Comments on: Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com

By: Judy Roush

Judy Roush — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:24:20 +0000

I just uploaded FTM 2010 and saw this notification a couple of days too late, but I’m really hoping you will repeat it. I’d like to attend the next one. Thanks, Judy

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:25:33 +0000

Elmor Re:# 93

I’ll agree that Ancestry is, overall, a great bargin; I have no quibble with the money involved.

We differ, however, on it being a quality product. The constant problems of new rollouts of any feature breaking some other features is more than adequate proof that their Quality Control is either lacking or missing entirely.

At one point someone from Ancestry mentioned they had “over 100″ beta testers… and seemed proud of the fact! They should have at least 10 times that many to do any meaningful testing at all.

By: Laura Dansbury

Laura Dansbury — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:39:40 +0000

#91 Thank you for attending the webinar and trying out some of the tips. You can see a blog post on hot keys at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/10/10/hot-keys-in-the-new-search-user-interface/.

By: Elmor C. Stephens

Elmor C. Stephens — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:23:51 +0000

I have been a member for almost 2 years which equals about $400.00 When I believe I am not getting my money worth I will quit and form my own Ancestry co correct all things I don’t have at the cost of 10s of thousands of dollars and get rich. Til then I will glean all I can and keep learning and ask positive questions leaving the negative ones to miserable people I think Ancestry.com is by fair a Quality product for the money. Not perfect but til I know everything I will keep my mouth shut. E.C. {Buddy Stephens

By: Reg

Reg — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:33:59 +0000

#86 Doesn’t sound like you read the comments or know much about project evaluation.

By: Katherine Dinsmore

Katherine Dinsmore — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:25:34 +0000

I watched the webinar last night with a friend, and we tried to use the hot key functions you mentioned. As yet, we have not been able to figure out how this works. We found the subject matter interesting, but feel you did not go into enough detail or show examples of how the hot keys work. We listened to that part of the webinar again and still are experiencing difficulty. Thank you for any information you can give.

By: Tony Cousins

Tony Cousins — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:58:34 +0000

Re # 89

John,

I strongly believe that if Ancestry ‘retire’ the old search, while the new search is almost unusable – they will also ‘retire’ a great many of their paying customers.

Take a look at The Genealogist site, OK it’s only UK but they allow an occupation search on census records – and it works

Another UK site is Find My Past, which beat Ancestry to the 1911 UK census, they have a great simple search engine – KISS is a great way to go.

TonyC

By: J. Fulmer

J. Fulmer — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:55:26 +0000

Earlier, in another blog, Anne inferred that Ancestry is incurring extra cost by keeping both search engines available. I’m sure they had intended by now to have “retired” the old search form. And I worry that they still might do it.

John

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:35:50 +0000

Richard Re:#87

You know it is bad when the Search seminar itself recommends NOT using the search form that appears on your Home Page!

It also shows that they know it is bad!

By: Richard Davis

Richard Davis — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:09:07 +0000

After having read all 80+ comments on this blog, a couple of things are obvious.
1. New Search is worthless as designed. I certainly have not been able to find anything, repeat underscore, anything using it. I don’t expect to. When a search for Fred Smith in Arkansas turns up as its first (best) match Joe Wroddzyk in New York, who was born 127 years after poor old Fred died, the inescapable conclusion is that the programmers were either drunk or incompetent…or both.
2. The accuracy of the search is immaterial. In modern corporate America, promotion and raises depend on the managers being able to present full and juicy “Accomplishments” for their annual reviews. By reporting that they have implemented a wonderful “New Search,” program, management is able to get promoted, make more money and advance their careers. Since it is exquisitely obvious that no one in senior management at Ancestry looks at, or cares about, the opinions of the actual users, management is entirely safe in doing this.
Just wait for what happens when–in quest of their next promotion/raise–they present the “new and improved” version of New Search.
I have begun searching for a replacement for the entire Ancestry/FTM complex.