General Chat

The concept and presentation is brilliant but alas it is vulnerable to abuse by ill-natured or bad-mannered subscribers. It may be better if there was a supervisory presence on the boards who would interject warning comments into threads should posts be overstepping the mark. Len

two things i would like to see GR adapt number one is the tree it is difficult if you dont know every detail and the tree insists of dates and places why can we not just put unknown or just ????? number two is hot matches ,is there some way they can put something so you get matches close or very close to your trees not the opposit side of the world and years apart

This site has not really helped me at all. Both my parents were Irish. My English Hubby has had some success though. The Tips have been good.

I have found the site extremely useful, and like Brian think the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages. Best find was a couple of years ago when two different people offering 1841 lookups (pre- Ancestry) found vital connections which had me stumped for over three years. Currently I have some 16 pages in 'My Contacts' and about 200 shared trees, most of whom have a connection to my tree, one way or the other. I also do selected 'one name' studies which I enjoy emensely. Goacher and Betteridge in Leicestershire are two of the names I have researched in some depth. Just today I was in touch with a contact who shares my wifes ggg grandparents. This is very satisfying. The site does need a face lift, but in the past when this has happened there has been a flurry of criticism from some, so you can't win. My main grouse is that you do not return to the point you where previously at when executing an update. It would also be useful to allow for personal preferences to be set, This was done a while ago for the Search Contacts screen where you can select the days since, which it then remembered. The tree prgram is adequate, and can not hope to match commercial softwrare in its functionality. I hardly evey update directly but would rather download from my FTM progam at home. There has been mention of the place of birth field being mandatory for manual input. Surely this is just a precursor to including this in the Hot Match algorithm, which is what the general consenus wants?

Nudging ... for any more views.

Thank you, Jeanette ... and Estelle ... that is good news.

Seems to be a real mixture of opinions here. Let's hope GR are reading and respond by making some improvements. At teh very least, it would be great if they made all details optional for each person in the tree. Regards, Andy

I have been useing this site since june + have hit my head on that wall from day 1 keep hoping one day will find at least 1 relative.

I have enjoyed this site but agree with the previous posters that it does need updating and moderating more effectively. When I first joined a lot of people were very, very helpful to me and although I've only traced a couple of distant rellies on the site itself, the help and advice I received from other members was invaluable in enabling me to move forward with my research. I've also made many friends here and for that I will always be grateful. However, I shan't be renewing in January. Daisy

Just to let you know that I have had a reply from Estelle and that she will pass the suggestions on to her manager. Jeanette x

Like others I will not be renewing my subs at the beginning of October. I have found some useful contacts in the past but I think the site is getting too cumbersome, slow and autocratic for its own good. The fiasco recently was the final straw when some of the most helpful people were either banned or left in protest. I hope I can include myself among those. On the good side I think I will get far more of my own research done rather than looking things up, or making suggestions for others. Goodbye Anne

There's enough negativity in the world, and unfortunately it rubs off on people in all sorts of different ways. All I can say is that when I started out here 2 years ago, there was only my immediate family in my tree. I now have over 1000in my tree and many friends I have met on GR. I have contacted or been contacted by many distant relatives from all over England and Australia and all from GR. The formula works. So why change it? It may not be that easy for some, but I can honestly say that GR has worked for me and mine. So thank you GR and all my friends and helpers here on the boards. Love to all Lynda x

To be honest, not much at present. I've been a member now for a couple of years and found all the help and information from other members very useful. Members were so quick to find people in census etc., that it was amazing, but now the best and most helpful and knowledgeable members seem to have been banned I wonder just things will continue. I have no idea how this came about as I was unable to check the site for few days but I think the GR people responsible should take a long hard look at themselves.

Hi Andy I think the site is second to none for making contacts, but as most people have said, it could do with a bit of an upgrade. I have sent a message to GR Feedback asking them to take a look at this thread and to ask if they will pass the comments on to their manager for her consideration. Jeanette x

On the whole the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages. I have accumulated pages of contacts and have exchanged reams of information, even though only half my tree is on here. The Hot Matches are a good idea and have proved useful, but the fact that gedcoms can be uploaded without dates and locations appearing in the GR tree is a pain. The tree layout is a disaster: it's like looking through a keyhole, the original version was far superior.

Hi Andy In response to your question.........take away the boards and what is usefull and how can it be changed for the better. When this site was first built, this was about the best you could get from a data based built site (oh how times have changed) 1/ The tree builder needs a total re build it needs to be brought into 2006 so it is user friendly (they only need to look at how good FTM is) 2/ How the hot matches are done and sent out ( 3 pages of Jo bloggs 1850 unknown is not good) 3/ The my tree search is still quite good 4/ The name search is also still usefull for some members But on the whole this has now become a Morris Minor, it needs to move on and embrace the new advances in data base software then it can become a F1 racer It needs new servers that transfer data at 100mbit not 24mbit to sum up this site could become what it once was but will it happen ?????????????????????? Oh the cost well seeing as they have everything else in place its just a re design and transfer of data, so less that 10 grand Steve

Hi Yvonne, I was more than happy to help two lovely people. Gwynne

The problem is that GR don't (they say) read threads. If they did they would be heartened to know that we are grateful to them, we like the site in essence and they would also learn of all the things we think would improve the site. My one big wish is that they would delete threads we see as inflamatory as quickly as they deletedthreadsthe other day. Ann Glos

It needs an overhaul in some areas but I like it in essence. I've had some great tips and good contacts from relatives (unfortunately not yet from the branches where I have major brickwalls!) and there are some lovely, helpful and kind people on here! My main gripe is the Contacts list - very cumbersome to maintain and you can't set the view by date permanently.

I like the site, even though sometimes I ask what to me is a stupid question on the tips board and I can honestly say there has always been someone to help me, so cant fault the peeps on there. The message boards I dont always go on them but pop in now and then and enjoy them. I also cant thank Guineve enough who put me in touch with someone who is related to me and we are now trying to sort out where we are related. So all in all, I do enjoy the site, all though it is lacking in humour at the moment. Thanks to all that have helped in the past. Yvonne x