Online Family Tree Announcement from Ancestry.com

The Generations Network, owners of Ancestry.com and of the Online Family Tree system, are announcing some major changes. Here is the recent announcement:

Since 1999, our Online Family Tree system has helped almost 2 million people build family trees, upload GEDCOM files and add their trees to Ancestry World Tree. We’ve maintained this system for some time, but the it’s finally become outdated and will soon be replaced with the Ancestry Member Tree system introduced in July 2006. We realize this is a bitter disappointment for some of you who have worked in our Online Family Tree system for years. This is an important step for us that lets us focus all our ability on creating one great system for everyone to use. At nearly 8 years old, Online Family Tree is an ancient product (in internet years anyway), and we feel it is important to move everyone to the new system while this one is still running. If we prolonged this, it would be much more difficult to do this while the OFT system is on life-support.

What does this mean for you?

For those that have a file in the old Online Family Tree system, you’ll be able to access your tree in that system through about March 2008. Between now and then you can easily transition your family tree file to the Ancestry Member Tree system and get used to it before the Online Family Tree system expires.
    We know how much time and energy you’ve put into your tree and we’ve done our best to make sure you don’t lose a bit of it as you change systems. There are basically two phases to this transition period for Online Family Tree:

Phase 1 — Trial and transition.

Between now and March 2008 you can move your family tree file to the Ancestry Member Tree system and get familiar with it. Your file in the old Online Family Tree system will remain intact so you can double-check everything. However, once you’ve transitioned your tree to the Ancestry Member Tree system, any new information added or edits made will not be reflected in your Online Family Tree file. Do nothing during this timeframe and nothing will change in your Online Family Tree file. If you make changes to your Online Family Tree file after you’ve transitioned to Ancestry Member Trees, you’ll have the option to send the updated file to the new system once again.

Phase 2 — Tree expiration.

At the end of March 2008 we’ll send you another reminder to transition your tree. At this point, your tree will no longer be accessible in the Online Family Tree system, but the file itself WILL remain on our servers and in the system for as long as we can maintain it. When you come to view your Online Family Tree file, you’ll see only a link to move your family tree file to the Ancestry Member Tree system.

After March 2008 we plan to remove the old feature set surrounding your file. This means that all Online Family Tree files previously submitted to Ancestry World Tree will remain there permanently, unless you take steps to remove it.

About Ancestry Member Trees

The Ancestry Member Tree system will give you most of the same features as the Online Family Tree system. That includes integrated record search, the ability to invite family members to edit and contribute, GEDCOM import and export and much more. The Ancestry Member Tree system will also offer many new and exciting features.

Below is a comparison chart to show which features from the Online Family Tree system are available in the Ancestry Member Trees system:

We believe you will find much to enjoy about Ancestry Member Trees, and we hope to continue to add features and make you excited about the product.

Already more than 3 million people have created trees using the Ancestry Member Tree system, and we’ve been amazed at the work that has been done:

   
• 4.2 million family trees created
   
• 378 million names added
   
• 937,000 family members invited
   
• 48 million Ancestry Hints™ accepted
   
• 4 million photos uploaded
 

Comments

[Carlos Mendez]

I really like the new Member Trees and won't miss the Online Family Tree in the slightest. However, I'm sure we'll soon hear a chorus of wailing (it's already started on the Ancestry boards) over the demise of the OFT. Well, maybe not a chorus. More like a quartet at best. Most likely the same people who really miss WordPerfect, VisiCalc and the c: prompt.

[Bob]

Dick,

In reference to what Ancestry's comparison chart in their article showed...I see one area that may upset some people...there is no possibility to make your records completely private so that nothing can be searched.

[charlotte]

How will this affect those of us on World Connect?

[Linda]

An excellent question, Charlotte. I can't count the number of people who have found me through RootsWeb WorldConnect because they don't know that they can do some searches freely at Ancestry.

So.... I would really like to know the answer to this!

Additionally, on my website, I link my pages to my WorldConnect gedcom where I upload my changes as I find new information.

