tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post3139169590979110955..comments2024-03-07T23:20:49.790-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Hear us out: FamilySearch is Corrupting Sourced Entries; Needs to Stop IMMEDIATELYJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-54462734334467993892016-04-23T16:26:11.407-07:002016-04-23T16:26:11.407-07:00There well may be a way to trace the links, but I ...There well may be a way to trace the links, but I do not know what it is. Sorry. James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-42871961081977319432016-04-23T10:28:24.474-07:002016-04-23T10:28:24.474-07:00is there any way to trace these "junk" l...is there any way to trace these "junk" links? Because I recently found a source (that I didn't know was possible until now) that I'd really like to use, and I only have this: urn:familysearch:source:3244665695 to go by. Is there any way? Any at all? I've already tried googling its possible source, and come up with nothing so far.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09511302288783722112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-66408289407335111932016-04-23T10:25:36.614-07:002016-04-23T10:25:36.614-07:00yes, but is there any way to trace or follow one o...yes, but is there any way to trace or follow one of these "links"? Because I found a resource that I'd really like to use (that I didn't know was available) but it's source format is this: urn:familysearch:source:3244665695<br />and I've tried googling its possible source, but I'm coming up with nothingAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09511302288783722112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-5704853847536693812014-10-23T22:59:50.348-07:002014-10-23T22:59:50.348-07:00I just found a number like this in my family histo...I just found a number like this in my family history on familysearch. It wouldn't link me to the personal family story. Could it really be gone forever? That is terrible!! Please help! :(Emileehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18245772701090391186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-45985459810586454942014-08-18T19:15:14.328-07:002014-08-18T19:15:14.328-07:00No, familysearch wants everyone to collaborate, so...No, familysearch wants everyone to collaborate, so you can change whatever you want as long as you are not being intentionally malacious and there are no repercussions. And this issue happens all the time, but it is not the issue Mr Tanner is talking about, as I posted this in the wrong post section on this site.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-41041319456216955922014-08-11T10:11:34.072-07:002014-08-11T10:11:34.072-07:00The answer to your question is yes, you can report...The answer to your question is yes, you can report abuse, there is a link on every individual's detail page. But this was happening from FamilySearch. It is also old news and not a problem presently.James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-13254579230229358792014-08-11T09:19:53.667-07:002014-08-11T09:19:53.667-07:00Although I've never had to do this, can't ...Although I've never had to do this, can't you report the person for abuse and FamilySearch will bar them from making changes?Laurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09312025277661530407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-7862269532848000582014-08-10T18:04:34.069-07:002014-08-10T18:04:34.069-07:00I have stopped updating the profiles that I have e...I have stopped updating the profiles that I have entered on family search and only use it for research now. There are too many people who don't know what they are doing, constantly creating havoc. It is essentially the wild west. I had one person tell me that they merged all the profiles because they were "merging profiles together to cut down on the number of profiles per person". It didn't matter that many of them weren't good matches. And because they weren't good matches, they then did many deletions, date changes, etc. as well. And so multiple non-related people get merged into one useless profile. When I pointed this out and provided the sources that showed the separate ancestral lines that had been glommed together, the answer was that " If it isn't correct you can always fix it.", in another words, they weren't going to fix the hundred or so incorrect mods/merges. And this is not the only problem merger I have seen, just the worst.<br />My tree is now related to almost every King or Queen that ever lived and even, amazingly, can be traced back to Noah, at a point where someone skipped a few thousand years and made Noah someone's 's parent. <br />I am going to try wikitree going forward, they seem to be a little more restrictive about people just randomly changing profiles. But I will still use this for research, for that it is very helpful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-91852021332796609032014-04-02T11:12:02.240-07:002014-04-02T11:12:02.240-07:00One of the common complaints on the boards at http...One of the common complaints on the boards at https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch is how good FamilySearch is at hiding things on their web site.<br /><br />Here is one notice of the feedback boards that I was able to find:<br />https://familysearch.org/ask/productSupport#/Get-Satisfaction-Feedback-on-familysearch-org-1381815203425Gordon Colletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501621351412089615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-51722082195808673982014-04-01T08:59:03.709-07:002014-04-01T08:59:03.709-07:00Hi Stan,
