General Chat

John, You are just as entitled to have your say and give your opinion as any other member you are also just as entitled to complain to GR as every one else,

But, to state one side or the other side of the camp is in a minority, What are you basing that on?

GR claim to have depending where you look between 9 and 11 million members It would be interesting to know how many are actually active?

I suspect that claim is based on the number of accounts opened both free accounts and payed up members since GR's conception in 2002 and that it includes all those who have just signed up and left for what ever reason but have not deleted their accounts

My personal view is that GR only has around 100 thousand "active" members but that is just a pure guess

lets say for the purpose of trying to get my point across about minority V majority that their was only abt 50 thousand active members

speaking as a regular on the boards only the minority in terms of the number i quoted above actually use the boards at all, And even less on a regular basis,

I would estimate the amount of members that use the boards including regulars and occasional users is abt 200 at any one time conservatively

Now lets look at the members who are in favour and those against,

If you read the threads started because of the changes both for and against and based on the amount of GR members who use or even just read the boards and don't normally comment and the threads where members who are both in favour and against the ones against have tended to post on every thread related to the changes where as the members who are in favour have only posted on some?

Either way its human nature to complain when things go wrong and its also human nature to not get involved when it does not affect us,

It would also be interesting to no the amount of members who have only complained directly to GR without comment on the boards and the members that just looked at the new site and tree and instantly worked out how it works without any problems,

We the members will never know who are the minority and who are the majority because none of use have the full facts and figures

So to summarize If as my best case scenario suggests their are only 50 thousand active members then the vast majority don't have a problem with the changes

If GR's figures of between 9 and 11 million members is correct then that majority increases

That is how i would base the majority V minority If i was going give my view on either


I will add that if anyone is having problems with any part of the site they are always welcome to ask for help from other members who will try and help,

and this is for anyone reading this post

It always helps when you get anything new to have a play around whilst reading the new instructions

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/help/faqs#FamilyTreeUPDATED

Roy

I quite like the new makeover, was not too keen on the brightness at first, but that seems to have been toned down a bit....at least it is working with no error messages.

As for the tree, I am not bothered with, I gave up with that after adding 50 names when I joined in 2010 and my tree is elsewhere now. Since the changes I have taken a look and it looked better than the old one...but I will not be using it as I do not wish to have contact with anyone else, so it can stay where it is

John, first of all, could you please explain what you mean about ALL my notes being pro GR and anti GR customers - are you just referring to my comments on recent threads?

You have obviously been helping people who are just connected to your own tree in one way or another.


I am NOT saying how much better I am at anything and certainly not at genealogy or computer skills.

The help I give on these boards is not by giving genealogical assistance - the others are far better than I am at that - but for over 4 years, I have been helping new members find their way back to their threads and generally helping them to get used to the site.


From one pensioner to another, I very much dislike being told to 'get over' something and find it rather rude.

If I wish to be positive about this site, that is my prerogative. If you wish to decamp, that is yours.


Cx

Sorry you find me rude, Cynthia. No offence meant. I rather like sparring with you and others. I am not yet an OAP and don't intend to be for some time, but take no exception to that as I am rather old. I am quite happy to be called an old fogey - my daughter is rather ruder than that.

Roy, I base my percentage on the number of people who have supported GR and the number who are unhappy since this imposed and unheralded change. Very few have been supportive, and those few seem to be moaning and very negative towards any who don't like this new format at all.

I am very positive in my view that the old tree was fit for purpose. Why do you and Cynthia appear so negative about the old and simple tree?

Apology accepted John.


I haven't really been negative about the old tree you know.....I have simply said that I like the new one.

In the not too distant future, this 'new' tree will be the 'old' tree and people will dislike it's replacement.

That's how things go on here.


I think Roy is probably quite near the truth with his numbers. Despite GR boasting about having such a huge membership, if they did a proper analysis, they would find much dead wood in them there trees.


As you have genealogical skills, have you ever thought of helping on the boards?


Cx

John,

Do you really mean this, or is it 'tongue-in-cheek?'

'This is what this site is all about - surely. I am very good at genealogy - and very modest. There are literally hundreds on GR that have found a breakthrough thanks to something new I have seen. I have an ability to really think laterally and over the years I have unblocked loads of dead ends. It gives me great pleasure and a sense of achievement. '

John, The problem with basing your conclusion on the number of people who have supported GR and the number who are unhappy is as i attempted to explain in my post flawed because as i said none of us members have access to all the relevant data, We only have access to the boards

I am not negative in my view of the old tree,

In fact i have never commented anything positive or negative about the old tree,

My only comment was in relation to the new site and that members? have for some time been asking for more features to be added to the old tree which has resulted in the new version of the tree being introduced,

Roy

Patchem I am very modest about my abilities. I am not very good at lots of things, but am ace at aspects of genealogy. And when so many seem to be parading their computer knowledge and genealogical ability, I am quite happy tp praise myself. I have not helped any in chat rooms, but I have helped many who have a very distant and vague connection to my tree via "matches".

