Comments on: Announcing – New Web Search

By: Tanya

Tanya — Fri, 27 May 2011 02:37:28 +0000

For the problems of duplicates: I go to the list of people and look for duplicates. Click on each name and see if which one you wish to keep. Go to quick edit and add a keyboard symbol (I use *) before or after the first name.
This way I know which one to keep and can delete the duplicates. Remove the (*) when finished with your tree.
I have problems getting duplicate census dates on an ancestor even when I don’t check the box on hints. I look at the profile and have the same date 2 or more times with the same source.

By: Gentry Davies

Gentry Davies — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:14:34 +0000

Tony and Andy,

This is an important issue we’re aware of and will try to deal with as best we can. I think they are actually two separate issues.

Andy, you alluded to the first one which is “dynamic” URL’s that are generated when the main way to access a record is via a search engine. Allen County Deaths is a good example of this – everything is session based, the URL doesn’t change from search to search, so there is no way for us to send people to the record directly. We realize that sending someone to a search page is not the ideal user experience, but it’s the best we can do for now and it does make data searchable that Google doesn’t index. In the case that each record has a static/permanent URL we’ll of course try to send people to that page rather than the search form.

Tony the other issue which is what I assume you’re talking about, which is more about site reorganization, right? We’re working on ways to monitor whether links are still good so we can fix them as necessary. In my experience the sites that change the most often are smaller (less than 100,000 records) and html based, while the larger search engine based datasets are somewhat more constant, although this is definitely a generalization.

Great questions, thanks!

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Sat, 21 May 2011 02:03:24 +0000

Tony Re: #26

I’m curious, with no search function on the home page, how does one go about finding people once they are on the site?

By: Tony Cousins

Tony Cousins — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:27:20 +0000

Thanks Andy
– we use Gedhtree and like I said it regenerates the HTML pages and we don’t have a search function on our home page.

TonyC

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:42:42 +0000

Tony Re: #24

From what I have seen, if a site is using non-static pages then the link just goes to the home page of the site and then the user has to use that site’s search engine to find the person.

If you use the example person and do a search you will see that is what happens when you go to the Allen County website.

Brian made a post about it on one of the boards but I don’t remember which one.

By: Tony Cousins

Tony Cousins — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:06:54 +0000

We have our own family tree web site and publish at least twice a year. When we do the process regenerates all the HTML pages which means that any indexing can not be set in stone. How would Ancestry handle changes like this – if the site isn’t reindexed after a major update then people would be directed to the wrong pages. That would be just another snafu for Ancestry and the subscribers.

TonyC

By: download keylogger

download keylogger — Tue, 17 May 2011 10:27:24 +0000

It is always nice to read your post as having unique and informative content to read. Can you please tell this will really helpful for showing fast indexing of new site?

By: Pat Haley

Pat Haley — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:03:36 +0000

THANK YOU Carol A. H.!!!! No, I don’t like the new format. I was “raised” with the old one so I prefer it.

By: Ken Hinds

Ken Hinds — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:59:23 +0000

#15 Patsy:

Re your second issue:

The reason you get so many ridiculous results to your searches is that it is not matching on everything you enter.

On the search page, click “Advanced Search”. This gives you a new option: “Match all terms exactly”. Click this option and try your search again.

Without this option, if you search for Wilson Rigsby born in Kentucky, you get:

a: Everyone named Wilson Rigsby, regardless of birth place
b: Everyone named Wilson born in Kentucky, regardless of last name
c: Everyone named Rigsby born in Kentucky, regardless of first name

With the option, you get only Wilson Rigsby born in Kentucky.

Why “match all exactly” is not the default I simply cannot comprehend.

By: Carol A. H.

Carol A. H. — Sun, 15 May 2011 23:38:24 +0000

#19 Pat:

I’m assuming you dont’t like the NEW search and want to go back to the OLD search.

Click “Search” from the main menu bar.
On the far, far right near the top, in a teeny tiny font, will be “Go to Old/New Search.”
Click that and you will change to the other search mode.