Suggestions

Another tip -- when you post something on the board, do check back sooner than 2 weeks later for replies. Conversations work much better without 14-day hiatuses!

When you look at your hot matches list, it does indeed show whether you have had previous contact with the person in question -- yes or no.

If you have a long hot matches list (mine is 7 pages just because I tend to leave junk matches sitting around), the easiest thing to do is click "New" as soon as you go to the page. Reclick it if necessary to get the new match(es) to the top of page 1.

(This is one of the things I find weird -- I'm pretty sure that when I click "New", it puts the matches in order with the oldest one first. So I have to click it again, or go to the end of the list on page 7. This makes sense, how?)

Anyway, then it's very simple.

You see your new matches, you can see whether you have had previous contact with the person.

The fact that you've had previous contact doesn't mean that you might not want to know if the person has added to their tree.

Perhaps they have added your mutual grx4 grandparent's parents -- information that you don't have. Wouldn't you like to know? The fact that you've been in contact in the past doesn't mean that you check their tree weekly for updates, after all.

I don't want to ignore all hot match records because often they _are_ interesting. I accept, I suppose, that I may have corresponded with someone about some topic that was nothing to do with shared ancestry, and then a hot match might come up. As it happens I very rarely correspond with people for any other reason. Also I accept, I suppose, that contacts should be confidential, but I don't see that this prevents GR keeping a record in its database (actually I'm 99% sure that this info _does_ currently exist in GR's database) for use to make its software operate in a more intelligent way. Of course I know that this is all done automatically by software but I certainly don't accept that this means it has to be stupid. The software should be (and in many ways is) improved continually to make it more useful and more intelligent.

The difficulties you mention (confidentiallity, and correspondence for non-tree-related reasons) could be overcome by some options that users could select (e.g. when a person is about to be entered into your contacts for the first time, ask "do you want to see more hot matches for this person?").

Rowan

Hi Rowan and welcome to the boards.

It may be helpful for you to look at the FAQs offered by GR. You will find them by clicking on Help - in the dark green bar above - and then, over on the left you will see Community. Click on that and you will get advice on how these boards work.


As both Rose and Sylvia have explained, the emails you are receiving are either to let you know that someone has responded to a thread you are watching (you have to click the purple Watch This button above to do that)........

or.....


someone has sent you a personal message.

or....

It is your Hot Match list.......which is automated. Feel free to ignore it...I do!





Do get back to us if you need more help. Regards. Cx

and it's all done by computer anyway


.......... the pms on this site are supposedly confidential


so GR will not be keeping a record of who your contacts are.




sylvia

Rowan , unless I'm reading it wrong. it wouldn't be obvious that because you had these people in 'contacts' that you knew they had a match with your tree.... they might be contacts made on Chat for example and nothing at all to do with trees.

I'm not sure what the point is of e-mailing me with a supposedly new match, when on looking it up, I find that I've already had correspondence (via Genes Reunited) with this person. Is it not obvious that if I've exchanged a number of messages with this person, I already know about the matches? These e-mails are just a nuisance and a waste of my time.

Don't get me wrong. I think this is an excellent facility, and I've found a number of new leads through it. I just think it needs improving in this very simple way - don't send me matches from trees of people who are in my contacts list!

Thanks - Rowan