Online Family Trees (OFT) at Ancestry Transitioning

Ancestry____logo2.bmpI’ve been out of the office for a bit so we have some catching up to do this week. A couple weeks ago, Ancestry announced that the Online Family Tree program that has been in use since 1999 is being phased out. But if you have data in OFT, it isn’t going away just yet. You’ll have until March 2008 to migrate your tree(s) over to the newer Ancestry Member Tree platform that was launched in August 2006.

Kenny Freestone has posted more information on the Ancestry blog, and since the original post has added answers to some common questions and concerns posted by users.

1/10/08 — Apologies for the incomplete sentence. In my haste to catch up, I must have neglected to proofread this post. I’d also like to apologize to Gary Collins, whose comments triggered the blog’s spam filter. We learned today that back to back links, without text between them will trigger the filter. I added some text between them and his post can now be read below. If you have concerns or questions about the upcoming change, I suggest you check out the Ancestry blog at the links below, and in Gary’s comment below.

Juliana

9 thoughts on “Online Family Trees (OFT) at Ancestry Transitioning

  1. When I originally put my family tree online (entered tediously by hand to make sure there were no errors passed on). I posted it as a backup and so that others could see what I have found. I have added to it as I found new information. I don’t want to try to transfer my tree to the new tree since I am not a computer expert(besides Ancestry should have done it for me). I personally do not want to attach someone’s family tree to mine until I check their facts and I don’t need any fancy functions. I’d like a note place so viewers can see important information, and I DO need a way to contact the submitter with any questions I may have. Just leave the tree a simple online tree that loads quickly and let us contact each other to make our own world tree.

  2. A couple weeks ago, Ancestry announced that the Online Family Tree program that has been in use since 1999.

    We need the rest of the sentence..??

  3. This contains two (2) incomplete sentences, which obscure the message. Suggest a good editor, or even use of GrammarCheck!

  4. I hope you are not getting this information too complicated! You already have deleted email addresses of many of those who submitted trees and now we have to send a message through your server. I have been a member of Ancestry for many years and appreciate all the infor. it contains but if it becomes too difficult to migrate around in it, what use is it to we users?

  5. Quote: “But they aren’t going away just yet. You’ll have until March 2008 to migrate them over to the newer Ancestry Member Tree platform that was launched in August 2006”

    Does this mean that all of this hard work will just be trashed and forgotten after March 2008? Many of us have used some of these trees as a reference source and linked to them. We have “helped” those that developed the tree to verify the information. This move does not seem like progress, just the opposite. I hope to see more clarification on this proposal.

  6. Neither of the links in the blog will work. Both pages come up blank. What can one do to access them?

  7. I think I have done what you said to do. I have in the past, been locked out of my data, or had it duplicated and could not reverse the problem. If you lose my data that took months to enter, I am outa here, never to return. Do not screw up my friends, my time is running out. You need to monitor these transfers very, very carefully.

    Ken Rouse Sr.

  8. Researchers concerned about the replacement proposed by Ancestry.com for the Online Family Tree (OFT) web interface for ancestry files by the Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) interface should consult extensive additional comments on four interrelated Ancestry.com blogs at

    Post from 12-19
    https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/12/19/Online-Family-Tree-Announcement

    Post from 12/21
    https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/12/21/online-family-tree-faqs/ https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/12/21/known-issues-with-online-family-tree-transition/

    And lastly, the post from 12/26
    https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/12/26/more-questions-and-answers-about-the-online-family-tree-transition/

    Sincerely,
    Gary Collins

  9. I use Ancestry to try to research my ancestors. I’m not a computer qeek. And this is the first I’ve seen about this & had a inkling of what it means. But it sounds like it’s going to make Ancestry.com extremely difficult for a novice to try to research family history. I don’t have a lot of time to spend in front of the computer, but when I do I expect to be able to understand the Ancestry site. If this understanding goes away or access to information becomes difficult to find, like one of your other people said, I’m out of here.

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