General Chat

They have some new and really annoying way of presenting census images; you can make the extraneous crud blocking the view of the image go away, but what a pain.

That's not my main gripe, though. I've just sent an email (yes, laugh if you must).



A change has been made that is pointless and reduces usefulness to users.

I have made hundreds of corrections to UK census records. The problem is usually the transcription; I also add birth surnames, e.g.

The new format does not allow comments to be attached to the correction.

Comments can be very important, to provide the source of the information for future researchers, so they can verify it. Unless a mistranscription is obvious, I *always* include a source.

Most corrections I make are to people unrelated to me; when I search for someone and find errors on the same page, or errors in a search result that turns out not to be of interest, I correct them.

When I first subscribed to this site several years ago, I was not aware that I had to "activate" my account so that other users could contact me. Once I did that, I began receiving a flood of messages through the system, inquiring about people whose names I had corrected.

Since then I have always included a comment like "I am not related; noticed while searching for someone else" - so that people interested in the individual in question will not expect that I have further information, and will not assume that I am a family member.

The new system does not allow for this. If I want to provide evidence to support the correction, and attempt to avert email from people whom I cannot assist, I have to enter a separate comment, an annoying extra step. I have no idea whether other users will see those comments.

I see no reason for this change, and I consider it to be counter-productive and an interference in efficient use of this site.

I also expect that this will not matter to the Ancestry corporation, and that I will get an irrelevant, meaningless auto-reply to this comment.




Anybody who agrees can feel free to waste their time emailing too. ;)

Seriously -- when plodding away at TTF questions here, I quite often find that a record of interest has been corrected by someone, and can suggest that the poster here at GR contact the Ancestry user who made the correction, or see whether the same person seems to be a member here by doing a tree search. Or volunteer to pass on an email address to the Ancestry user, as quite a few of us here have done.

(Of course, then there's jogee36, who has corrected census records at Ancestry for dozens of *my* relations, and to date has refused to answer any inquiries ...)

It's always annoying to find a correction at Ancestry *without* a comment indicating source/relationship. But at least there was the chance there would be.

Loving to hate Ancestry, once again.

Seems you have very constructive views on the subject. I have never used ancestry, I'm doing quite well using a combination of this site, freeBMD the LDS IGI and the GRO online order websites.

You would think updates would maintain and add features, rather than taking them away, lets hope it is an itermediate step and they will soon add better meta-data features to their databases.

Janey, how do you get rid of the crud?
Just had it appear for the first time on an 1871 image.

I think it's about time that all these sites realised that not everyone(including me) is not a computer wiz. and explained why they have made the changes. My motto like many others "if it ain't broke, don't fix it,

Thanks, Alice - the reason I didn't say first off was I'd randomly clicked around, the once it had happened, and I forgot what I did. ;)

I think once you've done it once, you have done it for good, but I could be wrong!

Rita, was that your first time trying to view an image? I haven't had to download a new viewer to get the more annoying view, at least. ;)

If it is telling you that you need to download a viewer, just follow the steps. Once it's done, it's done, and you do need it for seeing the images.


I really hate the comments change. I've had some wonderful contacts through corrections I've made - like the distant half-cousin who told me about our mutual second cousin four times removed who was Lord Chancellor around 1930. I'd added a variant spelling of my grx3 grandmother's middle name - she was the wife of the son of our mutual grx4 grmother with my grx4 grfather but not the distant half-cousin's. ;)


Oh, great. I just went to check on that entry, to make sure I had my greats and halfs correct.

I clicked on the correction to the person's name - the one in square brackets under the name for the entry.

What do I get? a form for correcting the name.

The commments I made can't be seen. There is no link for contacting me.

This just gets abysmally worse. Ancestry wants us not to be able to contact one another??

I will cross my fingers that this is one of their in-transit screw-ups. They're in mid-change and don't really intend to take away one of the main features of the site. I mean, they'd better be.

So here's my second message to the devils at Ancestry:


I have just sent a message about today's pointless changes to system functions, the essence of it being:

"I have made hundreds of corrections to UK census records. The problem is usually the transcription; I also add birth surnames, e.g.

The new format does not allow comments to be attached to the correction."

I have just discovered that it only gets worse.


1851 census
Jane Ann Smith
[Jane Annie Smith]
Husband: John Smith
etc.
[I copied the entry for one of my grx3 grmothers, whose name of course is not that]

That is my grx3 grandmother. I added the name variation so that related people would have a way of contacting me - by clicking on my username in my name correction notes.

One did. She is the grx4 granddaughter of John Smith's mother, as I am. We have different grx4 grandfathers. She is an avid and expert researcher, with the advantage of living in the parish where our ancestors lived. She has provided me with reams of fascinating information, and I provided her from lots regarding her (not my) Canadian relations, and she became a friend.

As the system now functions, no one knows who made that correction to Jane Smith's name.

I click on the alternate name, and I get a form to submit a correction.

I don't want to submit a correction.

I want ACCESS to all of the information I have recorded at the Ancestry website over several years, all of the research I have done and added to census records for the benefit of other researchers, all of the information I have entered that would assist me in finding family members descended from common ancestors.

I want people to be able to contact me when they see corrections I have made.

What the **** is wrong with this corporation?? This is one of the main functions of the site, one of the main reasons I and others use it. I am aghast.



Please, please. Anyone else who has contributed "content" - free of charge, from our own labours - to the Ancestry corporation's websites, and who feels the same, complain loud and long!

