General Chat

Just wonder how many people who sit in the GR forums everyday actually have trees on GR.

How many use their search records.
If not why not

Quite surprised to see one of the regulars admit he wouldn't dream of using GR records.
:-0 :-0

I think a lot of us started by joining GR to put our tree on record, getting a lot of help from fellow members, got addicted and found better sources of records and information elsewhere, but still use GR for the contact and discussions with members here which is so very helpful. Therefore many of the helpers here use their knowledge of other records to help with GR members' queries.

I agree with Elizabeth. These days I don't do so much on my tree having reached a stage where most of my lines are as far back as they can be without visiting record offices. In the early days it was very much relying on the help of other members as GR or GC as it was then didn't actually have the records on that they have now.

Back in 2003, when I apparently joined, GR didn't hold any records. Because of that those of us of the same vintage found other commercial or free sites for our record research.

We used the GR site to record our family and make contact with 'relatives'. Its only in later years that we migrated our tree to either more sophisticated off-line programmes, or to other sites. Mine is still here, but rarely added to unless to try to recreate problems other people are experiencing. We see no reason to pay extra for records we already have subscriptions access for elsewhere.

Despite the current disatisfaction, this site is still good value for money, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

As i think I'm responsible for you posting this thread i will say that GR is a great site for people just starting out because they have access to the basic records required at the start of your quest to find your roots but as Ann and Detective have said the site never held records before so the value in joining GR was for the online tree but more for the help given by the community,

back then records where hard to access without a visit to the local studies library and as more records became available online other sites where often used and even then most of the relevant info such as bmd's was only search-able by searching images of the original index until freebmd started transcribing the index and local organisations such as Sheffield indexers started transcribing census's

When it comes to the amount of records available online then GR are behind other site (But catching up) and at a cost? take Platinum subscription on GR you get

England and Wales indexed birth, marriage and death records
Overseas birth, marriage and death records
Census records from 1841 to 1911

If you then need access to

Military records
Travel and Overseas records
Parish records
British Newspaper Archive content

they charge you extra so depending on how much research you do and where that research leads you it can get very expensive and you would still require access to other resources

other sites offer a large number of records that are free to access but their is one you can subscribe to which i will not name that has far more records than all other sites including GR and it also has IMHO a far better search engine that gives you more accurate results based on how much or how little info you input into the search fields and overall works out much cheaper over time.

I only ever kept a basic tree on GR My main tree is on my PC and backed up on disc but i did remove my tree after the launch of the "first" new version of the new tree,

Never keep all your eggs in one basket

My subs are up in December and whilst having access to the boards is IMHO the best thing about GR i will not be renewing them nothing against GR i have also not renewed my subs to other sites,

Roy

Just going slightly off topic. Aren't new family history searchers lucky these days to have such a choice of searchable records. It must cut down so much time. But wonder if it is as much fun?

I have a tree
I don't use GR records because

They didn't have as many when I joined and I could only afford to use free resources anyway, when I could afford a full sub I went with the site that had the most records, having used a two week free trial to ascertain whether I liked the search facility better than the alternatives.

The records I did access on here using credits were expensive, and only stayed available for a short period of time ( it may have been 30 days???).

One of the other sites has military records, LMA records which are especially useful to me,Irish records, snippets of this that and the other, which either GR does not have or costs extra.

It's the same reasons I go to the Co op for somethings and Asda for others...choice and cost and ease of access.

In terms of being a "real user and supporter" , I offer my experience in searching records ( from paid and unpaid locations ) to those seeking on this site so I think that makes me both a "real user and supporter", as well as the fact that I am paying for being able to post on the boards.

I do not sit in the GR forums everyday. I used to have a tree with some of my ancestors in genes reunited; I removed the tree with difficulty but with help from Phil Moir (GR staff) during a time of instability of the site.

We (OH and I) subscribed to ancestry and to find my past, at varying times, before historical records were put in genes reunited. We use other sites, too.

I am happy with my standard membership in genes reunited.

