General Chat

WOW!!!! Thanks everyone for the messages. As you will have realised I'm a bit of a GR Virgin, so maybe I was being a little hasty! I'll do my best to "get acquainted" with you all eventually, and naturally if I can help anyone with their research, I'll do my best. Once again thanks.

The really frustrating thing about this site, is that GR only let you know when you have a private message - they do not let you know when there are replies on your thread.

So many new folk miss out on info found for them because there are no guidelines on how it all works or how to find and respond to replies - let alone that replies can come back within minutes. People just post a message and go away waiting for an email to alert them that someone has replied.

Cx.

Ian


I suspect many more people than you think do not have the same email address that they had when they first registered on GR .................. and have probably not notified GR of any change(s)


My home page tells me that GR has over 10 million members. That number has remained the same since they made changes about a year ago. So it presumably is now well over 11 million

However, that numbr has accumulated from day 1

I hazard a guess that less than 1 million are still active .................. but the problem is that GR never deletes anyone.


There are two kinds of membership ...... free and paying. I gather all memberships were free at first, and then a small subscription was brought in. Many members dropped away at that point 'cos they didn't want to pay ....................... but if they didn't remove their tree, then it is still on GR.


Many members joined, found everything they wanted to find ....... and dropped away.


and so it goes on.

If you are a paying member and do not renew your subscription, you are just dropped down to free membership ............... and remain counted as a member

GR has been going around 10 years or more ............................ think how many people might have changed their email addresses during that time.



GR has its faults ......................... and I wouldn't use it for doing much of my research.


But the value is in these Community Boards, and the help that one gets on them.


Most of the Hot Matches I get .......................... well, I myself have given the information to the people!





sylvia

Some people can't reply, because they are no longer 'here'!
My brother in law had a tree on GR. I found out, because I was a member.
My BIL died 2 years ago.
My sister got everything she could think of (and had access to) of his on the internet deleted.
It was only a few months ago, when I was 'playing' with the 'search trees' site, I put his name in - and found it under his name, then put in other names I (happened) to know in his family - his name appeared.
I e-mailed him - sister got the e-mail message under his account.
I informed GR who deleted his tree & account - but that was 2 years after his death.
My sister couldn't have asked GR to delete his account - she isn't a member.

The person with the most hot matches had never returned a message so I can only assume that she no longer visits GR or is a member. Now though, because of my research and contact with others she is no longer the one with the most hot matches.

On the research/helpfulness I cannot praise the GR members enough. Two or three times I have been absolutely stuck and within minutes helpful peeps have found things that I would never have done (either they are very good r I am thick or maybe both!).

Hope you find the same Ian

And GR only send you an e-mail to tell you if you have a message if you opt for it to do so. You might find some members have not chosen this option so won't know they have mail unless they come back to the site ...

Jill

The one thing I will say in Ancestrys favour is that if you subscribe you can see a persons profile and it will tell you when they last visited the site, e.g. 'yesterday' or 'over 6 months'. With the latter you know it is probably a waste of time to contact them.

Huia.

Hi Ian.

I have Buchanan's and Sinclair's on my tree. My brother is helping me research the Buchanan side and both these names are linked to my dads side which also include mcbeaths/mcbeths.

If you want to see my tree send a request to me to open it for you. Search trees for pamela watt 1959 and send me a message

Pamela

Don't give up as the others have said.
May I also point out that when members die their tree's details etc stay on the site. I have encountered this a few times now.
Good luck :-)

It's true Ian! Just post the details of the Lax family on the Trying to Find board, and I guess the helpers will be scrabbling all over it because it's an unusual name and they love a challenge! They'll be scouring the census and various index before you can hit the submit button!!

Don't give up trying to contact people on this site though, because as you are looking for several names, there's bound to be someone out there connected to you. Cx.

Hi Ian, May I please clarify one thing for you.

In your post you say,
"Anyway, anyone out there researching Cameron, Edgar, Sinclair, Lax, Henderson or Buchanan?"

Do you know that we do not have to be researching those particular names in order to assist you. All you need to do is to give us as much information as you have about the person and then let us know what you need to know. What gaps you wish filled in.

If you are lucky enough to find a co-researcher who is pulling apart the same family name - bonus!! However the researchers on these boards will, as a general rule, tackle any question which comes along.

It keeps the skills levels up and often helps in breaking through our own brick walls. It is amazing what bits of info come up when least expected.

I have several rellies that in the past have made multiple entries under different membership numbers.....
another "joined" put only her own name on here and hasnt bothered since....

it seems that there will always be a "Hardcore" that keep the faith, as it were, and continue to look in now and again,
and then there are those that never seem to be off here........ie I wonder if they ever turn off their PC.......LOl

Bob

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I agree that some people change their email addresses, but only a small proportion, surely? Anyway, I'll continue until it's time to renew, but I'll certainly consider other sites. I thought that GR would welcome a chance to promote further site usage.
Anyway, anyone out there researching Cameron, Edgar, Sinclair, Lax, Henderson or Buchanan?

If so, give me a nudge....I WILL reply!

Hi Ian, GR have always replied to me.

I agree it must be frustrating, I know a few people who signed on as free members of GR but who don't check in very often as they are not really that interested!!

But if you are you will continue to slog it out, as we are doing.

All the best.

GR send an email to tell people they have received a message and messages can be replied to even if they are only a free member but the thing is that some people change their email addresses and don't notify GR.

Christine

It is very frustrating, but to be fair even if GR did contact by email, a large proportion of those 'old' members might have changed email address in the intervening years. People join for 6 months, do what they can in the time and then don't renew hence the unopened mail, but their name stays on here anyway.

I have to say Ian that whenever I have sent a message to GR Admin I have always had a reply, even if it was just an acknowledgement.

Since joining the site I have sent about 5 various messages to people who seem to be researching names associated with me. Not one of them has even opened the message, let alone replied! So I have sent a message to the Genes Reunited people suggesting a method of them directly emailing recipients, so they know to check their messages, and as an added bonus, if they have left the site it might encourage them back on. Guess what? Genes Reunited haven't even bothered to reply to me! It seems that once they have your subs, you can go hang, apparently. I'll remember this when time for renewal of subs comes along....there are plenty of other sites scrabbling about for my hard earned money.