Genealogy Chat

Hi Glen,

I hope it was not me. I am always so very grateful when I have help from these boards. If I have to leave the computer I do try my hardest to get back to the thread and either nudge it or reply by pm.

If it was not for the help many kind GR members have given me I would still be on the starting block of my research.

Kathlyn

Well this takes the biscuit. Read on.

There was a thread on another board, to which I added a few posts with my two penn'erth of information....bit more like 5 penn'erth actually. Not that I minded, people were asking stuff, so I put up what I knew about the subject. It's something I've had to look into recently so my information was up to date.

Then someone posed a question with an extremely complicated scenario, it was all very complex and at first glance I couldn't make head nor tail, so I wasn't going to bother with it.
But these things get the better of us don't they.
So I sat there for a good while, trying to make sense of this very complicated situation, and I was working through it bit by bit. About 30 mins later I went to the thread to post my response...............you guessed it.
They had deleted it !!!!!!!!

Now, was that a wind up merchant or what?? Or did I just not answer quickly enough for them?

It's enough to put you off helping at times isn't it.

K (who is furious)

Thank you Claire!

Please dont put me in your black book .I have only just learnt to use this site and I'm not always sure what I am doing.I do reply but not alwaya sure where I sent it to. Wish these computers had a lid to look inside Ha"

thanks for the note.I for one will keep in mind
Cheers

Jill and Julie,

I did the same. Amazing what you can find out by reading the threads .

It always amazes me how members figure out how to change their board names so quickly but can not find their own threads.

Oh and some of the excuses you get from members for not answering their threads. The best one so far is one that claimed she had more important things to do, such as looking after two small children, then checking for replies. Really strange as that same member had been posting threads every couple of days while I waited for a response to the information I had posted almost 3 weeks previously.


Maureen

Jill

I did the same..it was 18 months before i added to a thread....i just read the boards and when someone put up the link for a good web site off i went to have a look & to see how it worked

I remember when I first started using these boards that I spent ages just looking. Reading threads, picking up info, just absorbing the way things worked. By the time I first started posting I knew enough to pop back regularly to check and to say thank you. It wasn't rocket science - it just took a little bit of time.

Surprises me the number of times people post and run - and ask the most basic of questions. There are plenty of threads with advice - likewise there are plenty of books on the basics of genealogy in the local library. Not sure whether to label them as lazy or impatient but they do get my goat!

Jill

Eliabeth

There are also several useful reference threads, getting started threads and suchlike throughout GR but they never seem to get used properly. In fact it affects pretty much every type of forum irrespective of the hobby/interest.

General comment;

Don't get me wrong, we all had to start somewhere but when a question gets posted and an offer of help or info is added it really does get annoying to find the help is ignored.

Even more galling is to see the same/similiar request then re-submitted a day or two later, granted the boards are not the best system compared to others, but when someone can reply to their own thread and completely ignore the input that you have made, you do get to the point where you make a note not to help them again and/or delete the help you have posted.

If someone has time to post a question, post a reply every now and then they should read the content of the answers.

Glen

Hi,

But that is an excuse. There is a saying, I'm not sure I have it 100% correct, but it goes along the lines " When everything else fails, then read the manual"

Paul

There are several threads giving advice on how to use these boards and how to ask and respond to help.

If only people would read them!!

There is really no excuse

Hi All,
The site is used by computer novices as well as buffs. Some people quickly take to the quirky nature of how the site works and others never quite get to grips with it.
The whole layout of GR is very dated and user unfriendly compared to other Sites and this really does not help the novice.
Again, as in all walks of life there are people who are most appreciative of time and effort given to them and others who believe that the purpose of the Site is to answer their questions so don't see the need to respond.
If novices outnumber those who are now more familiar with the Boards, then I think we will always have this problem.

Just my 5 pence worth.

Paul

I will give an example of why I put members on my black list.

Over two weeks ago a request appeared on Trying To Find Board.

I posted three lots of info within 10 minutes. That member has never been back to the thread or sent a pm acknowledging any help given.

One other member also posted info and they did send a pm to the thread originator and they have never had any response.

So last night I removed all the information I had posted.

Cynthia you are not in my little black book but if you were I would have happily taken you out.

Hi Glen, I'm probably in ABSOLUTLEY EVERYBODY'S black book from when I first remembered about these boards and started asking questions a few months ago. It was honestly through sheer ignorance, not bad manners, as I hadn't a clue what I was doing. Once I'd cottoned on a bit, I looked through some of my old threads and cringed because I had waltzed off into the wide blue yonder with the answers and never a backward glance. I didn't realise what the add button was for, hadn't a clue what a pm was, and didn't realise that the researchers looked at all of the boards, until someone kindly explained. So, whilst I heartily agree about bad manners, I still feel many of these problems are because GR don't post simple, easy-to-see-at-a-glance instructions. So please may I come out of the black books now, 'cos I've really, really learned my lesson and am trying to help others learn as well. Bye.

Please don't stop helping, we're not all like that.
I post quite a few threads when I get stuck, sometimes I don't seem to get anywhere, but once in while I get a whole new branch.

Would like to say thanks to everyone who has helped me.

Meg x

Let's hope they're not in Customer services then!!!

I have every sympathy for you, Glen, as you say, how long does it take to type 'Thank You'?

It's not just on here - in the 'real' world there seem to be a lot of people who seem to think they 'have a right' to help off other people!!

maggie

You were never in it Melanie, but if i get another one over the weekend like those two today i will stop doing the lookups for a while.

It doesn't take long to reply with a "thanks you have found them or a "thanks anyway but i have discounted that one".

Glen

Just reminded me of 3 on Trying To Find Board that need adding to my black list

Hi Glen

I appreciate you .. you have been really helpful to me.

Does that mean I am now crossed out of your little black book ;-)

Melanie

Two more entries in my little black book in the "avoid this member" category today.


You spend ages looking for someone in the census and posting details for your post to be ignored and no acknowlegdement given at all,the thread is still live (the poster is adding to it even now) but they seem to have missed three replies to the question.



Then the second one has a detailed reply with a result and explanation how it was found ( a simple mistranscription in the index with an extra "s" at the end of the surname) for the thread to be deleted ten minutes later. No thanks, no message no anything.

That will be two less to worry about next time round when they get stuck with an impossible to crack problem (probably finding the birth of someone i found for them today. and the only one for the name on freebmd).

Just why the hell do they post for help and then bite the hand that feeds? It's just plain stupid as well as simple ignorance!!!

Glen