Suggestions

I notice from the blog about the new tree, that some of the strongest critics of the new tree have large trees (over 20,000 people in them).

I wonder whether there is a situation like we had with "My threads" where for some the site could not finish the processing before timing out and giving an error.

I am thinking of those who can't get their tree to display In which case Genes might need to concentrate on optimising the system for large trees. I hope they have some large trees for use as testing data.

I only have about 600 in my tree and don't find the new tree any slower than the old one and it is faster to use thanks to the extra navigation facilities.

Sylvia and wisechild, I apologise for not making myself clearer.

Ken

I also read it as referring to me,


so wisechild was not alone in doing that.



I apologise if I mis-read waht you posted.

Sylvia, my post although in response to yours did not address you, it was generally aimed at those who just say they do not use the tree.

I don't know why wisechild thought it did, especially as you explained in yoiur post why you don't use the tree.

Ken


I have ALWAYS explained why I do not use the tree ....................


............. and that includes in postings before last August when people would ask about using records on here, or ask about the tree


as well as in this past year.


I've been asked by several people, on threads, why I won't support or not support the new tree .......... and I've explained that I have not used my tree for at least 3 years, AND the reasons why.


I cannot come down on one side or t'other, if I don't use it.



I HAVE also said at various times that I went on my tree about 3 days after the new tree was mandatory at the beginning of August to see if I had a problem.


I changed 2 names to Living Living ............... and had no problem at all


................... except that I now have something over 1,000 matches with them :-D :-D :-D


but that wasn't a good enough trial for me to participate in any other discussion the tree.



Even if I did use my tree .................... I still would not be anything more than a Standard Member, because I do not need the records on GR!



In fact, I think many of the problems with the site ................ slowness, throwing people off the site, making people log in again and again ................... date back to when records were first added, back in 2007. The server was just not able to handle the extra traffic, even then


As Wisechild said, I have my subscriptions to other sites ......... most of them dating back to around the same time that I joined GR, April 2004.



To reiterate, I do not believe that I have ever said "I have not used my tree for at least 3 years" without adding the reasons why.



so you had no reason to take me to task.




sylvia

Sylvia explained quite clearly why she doesn´t use the tree on here.
Like many of us long standing members, we had been researching for years before Genes came along & initially, the site didn´t offer access to records, so we had subscriptions to sites that did.
When I first joined Genes, every day there were 8 or 10 pages of help requests on the Find Ancestors board. Now there are barely so many in a week.
Looking at other free forum sites I find that there is far more activity on them than on Genes & none of them offer access to records........just help & advice from other researchers.
Think the problem is that Genes has outgrown it´s strength.

Rollo is not suggesting lying, just that if you don't use the tree then why mention it, or if you do have to, then explain the reasons.

Some have posted that they do not use the tree and it has been seized on by those having difficulty with it, as implying that the tree is no good.

As Rollo says the viability of GR continuing depends on lots of Platinum subscriptions and lots of site usage.

Like you I mainly use the site for the messageboards, but in terms of use they are relatively unimportant. When the stats used to be on the home page there were usually between five and ten PMs sent and about fifty tree additions for every messageboard post.

so, Rollo, .................. you want us to LIE??????


I think most of the people who say they do not use the tree, like me ................ have actually finished everything they want to do on the tree, keep their tree elsewhere (like on their own computer), or are just not interested in going any further back.


I love the hunt for information much, much more that putting mere names on my tree ..........

.................... so I use my expertise in researching, honed over the last 50 years, to use by helping others on the Community Boards.


and many others also help out on the genealogy Boards ........ helping other members find information.


I'm not going to lie, and say that I find the tree great or not great ............. because I just do not know!


Nor am I going to pay a higher sub for access to records that I have already got .............

............... don't forget that GR did not carry ANY records until after 2007. So many members who joined before that already have found the information, have subscriptions to sites that did have those records .......

.................. but we are willing to pay our £9 something per year or per 6 months to help GR out by giving free advice.



GR uses the helpers in its advertising!!!




sylvia

All well and good but to remain financially viable Gru need members who use the records with the integrated tree.

Gru would find it easier to attract and retain such members if some of the outstanding items were to be sorted as quickly as possible rather than bells and whistles viz.

(a) half finished print tree
(b) get the images sorted out - replace the silly cartoons with an image thumbail (if avail) and show the image at a decent size in the details box
(c) cousin marriages - long promised never done
(d) embedded urls within the tree notes

There is no way that a site such as this can be funded by a mix of cheap subs to the chat boards and ads. I suggest that a more positive attitude by members to the new tree would certainly help Gru's revenue stream. Never ending comments such as "I never use the tree" are a bit of a waste of time.

Although I have full worldwide Ay I do use it alongside Ay. Now the performance issues and important bugs have been fixed it is a useful bit of kit in the family historian's tool kit.

I shall be staying. I rarely do anything with my tree these days so the controversy over the new tree has more or less passed me by.
But I do like the chat boards, members are always friendly and helpful with all sorts of problems not only geneological ones.
And I like threads like this that suddenly shoot off at a tangent :-)
John the boards are a lot more comfortable since we asked for and got the emoticons, not as good as body language but a fair substitute. :-D

I like Genes very much (still) and will be staying if possible.