[Alison Pinsley]

How do we transition our tree on ancestry.com to the new program? I don't see anything on ancestry that tell me this.

[Nancy]

I'm a little confused here. Does this also affect the OFT's on the MyFamily v. 1.0 websites? I suppose once they move the MyFamily websites to v. 2.0 it will, but what do we do in the meantime to test the transition if the only OFT we have is on MyFamily v. 1.0 and not on Ancestry.com?

Nancy

[Pat]

Note the losses by going to the new "Member" tree:

1) No longer option for "completely private"
2) NO DESCENDANCY VIEW--a MAJOR LOSS
3) Also--do we have the option as to whether to allow a gedcom export, as was with WorldConnect, or by submitting, do we automatically make the gedcom downloadable?
4) What happens to the Rootsweb Worldconnect tree?

[Susan Daily]

I, too, want to know how this impacts WorldConnect. I hope the answer is "not at all." WorldConnect was there first and remains free for all to see or post to. I have received numerous contacts with relatives also from my WorldConnect tree.

[Emma]

I agree that the DESCENDANCY VIEW is a major loss! Isn't there some way this can be included?

[Rachel]

What's the point of making a family tree completely private? So your great-grandkids can spend thousands of dollars re-creating and re-doing the work you've already done? If your ancestors had made their family history completely private, you'd have nothing to put in your tree. Isn't genealogy about documeenting and sharing, so misinformation isn't spread and everyone isn't repeating the same research?

This 'private tree' stuff makes me glad I'm not in YOUR family. Haha...or maybe I am and you don't want me to know?

[realist]

English translation: "we are moving in to steal all the trees and then sell access to it, suckers! P.S. Buy FTM2008."

[Joy]

I'm not clear about how this works. Does this mean that my Online family tree if/when moved to Ancestry Member Trees will now only be accessible to people who pay for a membership, whereas before it was available free to them? Wouldn't this be a case of Ancestry charging for data which I submitted to them for free? Like another writer, I've had a lot of people contact me through finding a common ancestor on ancestry. I'd hate to lose that.

[Mary Thomason-Morris, Archivist, Clarke Co. Hist. Assoc., VA]

As well as doing my own family genealogy, I have set up gedcoms of local county families that I have researched as archivist for the local historical society. Most were on Ancestry, and I was frustrated that I could not access them (which meant no one looking could either). With all I have heard about this switch (and I DO NOT like the merging of trees) I spent the morning re-saving and uploading copies of all the files to Rootsweb (I did make them non-downloadable, but gave lookers a connection point). I just hope the Rootsweb trees do not become 'Public Member Trees' any time soon! Ancestry has become harder and harder to use, and less and less worth the price. I cannot justify the price of subscription to my board any longer.

[Liz]

To make any file "completely private" requires only one action: don't post it on the net. And while Rachel is exercised about the benefits of sharing information, many people have had unpleasant experiences with their research and their words being shared with another researcher, only to find that work posted online without so much as a pretty please.

For myself, I do not post trees online. For myself, and my descendants, I share freely with them, directly. They will not have to recreate my research, though I have to wonder how genealogical research will have evolved in another hundred years. They will probably chuckle that we thought we were so advanced that it would even be considered necessary.

[Peggy]

This new tree does not replace One World Family Tree, is that correct?

[Athena]

>>What's the point of making a family tree completely private?>

One reason might be that you want to access your data different places (home, libraries, visting relatives, etc.) but do not have any wish to share the information with outsiders.

Many of the trees I've seen at Ancestry have obviously been copied from others -- they all have the same errors -- with no sources or attribution. People copy things and never go back to see whether things have been changed/updated with further research. I would never make any of my trees public that way.

That said, I don't mind having the content private but included in searches. If someone gets a hit on an individual in one of my trees and is interested in following up, he can send me a message through the connection service and we can *exchange* information.

>>To make any file "completely private" requires only one action: don't post it on the net.<<

The problem there is that you have to upload your tree to use Ancestry Press for books and charts too. You can delete the tree as soon as you have finished the project but it discomforting to realize TGN taking advantage of users who are paying for that service by mining their data for other uses.