Others have much better ability than me in many areas (like record keeping), but I have so often broken down a wall for others that even the professionals have not seen.

Cynthia I never realised till this bruhaha that these chat rooms even existed. Like many, I turned to them in desperation when the old tree was removed to see if anyone else hated it. Over 300 against, less than 20 for - according to my count which probably would have quite a high statistical probability of reflecting views of membership. Even if the membership is larger than the population of China.

Now I know these chat rooms exist I may very well join in and try to help. I have tried already today with the Maria BRANSON thread and I get a real buzz from helping others. One of my best breakthroughs with my own tree was finding a burial book for Trentham Church and finding a plot of 4 graves with all my rellies buried there at various depths and at various times. Bit gruesome, but had located absolutely nothing using usual methods and even paying quite a bit for professional help. But the burial book was like a 3-D plan of the whole graveyard.

Just one other point about family tree programs that may be relevant

I no of a very large number of GR members who also have a family tree program on their PC which is IMHO is the sensible thing to have regardless of what site you use or what tree facility a site may have,

With the time and money that is required to research family history and then to only rely on one source to keep that information safe is not worth the risk

So thats another factor that would affect the percentage of those who may have an opinion one way or another

when you did your count 300 against, less than 20 for did you keep a log of names to make sure the results where not being duplicated

only i know of several members who have posted on every thread several times

Roy

For a long time people was at the wailing wall,,,,,,,We want better service,,,,,this site is rubbish,,the tree section dont work ,it needs updating ,,,,,I cant add a 20th marriage for me grandad......etc......

The site needs updating,,,,,,,,

We want the site to run just how we wish it,,,,,,,etc,,,,

GR along with others who must have been involved such as Brightsolid and any hangers on........have a hard job in pleasing everyone,,,,,,,after a couple of days I can hardly remember just what the old site looked like,,,,,,,oh yes,,,,,,,dark gloomy and over crowded......how the boards work now is no different to how they worked before so nothing new to learn.

The tree section is like a new version of say,,,,Legacy or FTMaker,,,,each new edition is differnt from the last......just like here,,its different and hopefully when its got used to members wont look back to the old style layout.....and one they can keep upgrading in simple ways for everyones use......




Members on GR are priviledged in lots of ways ,other site just do a makeover change things and thats that,,,,,,users are never consulted,,,,
Stick with it for a couple of months if its found its still not to your/anyones liking then its been given its best shot........

The colour output still needs a bit more work...........

Roy

You are right to be suspicious of my straw poll. But I have noticed that the pro's appear on all these sites and there seems to be an attempt to suppress any criticism. The anti's are very often people like me who were not really aware of these chat sites till we had a tree we don't like or can't easily use foisted on us.

I just hope GR do a poll of views on these sites and count just one vote for all of those who vote more than once (which includes you and me). I have a suspicion that they will value every "positive" comment in favour of the changes and weight any negative comments as moaning, comments they hope will blow away on the air like the green flock wallpaper debate.

It will be interesting this week if they acknowledge the level of criticism. So far, as we can see from the start of this thread, comments have been positive according to the GR Team. Hmmmm!

John, another thing about GR, It is owned by bright solid which as you no is a very large company but GR is run by a minimal amount of staff i believe their are only 12 members of staff

When you consider work load and all the constant messages they receive daily just for the basic running of the site and then add to that any problems or complaints its a wonder anything gets done

Roy

John, if you go over to Tools on the left and click on Help Clinic, it gives you a good idea of how these boards work.


It may then help for you to look through the various boards and see the diversity of questions asked and the breadth of topics covered.


There are members from all over the globe who come on here and are willing to help others with research in their particular country.


Others have access to local records which is handy when members need some local knowledge of an area.


All in all, it's a Community I would recommend joining. Many friendships have been forged between complete strangers who enjoy helping others with their family tree.


Cx

A mere observation .....

....23,000 names in your tree John :-0 ...Wow good for you. Seriously .

a member since 2003 and only had 19 posts (33 is shown) but now become very vocal :-S

As Cynthia said I'm sure others would greatly appreciate your help in knocking down some brick walls for them.
There have been many site changes since I joined ,is only this one you have not liked in your 9 yrs ?

