Some people eat, sleep and chew gum, I do genealogy and write...

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Update to New FamilySearch

The last update to New FamilySearch was dated back in February, 2011. Now, almost six months later, within the past few days, another update was finally announced dated as of June, 2011. The changes deal mainly with further developments in the so-called dispute process. Previously, if you felt that information in the program was inaccurate or inappropriate, you could mark the entry with a dispute. The results were that the entry was marked with a circle with a slash through it. Also, once there was a dispute, no one could change the information. In the last update, new disputes were eliminated but the entry still appeared in the database. That is, the dispute symbols were still there.

FamilySearch implemented a Discussion area for each individual, where you could record any conflicting information.  Here is a screen shot showing the location of the Discussion link:


As an aside, I have put in some discussion topics on various individuals since the concept was introduced and have yet to have a response. Not much of a "discussion." But anyway, the newest update to New FamilySearch has moved all of the previous disputes to the Discussions. The announcement says:
The disputes are being moved by an automated process. This process began on 20 June 2011. It will take several weeks to complete.
This process will remove disputes individual by individual. Therefore, you may see some disputes until this process finishes.
If you find a dispute that you entered and the automated process has not yet moved it, you can still remove the dispute yourself. You can also edit the note associated with the dispute.
If you find a dispute that is preventing corrections, check this record in a few days or weeks, after the automated process has had more time to run. Once the dispute is moved, you might be able to make the corrections.
This change was anticipated a number of months ago and is not a surprise. The old disputes will appear in a section called legacy disputes. Presently, when you go into the program, there is nothing telling you that there may be either a discussion or a legacy dispute for any given individual which may be one reason why I have never gotten a response to my discussion entries. 

2 comments:

  1. must admit the discussion feature doesn't seem to be a great way to "collaborate" ... How does one "discuss" something when nobody even knows you are talking?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Still at a very early stage, needs lot of improvements and additions.

    ReplyDelete