Deleting ... just me getting confused by the new "system".

Because you now have to select "given name" or "surname" and I didn't pay attention, I've changed someone's given name from John to Smith ...

Rita - that's why the last line of my first email to Ancestry was:

"I also expect that this will not matter to the Ancestry corporation, and that I will get an irrelevant, meaningless auto-reply to this comment."

You always always always get the robot message first. It's randomly selected ... well, almost - it goes by words the computer sees in your email. I've had them go ahead and change my password for me without my consent, even!

The thing to do is use their email for your reply - type in the space where it tells you to. That makes sure that your first message is all there when somebody actually reads your message. I always just say something like "READ my message and RESPOND TO my message PLEASE". ;)

I've just checked on a correction I made about a month ago which has not yet been done (direct ancester so know I'm right). Then I could explain how I knew -now I can't. But it did tell me that I had made a previous amendment and could have contacted myself through the system!

But there was no crud on the census - it was just the same as always. However i do usally have to download the viewer as i regularly clear the cookies.

Just you wait, nameless. ;)

Some, actually most, census images are still appearing the way they always have.

Others have the crud. Once you get rid of it, you just have to get used to the new colours, typeface, arrangement of functions.

Try an 1861 image, I think that's where I'm seeing the new look most.


I have no answer yet to my query about where all the research I have included in comments at Ancestry (and stored there for my own use!) has gone.

Hi Janey,

Thanks for bringing the ancestry error correction issue to everyone's notice, i'm unhappy to see the error submitter correction detail removed.

Over the last 12 months i've made over 60 error corrections and have always included extra detail such has census, b.m.d and other useful snippets of info.

Like you say comments are important and sort of make the whole thing come alive and help other researchers, please let us know how ancestry.co.uk respond.

Bet you get one of those Robot replies you were on about.

Best Wishes Bill

When I do get the auto-reply (nothing yet), I'm going to copy comments from this thread into my reply (no names, of course), so ta, Bill, I'll pass it on.

But please please do use the Contact link at Ancestry to submit all your own complaints!

It may yet prove to be a temporary glitch, but if not, it's an atrocity.

The worst would be if they had actually deleted all of so many people's work in such a way that it couldn't be restored even if they were swayed.

OMG!

What a waste of time and effort. I don't mind the colours so much but it is now very difficult to capture a whole screen image which includes the RG refs. Sometimes when i haven't got a sub to Ancestry I book an hour at the Library , now I'll need two to do one hours work!

I clicked on save but who knows where it saved to!

I very rarely find the neighbours have any connection to the family i'm looking at - yes I usually glance at them and 99 times out a hundred discount them.

Thank G I've also got FMP.

Thanks Rita!

Any chance you can copy those instructions and paste them here??

I have no reply at all to either message as yet ...


Nameless, are you sending a complaint???

I have just had a contact via Ancestry -- about a possible connection with my weird Hill/Monck gr-grfather.

Had that person been able to read the notes I had added at Ancestry for the individual in question, a Hill somehow related to my Hills - in that year and every other census year until his death - she would have seen a summary all the info I have about him - previous marriages and children of those marriages, etc. As it was, I've had to cobble it together again for her.

Peeved does not begin to describe it ...

To add to the list of concerns re the new features. I am at screaming point with the speed of the site. Snail's pace is faster than this. (Yes I have cleaned out my temp internet files and virtual rubbish bins).

Some of the new features are useable. Never knew about Member Connect until it was in my face.

Peeved that I receive hints from my second tree, but that is to be expected.

I do not like the "busyness" and clutter of the census pages.

I don't understand how to correct entries. I have found errors and not realized that I was able to correct them. Have corrected on Free BMD but not Ancestry.

Over on the left of every individual's census record page is a link that says "Add Correction".

You used to be able to add a reasonable amount of comment. I always (a) gave at least one source, (b) identified the individual's relationship to me (or stated I wasn't related).

Now, in order to add that or other info, you have to use the separate "Add a comment" link. Which is not appearing on every census record page, from what I can tell.

I have made, literally, hundreds of corrections (including adding info like married women's birth surnames).

I have now fiigured out where the info about who made a correction can be found.

You have to look at the image.

Among the crud we are all trying to eliminate is a section that says "People who added to this record" - it shows the name of the person who entered a correction, and you can click that name to send a message.

Then it says "See what's been added". All you see is what's already shown in square brackets under the individual's name on their census record page: the different name, and the name of the person who submitted it, and the date.

There are years of my research, for my own families, in my notes at Ancestry. Lost and gone, it looks like. I can just go and redo it all, by adding "Comments" to all their records, and hoping that some day, someone notices, when they're looking at the census image, that there are comments ...

Thank you I will go test it out. Should be back in a day or two!!!

If it was a snake it would have bitten me!! Talk about thick. OK I've found Page Tools. Duh! I really like doing things the hard way.

You know what I'm going to start doing?

Every name I correct or add to, I'm going to put - assume I'm correcting James to Jones -

surname: Jones - see comment

and then add a comment.

And just hope that other users can figure out the labyrinthine process to be followed to see the comment.

Maybe I should do this -

surname: Jones - click image, see comment

Yeah.

Just added a correction. You are right about the Add Comment box not being available on all the census view pages. I looked at a couple without the box. Luckily the one which needed the change has a comment box.

I wonder if entering the change triggers the comment box's appearance??!!