Genealogy Chat

Mel 75 is right. it is actually worse here in Aus. Had great trouble trying to find out if I have been up to date / time with the postings. even my own.
And the message or board links wont scroll and stay down to be clicked on unless I double click on them first. That not the way it used to be, so its frustrating me alot.

I havent even tried to go into the Boards Summary box after reading all that is happening with that.

annette

Janey

I'm not having much trouble with my message inbox ......... just that it is slow


But I do agree about the clock .............. I automatically subtract 8 hours (for all but about 3 weeks in the eyar), and I know exactly where I am


But to see Today for postings made any time from 12:01 am to 10 am or 12 noon just is no help at all!


maybe we just don't think like web people think!



sylvia

Just back to something from way back in the thread -- the time of day thingy.

Mel75 in Australia mentioned that it actually makes it worse for us outlanders operating on different clocks -- and counter-intuitive as that may seem, it's true.

I find the same thing in Canada. I prefer to know what time things were posted, on the clock most people at this site use, so I know when the activity was. I'm used to converting it quickly to my time (subtract 5 hours, bingo).

Normal, 21st (and even 20th) century internet boards allow users to set the clock to the time zone they want. As well as allowing the use of html (boldface etc) and the creation of clickable links ... and of course just generally *functioning*, as this place is very much not doing at present ...

... I say, as I prepare to make my FOURTH attempt to load my inbox and get something other than an error message, a problem I have repeatedly reported to site management and had no reply of any kind to ...


Error
Sorry. An error has occurred
We can't take you to the page you wanted. The problem has been logged and our team will be working on it.
Thanks for understanding. We're really sorry for any inconvenience!


I offer no understanding, and I still don't care how sorry anybody is. I just want my Inbox when I click on it, the first time.

I've now tried for the FIFTH time to load it, with the same result ...

Sally

That is a very good idea !

I have just sent the following pm to GR through their Contact Us ........ it's number 6 since Thursday!


after a weekend of utter turmoil on the site, .............. where people cannot move from thread to thread, ........... cannot move easily from board to board, .............. cannot move easily from page to page within a thread, ............ cannot understand exactly when a posting was made ("today" meaning any time from 12:01 am to 6 hours ago), ................ where people have lost names or been assigned strange board names, ....................... and the horror of the Help Clinic ............. I think it is time that you guys got your acts together, and made changes that actually work! ............ Those poor people who volunteered to help on the Help Clinic have largely found themselves in untenable positions .............. often unable to help answer requests posed for them because of the limitation on which sites can be used, ...... responding very inappropriately to a request for help because said request had been made earlier on a board with no success in breaking down the brick wall, thus obviously suitable for posting on a board which says "break down your brick wall" ............... and unable to have the TEAMWORK that was the basis for the magnificent work done previously. ........... I have a suggestion for you:-------- Help Clinic, when you think about it, is in fact excess to needs! .............. Other boards do the job better, have done so for many years, and in more timely fashion ........ There was no-one working on the Help Board from about 9 pm last night to 7am this morning UK time. Which means that none of your overseas members could get help. There has been no-one apparently working on that board most of this afternoon and early evening. The other Boards are doing fine! ......................... As an answer to the problem that volunteers felt unacknowledged, as shown on the market survey done in the spring, literally ALL that needed to be done was ............1) a statement in a very obvious place that all research was done by volunteers "and we thank them all"; ........ 2) inclusion of the fact that member to member help was available on the site in advertising; and ............. 3) for you to refrain from inferring in advertising that the help available on the site was by GR itself. ............... I think that would have done the job magnificently, and been approved by us all! ......... Instead of which, there are many members very upset; members seriously considering leaving GR because of the difficulties in using the site; the disparity you have caused by having Starred Official Helpers and the rest of us unstarred, and presumably to be considered less than worthy. ................. The feeling of being unacknowledged and not valued for the help provided is WORSE now than it was before.. ........ We all heard about the sale to brightsolid with hope in our hearts that the site would be improved. What a terrible job you have done.