But I am worried that my inability (or lack of desire) to enter any more on this new tree is not confined to me, and that a lot less are using their tree now.

But Genes is worth it for the Community section, with some very interesting threads. And a lot of mutual support.

More rabbit than Sainsbury's? Yes, they have none in their new Pontypandy store. :-D :-D Now, do you remember Sainsbury's before the war with all those rabbits and pheasants hanging.......... (drifts into nostalgia)

What does Cynthia think???


She thinks that she should have stuck this thread on Chat - that's what Cynthia thinks!!


You two can certainly rabbit for England.......(Wales and Canada in reality though)!!


Now, back to the point...........



;-)

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D


I know a woman who used that same subterfuge!

Unfortunately, she made a bad mistake ....... the marriage eventually broke up, but not before she had a little girl.


Then she found another GOOD man, and was happily married to him for over 30 years ............ with the full approval of her daughter, and later her brothers when they met him.

Strange thing is that all my family seem to have an odd sense of humour. Got an email from an 88 yo uncle this morning that may explain what I mean.

"Tomorow - Wednesday the 5th September will be our 66th Wedding Anniverary They all said it would only last about 3 months. How wrong they were!. When we got married, OH was under the age of 21 years and was unable to marry me without her parents permission, which they would not give her. For many months I bombarded them with letters, both recorded delivery and registered post. They never replied to any, so I told them that OH was pregnant. They replied to my letter and although I was in the Army I learnt a lot of new words. We were given permission but no member of her family attended the wedding. The baby was born two years after we wed. I think it was the longest pregnancy known. They forgave my deceit later, when they discovered what a nice man I was". :-)

Sylvia Understood. I don't know what Cynthia thinks, but she is OP. And I feel we have slightly taken over her thread to throw planks of cedar and love spoons at each other :-) In real life, I would give you my seat on the bus and give you a ;-)

John

I don't really approve of deleting posts ...............


and hopefully, these posts will help educate some other person who is having trouble understanding "the etiquette of the internet" :-)

Sylvia

I really appreciate that explanation :-) I can be sarcastic sometimes, but in a harmless way and usually people find that quite endearing. Whereas on here it is often seen as threatening :-) I have never threatened anyone ever, although I can defend myself.

I feel quite young in many ways at 66, but I do not like mobile phones, FaceBook, texting and much of the modern world. But I do like my computer and my SkyPlus.

My real name is Frankie Boyle and I came on here to try and rebuild my image. How have I done so far?

:-S

ps Off thread and I suppose we ought to delete these posts as it might put somebody off saying "I like the new layout etc". But hope we have a better understanding of each other. :-)

Well, I'll be staying because the old tree was sooooo easy to use (which is why I joined in the first place) and I just hope that GR will let us have something similar to use in the future in place of this deadful thing that we currently have which won't do half what the old one did.

I've spent most evenings for the past 7 years compiling my tree (which now has over 28,500 names on it) - until the past month, when I've added practically nothing and where upper case has been automatically converted to lower case, where the save button is practically inaccessible, where I can't copy individuals in my tree, where I can't delete individuals, where I can't simply drag and drop text from other windows into the Notes field.... need I go on? :-(

John


stop calling yourself old



you are not old


There are many many more posting on these Boards who are older than you .......... including ME

I'm not old enough to be your mother ...... but I am old enough to have been your big sister ..........

............. the one who ordered you around :-D :-D :-D :-D




and, yes, you are quite correct .............. the advent of the internet, emails, and posting on sites such as this have led to a proliferation of "angry" postings.


It's because it is impossible to see the body language of the poster .......... that twinkle in the eye, twitch of the lips, shrug of the shoulder ................ all very slight, but telling the other person(s) that "I am only joking"

For example .............. a lot of witty comments come across only as being snarky or sarcastic, or plain nasty.



The emoticon???

The addition of a smile or grin face to what might be seen as a threat (eg, my sending the cedar plank over to you) ....... is used to indicate "I'm only joking here"

In other words, it's mimicking the "body language".


The omission of an emoticon indicates you are serious about what you have said, and possibly could mean your threat.





sylvia




ps .......... my sending over a cedar plank is part of a long-running joke on this site!

Sylvia In real life, I believe in this maxim:

1. If you are upset by someone, write to them and discuss what they actually meant. Very often, that resolves the upset.
2. If you are still upset, discuss it with your closest friends first.
3. Only send an angry post to the community when you have failed to resolve it by 1 or 2.

I think this is the problem of this sort of chatting. It is very quick and once someone has got the wrong end of the stick, the argument flames up like a forest fire.

I do like a warm debate. I honestly do not dislike anyone on here at all. I always see the positive side , and everybody has strengths and weaknesses. I have enjoyed most of my intercourse, which has been very stimulating at times. And I have even enjoyed disagreeing with some posters. SueMaid and I had a good old biff-baff last night but feel we both resolved our differences amicably.

But I have often thought this last month "I am getting cross. Must send something back that reacts to that person immediately". And it escalates. Probably I am too slow and old for this type of instant debate, and I certainly don't think there is much encouragement to continue on here.

And I still have no idea about these emoticons. Posts sometimes threaten me with physical harm and there is a smiley face. I take that as a smile, but is it always?

:-)