Edited:
I am real :)
Also, my family history ancestral research is ongoing :)

I'm real too - am a Standard member and never use GR for any searches - always use familysearch.org :-) and google

I forgot to say in my post,

I'm Not real I'm a hologram :-D

Roy

Roy. How much does a "Hollow Gram Weigh"? :-D :-D

Merlin, A "Hollow Gram" weighs the same as the hole in a standard washer which is equivalent to the hole in a polo :-D

Roy

Well I'm real. I use doing my family tree as a way of freeing my mind for a while. I still use GR for my research because I haven't exhausted that source yet. I also use FamilySearch, FreeBMD, Google and all sorts of places.

Not one single site can claim to have all the answers and all the info but GR still works for me. I've decided at some point I will move onto other sites but it's the forum which keeps me here. I have been helped so much and it's my choice to try to help others. I can't afford here and elsewhere so I chose this one for now. But if there is something I can't find, I know I can ask on here and chances are someone will find it for me via another site. Maybe next time my subs are due I will have time to sort out membership elsewhere but for now I'm cool here. I do hear what others have said about the benefits of other memberships. It's not that I don't take finding correct info seriously, just that I'm not serious about how quickly I find it.

My own tree only has a few hundred names on it and there could be so much more if only I concentrated on it. But I'm just as happy contributing to someone else's tree because it still allows me to lose myself for a while in taking a break from all I have going on in my life.

Hope this all makes sense.

J

And as an afterthought to my previous reply, when I first joined I was not aware of the records that were availble online...on any site.

But when I was advised that census details etc could be accessed on several other sites, and were more extensive than here I went to the site that was offering a free trial, and then signed up to it as the info I had found in just two weeks was amazing,

This current Free trial that GR are offering, is as far as I know the first (?)

I have commented on my thread on genealogy chat

""The free trial is only available to members who have not subscribed before"

Which when you think about it is a bit short-sighted...many people who joined before the current range of records were on here, or joined with only standard membership and aren't using the records here, 'might' be inclined to upgrade if they had the chance to see whether the search facility and transcription quality are now as 'good as......"

My tree is on site but all the work is done on FTM.

This site does not have Scottish records.

Dad was a Londoner so I need to use London Baptisms, Marriages and Burials which again are not available on this site.

Would not use this site for records even if they did have what I need. Better value on other sites.

Hear Hear Glitterbaby

I have only ever had basic membership here and my tree. Tree now on another site which is for me far more useful with their London and Lancs. records. So my £9.00 or so a year is now just used to access the community boards.

I was brought up to believe that cheapest is not always best......

When I joined two and a half years ago I subscribed as a Gold member,,,,within a few weeks I had also subscribed to ancestry because I could not find my paternal family on here, due to the fact you could not do wild card searches back then.
I also subscribed to the 1911 on FMP at that time

Although my ancestors came from different parts of the south east all my gt grandparents married and had their children baptised in London so the other site suits my needs much better

I also found I preferred their tree layout, so gave up with my one on GR.

Just to add, as I had paid for six months when I joined up, I got hooked in trying to help others so that is the reason I stayed

Jax :-D You decided to renew then ;-)

I always get it wrong its midnight tonight it expires.

I will probably renew although I hav'nt been offered a discount which I believe others have...I can live with paying £2 extra :-D

Very glad Jax.

My life is really busy and I have not had the time to decide who to join, and when, and what to do with my tree. I need to sort out some software, learn about GEDCOMs and all that stuff. My sub expired as I was about to get away for a few days and I didn't want to do anything to jepodise my GR account or my tree so I renewed. I know that it's not the cheapest option compared to the value offered by other sites but I'm still okay with my Platinum. Next year, when I hope as I always do that my life is a little more organised, I'll have my tree sorted, a decent computer program running and a better appreciation of the other sites available.

But as far as being a part of the GR community, I am absolutely certain that without the guidance and knowledge and sheer generosity of time from GR members like Jax I would be a much poorer researcher. When I joined GR I read as many threads as I could and learned from all the advice being given to others and when I've asked for help, to myself.

It's because of them that I now feel able to contribute to helping others.

J