I wonder what the response will be





sylvia

please guys
do not fall out you have help us and iy is gened that are at fault

i thibk the best way to solve it is not to use the help clinic and then it wood die natualy

sally w

Well

the Help Clinic does not operate between about 9 or 10 pm and 6 or 7am UK time


which means that NONE of the overseas members can get any help while they are on the board



and what do we tell people asking questions?

What have we been telling them for years?? .................................
.
.
.
Stay around and check back regularly for 10-20 minutes after posting a request because people will often get back to you asking for clarification within minutes, if not seconds.




you have to laugh ......... otherwise you'd weep at what is happening as a result of all the changes that were put into place on Thursday, most of which are just plain not working!



sylvia

10 people are just not enough to cover all the areas of genealogy bearing in mind that helpers sleep, eat & have lives and that queries are posted 24 hours a day.

Penny


people are sending a pm to the poster

I have not noticed whether any are sending a pm to the star member ..... and they're not supposed to post anyhting not found on one of the 3 brightsolid sites anyway



sylvia

It is extremely frustrating, having looked at the HELP CLINIC board, to have found an answer (or something that might help ) not to be able to post it.

What am I supposed to do? PM the poster? PM one of the star members?

How the dickens can people, willing people, the very people that GR has not recognised as keeping their site going ( if no-one did the research, there would be no site) keep it going now?

**Flummoxed**

Kath


it was this bit on the posting above on this thread:-

I really feel that if everyone who is unhappy with the changes to the site were to direct there concerns to Genes themselves it would be more constructive than just using the help clinic to vent their feelings.


I felt that I was included in that, and wanted to make my position clear ....... I've never been one to hold back from venting on the boards AND contacting GR when things are going up the creek ............ during any of the changes that have happened since I joined this site in 2003.



I'm sorry that it has all been such a bl***dy mess for you guys


One of the many reasons I had for turning them down was that I feared what would happen

....... but the reality has been even worse than I could ever have imagined



and just think ............ this is all supposed to have been a way to acknowledge the help given on GR by members helping members


I don't think any of us could have imagined a worse possible way than taking 10 people out of, what, 100 or so (if that many) who regularly help, give them stars, and say they are being recognised for their expertise!


Plus, the fact that I was told that the Help Clinic was for Standard members, as they considered that newbies started off as Standard members ................. that to me implies that the Help Clinic was supposed to be for newbies, whose "brick walls" are not usually that high or solid.

Estelle did add that they were considering opening Help to Gold and Platinum Members



so what do you get?

Mainly old members with massive brick walls, that have not been solved after several attempts on the regular boards ..... and you guys are stuck with only being able to use 3 sites, and none of the interplay that goes on on the other boards.

Other members who do see where they could help are reduced to sending pms to the requesters ........... who may thus be getting pm after pm after pm!


I've only seen a couple of newbies posting ANYWHERE in the last couple of days ................... the nights, which is when I am usually on, have been dead!





I am so sorry that the fun has gone out of it for you

.............. I have never intended any of the comments that I have made to be aimed at any one of you personally, except in so far as questioning why things are being done that I was told would not be done.



Please try to stay on the site .............. even if you ask to be removed from Help Clinic



I can only hope that things will improve when the technical difficulties are sorted out.


Imagine the state that newbies must be in if we oldies can't find our way around!




sylvia

Sylvia,

Please let me know which bit of my reply to your thread on the Help Clinic you thought made me sound as if I was accusing you of anything (I really wasn't).

I know everyone on the site is upset about things but you have no idea how upset I feel myself right now. I thought all I'd have to do on the Help Clinic was answer posts in just the same way as on all the other boards - but up to now I have only answered one such question - the rest have not been what I expected. After 7 happy years on this site I am actually thinking of packing it all in completely. I am not even doing any family history research of my own these days but still subscribe to sites so that I can do look-ups for others to pay back the help I had in the early days.

