Comments on: Temporary Site Problems with Ancestry Member Trees

By: Virginia

Virginia — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:44:11 +0000

#499 Elizabeth
If you do not get a response from this inquirey…post on the Ancestry Message Board:

Message Boards…Topics…Genealogy Software…Family Tree Maker software

I would suggest in your post to include not only what version of Family Tree Maker you use but also include what operating system you have (i.e. Windows 7 or XP, etc.) There are many computer savy posters who respond quickly to questions such as yours.

Good Luck…do not panic…

Virginia

By: AMBenton

AMBenton — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:13:47 +0000

I’ve been trying to pay for a membership for the entire week. I can NOT call because during business hours I’m at work. So, please update me when I can make a purchase for membership online. thanks.
AMBenton

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:28:29 +0000

Is anyone else having problems seeing their trees in Family Tree Maker 2010? After a few months with no time to work on them, I opened the program and my trees are gone! When I contacted Ancestry, I was told I was the only one that this has happened to, and something on my computer must have deleted them? Needless to say I have lost countless hours of research and entering, and am hoping for some solution? I had not backed up since June, so have lost quite a bit. Any suggestions would be very welcome!

By: Glenda

Glenda — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:05:04 +0000

Thanks for the positive suggestions Bee. Much appreciated.

By: long time user

long time user — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:53:58 +0000

#493 Bee:

Don’t give up. Call Ancestry and get help. Insist on it. If you don’t like the person you talk with, ask to speak to another person or a supervisor. Call again if necessary. You usually do not get the same person. The call is toll free.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:08:32 +0000

From the 21st Jan 2011 I have been unable to access my pedigree chart, it loads with errors on the page, and I am unable to navigate anywhere in Ancestry at all.5 days have now passed, and my chances to do further research have been held up. I have attempted to access through ancestry.au, and that page loads blank,again with no abilty to go anywhere in the site. I know that there have been changes to ancestry and I am trying to understand the difficulties that may have occurred. i would really like an update on the present situation. ALso do we get days credited to our account for lost time when the site is down like this?

By: W Clayton

W Clayton — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:42:09 +0000

Inter Library Loan.
The most under-utilized facet of genealogy is the use of Inter-Library Loan (ILL hereafter) in the mode of “Copy Request”. 99% of people who try it do not know how to do it properly and after a short time give up on it because they do not get any results. They did not learn the magic of “Copy Request”.
The greatest bulk of Genealogy of very old records (once one gets beyond on-line databases) is in 2 types of books. 1st is small printing runs of 1 – 25 copies that are mostly in Libraries of localities the books were written about. 2nd are the more recently written books prevented by Copyright from being on public databases. Almost all of these books are accessible by ILL. They are mostly not available for Loan, just like my own Libraries Genealogy Reference Books. Two exceptions are the NGS Collection at the PL of St Louis and the Mid Continent Public Library of Independence MO. When I get the book actually sent it costs $5.00 to cover shipping & handling. However, the vast majority of Libraries will copy a limited number of pages from these books for FREE. There is a system you must use to be successful and it involves iterative requests. Knowing how to phrase the Requests is critical
So what is ILL? Almost every library in the USA has their Card Catalog in a computer database. All these libraries have joined together and merged their Computer Card Catalogs into a Database called World Cat. In my library I can sign onto the Libraries Website from my computer at home. I then maneuver to the link to World Cat, fill in my Library Card Number and select my Library System’s Name from the drop down Menu and I am at the search page. I usually search by keyword, let’s say “Campbell County Virginia Marriage” and hit Search. The Tabs at the upper middle show you there are 54 hits, (30 books, 21 archival, 2 visual and 1 article). I normally do not just limit the views to books. If my own Library has the book, I can go use it there and cannot get via ILL and I get a message highlighted in Green that says available in my Library. I find I find “Campbell County, Virginia Marriage Bonds, 1781-1854” with the Author, etc and note it is not available locally.
Double click on “Borrow this item from another library”. Fill out the required items on a on-line form plus your e-mail (to send you an e-mail if they find out the item can’t be borrowed). Select your most convenient Branch under both the “Dept & the Pick-up location” boxes in case the actual book gets sent. Under Max Cost list $5.00 (my libraries actual Book Borrow cost) to prevent a very small group of Libraries who use copies to make money for little stuff of little value.
This is the most important step in the process! In the comments box say “COPY REQUEST! It is unlikely this rare book is available for loan. Please copy the Title Page, the Index Pages for (Surnames you want). If listed in the Index, please copy actual text pages for … (a few specific people you are most interested in). Thanks!”
Make sure no individual ILL request looks like you are asking for more than 25 pages for one copy request. That is the arbitrary limit that most Libraries will allow for an ILL copy request.
A few smaller Libraries still make you use a old fashioned “fill out form” at the local Libraries, but most larger ones do not.
Two to 8 weeks later your copies arrive. After your copy arrives, take the Surname Index Pages, your Genealogy Data and decide what other pages you want from the Surname Index. Sign back onto World Cat, go back to the book and “Borrow item from another library” and say something like:
“COPY REQUEST! I know from a previous Inquiry that this rare book is not available for actual Loan. I would appreciate copies of pages ….. (limiting to 25)”.
I have a write-up with other hints and suggestions to improve your overall success. If you want a copy, go to an Ancestry.com Surname Board. I suggest Clayton. Search for Author WClayton43 and send me a Ancestry Connection Service Msg and list your direct e-mail and I will send you one (& I will never use your e-mail for any other purpose).

By: W Clayton

W Clayton — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:40:27 +0000

TOO HOOKED on Ancestry.com on-line Trees?
I had completely missed this blog until way after the blog had 442 Msgs posted during a 6 hr and 43 minute period from the original post and midnight of the 13th. That is most amazing and points out to me that I have a personal opinion that too many folks have gotten far too dependent on Ancestry’s on-line Trees. Sure there are some “kind of neat” things about having an on-line Tree that you can add pictures and link Ancestry based records to, but folks might stop and think that maybe you might want not to be so hooked on Ancesry site as some of us seem to be? I have an on-line Tree at another site and miss not one bit at all being so linked to Ancestry I cannot do my research without Ancestry being up and running. People did genealogy for decades and even centuries before there was an on-line. And it seems to me being a very long time subscriber to Ancestry that about the time of developing the on-line trees with pictures and records attached was about the time of the debacle with FTM 2008 that is still not fixed. We can all do real and fun genealogy without having an on-line Ancestry Tree!
It was a flash of brilliance of someone or a few to realize how people could get hooked on Attaching pictures and records (obviously requiring folks to keep buying a subscription to be able to see the records) and flashing hints. But there is not a single one of you with all that that has one bit more fun than I do spending a serious amount of time doing genealogy! And I do none of those 3 things. I appreciate and value my Ancestry Subscription. But it is for finding records! It does that well. The marriage of Ancestry on-line trees with pictures/records and FTM 2008 was where it all went in the ditch.
And one of the key things I use to get stuff and get true results is using Inter-Library Loan. I am going to follow this Msg with a brief outline to get results that way for FREE if you do it right. And you can get much stuff that will not be on Ancestry.com for decades.

By: BEE

BEE — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:23:04 +0000

In other words, don’t bother calling “customer support” about FTM, and just…..FORGET about it!!!

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:17:36 +0000

The truly telling thing is this…

Check any other software user to user message board or forum; they are filled with “How do I do xxxx” types of posts while the FTM message board is filled with “How do I fix xxxx” types of posts.

I firmly believe that, were it not for FTM’s close connection with Ancestry, FTM would not survive as a software company.