More about uploading photos to FamilySearch Family Tree

I got the following comment from Anonymous recently and decided to elaborate with a response:

So, I've had no luck uploading pictures to FamilySearch on my Apple computer. It looks like the website has changed a few things in the last week, but the program is still not working right on my Apple. There are untagged pictures I've uploaded showing (with exclamation points) when I look at "My Photos," but when I click on the exclamation point, the screen that loads and should allow me to tag them comes up basically blank. I tried both on Safari and Firefox. If you have an Apple and have been successful, what browser and version of that browser are you using? (I'm still on an older Firefox 3.6.18 and don't want to update.) Thanks for any help you can give me.

I guess the first question is whether or not Anonymous has registered and has access to both FamilySearch.org and FamilySearch.org/photos? If you haven’t signed into both programs this could be the problem. But it appears that this user is having technical problems with the program itself.

The two programs are linked together and if a photo is uploaded to the Photos program, a thumbnail should show up for that person in Family Tree. The Photos program is still in Beta test and so changes are to be expected.  I have noticed some features, such a setting the default photo, which have not worked well, but seem to be working at the time of this post.

I tried uploading three photos as I was writing this post and all three uploaded successfully. I am using the Google Chrome Bowser Version 26.0.1410.43 but I also use Firefox and Safari. Interestingly, the smallest of the three photos took the longest to load. The comment is correct, the photos show a red exclamation point after loading. This tells the user that the photos have yet to be tagged to any one individual.

After clicking on the photo (it is not necessary to click on the red tag) I get the tagging screen and was able to tag the individuals in the photo. However, the program now has you go to the Tagged Person screen to connect the person to Family Tree and to do any editing. It is helpful to have the person’s ID number when you try to connect the person to Family Tree, especially if the person has a common name.

For one of my ancestors, George Jarvis LWYL-M7G, I note that several copies of the exact same photo have been loaded into the program. Apparently, I cannot edit the duplicates and only the people who have uploaded the photos can remove them. I also note with George Jarvis LWYL-M7G that there is at least one “Restricted” photo, meaning it does not conform to the FamilySearch standards or appears to be copyrighted. I am not sure how these issues are going to be resolved with various family members submitting photos.

In short, using an Apple iMac computer and Chrome, I had no trouble uploading three photos and tagging them to the people in Family Tree. I can only assume that the commentator’s issues lie elsewhere. My best guess is that there is something about the photos he is uploading, either the file type or size that is making a problem.