I'm logging off now so will not be around to see any more posts until tomorrow.

Kath. x

Kath

it came over that way!


And you would be surpirsed how many people have sent in complaints to GR .......... not only about Help Clinic but all the other things that have happened.



they must have been inundated


Hopefully, Monday will see some change ............. as they only work Monday to Friday 8 am to 4 pm, there's no chance of any earlier response.



except possibly removal of threads and posts .......... which has already happened



sylvia

Sylvia

I wasn't accusing you at all. There are lots of people complaining about the changes and I'd be surprised if they have all contacted Genes. I really wish they would. As I said - I have also been in contact with Estelle and told her how things are. They need to know how everyone feels and they did ask for feedback.

Kath. x

Look Fans you were not important enough to be menioned in Madmegs goodbye....so just live with it ok lol


ja...x

Kath


to clarify


I HAVE complained to GR


I sent 5 complaints in during the first 4 hours that I was on site after the changes had happened on Thursday

I had several email exchanges with Estelle after I was offered the chance to become an Official Advisor, and sent further emails to her on Friday


In every complaint and email, I made constructive recommendtions on how to solve whatever I was talking about


I have said nothing on any of these threads that I have not already said to GR



so please don't accuse me of not being constructive



sylvia

I have noticed, that a majority of people who helped me when I first started using these boards, early this year, DO NOT have stars, they were all brilliant. So who do have the stars the 2nd raters!!!

Why GR did you have to change the time? In Australia when I noticed that the time was 23.45, I knew that not many people would be online to help. Now I have to check the time to see what 10 minutes, 1 hour ago means!!

BatMansDaughter

I have just read your post on here giving part of an answer I gave to Sylvia on the Help Clinic.

The second sentence of my answer was:-

"I think they may want the sort of question you asked to be directed to Support at [email protected] because they are the ones that can answer that sort of thing."

I really feel that if everyone who is unhappy with the changes to the site were to direct there concerns to Genes themselves it would be more constructive than just using the help clinic to vent their feelings.

I myself have already let GR staff know how unhappy members are with the "advisors" because they particularly asked for feedback. Can you ever remember the past owners of the site being interested in the members thoughts?

And yes, you are right, the fun has gone out of the last few days on the site - but only because the questions on the Help Clinic have not been the sort of questions I had expected to have to answer.

Kath. x

Madmeg Request Review 19th Nov 2010
So can us "non-starred" people reply on the Clinic posts? Or are we now resigned to either the easy stuff, and the stuff that the limited number of Clinic members cannot solve?

Have GR taken away my hobby? Will they pay for treatment for my withdrawal symptoms?

Does this mean the end of the Tips Board, and the Trying to Find Board? If so, I suspect an awful lot of us old hands will not be renewing our subscriptions. End of an Era maybe. Bye bye Janey, Jax, Lancashire Ann, Click on the Purple Button Not on My Name, even BrummieJan (traitor!!), Jonesey, IGP, Mgnv, Sylvia, and all the rest of you that I have worked with and who have helped me in the last few years. Good luck for the future.

Love

Madmeg

I need the use of the tissues after just discovering this thread ..thanks Sylvia.;)

The tissues are to mop up my tears because Madmeg didnt mention me in her goodbyes ...sobs,weeps and wails....sniff,big blow...
Nope still weeping ...sobs...

Not only dont get asked to be a Starry one (Thank Evans)didnt volunteer either,but now dont get in the roll call of Madmegs goodbye ...waaiiillll...

And yep I have to agree,that BrummieJan is a traitor,and there was me always thought what a nice person she was...more waaaiiils.

If my name goes AWOL the wails will be heard in OZ and NZ all the way from rainy Wales I tell you,I LOVE my name......

but some people are still invisible, and I believe there are more invisibles today than there were yesterday!





Madmeg


I love your idea!!!



sylvia**