Genealogy Chat

Wow.good discussion everybody..my suggestion was perhaps to recognise tha the "History" and "Surname" Boards ar so full of ancient entries...People like Ann of Green Gables and many other waste their valuable time by saying "This is a very old Thread PM the person" etc.. and Satnav, who appears not to like my suggestion, lists how many pages there are in current use.on those two boards............well compare those figure to the other boards....there is no comparison.
So many Boards are very messy..and either copies or slight variations of the same enquiry appear on different Boards.
"Trying to Find" is a good board providing the enquirer makes clear what he/she is looking for.

The fact is that many of us have special skills and knowledge.and resources that are local to areas or to counties.........that something like a Counties board would speak directly to individual specialsts.

and if Satnav thinks there are too many Boards..ok..lets just have a Trying to Find Board.

and whilst we're ranting on....why have we got a Chat or a general Topic Board on what is essentially a Genealogy site?

Those who know me will of course realise that I ma playing Devil's Advocate here..at least in my last comment..so don't hate me!!

Derek

and.while we;re at it,,dear Madmeg.......I'm not really happy with the possibilitiy of invading the privacy of Living Relatives......I think all discussions about Living Relatives should be directed to PM's......all the dangers of identitiy Fraud etc..........Thats why we don't get Census info for 100 years.......just a thought!
Derek

Derek, that is precisely why I suggested a living rellies board. To be used only via pms. It obviously wouldn't be a public board as the others are, but could highlight people looking for living rellies.

Great Idea. Gets my vote.

The site is quite archaic compared with some others, for instance rootschat.

Just one point,shouldn't people looking for living rellies be directed to Friends Reunited??

Friends reunited rely on you finding the person actually registered with them, whereas on here, there's a chance of finding them through public records.

Derek,

Agree with you on the County board suggestion.

Sharon

so, Derek


are you going to send a request to GR to start a new board on counties?


They don't read these boards, so nothing will happen unless you or someone approaches them


The only problem that I can see is with having to search ONE thread for any and all entries to do with, eg, Buckinghamshire.

I simply cannot imagine having to sift through a thread with 100 pages and however many entries to find that one gem that I'm looking for!


The absolute ideal of course would be to have what is on several other sites (free ones at that!!) ................... one board (at least) for each county, with numerous threads, all searchable of course.


Devil's advocate here

.......... as there are at least 2 sites which do have county boards, why not use GR as we have been using it, and go to those other sites for specific information on counties? Both those sites are free.

Why try to duplicate what is being done very well elsewhere ....... and probably far better than GR will ever set it up??


sylvia

Hi Sylvia.......I actually did mean that we'd have some kind of drop down menu, by individual County..onto which people who needed help could leave their requests.
The way i see it is that this site does not contain any resource or database that is available to non-premium members.

This site depends almost entirely on willing helpers like us whi have access to records of a wide range, within their own personal expertise. Thus people who have no access to those records depend on us entirely.
Some kind of County Board would enable "ozBloke" (Fictional) for instance to put his enquiry about GGGF arthur Jones onto a greater London or a Lancashire board, on which those of us who have experrtise in those areas can latch onto immediately.
Ok those who don't can just troll through loads and loads of vague enquiries on Trying to Find....

and yes I senty my ideas to GR and heard nothing!!

Derek

I like Janet's follow-on idea of having to put in a name and county when you start the thread - a bit like having a sort option on a spreadsheet.

That way, if I was looking for one of my ancestors who I don't know much about, I could put "Finchett" in the name box and "Lancashire" in the county box. Maybe there could be a "place" one, too - so (in the Finchett case) I could put "general area" because I'm not sure where he was from. Whereas if there was an ancestor I knew lots about, I might put "Rothwell", "Lancashire" and "Aughton" in the same boxes.

Then people could see at a glance if it was likely that the thread creator was looking for their family.

Derek,

I think a lot more people would be convinced if you were to set out how this might work, step by step.

1. GR create a new Community Board called Counties.

Can you take it from there?

derek,
i think InspectorGreenPen is on the right lines with a county boards and how it might help to set out how it might work.


would it have all the free sites that people could check out for themselves instead of asking for help and would they be put at the start so people wouldnt have to plow through an hundred pages to find it.

would some specialist have to look after each county or would everyone plough in and help.

meercat.

Do not forget that this is an international site.
Any board must cater for all.
The U.S. state of Alabama has 67 counties.
So maybe you could start with Country boards.

I think the whole point of this site is that no one person has a monolpoly over any Thread........of course everyone dips in and helps....I have two Derbyshire threads...only too pleased when peeps put in theri contributions.......But if i want to specialise in my own "expertise"..then i can find all enquiries in one place......and i can respond more quickly.
when there is nothing about..I do what everyone else does...muck in anywhere and erverywhere I can help.....

But it was after all only a suggestion, for debate....I don't have to justify it..we're all on here to give free and open help to newcomers who have no idea what they're doing.........but surely if you go to History and Surname Boards and see how many people are trying to answer three and four year old thread..you must agree some kind of thought is helpful!!

Derek

hi Derek,

i would love a counties board.

well i suppose it could be the direct action approach !!!
you could put a derbyshire county board on one of the other boards.
do a little introduction.
list the free sites.
sit back and wait .
people seem to go straight to the trying to find boards so it might be quite popular on there.
then perhaps others would do a county board.

thats the only idea i can come up with.

meercat.

and another thing.

you can direct everyone who uses your derbyshire threads to the trying to find derbyshire board.
the people on trying to find will help and everyones happy.


meercat.

I really don't think that the layout of the following free site can be improved anywhere else - http://www.rootschat.com/

Meercat..i appreciate your input. at the risk of seeming to advertise..my "Derbyshire parish records" thread IS on the TTF Board.....I just think the History and the Surname Boards are under used, and too many people answering three,four or more year old Threads....It doesn't happen on the other three Boards.

Derek

Not sure if this has already been addressed, but there have been many changes to County boundaries (and names too) some counties no longer exist. So a person could have been born, and lived, in a county that no longer exists, at least under the old name.