General Chat

I agree about not knowing what's available easily! I was a member for ages before I got on the boards, and have had a lot of help from kind people. HOWEVER most of the info I have found not through here but by subscribing to Ancestry. The hot matches have thrown up a few links, but on the whole are a waste of time. It does look a bit dated, and I'm not sure whether to renew in October. I used to love this site! Am elsewhere mostly now! Allie

On the plus side, I made lots of friends and had a fantastic amount of help. But I really do think the site has changed in its atmosphere over the past year and I don't feel 'at home' any more. It is also far more cumbersome than any other site I use regularly. I have NEVER had any of the problems I've had with GR resolved satisfactorily apart from one. I get the impression they aren't bothered about their customers. But I am grateful for the good times and the opportunity GR gave me when I was a newbie genealogist.

On the whole I like it. Been on since March. Found it too expensive and time consuming to carry on researching and use Ancestry for that. Have taken a deco at some other sites but keep my tree here and like the message boards set up. Yes it is slow at times - thought that was just my puter I'm not on Broadband yet. I printed off Ron O'Neill's 'Splitting a Family File' using Family Tree and think I will give it a go. It saves having to make your whole tree available to Hot Matches, just give out the bits they need. Linda

Andrew When I first found this site, just after it was launched, it was brilliant, there was nothing like it anywhere, and I think still is, my opinion, and I think people have made more rellie contacts on this site than any other, but as others have said, you'll never get a 'perfect' site. A couple of years after I first started researching, Ancestry started a 'message' board, they had not much else (unless you lived in USA) but I found my very first rellie on their. That site has progressed enormously, but at the end of the day WE have to pay for the privilage, and it's not cheap. This site has kept it simple, that's what I think, you pay a small sub but I have found quite a few distant rellies via this site. It has totally promoted itself which has made them the first port of call for genealogy in this country/abroad. The only gripe I do have, and it is very minor, as it does not effect me direct, is when you load a gedcom, if you have an illegitmate child in your tree parent comes up 'Unkown Unkown', hey I have loads but what the heck!! So can you make a better site? Kim

Jan I am not going there sorry, as I am also a member of that one. What Andrew was asking, or I read it wrongly, was regarding facilities, what can be done better on an entire basis. Kim

Sorry Andrew Didn't mean to spoil your thread Kim

its good but like most thing there's a charge, i find lots of sites with free tree builders etc but no community, it naffs me off that they are charging on here to use searches like the ansestry thing then on here charging you again to build your tree,,, i think they will burn their bridges, remember BT raking it in one minute,a bit of competetion comes long and they get a good hiding, it will happen here, on the genes site not friends they will always be the mother of that but not in the genes connected game, im already findy relatives on other FREE sites, still agood site though

I have to agree the site needs updating badley and it also needs moderators.

ohhhh and ther are sites that you can do censussearches free now so ,,,,,,,,,, c'mon GR buck up or lose out

Useful but slow. Gerry:-))

Sorry thought the question was about this site?? Ok the 'other' site.......grass is always greener, wish them luck, but they to will have faults, thet to will fail to comply with all members needs, this site is like all others...........delivers what it needs to and no more.

I have not posted n this site for a long time. When I joined about 3 years ago we did not keep having 'page cannot be obtained ' and all the other matters which are so prevelant now. I believe I am right in saying that since the site owners changed, it takes an awful long timeto have problems put right. Unless it is my computer(which I do not believe is at fault) when one gets a personal message instead of clicking on to messages and getting the message upon the screen,I now have to go to read emails click on GR's advice of a message and then read it. When I have done his I can go back to messages click and lo and behold up comes the same message. The method I have described was one GR said would be temporary but it seems that whatever is the cause the site owners will not, or cannot restore the original and direct method of reading private messages. In my opinion the site has deteriorated since the sell out by the original owners and I will not be renewing my subscription in a a couple of months time.

Hi, The tree layout is a nightmare so I only keep a small tree on here. It needs to allow for cousins marrying or two brothers marrying 2 sisters. The hot matches could be really useful but need to include a place of birth - I spend a lot of time deleting William Smiths born anywhere but where mine was. The help I've received on records has been amazing and the tips have been very useful as well. I've met some lovely people from here who have become friends, which is an added bonus. I have 2 main complaints - the lack of moderators to stamp on trouble when it starts and the fact that people can open multiple accounts in order to cause trouble. These need to be sorted out before I will spend as much time here as I used to. Gwynne

my computer just locked up on this site but not sure who is at fault. This site is always very slow.

I love this site but I too am disappointed at the moment with it. This site has enabled me to contact distant cousins, and with two of them (Hi Graham and John ! ) we all keep in close email contact, They both live abroad, one in Germany and the other in Russia ! Ive met one of my cuzzys when he came home on a visit, and I hope to meet the other some time. It has also helped me further my tree,learn about genealogy (I was a complete novice at the start) and form great online friendships with a few people. The downside is that even when told by many many members, and after serious wrongdoings are reported time and time again the abuse team have let a situation get to boiling point, and punished those who spoke for us all, and retaliated. Rather than those who have caused the upset. The result is a very quiet board...but also a very uninteresting board, which has had all the life force sucked out of it. People are afraid to post either because they are afraid the trouble few or their supporters will jump in with negative comments Or if abuse will misread their comments and remove postings or threads. Ill still post on here, but I really dont feel comfortable doing so. Lets hope more genuine good people start using the boards to make it a happy place....and I hope abuse also learn by this and stop the trouble before it escalates. Elaine x

To be honest not a lot at at the moment... Hayley x

It does the job but when I think of the income it must produce I cant understand why they dont invest more time and personnel on improving the mechanics of the site. Even I could write better code! J

The thing that irritates me most is that if i dont know the location of a persons birth i have to put in any old thing because it wont accept nothing as an answer,

I like it on here, I know what everyone means about putting a place of birth but if I don't know it, I just put a ?. It can be very frustrating when the site in on a go slow but I do feel for £10 ish a year it is great value. Tammy :~)

I basically like this Site. I have made contact with many previously unknown Rellies, and my Tree has grown exponentially through their input. If I had a query or a problem there was always someone there to do a lookup or offer help and advice. However, that someone would be a Member, not a GR employee. We Members are the ones who use the Site and can identify the areas which need to be improved (Deleting Contacts has already been mentioned) but GR turn a deaf ear to our pleas. I have even offered to spend a day at their Office and show them the sort of difficulties I have found. Needless to say my offer was declined. I have removed my Tree from here and stopped using the Tips and Record Boards, not because the Site is intrinsically bad, but in protest against the 'Take it or leave it' attitude which seems to prevail.