[W. David Samuelsen]

Incredible is how I describe the customer service support on Ancestry.com side! The person NEVER HEARD of WorldConnect.rootsweb.com!! She has been working for Ancestry 2 years now.

I had to go up to supervisor because I was asking very direct question about whether Worldconnect would be absorbed and removed from Rootsweb.com side or not.

Got supervisor and he admitted there's nobody on Rootsweb side I can call, other than helpdesk.

And he didn't know that AWT also indexes WorldConnect databases. Unbelievable that he didn't know!

After getting him to read this announcement on EOGN, he had to ask somebody else for answer -

Here's the ANSWER - Worldconnect will NOT be affected at all. AWT will still be there for indexing purposes. All that will be affected are those that were submitted on Ancestry.com side.

[Beverly Spraggins]

I am very resentful that Ancestry.com keeps buying up collections and genealogy sites and forcing you to pay their ridiculous membership fees in order to do research. Records and resources should not have to be paid for in order to see them, unless just for a copy. What are libraries and even government agencies thinking by letting Ancestry have their resources?

[Pat]

Rachel, Why would I want a tree private? I have several Myfamily.com Surname Research sites, which means many families of the same surname, but not necessarily related. Most of the Online Family Trees I have posted there are works in progress, rough raw data not fit to publish because the data either has not been source documented, or there are conflicting data sources, etc, etc, so it is only for the members who are there jointly working on this information.

It is not meant for public access or view, as it is simply not ready for the public in any form. Now, most serious researchers on a surname will not be able to use Myfamily.com 2.0 or Ancestry trees because they have no control over their data. I have already had a horror story from an involuntary migration of a Rootsweb Worldconnect tree to Ancestry.com's World Tree by Ancestry. HOWEVER, whenever I updated the World Connect tree (as late as January 2007), they were not correspondingly updating the Ancestry version--that data goes back to 2004! They also had no access for me to make any changes to the tree OR to delete it from their database. I was forced to delete it from WorldConnect because I did not want any further purloining by them.

They also refused to delete the tree, as they, for some reason, have no more access to those WorldConnect trees they migrated over many years ago. So, I am stuck with an outdated tree on their One World Tree site, which has no submitter information anymore because I deleted the WorldConnect tree.

It seems each time Ancestry changes hands, they ditch the previous owner's system or can't access it anymore and then there is a hodge-podge of various generations and version of the data that has become blatantly out of control!

[foureigner]

You Americans are idiots for letting this criminal company extort you all over documents that are literally your birthright.

[Chick]

foureigner,
That's not the half of it! You're referring to Halliburton Inc., right?

[Eddie Manley]

I used Family Tree Maker since it first came out. And I've utilized Ancestry for downloadable records. But that is about to come to an end. I purchased FTM 2008 and have not been able to load it or get any help from FTM. My use of FTM and Ancestry are about to come to an end, if they do not make all of this right. It sounds like Ancestry will soon be another antiquated vendor and out of business. My Family Tree files will not be moved to their new format either.

[Eirebrain]

I just updated my WorldConnect database, and the contributer interface has definitely changed. The old user interface is still available for the moment, but you have to select "[Click here] to access the old standard and advanced tree upload and edit tools ." It is smaller, and below the "Go here to update or correct your existing family tree."

[Linda]

Ancestry World Tree is a FREE database.

Take a look - it is one of several FREE databases at Ancestry.

One World Tree is NOT a free database. Ancestry World Tree and One World Tree are NOT the same thing and should not be confused.

While I am not an employee of Ancestry I have to say I am really TIRED of those of you who accuse Ancestry of stealing our information. Everything they do only helps those of us who are interested in making connections with other researchers working on our family lines. And as I pointed out, there are some free databases at Ancestry.

BTW, thank you to David for getting the answer on WorldConnect.

[B. Fenner]

If you don't want it stolen don't post it. I find that ancestry really gives very little for free. Yes you can search indexes but tthen can't access anything beyond that. There fees are WAY TOO HIGH. most of us research part time. If I could search 6 hours a day, seven days a week then I might buy a subscription. Living on a fixed income now - as are many researcherrs- makes these fees prohibitive. I will share my research with any who ask but sure sdont' want Ancestry making money on my hard work!!!!!