John, If you had been taking part on the community boards you would have known that as far as the members are concerned their is no attempt to suppress any criticism, GR have been guilty of that in the past but not the members

I have in the past slated GR both on this site and on their Face book page they even banned me from posting on their FB page so I'm my own man and i will continue to be so,

GR do at long last appear to be trying to give all members a better site to work with and whilst we have their attention it would IMHO be better to fight the fight from within so i continue to bombard them with my feedback until the whole site is working to the satisfaction of the vast majority (no company will ever please every one)

If you want your the old tree back then i cannot help with that but if you just want a tree that you can work and enjoy using then you too need to bombard GR with your feedback, but take time to evaluate what your actual problems are with the tree so that you can give constructive feedback that if implemented would make it better in your view and send all feedback through the link on your tree or to theteam@genesreunited.co.uk

anything posted on the community boards may not be seen/read or logged by the relevant team members at GR

Roy

John


you very honestly will get NOWHERE if you expect your moaning and complaining on here, or on any other THREAD on the Community Boards, will be read and acted upon by GR.


One thing that those of us who use the Community Boards regularly do know is that GR staff very very rarely read the threads or posts. They just do not have the time.


If you want to make your opinion known to the GR team ................. then you send email after email after email to theteam@genesreunited.co.uk.


That is the only way you will get any attention.


BUT I do seriously think that you will get nowhere fast ................... the old tree is gone for good, because GR have determined that.


AND, I am told that Bright Solid has also changed the tree on findmypast to be the same as the tree on here ....... or rather the tree on here is the same as the one on fmp, as they did theirs first..



I have to point out, before you attempt to read my mind, and assign beliefs to me that are unwarranted. .............................


I have a very small tree on here, only 130 names

I do not use my tree on here

I have no idea whether the new tree is better than the old one


I have my real tree on my own computer, with back-up, and that is the one that I work with. That has somewhere between 5000 and 10000 names ............ but I'm not a name counter :-D




I do believe that the numbers actually active on GR are very much smaller that either PP or PP estimated!


I once estimated that around 100 to 500 members were active on the Boards ............ and by that I mean posting asking for help or guidance, or helping others.

The vast majority of members are still the FREE members ....... who can build their tree, and that is about it.


It has been interesting over the last few months to see how many long-term members .............. ie, those who apparently joined GR, either as a Free or a Paying member, before say 1007 ................ have suddenly found these Community Boards.


I found the Boards within less than an hour of joining GR back in 2004. Why?

'Cos I'm nosy, and always search a new site to find out what is available.




................ and most of us are extremely modest about our abilities. We don't even mention what we are good at ;-)






sylvia

Hello Sylvia and Roy

Yes, I think I have missed out on these chat rooms. I have beavered away extending my tree in all different directions and put a few more (usually very diiferent) relatives on tree every day till my 2 dead stops. One a couple of months ago when I struggled with new format. Then resumed when we found old tree again. Then another and final dead stop 2 weeks ago. I miss that daily routine very much. And I was often unearthing people who did not appear on Ancestry trees etc, so I think I was doing my bit to preserve our heritage.

As you know, there has been a huge amount of criticism about the new layout. It does sound from the structure of the company that they have decided this tree format is best for their business future - and that my opinion and many others are worthless in the greater scheme. Bright Solid sound like they are going places - though without quite a few customers.

It will be very interesting to see if GR keep pretending these changes are fully approved by their customers, with some minor tweaks needed to prevent eye problems (I think they will have to address that quickly). Or will they acknowledge many are deeply unhappy about what has happened and need a significant olive branch. Watch this space.

I have appreciated all your constructive comments and I am genuinely pleased that you are fairly happy with this new format. You both seem nice caring and sharing people :-) Keep doing what you are doing.

Boris Sweetie !

I WAS looking at my full tree!

I just tried it again, and got the same result......

A list of names........ click on a name.......... and my tree opens up a second time - back to me!!!

YES I have emailed GR.

Daft person.......... Why report a nice constructive civilised couple of pages ?.

In general I like the new look of the site and I quite like the New Tree. I wouldn't however jeopardise all my hard work by only having my tree here and only having online trees. I have a basic tree here, a more involved one elsewhere online and a very complex tree on an off-line program which is backed up on an external hard-drive.

John I find your comment "I think the silent majority are fairly unsophisticated in use of computers, and appreciated the simplicity of this site" rather patronising. You have said that you don't want "patronising (matronising?) lectures" - well I don't either. You are of course more than entitled to have an opinion and state it on the boards but it would be good if you weren't given to 'put-downs'.

I don't know who RR'd the opening post but that's hardly conducive to open communication either.