So nice to hear from you. I remember di...Hi Stan, <br /><br />So nice to hear from you. I remember discussing your wife's research with you a couple years ago on an article on Keepapitchinin about <a href="http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2013/01/10/in-which-we-bid-farewell-to-newfamilysearch-and-welcome-family-tree/" rel="nofollow">sourcing Family Tree</a>. I'm glad to hear you're doing well and keeping busy with the genealogy.<br /><br />If weeding out and reconfiguring the numerous blank citations is the price we need to pay in order to make sure that genealogical records like yours and your wife's make it onto Family Tree, I'm more than happy to do so, and assume that most others would feel the same.<br /><br />I explained elsewhere that what seems to be the most obvious underlying issue here is the lack of communication. If we as users could be informed that changes like this were going to be occurring and why, I think there would be a lot less stress on both sides.<br /><br />Best wishes!Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-10520713735688472692014-04-01T03:10:52.351-07:002014-04-01T03:10:52.351-07:00I can see those help forums when I paste in your l...I can see those help forums when I paste in your links, Gordon, but I just spent half an hour going through the FamilySearch website from the user side, clicking through the Help section, clicking through all the options on the Site Map, and I cannot find those forums. <br /><br />That's pretty well hidden, and I'm surprised that in all the time I've helped others use the program and used it myself -- community history and biography writing is my primary work right now and sometimes I use FamilySearch and Ancestry and other research sites daily -- I had no idea that existed.Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-51296296012531406512014-03-31T23:08:45.767-07:002014-03-31T23:08:45.767-07:00I am one of those who pleaded with Ron Tanner to m... I am one of those who pleaded with Ron Tanner to migrate sources entered into NFS by individuals to Family Tree, as I have in my database over 27,000 names, mostly compiled by descendancy research, with 1453 Sources and 136,337 Citations transferred from my PAF program to NFS over the years by many, many small GEDCOMS. <br /> In discussing the issue of migrated Legacy sources, I think we should distinguish between the type of issue we have with the records in Family Tree for our pioneer ancestors compared to the records in Family Tree for earlier generations.<br /> Presently I am reviewing/upgrading the records in Family Tree for the early New England Colonial direct ancestral lines for my wife and myself. I seldom have found a source in the new format attached to a record of an ancestor born before 1800, so have been adding sources in the new format and such biographical items as I can locate. I have used the computer over 30 hours a week on this project for the past year, finally completing the upgrading for my own colonial New England ancestors and barely getting a good start on my wife's lines (she did amazing research for over 60 years and has shelves of bulging binders she has compiled with a research log for each family and copies made from books, articles and vital records , but very little of it is in her PAF program and almost none as yet in Family Tree).<br /> At my age (84), there is no way that I can do a similar review of the sources for the thousands of collateral relatives that I added to NFS over the years and so am relying upon the sources that are migrated to Family Tree to inform those who <br />come after me as to basis I used in compiling each record.<br /> Incidentally, Jim Tanner, we have some similarities in our backgounds. I too am a retired lawyer, but took a seminar about preparing to be a trial lawyer while at HLS in the mid-1950s and knew that I did not have the stomach to be a trial lawyer. I started doing research in 1952 as a young man serving in the Air Force with time on my hands since I did not frequent the local bars, and I took a correspondence course from Archibald Bennett. I began corresponding with and visiting, when possible, elderly cousins of my grandparents and acquired materials which have been of great help to me over the years.<br /> Since my retirement,we served on the staff of the Utah Valley Family History Center (now BYU FHC), then, after my mother passed away, we were able to serve a full-time mission and five years of subsequent service missions at the Family History Library. Currently I am the director for our stake at a tri-stake family history center in Provo and for the past 18 years, except while on our full-time mission, I have been a trainer at the Utah South Area Family History Center which has a wonderful week-long course each month where each student attends a class and then does exercises at the computer with the assistance of a trainer assigned to that student.<br /> I read your blog e-mails faithfully, but it is more difficult to find if there are comments.<br /> Appreciatively, R. Stanley Hall<br />hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08547724980538738881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-27755366545811660882014-03-31T19:20:23.130-07:002014-03-31T19:20:23.130-07:00It is disappointing that the "What's New&...It is disappointing that the "What's New" link on the FT pages goes to the FS-Blog rather than to a site dedicated to listing what is new in the FT programming and operations.<br /><br />On the getsatisfaction.com site it can be like pulling teeth to actually get answers to questions such as why are reversions of corrected family groups (such as re-additions of wrong parents/spouses/children, sometimes more than once), attributed to "FamilySearch" without explanation, plaguing the FT?