[Susan Masse]

Does Ancestry ever beta-test before sending out their edicts on change? I have asked Ancestry this question, and have not received a reply. Even Micro$oft has enough smarts to beta-test.
The comments I see on the Ancestry blog seem to fall into 2 categories: "Waah I don't like change" (suck it up), and the more to the point "This doesn't work -- my data is incomplete/missing". It would have taken very little time to find this bug in a beta test. Seems with the fees they charge, the Generations Network could hire some competent programmers.
As for paying for records: of course we do! In our taxes if nowhere else. TNSTAAFL
Sue

[Rick]

I have no intention of posting my family history on Ancestry or anywhere else for that matter. My genealogy research is paid for with my own money and my own time and I'll be damn if I'm going to let someone freeload off me. In the past, when I've foolishly shared it, other researchers have used my data in their trees and also critiqued my data, trying to point out errors. Well, no more. When I die, I'm taking it all with me.

[Bill]

Don't forget there are other place's to share your family tree . http://www.familytreeguide.com

Is good for the computer savy gang .

I for one think the only reason to have the
hobby of " Family history " is to share your
knowledge and resource's with all those who
want it .

Ancestry.com is American as P.T. Barnum .
Most everybody will pay once to see the show .

If you pay a second time well it's your own fault.

Ancestry has plenty of free " how to articles "
I'm pretty sure they have managed to keep
Rootsweb and Genweb servers going for what seven plus years now . Are they ripp off ? could be to some .
Are they profiteers ? Yes . Do they provide a service ? Yes .

I wonder what folks would do if they folded
up and took rootsweb & genweb down with them .

Just wanted to add my two cents .

BK

[Ev]

I am confused. Is the Ancestry Member Tree actually One World Tree?

[Jo Ellen]

To those who do not want to pay for anything on the internet - who do you think SHOULD pay for these services? And that includes all the computer hardware that actually sends the information around the world, and all those who write software that makes this process possible. If you want to use it, you should be willing to pay for it. All the records on Ancestry are available for free if you want to travel all over the world and look them up yourself. What you are paying for is the fact that Ancestry has made them into computer-accessible files. That costs money and it is totally legitimate to ask users to pay for access.

[antitrool]

We have a new Ancestry apologist, always easy to recognize by their black and white Ancestry-or-nothing approach.
A nuanced opinion does require thinking in shades of gray.
Dear Jo Ellen, no one said it had to be completely free. No one said their service is useless. However, many here do have serious problem with their outrageous fees and questionable business practices.

[Penny in Texas]

Guess what? I'll admit I don't have a clue that one thing has to do with the other, but I was on Rootsweb last night (comparing some database info) and suddenly, I couldn't get anything but error messages. "Database does not exist." I'm not the only one experiencing this, either. NONE of the Worldconnect db's would come up.

Maybe this is just coincidence, but it is more than a little worrisome.

[Clay Gullatt]

Ancestry has two different Member Trees one Public Member Tree and one Personal Member Tree which is private. Will they keep both and allow you your choice or will they do away with the private one?

Clay

[Linda Grybos]

