General Chat

The new Messages format is driving me doolally - what is the sense of it? Was much easier to use before.

Yes Chris, it takes some getting used to. If you've ever used Microsoft Outlook then you should get the hang of it, as its similar to that, listing "conversations" rather than individual messages.

I did prefer the old system though! :-)

I've not been able to send any, since the changes, but can receive them okey.
Julia in Derbyshire

Thats progress
But not always forward
Its the same any where you go just as you get used to something.......they go and change it, like in the supermarkets.

I can't even begin to understand what to do,- move to folders - Why. It'snot fair on us computer illiterate people. I do try and understand but I am soooooooooooooooo old it's all beyond me. I am not really that old but a bit thick I guess.

It's stupid, I click on reply to answer a message and the whole lot of the messages comes up instead of just the reply box, it's so distracting. Bring back the old system.

Caz

I have complained to them - if enough of us do so perhaps we shall get the old system back. If I open the In box I only wish to see that message not half a dozxen I have already read and answerred.

Hi All, The more you use it the easier it gets. Play around with the new message centre. You won't break it. There are some errors being reported but I have no doubt GR are trying to fix those as soon as possible. They appear to be very aware of the wrath of the multitude.

Click on the different options and have a go at making a folder, putting something into it, sending a message from the boards or sending a message using "compose a message". Try attaching something to your message, it can be just about anything you like. PM me if you like and I will send you a message back with an attachment so you can practise opening that.


IThe message centre is a lot "busier" than it used to be but once you work out the uses of all the options it will become easier to use.

This message comes to you from a woman who categorically, absolutely and completely refuses to own a mobile phone. Now if I have conquered the message centre you certainly should be able to!!

I do not want to have to open folders Aunty - I just wish to read my mail, send a reply and delete. Had a reply they wish to know the specific errors - I never said there were errors just it was a nightmare.

Hi Chris, There is a positive to having the messages open when you reply. In this way you can see the whole of your conversation with that person.

If I am talking to my friend DET and we are discussing an aspect of family history it really helps me to see what she has previously told me on the same subject. When I click the reply button I think only her last message is visible and that helps if I need to quote details from her message.

Edit. You do not need to open folders. You only make folders and store messages in them if you wish to keep those messages. Nothing has changed with the compose message, click send, receive message click reply process. There has just been a whole lot of enhancements added. Some people, like yourself, will not require these changes. Your best option therefore is just to work with the parts of the message centre you do require.

I am on the other side of the fence. I really like being able to add attachments to my messages, to store my family history messages in folders, and to see several messages from the same person at once.

Life would be very boring if we were all the same. And very confusing!!!

Aunty - it would be boring if we were all the same! I still don't like it :-S

This happens all the time, things get changed and it puts a lot of people off using the site, I know because it's happened to people I used to be in touch with, now I have to email if I want contact rather than just 'catching up with them' by seeing comments they have made on various threads.

Why on earth do GR keep wasting time and money by altering things that work well as they are.

Getting really fed up with it, and losing interest completely now, hence my not posting as much.

Lizx

I have to open GR from Mozilla Firefox if I want to send a pm, either a new message or a reply.


I use IE6 ........ very old and outdated, but I like it. But I just cannot send messages from it.


Problem is that Firefox gives me other problems with GR ................. like telling me that the site doesn't exist when I click on it under Bookmarks (or Favourites).



sylvia

Sylvia, I am using IE8. Would it be worthwhile upgrading to that level. I do not use firefox for anything, I used to but I found the font kept changing size all the time.

I am having no problems with the site at all. Well none that I can see, and it is running quite quickly (apart from the few seconds delay when I hit the submit button).

Nothing to do with fixing something that isn't broken - it is called progress....!

The changes to the message system are something that many of us have been asking for for a long time. I think it was first suggested in a GR poll some four years or so ago but wasn't implemented at the time because of the amount of development work it required.

Every time GR introduce changes there are those who don't like them and want things put back the way they were. Of course, the 'way they were' were the very changes that the same members were objecting to so vehemently when they themselves were introduced the previous year.....!

Funny how they seem to have been accepted a year later.

Sylvia,

Firefox bookmarks work fine - I never have any problems. If you are getting a message that the site doesn't exist then it is your bookmark that is wrong - it probably has a spelling error somewhere in it. Delete it and create a new one. Have you gt Firefox 8? that is the latest version.

AuntyS

The latest version of Firefox will let you have different page / font sizes for individual sites. Excellent if you have a wide screen monitor as it lets you fill the screen. Settings seem to be saved per site in your cookies, as far as I can work out so are remembered next time you visit the site.

Thanks for that IGP. I tried firefox about 18 months ago on the recommendation of my IT guru relative who swears by it. Drove me crazy, firefox that is. As soon as I deleted it everything went back to "normal" and I could manage my cyberspacing without problems. I still think IE has an inbuilt gremlin who sits in the computer and plots chaos if you dare to change from its chosen path.

Most people I know who have tried Firefox swear by it, but like everything in this life it might not suit everyone. It may be your installation was faulty, or there was something else on your PC it didn't like, who knows, it only takes one bad experience to turn people away.

When MS introduced IE7 in October 2006 it caused major problems with many PC's - one of the reasons that many were put off upgrading ever again. In fact they patched the problems pretty pronto but some were still reluctant to upgrade years later.

IE7 was superseded by IE8 in March 2009 and this is the version you should be running if you have XP as your operating system. IE9, released in March of this year, is the version to use if you have Vista or Windows 7.

Good job we are not all alike isn't it?

I like Firefox and dislike IE. I have no problems with Firefox and GR.

I like the new message centre, I like seeing what has been written before and I like being able to call up all previous messages to contacts 'en bloc'.

I haven't tried folders although may well do later.

I am somebody who was renowned at work for not liking change unless I could personally see the reason for it.So my Wing Commander boss used to mention the change without implementing it about a week before he would call me in ans say he was now making the changes. He knew that I would have run them through in my head and sorted out any problems I had with it. He also knew that I would then accept it. I wonder if GR were to explain what changes they intended making, and how things would affect us, before they actually did it would it help those of us who don't like change for changes sake.

But, as I said, I think this was a good change.

My only problem is how slow it is to get into messages and I wonder if that is because it is having to open more than one message at a time. Unfortunately too often it times out.

When I first saw it I thought something had gone wrong! I think I have exhausted my contacts for my family on here anyway so may not need to use it much!

I am the last one to ignore progress - however I have learned that over the years - simplicity is sometimes the best and overcomplicating is not always the way forward.

For instance take the average washing machine - it has umpteen programmes on it but users will admit that there are possibly at the most three programmes which are used regularly. Some never see the light of day.

If something makes my life easier then I call that progress - GR hasn't - not to me and some others I see.