Department is looking for individuals willing to help us test the new FamilySearch on the Internet. Our goal is to start testing soon. Any help you can give is very much appreciated. All genealogical data you may enter during the test will be discarded after testing. However, a new registration system will be tested, and user names and passwords created during beta testing will last beyond the test period (more information about this will be included in future letters).To participate in this test, do the following:

1. Look for another e-mail, which will include test instructions and information about when to begin testing. Please do not start testing until you receive the test instructions and the date that testing will begin. Carefully review the test instructions. They will include a link to the test site as well as some exercises or challenges to help you test some of the new and existing program features.

2. Follow the test instructions, and give your feedback through the Feedback link. Please test in your primary language even if that language is not English.

3. After the beta test is completed, we will send you a link to complete a simple survey.

We look forward to your participation and are grateful for your help.If you cannot help us test at this time, please ignore any further communications about this test. We hope you will be able to help us in the future.Please do not respond to this e-mail. It is for your information only.

Thank you. FamilySearch Beta Release Team