Suggestions

I want the OLD TREE back. I find the new tree impossible and frustrating.

In the last 10 years I have been on Genes site nearly every day. Now I try to avoid it like the plague. The whole site is so complicated and hard to navigate.

Ann

(1) Updating / adding people to the new tree is a real drag, it takes ages and is very boring to do. Yes it does work but is to say the least no fun. I was not a great fan of the old tree but at least you could add people fairly easily.

This needs to be sorted out. Suggest the mega elephant size edit box is dumped in favour of a smaller one that is restricted to essentials and can be seen at a glance. Then, if people want to add more detail, bring up the more complex edit. This would also stop the silly 2 stage system currently used.

I can see no reason why GRU should ban the use of upper case for names or places.

(2) Navigating the tree with the endless mouse scrolling is a royal pain and for me negates the chief reason to use GRU at all. It was far easier to navigate the old tree, indeed it was a snap.

(3) Rename the "dashboard" (which is nothing of the sort) to something sensible such as "Shared Trees". Also tab the box alpabetically rather than the current mad 12345 system. fwiw it has also become near impossible to find shared tree contacts in "My Contacts". Please sort this out.

It might be a good idea to get a few real live GRU members (who also sub to the census records) down to yr offices in London for a day or two (full expenses) and see how the current release does not really work and what can be done about it. Clearly the team have little idea. Indeed they do not even some to know rule 1 of business, communicate with your customers.

:-(

While I do not like the prospect of changing browsers (and I will try again with Chrome)it is true that more sites are not supporting IE for whatever reason.

I have a tree on Tribal Pages and they updated the site recently and IE no longer gives access to all the areas-Chrome being suggested :-)

The tree was what persuaded me to join Genes nearly 9 years ago. It has been a very important unique selling proposition (USP) compared to competitord. Simple and uncomplicated intro to computerside on line trees for those of us of a conservative and non tecky mind. Whether tree is free or not, many of us have happily been paying Genes every year mainly for the tree facility.

So this "free tree" argument is fractious and a waste of time. We came cos the tree was good, we stayed cos the tree was good, we leave cos the tree is now...... (what is the word I am looking for). And I now doubt things will get much better as the same programmer is in situ still.

Also, we all pay indirectly through hits and advertising revenue. So even the free subscribers contribute to the success or otherwise of Genes.

"A few seconds for a single step isn't of great consequence in itself, but in a sequence of several steps, then the interface is a major drag and a discouragement for further use."

The GR advice is: "Please could you try using google chrome? We don't usually ask members to switch browsers but feel this might be a good solution for you."

So it would seem that it's the customer's responsibility to resolve the vendor's design shortcomings ?!

So because it is free does that mean it has to be next to useless?

Jeffery, The tree on GR is free and always has been,

Roy

That is not at all obvious. There have been perhaps two or three hundred who prefer the old tree enough to complain about it on the boards and blogs.

As has been pointed out numerous times no one on GR pays to use the tree, they pay to use the boards and records and to send messages.

Perhaps a majority of the free members prefer the old tree but we have no way of finding out.

its obvious clients prefer the old tree for its simplisity give us back what we paid for

Elizabeth, I don't understand why there wasn't an option. :-S :-S :-S


I can use my tree on IE8/9, Chrome and Firefox......maybe I'm just lucky..... :-S

Rollo, et al,

I've been using Firefox for ages quite happily until GRU introduced the new tree when everything went to pot. As you correctly say, Rollo, the edit screen is incredibly badly designed (and probably the one bit that we ALL want rejigged) and the SAVE button fell off the bottom of the page.

I referred all sorts of problems to GRU and eventually it was suggested that I should change from Firefox to Chrome.

I did...

...and it is still all just the same as when I was using Firefox.

GRU must take responsibility for making a complete b+++s up of the new design and they must take urgent steps to get it sorted so that us paying members can use it properly and effectively as we did quite happily for all those years with the good old tree.

Cynthia

No option-just making Chrome the default or "don't ask me again" which I clicked and could not get any further !!

Uninstalled it now !!

Elizabeth, you don't have to make it your default browser, you should be getting the option to make Chrome your default browser...or not. If you don't want to use it all the time, then select No.



You can switch between browsers quite easily. I have two browsers open at the moment......depends which mood I'm in as to which I use. :-D

I know this is not really the correct board....but as it is a continuation of posts from Sue and Cynthia plus all the dire warnings from Rollo :-0

Being as one with Sue and her comments.... I have taken Cynthia's advise about being brave and downloaded Chrome....however having not made it my default browser ...yet.... how do I get it to open to see if I like it ? :-|

Just get the screen blocked by a notice telling me it is not my default !!

Stephen_SG (and others) - many thanks.

'search/select person' problems - It's a 'Compatibility View' issue, now unticked so 'search/select person' now functions as expected.

