Suggestions

I no this is the wrong board but i have posted here because of the amount of thread on here related to the new tree,

Could I just say that “if its not broke don’t fix it” Is the wrong way to look at this problem.

If your washing machine isn’t broke you would not fix it,

that’s logic?

I first started using computers in the early 90’s

I remember the excitement when windows 98 was first launched and I got my first digital camera, I then decided to install some photo editing software which I used for some years it worked great with my next 2 new pc’s operating systems windows 2000 and windows xp but when I updated to vista and tried to install the software it failed and I just got errors every time I tried to install it so I had to install a “new version” in order to continue to edit photo’s

The reason

Technology moves on computers mobile phones the internet and web sites are having to constantly change in order to keep up,
Your PC needs to constantly download updates to keep pace with these changes to the software installed on it, but updates can only go so far and at some point you will be asked to download a “new version” You have the choice but if you stick with the old version at some point it will fail because it will be reliant on other updated more modern software within your system that no longer supports an old outdated version

I use windows 7 my system updates as and when required by windows
I have over 130 security updates on my PC downloaded over the last 12 months
There are also other updates downloaded that depend on what other programs I have on my system but to many to list, some updates can clash with other programs on my system so I may have to delete them or look for alternatives

The software used by GR for the tree is just the same, Its been updated over the years to keep it running and now needs a new version in order to continue to be used

That is also Logic

My explanation may not be totally accurate “technically” but I have tried to explain in a way that I think most members would understand

Roy

well anybody who updated to Vista should take to gru's latest efforts like a duck to water, go4it !

the vast majority of business IT systems are running on the desktop ... XP !!!
of course they know nuttin' but they do believe quite strongly in "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

I suspect that most members are running Xp too, some Win7 (which is a pearl) none Vista and a few this and that. There is nothing whatsoever in the new tree builder or the new new beta tree builder that needs any sort of OS feature not available in XP. GRU does have issues with most issues of IE as html5 support is inconsistent. The fix for this is with GRU not the users.

in any case it is not just a matter of some serious bugs although that is bad enough

the size of user trees varies a lot ; in the gru spiel "meet the team" one of the team is proud to say that her tree is "more than 350 records" wow!

many people have trees with a few thousand records and some a whole lot more than that ; it does not follow that if a tree works ok with a few hundred records it will be ok with a few thousand or 20 thousand (Scozz) ; moreover as tree size increases so do the number of nodes / complexity

or from another point of view javascript is not the obvious choice for such a job ... the developer is very much in the hands of the memory management system and stack of the browser - not the strongest part of Firefox ; go to a Dutch cobbler and you will get wooden shoes

GRU became the de facto family history product for those who wanted something slick and quick and really ez to use - there is quite a long recent post on the boards about this by a professional genealogist who is dismayed at the current direction

instead it has tried to turn into a junior version of Ancestry complete with a two stage data entry system ... thus its USP (unique sales proposition) has been badly damaged

not so long ago Ford tried to become a manufacturer of luxury cars inc Jaguar, it was just not in their dna and after losing billions they have up - Jaguar and Aston Martin are now doing fine outside Ford

similarly it is not in the dna of GRU or BrightSolid to put together a high end FH product even by adding the equivalent of go faster stripes, spoilers and ghia badges ; even if it was they do not have anything like the resources and it shows

don't forget GRU has a sibling product which you can see on the main menu bar and look what happened to that

gru should have stayed with what they were good at









:-(

Rollo, well anybody who updated to Vista should take to gru's latest efforts like a duck to water, go4it ?

When vista came out people did "go4it"

Like anything else until you try it you cannot have a valid opinion.