I can't believe my eyes. What is all this fuss about? So, you don't want to pay $25.00 a month (approx) for membership in the BEST and most complete research Database available on the internet? I won't waist the words trying to justify the expense to some of you folks. Moving on, I have been a member of Ancestry.com since 2001. I have developed my family trees using their vital databases, made good contacts with folks who have family trees connecting with mine and met several new cousins. All through the information provided by Ancestry data base. Why shouldn't we share our researched information with our ancestors? Why would you want to let the information you have researched die with you? I've never heard such selfish nonsense. As for Ancestry's reputation, I have had nothing but good service from their Technical group. They have ALWAYS gone the extra mile, including calling me back to see how their suggestions worked out. The fact the Ancestry.com is changing their family tree format is not a bad idea. Ancestry.com is always striving to improve their database every year, and will continue in the future to do whatever is necessary to further genealogical research and make that information available to the researchers who can not travel to foreign countries, or even within the US to gather the data themselves. And, yes the information contained within Ancestry.com data base is our inherent right to have and to know, and we can always travel to the state and country locations to get that information? But tell me again, why do you think it is an inherent REQUIREMENT for Ancestry's to provide it to us for free? And for dear "antitrol" who states that Ancestry has outrageous fees and questionable business practices. Put your money where your mouth obviously is, and tell us what "questionable business practices" you write about. I imagine that if I were an attorney for Ancestry, I would consider this a possible slanderous remark. One might suspect that you are a "competitor" of Ancestry,who has Sneaked into the "discussions" to smear their good name? And, yes, I said "GOOD NAME". How can you all behave this way? I am continuing with my Ancestry subscription in spite of your nonfactual complaints? And to ANCESTRY, I say... KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. I NEED YOU...

[Tammy Sampson]

I am not happy with change at all. If you DO NOT have a paid membership to Ancestry, YOU CAN NOT click on any name to contact or see anything. Ancestry is just doing this to add more money into their pockets for OUR research. I will not add anything to these so-called trees. I have put alot of work and countless hours into my research, and if I want it to be sold, then I will sell it myself, I will not make someone else rich.

[Timothy Eastman]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, whether it be factual or not. I am an Ancestry subscriber and have found it of great use providing me with information, which otherwise, would take me dramatically longer (not to mention greatly more expensive) to find by travelling to the source. I use information provided by other users (and their trees) as a base for my own research. I do not rely on others' information without verification on my own. Ancestry is a great resource and I am grateful for their service.
As great as Ancestry is, they do have their faults - as do EVERY business in the world. Their positives far outway their negatives. I agree that their subscription prices are a tad high for many people, but if more people become members, that cost could be diversified to allow for lower prices for various access areas.
I do worry, as other companies grab up Ancestry (especially those that have no idea how to run a genealogy service), that those in charge are only interested in a profit and not in providing a service to the people.
Ancestry certainly does not have the resources as Microsoft does and must rely on internal beta testers who do not have the time or ability to completely test all programs for all possible "bugs." And if you look at all the necessary updates and security issues over the last decade for EVERY microsoft product, you will see that even Billy Gates' thousands of employees can't find every problem.
Ancestry is still young and is not perfect (is your child perfect in everything) and there is new information added daily to it, which makes it difficult to perfect.
Everyone like to hate the "big guy" because he's "made it" and they haven't. If you don't like Ancestry...don't go there. There are plenty of other genealogy sites not owned by or affiliated with the Generations Network. They will be happy to take your money as well.
God bless.

[T. Boyd]

Timmy,

You are the smartest apologist yet - you admit their faults a bit.
But there you go again, you not only try to make up excuses, but make the typical black / white statement so characteristic ancestry apologists: we must choose between using their overpriced website and keeping our mouth shut.

Sorry, Timmy boy, but that does not fly. Every has the right to criticize their business practices.

[Lyle]

ancestry.com to me has been a very valuable resource. I have limited amounts of time as well as limited amounts of money. Purchasing credits at any of the UK sites is prohibitively expensive due to the plummeting dollar. I can't begin to tell you how much I've spent on US birth and death certificates much less all the fees that local genealogical societies charge for their records.

ancestry is not perfect, their newspaper searching sucks in a huge way, also they don't include nearly enough information about individual databases. I could go on and on about their faults, but in the end I have accomplished in a year what would have taken my grandmother 20 years and probably 10 times the amount that I've spent.

While I have my own purposes in compiling my family history, I also recognize that it's not solely mine. It also belongs to hundreds of other people out there. Also, due to the fact that much of a family history is subjective, I DO NOT have a problem when other people critique it. For the most part, I welcome that criticism.

That said, ancestry.com is out to make money. If you don't like the FREE!!!!!! service that they provide.......

