Genealogy Chat

Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere ................ I've looked through all of today's threads on this board and didn't see anything

I just got an email from ancestry announcing a new ability to search for names ............ using the wildcard * and ?


It says as follows:-

Improved Wildcard Flexibilty While Searching: Smith or Smythe? Try Sm?th*

Improved Wildcard flexibility has been one of our most requested feature updates.

Previously, you had to search using at least three characters before you could use an “*” or a “?”

Here are the new rules:

• You can now use a wildcard for either the first or last letter (but not both). So, “Han*” or “*son” are OK, while “*ans*” is not.

• Names must still contain at least three non-wildcard characters. So, “Ha*n” is okay, but “Ha*” isn’t.


About Wildcards
When searching for an ancestor you can use an “*” or a “?” to represent unknown letters in their name. “*” represents zero or more characters; “?” represents one and only one unknown character.

So, if you search for “Ann*”, you will find names such as Ann, Anne, Anna, or Annabelle. If you type in “Ann?” you will find names like Anne or Anna, but not Ann or Annabelle.

Why would you want to use a wildcard? Because our ancestors didn’t always spell their names the same way and neither did the people who recorded them. So, Smith might have been spelled “Smyth,” “Smithe,” “Smythe” or some other variation. Searching for “Sm?th” or “Sm?th?” or “Sm?th*” would help you find all three versions.




I think that is great news! And it will be sooooooooooooo useful, especially being able to use the wildcard after only 2 letters, or even at the beginning of a name.





sylvia

I agree, that is great news, Sylvia.
I must remember though that ? only represents one letter while * can represent one or more.

Do they make it clear (I find directions confusing at the best of times) that you can also search using a wildcard after one letter as long as you have the final letter of the name?
For instance-if I were looking for ANSELL (surname)-I can now search for A*S*L. (just in case it's that pesky second letter that gets mistransribed.)

Hats off to A*t*ry! It makes things so much simpler.

Maureen

It does bug me however that they won't accept a single letter and a wild card e.g. C* as a first name but will accept a complete blank. The reason they give for not accepting C* is that this brings up too many matches. Now I may be being a bit dim, but surely a blank would bring up lots more! I have challenged them on this (not) logic several times, but had no response. Mind you 2 letters is better than 3!

The way I undestand it, Maureen, you don't even have to have that final letter as long as you have 3 letters.

As long as you have at least 3 letters anywhere in the word you can use any combination of ? and *

Some combinations I have used in searching for 'Worwood'
*or*d
w?r*d
*rwo*
*wood

Chris

Told you I couldn't read directions!! Thanks!!

Maureen

Anyone want to explain my digital camera to me???