But the GR Tree processes generally are still slow in comparison with other web sites, with each step taking a few seconds, e.g., scrolling down the RH side panel window for a given person. A few seconds for a single step isn't of great consequence in itself, but in a sequence of several steps, then the interface is a major drag and a discouragement for further use.

This thread is about suggestions to improve the current tree not how to support legacy platforms. My suggestions in your context are

(a) redesign the edit dialog so that it uses screen space effectively and does not drop off a typical screen with vert res of 900 pixels
(b) allow users to set the colors as they wish

Getting to your specific problems.

Microsoft has already ceased support for IE8 and XP apart from security patches. Google is dropping support for IE8 for all Google apps from November 2012. And so on...

Users of XP/IE8 have a number of choices.

(a) do nothing - little by little they will find more and more sites do not work as expected

(b) upgrade to a more modern browser eg Chrome, Firefox, Opera, PaleMoon. This is free. It is not the job of GRU to hand hold you through installing another browser.

Time to ask a friend... or to get started go here

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/

and press the big green button, follow the instructions - make sure you choose British English if you are not in USA/Canada.
This does NOT require a new computer.
Firefox can import yr current bookmarks.

Firefox even has a "skin" which allows it to emulate IE.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/someone4863494/ie8_theme_in_firefox/

(c) If you wish to stay with IE (goodness knows why) then upgrade to a computer running WIndows7 - this can be quite expensive with the cheapest 2nd hand machines with a valid licence over £ 200. Every so often Microsoft manage to roll out a good OS. Win7 is fine. Win8 is such a mess that it is pushing up the price of Win7 2nd hand licenses and kit, so if you want to do this get on with it.

The number of things wrong with IE8 is too long to list here. Suffice it to say that adapting web sites for all the foibles of IE8 and before is expensive. A feature that can be implemented easily in a modern browser can take a staggering amount of work to emulate in IE8. So most new development won't bother - e.g. GRU.

It may be worth mentioning that the German government has advised its citizens to drop IE8 due to poor security even with MS patches.

It is really easy to get an LCD flat screen display with resolution 1280x1024 in good condition from eBay / preloved etc etc for about £ 10. These screens will work with the standard VGA port and can be added to any notebook as a second screen.

True GRU have made a dogs dinner of the edit dialog for the tree. The dialog drops off the screen for most people and you have to use the scroll bar to see all of it including the elusive save button - there is no need to use full screen or change screen size. The colors are unhelpful. Overall this is extremely poor design. However by moving on from IE8 you will at least see the tree correctly displayed, or if not correctly as GRU currently intend it to be displayed.

In part the current poorly implemented tree is down to GRU developers and designers using very large screens and failing to test properly on the screen sizes in use by most of their user community.

All the same you can be sure that GRU are not going to bring back the old tree nor will they bust a gut to support IE8.

good luck

Hi Sue,

I read your message about 5 mins ago using Google Chrome. I also use IE8 and IE9 and have been toying with the idea of Mozilla Firefox because I have heard good reports of it.

I have just downloaded it and am using it now. I still have Genes open on Chrome too.

It's a matter of personal choice as to which browser suits you best or runs faster for you.

You don't have to buy anything so be brave and just google another well known browser and follow the instructions. Just remember not to click the little box which says to make it your default browser. If you get to like a particular one, you can make it default afterwards. <3 <3

I have 58 sites in my Favorites and all of them work well with IE8 XP.
I also look up sites on Google all works well.

Genes works well until I go to my tree that's when the fun and games start.

I have read a lot of these boards of late trying to find a solution, I realise that IE8 has a time span that is running out but why should I change my set up just to suit Genes.
1 I can't afford a new Computer.
2 I am not that clever at downloading off the net, a bit frightened of it I guess
3 Why should I change anything when all my other site s work fine.

Please Genes sort this mess out,you have destroyed a perfectly good site,I have sent another message of disapproval to Genes ...fat lot of good it will do .
sue

hello David i also have IE8 + WinXP but mine contains 20000 if you find this slow
you may consider using another browser. I also use Maxthon 3
The error messages you get are to do this IE8 and XP also you will find that you are
unable to upgrade to IE9 for this is not compatible with XP.
If you have a problem viewing another tree contact the staff.

The new tree is unacceptably slow in IE8 + WinXP (containing about 1600 individuals), e.g. whilst waiting for the search dialog to accept keyboard entry.

I've found that a surname search produces a list of matching people, but clicking on a given person simply closes the dialog and nothing further happens ! (e.g., by showing the selected person's tree box on screen). IE8 displays 'Error on page'.

Also, I have received a message from another Genes Reunited subscriber, but cannot view their tree, even though access has been granted:

"Server Error401 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.
You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied."

This is under investigation.

In my view, the new GR tree has been a major retrograde step and is only used now by myself as a last resort (I also subscribe to Ancestry). Scrap it and start again !