Suggestions

All I can say is are we supposed to be impressed????
What a jumble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say I disagree Perchino, I quite like it. I think the purpose of each board is now more clearly defined.

Well we have Derek's wonderful thread on Derbyshire look ups under "Genealogy chat" and other threads offering look ups under "Find ancestors". Seems to be a problem with consistency.

I cannot accept that "Genealogy chat" and tips threads are the same.

Neither can I. Chat is chat and tips are tips. Since when did the two words have the same or similar meanings?

And because I feel so strongly about the usefulness of tips threads, I gave quite a lot of them a nudge.

I requested that genes reunited explore the layout of rootschat, family tree forum, and genealogists sites.

I also have concerns about "Find living relatives". Where is the information on any safeguards that are in place?

info at the top of the board in detail - replies are only possible by pm

as there were many inconsistencies of what went on each board, especially via 'surnames' merging them seems a good idea. As there were many threads on 'tips' which were more requests than tips I think we just have to live with those that are there already and hope they eventually 'disappear' leaving the genuine tips nearer the top

Now I have thought about it, I concede that genealogy chat can be misconstrued as general chat about genealogy and not a board for tips but it was never used as just a tips board. Lookups were also posted on there. It would be better to have its original name back and strictly for tips and advice.

I don't like the fact that the living relatives board is not private and posts show up in general internet searches and I have made my feelings about this known to GR.

However, on the whole I like the changes

but people have always posted asking for living relatives on the open boards. At least with this board all replies are private

agree about genealogy chat board - tips is a better name

If replies on Living relatives are only possible by pm you may recall that a while ago a girl who was probably underage was trying to trace her birth family and was clearly very distressed. The situation came to light after a few postings and was dealt with very sensibly by the volunteers. If messages are only by pm how can volunteers be confident they are not making a difficult situation even worse?

Yes Living people were being sought on the other boards but at least members could request that the poster remove any sensitive material which cannot be done on this new board. Also, nobody knows what information has been sent and how many have sent it. The requester is then meant to make heads or tails with it. What if several people have sent conflicting information?

Where searches for living people are concerned I think consideration should be given to the person being sought as well as the person seeking the information. They may not wish to be found, for one reason or another. I also think that mediation should be a must, especially where adoption or desertion are the cases. If the board was private and not show up in search engine results then information would be able to be posted on the boards and proved or disproved as the case may be. Also a "feel" of whether or not the request is genuine can be more easily established. I do worry that an abuser could potentially be put in touch with their victim.

I'm with Toots on the Living people board theory but I am very happy with the rest of the changes.


There were far too many boards and people were posting here, there and everywhere and many got scolded for doing so!


This is how I see things..... - for what it's worth


Announcements board - good (as long as it's kept up to date)

Success board - good (I see they've cut it down slightly)

General chat - good (for those who enjoy a natter on any subject)

Quizzes and games - good (for those who like a challenge)

Genealogy chat - good (for those who have ideas/findings/tips to share)

Find ancestors - good (much clearer, especially for new members)

Find living rellies - (hesitant for the above reasons.)

Emoticons - good (wish they had one which rolled it's eyes!)

Photos - good (they are optional but can be interesting)

Member Since - good (gives an idea of whether someone is new or not)

Posts - interesting (you can see who has a lot to say ;) )

Viewed - good (you can tell that a post hasn't been ignored)




I help a lot 'behind the scenes' and when I did my messaging, I checked through Records, Tips, TTF, History and Surnames in order to help people. Now I only have to check through Looking for Ancestors......MUCH easier and less time consuming for the way in which I help out on here.


GR have obviously taken our comments on board re Rootschat etc and have tried to bring this site more up to date and, even as a Silver Surfer, I am quite happy with these changes.


I think new members will find this set up easier to understand so, hopefully, there won't be as many 'tellings off'. :D



Cx

Peter if you press Post Date when you enter the thread the latest post can be viewed first :-)

It's a matter of personal choice Peter. I prefer seeing the last post at the bottom of the page as I find it easier to follow a long thread that way.

Cx

Hi Cynthia
Regarding the post counts. It's a bit pointless really as it decreases when a member deletes their posts so doesn't neccessarily indicate how frequently they post.
It also leaves those with a lower post count open to nasty comments from the minority who seem to think that quantity gives them some sort of superiority.

Hello Island,

No, I don't think the deletions really matter unless someone has a fetish for keeping an exact score and a predilection for superiority ;)


I find it helpful to suss out those who are used to posting on the boards - 10+ posts say, and those who are new with just 2-3 posts.


Those who have posts running into the thousands, obviously talk in their sleep :)


Hopefully, people will be more tolerant if they see that the person has only posted once or twice before.........even if they have been members for yonks. Not everyone who is a member of GR uses the Community boards. ;-)


Regards. Cx

I think it is good to see long standing members who are now coming to the boards and highlights that we all use GR for different things.

Members with low posts are just new friends to be welcomed.

I might snore in my sleep but not yet talk in my sleep LOL

Numbers of posts does not make any difference to me.

Some people spent a lot of time on the old Chatboard while like my self helped out a lot on the old Records, Tips and TTF boards.

Getting to like the site more with use. Still not bothered about emoticons (sp) as I think they are a waste of time.

Still will get members posting on the wrong boards as few seen to read what should be posted where

Did GR really take notice of what was said on their survey -no probably not as the survey could have been better designed and structured.

Where's that photo taken GB? Looks an interesting building. Thought youmay have put one of your dogs pics on...... :-)