Lyle

[Sue]

Lynda asks what "questionable business practices" Ancestry has. For starters, taking data that was donated to "forever free" Rootsweb and selling it, by subscription, CD's, or whatever, is theft. For another, there have been many complaints about their handling of "free trial" subscriptions. I signed up for one of these free trials, and was told there would be no charge to my credit card unless I chose to continue my membership. That should have required a specific act on my part to authorize a charge to my card. Ancestry's position was that I should have called an 800 number (which I was not given when I signed up) to cancel my "subscription." A charge for a year's membership appeared on my credit card. I objected to it, saying I had not authorized the charge. Ancestry said I had given "implied consent" for the charge by giving them my credit card number. The credit card company upheld the charge based on that. Both Ancestry and VISA were wrong in allowing this charge to stand. JC Penney has my credit card number on file so I can order things from them. Would they ship me $5000 worth of furniture based on my "implied consent" because they have my card information on file?

[Susy]

Pat wrote that she has several Myfamily.com Surname Research sites, on which she has posted Online Family Trees. She stated that most serious researchers will no longer be able to use Myfamily.com 2.0 or Ancestry trees because they have no control over their data.

I'm not really familiar with all of the terminology for the various databases, but are these Online Family Trees the same as the pedigrees that we create on the by-invitation-only MyFamily.com sites? I would certainly think that these pedigrees would be restricted for availability only to the members of these indidivual sites. Perhaps I am mistaken because of not knowing the terminology for these trees.

Ancestry lists four types of Family Trees:
Family Trees
- OneWorldTreeSM
- Personal Member Trees
- Public Member Trees
- Ancestry World Tree

What are Online Family Trees???

[Thomas]

I uploaded a Gedcom to World Family Tree in 2003. I was close to
diabetes, and still learning how to use FTM, so it was too hasty.
Within months I asked them to remove it, and again in 2006. I know
their disclaimer--I did not understand every part of it, though that
is my fault--yet there are many contracts with such disclaimers, and
yet ways to get things changed. Also, some disclaimers do not hold up--
after all I can't get my tenant to surrender certain rights, no matter
what disclaimers he signs. An intelligent company would take customer concerns seriously. Is there a way to petition genealogy.com? I don't mind at all paying a fee for removal. But so far it seems that
the company takes a "screw you" attitude. Does anyone else have
experience with negotiating about this? Please email me.

[Thomas Vella-Zarb]

Hello Dick,

I put a comment and a question several weeks ago and have not had any reply.

I have a tree on the net with FTM
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/v/e/l/Thomas-A-Vellazarb/index.html
this is available to all to view.

I also have one with ANCESTRY.CA This one does not seem to be avaiable for viewing by all.
http://trees.ancestry.ca/pt/pedigree.aspx?tid=4117512&pg=0

I am confused with the looming death knell of the former. I spent too much time doing research [some of my ancestors are from Malta] and do not want to lose it all.

What is my next step please?

I would appreciate you emailing me with your suggestions.

thank you

sincerely

thomas vella-zarb

[Thomas]

I really need advice on how to get files removed from World Family Tree and especially One World Tree. When Ancestry.com removed my files from ancestry world tree I thought the matter closed except for the one on World Family Tree--but found out just this week that all my old files, which I thought deleted, survive at OneWorldTree. I was never asked about this. Is this legal? I feel raped. I posted once, and now have to spend years trying to get the files removed.

[Thomas]

The big problem is the inability of Ancestry to let users clean out old, inaccurate trees from One World Tree. I doubt I renew myfamily 2.0 or ancestry.com in the future, because that would add just another layer of my ancestry trees to OneWorldTree. Why is it so difficult for them to clean that database up? I do not mind if it takes time, or even costs a fee, but it should be possible.

I have also an urgent question. On myfamily.com 1.0, if I amend an online tree stored there(I don't have it on my harddrive anylonger), and then upload it through ancestry world tree, will the amended version be uploaded, or would it still be the original non-amended one originally uploaded to myfamily. I never understood if these deletions/additions were only for the benefit of my fellow users at my family site, or actually changed the underlying file. I contacted myfamily.com and received a non-answer to my question. With the online family tree portal used to upload closing soon, I'd like to know that, because this would at least allow me to upload revised, improved trees to Ancestry World Tree, which hopefully will, since having the same tree number, someday replace the old version at Online World Tree that I so thoroughly dislike floating in cyberspace like ghost ships. My email is treimer@nycap.rr.com

[Marilyn Bartenslager]

Help!!!!!!!!!!! I have read so much stuff on the pros and cons of Ancestry changing everything that I am about ready to tear my hair and I still have no clear answer on what to do.

