4 Sep 2018 Family Tree update

[drepouille]

Anyone here want to share your opinions about the changes made to Family Tree this week?

FamilySearch’s newly released update to the person pages in Family Tree will make learning about your ancestors easier than ever before. Streamlined menus mean using the person page is now faster and more intuitive. New ways to view your ancestors’ lives and information, including maps and time lines, will expand your understanding and enable you to identify and fill in missing information more quickly.

https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/family-tree-change-person-page

[davesudweeks]

When I put on my "be nice" shirt, the best I can say is "it's a mess" and much harder to use than it was before. There are a few new features (the timeline is "cool" but I probably won't use it much) but the functionality has taken a huge hit.

My wife and I both tried to use it last evening and by and large we hate most of the changes. I suppose if we were using a cell phone for Family Search, it might be better because the old site never worked well on my tablet. I use a pc with a relatively large screen that is now mostly wasted space (and what's up with the mouse-type font size?).

I had adjusted the locations of the person page items to suit what I used (to put things I didn't need very often and the bottom of the screen to reduce scrolling) but no longer - it appears page format is set and unchangeable. Also, the old search page had your family member information at the top of the search results so it was handy to refer to to check against the results. Now I am expected to remember all the details or bounce back and forth between separate tabs checking information to see if the search result is the ancestor I'm looking for. When I click hints, there is no button to add them to my family member. I have to then navigate to the details page to get the add button so there are extra unneeded clicks for no extra value.

Sorry for the mostly negative post, but hey, you asked... After the frustrations yesterday evening, I don't even want to use family search now and I normally use it daily.

[drepouille]

Wow! It's like you were in my house last night, my wife and I exchanged very similar complaints.

I figured out how to attach Hint sources -- click the down-arrow (chevron), and then use the mouse scroll wheel to scroll all the way down to the Review and Attach button.

We really don't care for the Source Linker. I actually had to restart my Chrome browser to get it to work the first time. I keep hoping against hope that they will make the Source Linker more like Ancestry, so we can easily copy specific facts from the source to the person record. Nope. Not this time.

It makes you wonder how many beta testers there were, and what comments did they have?
Can we please have a do over?

[drepouille]

I don't even want to use family search now and I normally use it daily.

Wow again! That is exactly what I was thinking as I headed off to bed last night! I use Family Search several hours every day, but now I feel like taking a vacation from it for a month or two.

[davesudweeks]

I will force myself to stay with it for the sake of the work, but I have enough names reserved for ordinances that I don't need to do much more of that for awhile. I also index every day and will be indexing more and using other parts of FamilySearch less, I'm afraid. I only hope they will listen and fix the problems they have created with this update.

Some of the issues are just the steep learning curve trying to figure out the new way you have to do things and I will adjust to that over time. Some things are just plain broken now - they need to listen to constructive feedback and fix them. There are some interesting comments on the FamilySearch blog (when you click the feedback link from the person page).

[gershonite]

There are several things that I find MOST annoying:
1. People change things without consulting the person who originated the record
2. Adding names to families that are obviously not related. For example. John and Mary Brown lived in Surrey England in the 18th century. Someone decides to add a child all because the child has the surname Brown and the parents names are John and Mary. Forget the fact that this child was born 150 yrs AFTER the parents died and the child's birth was in the USA.
3. Members decide to reserve individuals Temple work even though they are 21st cousins 100 times removed [Exagerated I know but you get the drift] OR sometimes not even related. They do not want to do the work themselves but reserve it on the Temple file AND when you ask them to release it as the individual is your Grandfather, they either ignore your request or blatently refuse. I had this done to me and SL had to sort it out.
4. Do not have the courtesy to answer emails.
5. Allowing changes to be made.

I now no longer trust anything on FS unless I can prove it myself. Some just think because it's on the site, then it's 100% kosher. Well it isn't.

[aebrown]

There are several things that I find MOST annoying:

(I'm not sure why you posted this in this topic -- I don't see any issue you raised that is directly related to the 4 Sep 2018 update. But I'll try to help you anyway with some responses.)

Most of your issues stem from your discomfort with an open-edit model. FamilySearch is built on a model similar to Wikipedia, where anyone can edit most things. The theory, which mostly holds true, is that eventually the best data will survive because many people contribute. The best data is backed by sources.

I have also been frustrated with changes made by people who are not very careful. But I look at it as a balancing act. I have benefited from the contributions of thousands of people. In an entire lifetime I couldn't begin to gather and document the persons and conclusions on Family Tree that are related to me. The pain I occasionally have to endure because of incorrect changes is minuscule compared with the blessings that have come to me because of all the wonderful additions and changes made by so many more people.

1. People change things without consulting the person who originated the record

There is no requirement to consult with the person who originated the record. The creator of a record has no better claim to that record than anyone else. I often create records that I am fully aware are not in my direct family, but I am getting a family started or filled out so that others can come after me and add more details. I don't expect to be contacted before anyone makes changes, and in most cases I would strongly prefer not to be.

2. Adding names to families that are obviously not related. For example. John and Mary Brown lived in Surrey England in the 18th century. Someone decides to add a child all because the child has the surname Brown and the parents names are John and Mary. Forget the fact that this child was born 150 yrs AFTER the parents died and the child's birth was in the USA.

This is unfortunate. I agree that it is bothersome, but we just patiently clean it up.

3. Members decide to reserve individuals Temple work even though they are 21st cousins 100 times removed [Exagerated I know but you get the drift] OR sometimes not even related. They do not want to do the work themselves but reserve it on the Temple file AND when you ask them to release it as the individual is your Grandfather, they either ignore your request or blatently refuse. I had this done to me and SL had to sort it out.

If they are not related, then they are violating the temple policy they specifically agreed to when they reserved the ordinance. That does happen, but it's relatively rare.

4. Do not have the courtesy to answer emails.

That happens in every walk of life; I don't see FamilySearch being substantially different from any other situation where I try to contact people by email.

5. Allowing changes to be made.

I don't understand this point. Changes have to be made for improvements to occur. I would be willing to bet that you have made changes yourself.

I now no longer trust anything on FS unless I can prove it myself. Some just think because it's on the site, then it's 100% kosher. Well it isn't.

This is the reason for sources. Responsible editors justify their work with sources. And I see that this is happening a lot, for which I am grateful. Those things that haven't been documented are opportunities for us to add sources and justifications.

[gershonite]

Apologies for voicing an opinion. My thoughs still stand.

[drepouille]

Another weird behavior from the 4 Sep 2018 FamilySearch update is that I can double-click on the person's name in the Vitals section to open the Edit Name dialog -- but I can't do that for any other field in the Vitals section. Inconsistent behavior leads to training and usage difficulty.

As for your comments, gershonite, I have heard the same from many FamilySearch users. If you do not like the Open Edit (Wiki) model, then you should create your preferred family tree using a FamilySearch partner site or app, and then submit your family tree here:
https://www.familysearch.org/mytrees/trees

[aebrown]

Apologies for voicing an opinion.

There's no need to apologize. Voicing opinions is what we do here on the LDSTech Forum. In my response I was simply voicing my opinion.

My thoughts still stand.

I was hoping to have a discussion. That way we might be able to learn together. But if you have nothing more to say, that's fine, too.