Genealogy Chat

What has made this site less popular is the infighting and bitching

And as more and more we now see ads on telly for the 2 main competitors (even though 1 is owned by Brightsolid)

People will look at what is on offer on all 3 and make their decisions. And I believe that this too is a major contributor to less people using the site.

The records on here are not suited to my London/Liverpool research but the main US competitor does have the records I need and now has more of the Surrey records that I neeeded.

I have basic membership on here, no tree and only use the chat boards.
I have full subs on A* & FMP, so if I cannot find what I want on one it usually turns up on the other and then I can find through mis-transcribing. And my first port of call for all BMD records is FreeBMD.

:-D :-D

Nudged to catch up with the older thread now being added to - maybe they could be merged?

Piglets Pal

There are adverts on this site which also generate income for GR. Nobody just uses one site, anyone who did would have a very narrow view of the world and/or genealogy.

My comment was because NanaSue posted that the free sites where not competitors of this site when in fact they are. They generate their income purely from advertising and on some asking for donations if members so wish to contribute. The difference is that the free forums do not charge for a service which GR does.

I can see that there as been a dramatic reduction on the number of requests for help on this site since I terminated my last subscription and now. You must remember a time when the boards where a lot more vibrant. I just think recommending free forums take traffic away from this one because the question can then arise, Why pay for the privilege to post on here when I can ask for requests elsewhere.

I haven't been on Rootschat for a while but on most forums I am Toots sometimes with numbers sometimes without. :-D

EDIT: to correct mistake. and added to and/or genealogy

Tooty Fruity

So there are no adverts on here??? So all those that are on here are allowed by Genes for free and they get no revenue from these advertisers unlike the competition.

I do not think either that they take away traffic from this site. As mentioned before most people use more than one site for genealogical purposes and more than one site for these type of forums.

I know that I see many regulars from this site when I pop over to Rootschat. On here I am Piglets Pal (my miserable but beautiful cat) but on Roots I am Plummiegirl (not 'cos I is posh, but 'cos I live in Plumstead)....



:-D ;-) <3

See what I mean - I too misconstrued the post by Shirley!!!

Ooops!!!

How many people doing research into their family history would only use one site? I like this site, but it has it's limitations (as do the others).

free sites are competitors of this site and earn revenue from the advertising on the sites. The more hits the more revenue. The forums also take traffic away from this site resulting in the boards being less busy.

Guidelines for message board use

3. Your general conduct

Please do not submit the same or similar material more than once.

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1322579

Is a free site not a 'competitor' if it means one chooses to post for free there and not pay to post here? discuss....lol.

Joy Kentish Maid - thanks - I was actually looking for one of your posts with a list of such sites. Had a look at the ones you have mentioned.

Thanks everybody for comments.

RamblingRose nobody has ever said anything against free sites. It was the promotion of other commercial competitors sites - versus GR that was a subject for discussion.........

:-D :-D

Shirley is definitely addressing her remarks to the OP...........whose previous posts we all remember..............apart perhaps from you PP..........lol!

PigletsPal, I think perhaps Shirley is referring to the OP, who has said a number of times that mentioning 'competitors' even free sites is not to be encouraged?

Apologies to all if I am wrong.

Again the advice to google seems best, as none of us can know what specific countries would be beneficial to those individuals seeking alternative sites ?

I am certainly not advocating all things GR

I regularly recommend Rootschat for specialisit information.

And on re-reading all the responses cannot see anyone specifically recommending only GR.

Just goes to show, how 2 people can read the same threads and get totally differing meanings.

No wonder arguments start on here :-D :-D :-D

Not being funny but reading your threads you seem to be advocating all things Genes Reunited so am a bit puzzled here??


i love the the site, Have made family contacts AND have put others too in contact with family

Am a bit ?? UUUURH ?

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php
- as well as "live chat" there is also http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,46.0.html in which can be found "totally off topic".

http://www.familytreeforum.com/content.php

http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/forum/index.php

- plus others, all of which can be found by googling, as can message boards and mailing lists.


I had already posted this, or similar, in reply to this very question, but cannot find that thread now.

There are several groups on Yahoo; but they tend to be confined to one county.

I agree PP.

The counties idea is brilliant and I have not only had help but have also been able to give help in my local area.

In fact, a long time ago, I offered to help someone who was looking for something in my area, only to discover that I already knew her - just not under her board name. We had a laugh about that!

Their photo restoration section is excellent too and I've had some very good results from there.

It's the chat bit which flummoxes me..........it's far too quick and they all seem to know each other, so I backed out pretty quickly.......even though I can talk a lot too :-D


Edit.......so yes, GR is the best genealogy chat forum I have used so far.

Rootschat is an excellent site if you are looking for some very specialised informatoion.

The people on the WW1 & WW2 are amazing.

Never bother with the chat on there.

I like the fact that you can post to a specific thread ie A county, census, a Country overseas (most are catered for) and many many others.

Easy to navigate and would highly recommend as another tool to be used in your research.

I find Rootschat easy as a site but don't like their chat forum - it's too fast for me.


I googled as recommended by Reggie and see that there are loads of genealogy chat forums available, but I've never ventured down that route.


GR chat boards are fine by me - I've made some good friends over the years. They are especially good when everyone behaves....... :-D