I have a tree on the OWT and have had for a few years. There is not alot but enough to worry about. My main worry is that I no longer have a membership as now that I am retired and on a fixed can no longer afford the extremely high fee, even at the monthly rate. What will happen if I transfer the information to the new system if I don't have a membership if I want to update or correct. I have that I will not have access or control and then I read I will. Now who's right and who's wrong.

If i need to get it to another source so I can still work with it, I wish someone would tell me in plane english.

I have FTM 16 and love it but when 2008 came out and I purchased it I was and stsill am very unhappy and had to send it back because I could not open it or even get it to work in my system.

All I want is a simple answer, on what to do. Ancestry has always been good to me but I am so confused.

[Jerry Hale]

I hate to say it but I have NEVER trusted Ancestry. Therefore I have NEVER uploaded anything to them, nor do I ever intend to. (My database, which I shared with one person was given to Ancestry!) I'll use LDS, GenWeb etc which have always been open, free and dedicated to the genealogy community and not to finding more and more ways to squeeze money from the hobby. Yes, I know that their databases are great but grossly over priced, in my opinion.

Beware Rootsweb, you're next.

[Thomas]

Marilyn,

I still work with FTM 9, and it works fine. I stopped upgrading then.

But who has information about when and how the One World Tree files will be cleaned up, and how to do it if one does not have the original trees anylonger? Is the company even understanding that this is an issue?

[Drax]

Now that the dust from the changeover to Member Tree has settled, it may be useful to summarise my findings, having conducted several tests.

1. Marriage Notes uploaded in GEDCOM files are placed in Research Notes for both parties and hide Individual Notes. Exported GEDCOM contains the Research Notes and appended Marriage Notes in BOTH persons records. A possible solution is to not use Marriage Notes. Put the text into Marriage Events or individual notes (the male's or female's ?).
2. Baptism and Burial events are not displayed on the Family Tree or Person Profile.
3. Name Suffix is not displayed on Family Tree but is saved and exported.
4. Separates Events into Vital Information, Facts and Events, Relationship Events, Relationships and Research Notes. These are simply pointers to the usual list of source citations, sources and the associated notes.
5. Adds various items to Individuals Notes a line “_STATMARRIED” or “_STATUNMARRIED” and “Name Sufix” - probably writing “errors” to the notes.
6. Probably changes the file so that a file that is uploaded then downloaded is not the same as the one uploaded, even if not updated online.
7. Individual notes are “research notes” and cannot be viewed by guests invited to view the tree.
8. Does not handle Julian calendar dates, and does not show baptism or burial dates on the tree view.

This makes it impossible to maintain a single tree for use on Ancestry, Rootsweb and GenesReunited. The question arises why do you want to do that?

Answer -

1. Rootsweb WorldConnect is a far superior information recording and display system. It does not allow access to "living" individuals data, and is not interfaced with the various source databases, other than submitted trees.

2. Members Tree interfaces with the related source databases and allows communication with other members.

3. Likewise (2) GenesReunited, which has superior and simpler communication facilities, but possibly an inferior source database set, especially for non UK users.

Solutions

1. Begin building your family tree off line.

2. If you are "British" load it to GenesReunited. When you get back to about 1840, load it on Rootsweb WorldConnect.

3. Otherwise load it to "Members Tree"`.

Note - GenesReunited is less costly than Ancestry.

[Mark]

I have not been on
Ancestry.com for about 6 months and when I tried to acces my tree today it was gone. Do you know how I can access it? Ancestry has been no help thusfar. they supposedly saved the old tree maker program info and introduced a new version but I have months and months of data there that is in limbo. Thanks