<br />Geoloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12050268303916428230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-36224138817748640052014-03-31T12:25:18.118-07:002014-03-31T12:25:18.118-07:00I do agree that the Family Tree people don’t alway...I do agree that the Family Tree people don’t always do a great job explaining new changes and that it would be great if there was a page on the site just dedicated to listing everything that has been modified. All the little nudges, not just the major improvement. I also think that Family Tree is more susceptible to the law of unintended consequences since, as mentioned above, frequent small changes are made without much interruption in service. However, the getsatisfaction.com/familysearch pages do seem to catch a lot of these changes. The people commenting there can get very vocal if a change causes a problem.<br /><br />For example, this issue with sources you are discussing has been talked about for months there. Here are some of the threads where it has come up:<br /><br />https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/legacy_nfs_sources_appearing_when_i_requested_they_not_be_moved_over<br /><br />https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/what_is_status_of_individual_sources_created_in_paf_and_added_to_nfs_by_gedcom_they_do_not_seem_to<br /><br />https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch/topics/if_i_create_a_source_in_ft_will_i_be_able_to_add_an_uploaded_scanned_document_to_it_whenGordon Colletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501621351412089615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-55880773807843999292014-03-31T09:54:03.929-07:002014-03-31T09:54:03.929-07:00This all illustrates a fundamental issue with Fami...This all illustrates a fundamental issue with FamilySearch - an inability to communicate effectively. <br /><br />Just take the discussions on https://getsatisfaction.com/familysearch about the "standardised" placenames and dates. It was a complete revelation to me that these things existed - yet they affect what I'm doing and how. Nobody should respond "Read the manual" or "Watch the video" - this is the 21st century for goodness sake. If you need to explain the way a single screen works, it ISN'T WORKING. (Explaining the background, that's different).<br /><br />These updates were coming over branded with people's names - that implies the named people were immediately responsible. Clearly(?) they weren't. Some relatives in my FSFT data keep getting alternative names that duplicate their primary name. Apparently "FamilySearch" did it. Which means? If Amy's updates had been branded something like "Bulk Update of Old Sources From nFS", this would have been clearer - and the extended text could then refer to the people who were the original source. Oh hang on - what does this remind me of? Citing sources? Naming the "source of the source"? Err, shouldn't these things be second nature to FS? <br /><br />Now I need to point out that communicating effectively and simply are NOT easy things to do. I know, been there, done that. Got the scars as well as the T-shirt. <br /><br />But please, FS, please try to make it clearer than you do... Communicate with us. And don't try to hide detail in case you frighten the horses.<br /><br />AdrianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-71782585958158081142014-03-31T08:55:13.306-07:002014-03-31T08:55:13.306-07:00Before FamilySearch engineers started migrating so...Before FamilySearch engineers started migrating sources over from new.FamilySearch, I was asked if I wanted the ones I had put there and I said no. By then I had spent considerable time attaching sources in FamilyTree and figured I would just end up with duplicate sources.<br /><br />At RootsTech, Ron Tanner (see https://rootstech.org/about/videos/ if it works today) mentioned that they still had a million sources that needed to be transferred that they had "forgotten" about. Or something to that effect.<br /><br />After RootsTech I started seeing a few of these mostly useless Legacy sources being migrated into my Source Box. They are a nuisance but easy to delete. I just wrote to FamilySearch about that but have not heard back yet.<br /><br />I love Family Tree. I am sorry to hear about people having bad experiences with tangled family trees. I have some too but will not tackled them until nFS is disconnected. <br /><br />I think eventually Family Tree will be a wonderful resource for everyone. The ease of creating and attaching sources and uploading images of documents & pictures makes it fun to use - and addictive, I might add. <br /><br />I am finding it easy to show people how to use it and am receiving lots of positive feedback about people reserving ordinances for their family members who need them. And they are having marvelous experiences in the Temple doing them.<br /><br />We all need to be patient and give Feedback when needed, to help make Family Tree better and better.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01572739124200052085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-70146767248356862052014-03-31T07:26:33.532-07:002014-03-31T07:26:33.532-07:00It is very hard to tell if these changes are being...It is very hard to tell if these changes are being made by a program or being done individually by volunteers assisting with the transfer. The changes seem to come at random times and appear to apply to only selected individuals which would indicate that they are being done by individuals and not a program. James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-61113700394346757622014-03-31T07:21:50.823-07:002014-03-31T07:21:50.823-07:00Thanks, Gordon, for tracking that down. Until now ...Thanks, Gordon, for tracking that down. Until now all these changes had happened under the name of FamilySearch, so it was puzzling suddenly seeing names. And why are these sources not going under "Notes"?Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-484891497223650152014-03-31T07:01:54.463-07:002014-03-31T07:01:54.463-07:00Cathy, like my father said, please let us know how...Cathy, like my father said, please let us know how I could have found out what was going on. Where would I look? Where did FamilySearch explain what these sources were and what issues might arise as they were migrated over? <br /><br />Seriously, I'd really like to know, since you have just made some pretty offensive complaints here.<br /><br />The process of transferring NFS sources was not mentioned on the FS blog that I ever noticed, and although I've emailed a long list of people who made the NFS changes, not one has replied to identify who they were or where the sources had come from. So, perhaps the first two paragraphs of my post were incorrect (but I don't know that yet) but I did state in the very first words of the post that that part was an assumption. (That's what "as far as we can tell" means.)<br /><br />Despite its blog, many of the workings of FamilySearch are opaque. There are very few ways to find out what is going on at any given point in time.<br /><br />Part of the systematic and ongoing problem for users of Family Tree is that the development team needs to work on it as people are using it, and when changes are happening, we're still using it, and tend to get upset when years' worth of sources disappear or other glitches happen. <br /><br />I do believe that they'll take care of it, but it does take time, and we need to let them know what problems we're seeing, and sometimes let them know in strong language.Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-41374713173840405842014-03-31T06:54:37.114-07:002014-03-31T06:54:37.114-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-19953179296658585182014-03-31T06:45:43.794-07:002014-03-31T06:45:43.794-07:00Oh, FamilySearch Family Tree is a great program. T...Oh, FamilySearch Family Tree is a great program. The theory behind it -- a single unified family tree -- is a wonderful idea. <br /><br />Most problems are easily solved or involve negotiation between family members, which is not a bad thing, since it usually makes the genealogist take a second look at the line in question, and question their own conclusions. (No one is perfect, not even the best-trained genealogist, and all of us make mistakes.)<br /><br />The problems usually pale in comparison to the great benefits of the program, and when problems arise, FamilySearch usually takes care of them quickly.<br /><br />Overall, I've had a great experience using it, and the fact that it is free and open to anyone to use and is based around the sharing of sources and reliable information should eventually make it a great treasure trove of reliable information.Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-6301869836142142702014-03-31T06:39:07.202-07:002014-03-31T06:39:07.202-07:00Someone asked me yesterday what my blog post meant...Someone asked me yesterday what my blog post meant. She could tell I sounded irked, but didn't understand the technical details. I explained that many problems that show up while using Family Search are pertinent only to the individual line, such as family disagreements over genealogical details, problems with using merge, or the need to reclaim ordinance reservations made under a previous system. Those usually can be solved by a simple note to FamilySearch, where a friendly volunteer will help resolve the issue.<br /><br />Other problems, like the one described in this post, seem to involve system-wide changes or institutional attempts to solve an existing problem. This change seemed to be creating the potential for far-reaching corruption of data in the system, and needed to be brought to the attention of FamilySearch immediately. Perhaps they already knew about the problem. Perhaps they didn't. Perhaps it was actually limited to this one entry. Perhaps it was widespread. How could we tell? None of this was mentioned on the FamilySearch blog. (Which I read consistently.)<br /><br />So, there are a few ways of getting immediate attention for an issue like this, and writing a blog post like this (not that anyone at FamilySearch reads my blog) followed by my dad reprinting it on his blog (which they seem to ) is one of them.Amy Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04037263182287268748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-9804443913692750422014-03-31T06:33:26.960-07:002014-03-31T06:33:26.960-07:00It sounds like there was more than a misunderstand...It sounds like there was more than a misunderstanding on our part. I have been constantly supporting and teaching about FamilySearch for years now. There is a lot more to the issue than the problems of the last few days. If anyone is discouraged it is people like us who are trying to use the program every day and have things happening without any notice or explanation. We have yet to have even one statement about the situation from FamilySearch. How are we supposed to "investigate carefully" when they do not respond to our inquiries? Any suggestions?James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-29440694215800424072014-03-30T22:31:01.307-07:002014-03-30T22:31:01.307-07:00Well, look at all the damage this blog has done, d...Well, look at all the damage this blog has done, discouraging folks from using FamilySearch Family Tree, when really James and Amy just didn't really investigate carefully what was being done. Shame on you! Read Gordon Collett's comment again above. Try to be a little more responsible in the future.Cathy Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10461484882494138496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-10257065876012325712014-03-30T12:54:32.410-07:002014-03-30T12:54:32.410-07:00Yes, we are all waiting for the final shoe to drop...Yes, we are all waiting for the final shoe to drop from NFS. James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.com