You appear to be quite technically savvy and also quite intelligent,

You are also obviously quite passionate about what GR should and should not be doing


But i have yet to see anything in your posts on GR that i can see as being constructive

As an intelligent technically savvy person i would have expected your input to be more positive with possible solutions in how to resolve these problems but instead you use this forum to only highlight any short falls and to show GR in a negative light

may be you could use your technical skill to help in a positive way

Roy

What a load of guff guys. GR have already admitted they have problems. Basically reinvented the wheel but made it square. The USP of GR is that it was nice and simple to use and you didnt have to be a computer nerd, that is why so many people like me joined. Now they want as you said go faster stripes and in doing so have added more things that can go wrong. It doesnt matter if technology moves forward as long as it is simple then no problem. Now no matter what you do you find it is a more protracted and convoluted process and doesnt work. My laptop is automatically updated but things still dont work. GR dont respond to emails to the support section and there is no phone number so you can talk to them. You are told the support team works from hope and I HAVE SENT IN LOADS OF EMAILS AND ALL ANSWERED BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE who clearly dont read any of the preceeding mail and frustrate you as they all want to go through the same process. Asking questions confuses them either they dont know or there are too few.This is a cock up of Olympic Standards like the Football at Hampden with the wrong national flag, doesnt half piss people off. I have been in sales all my life and rule no one is you listen to customers/members and you never sell them what they dont want and dont need. If its not broken dont fix it and look after your customers/members or someone else will. From what I can see members are voting with their feet which is a shame as it is a good site. As I said the solution is very simple and they have done it already and that is to go back and allow members the CHOICE of using the new tree or the old tree. I have encouraged many older folk to use GR and lets face it the membership demographic is older folk who are not that computer skilled so keep it simple works best. GR needs to learn HONESTY is the best policy, front up admit you got it wrong and get back to simple or offer the choice. Bill

I prefer XP still to Vista :)



I was disappointed that GR did not give more notice than one hour from the time that the announcement was posted.

Bill, From your reply you have obviously totally misunderstood the point i was Trying to make?

( My laptop is automatically updated but things still don't work. )

That's exactly my point

Sorry i was unable to explain in a way that you could understand but i can only do my best

Roy

Joy, I did say at the time 2 hours notice was wrong and that GR should have left the old tree on the main site and beta tested the new version before they launched it to the entire membership

Roy

Indeed, Roy; very unprofessional :(

roy

being an older person with not much computer savy all i want is a simple tree thenew tree i find too comlecated to use among other things i had not used a computer bfore i joined gr i just wanted to do tree and learn about my family but i ithink i might have to leave gr as it will be of no use to me
why can it not be kept as it was even if tec things have to move on
:-S

sally w

Sally, I'm sure that once all the faults and bugs in the new tree are sorted out that you will find it user friendly but it will take time (not much longer i hope) in the meantime If you don't have a family tree program on your PC their are several you can download for free and then you could export a copy of your Gedcom from GR and import it into that program,
This will allow you to continue building your tree,

just enter " free family tree downloads" into Google

here is a basic one from family search

https://familysearch.org/products/

You can also buy some very good family tree programs I use FTM2005 although the latest version is the 2012 and as with GR the very early versions of FTM no longer work with modern PC's so even with independent programs such as mine you have to update eventually

Its always a good idea to keep copies of your tree independent of any web site,

I as do lots of members only keep a basic tree on GR but have a family tree programs on my PC's where i keep my full tree

Roy

had betas of VISTA aka "Longhorn" ages before it eventually shipped (late). Everybody from the organ grinder's monkey to the bear and the ragged staff told them it would never fly but the head honchos did not listen. Longhorn does have some cool wallpapers though.

Now where did I hear a similar story ?

Like many others I have in the past made various suggestions for improvements. These included tidying up the ragbag of the home page, moving the servers back to London (now hosted by Zayo), supporting cousin marriages, improved media support and a more modern look. Well the first two have happened none of the others.

Gru's customer relationship management is somewhat opaque. So the customers yell and moan and holler before upping sticks.

Bill is right on the button.

However there are signs of hope

"Dear Howard

Thank you for taking the time to write back to us with your points.
We are currently receiving a lot of feedback and suggestions from our members so I will not reply to your points in detail but please accept my assurance that your email will be individually read by our Management team in order to correct these errors.
Kind Regards,
Alex Brett"

Alex Brett is a real expert in customer service and banging heads together. There is hope. If anyone can get things sorted he can. :-D

roy

thankyou

i do have roots magic 5 wich i struggle with :-( but i get roumd that by sending it a gedcom

i am haveing trouble with the new tree because i use a screen reader and itwill not work on the details where you type in information about the family icannot see well enough to put new info ir know what is allready there i had no trouble with the old tree

but i still luv you :-D

sally w