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Hints at Findmypast

Discussion in 'Comments on the latest newsletter' started by peter, May 23, 2016.

  1. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    I suspect that some of the problems are to do with the high level of activity. I uploaded a largish tree at the weekend (ie before the offer started) and the whole process took about a minute, with the first hints appearing almost immediately. But it's also worth bearing in mind that this feature is in beta testing, so some problems are to be expected.
     
  2. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    I expect there will be many now who will upload a gedcom first time so wouldn't read too much into those of us who get unsuccessful reports. It all depends on circumstance; the size, complexity and integrity of your own downloaded gedcom; a busy server, router blips, or just common or garden online gremlins. I regularly upload my Ancestry gedcom to Genes There is rarely a blip (which is not never, just rarely) and the same when using Alexander's FTA. A bit like life really, good days and bad days.
     
  3. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, blame Peter. If he hadn't have published this to 100k users then the site wouldn't be so busy! ;)

    Fortunately, I've had mine loaded for months.

    But I agree with the comments already stated. When you have a census and sources loaded, which it understands, it seems strange to show it again as a hint.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  4. DavidP

    DavidP LostCousins Member

    Sue,

    I am getting hints for Parish Registers, Bishop's Transcripts, Yorkshire Marriages, Yorkshire Baptisms, Banns, National Burial Index etc etc as well as Census and BMD hints, so persevere! Mind you most of my ancestors hail from Yorkshire and FMP does have quite good coverage of those records,

    The error message I get occasionally is "Bad Request - Request too long" followed by "HTTP Error 400 The size of the request headers is too long". Closing my browser and reopening it seems to solve the problem for a while. However, I must try clearing our cookies as someone suggested.
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  5. AnneC

    AnneC LostCousins Star

    I too found Sophie very helpful, but she wasn't able to upload my tree either. I have tried several times since, but still not successfully, and also tried creating the gedcom again. I think I'll just stick with Ancestry......
     
  6. chrissy1

    chrissy1 LostCousins Star

    Thanks for that info - it's exactly what I wish Ancestry would offer. I am not interested in taking other peoples' research and get sick of all the inane 'hints' referring to fairy stories in other 'researchers'' submissions. Rather disappointing if the hints are only from BMD or census (99% of which I already have) as I am interested in wills and PR records. I have missed the recent discussion as I have been away for 8 weeks........ However, if the experienced technologists are having trouble, I might leave trying to load my tree for a while until the new interest has died down.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2016
  7. SuzanneD

    SuzanneD LostCousins Star

    It's easy to turn off hints to other people's trees in Ancestry so you only get hits from the records - if you go to the Ancestry home page and click on your username in the top right corner, a drop-down list will appear. Click on 'Site Preferences'.

    The first section in the Site Preferences page has the settings for Hints. Untick the box that says 'Display Ancestry Member Tree Hints in your tree(s)'. From now on you will only see hints for records, photos and stories.
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 3
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    I would persevere and send your email to FMP as an attachment as I posted previously; I would be surprised if their manual upload doesn't work.

    Incidentally for anyone else having similar problems note I received a further email from FMP apologising that 'because of the overwhelming response ..a few trees have failed.. We've now resolved the problem..'' so there you are just a blip because of overload so why not give it another try.

    As for sticking with Ancestry that was ever my intention and will remain so. As I see it the main purpose of having an FMP Tree is really intended for those who do NOT have and get full benefit from an Ancestry Tree. So for me in a way it reminds of a saying of my mother's; I don't need two dogs to bark, when one will suffice.

    However, even though FMP will not show hints for other Trees as Ancestry does (a downside for me but perhaps not others) FMP is still a fine research medium. I likely did not need to upload a Tree to merely duplicate the information I already get from Ancestry, but will be pleased if it augments what Ancestry offers. My FMP subscription will remain regardless but if there is no significant benefit from having an FMP Tree, I shall revert back to just an Ancestry Tree.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2016
  9. Heather

    Heather LostCousins Member

    As I have said many times on this forum, I am not very computer savvy and I have never had a GEDCOM file o_O ( I know, I can almost hear the sounds of disbelief echoing across the vastness of space). My family tree is a private one on Ancestry and after reading of the problems much more computer literate people on this forum have had with uploading their trees to FMP, I was rather nervous to try, but blow me down I followed all the instructions on Ancestry and FMP and to my disbelief, after two failed attempts it worked :) which just goes to show that the old saying "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again" can sometimes actually be good advice.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  10. AnneC

    AnneC LostCousins Star

    I did send the gedcom by e-mail, and FMP also had problems with the upload, and have now referred to their technical team. I've tried several times since, but still no joy.
     
  11. Tony

    Tony LostCousins Member

    In today's newsletter, under Online trees: better safe than sorry?, there is Tip: all trees at Findmypast ... are private. However, under Tree Settings (a gear-wheel icon), there is a tick box for Public Tree. What doesn't seem to exist at the moment is any way of finding someone else's public tree! So I agree they're all private, but it looks as if there's an intention to allow public trees as a feature in due course.
     
  12. Bainers

    Bainers New Member

    Hi, I have uploaded one of my smaller trees today, to check the process out at first. Now I have a lot of Hints, and they are for Parish records, 1700s, etc, Bishops Transcripts, etc which I haven't found on FMP before - even using the A-Z system. So at the moment, I am impressed - I have found Baptisms with additional information such as mother's name, father's occupation, address within the village (Small Hope Farm for example), which has enabled me to pinpoint the correct ancestor and knock down at least one brick wall already!
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  13. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Thanks for that Tony, most interesting!
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  14. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Oh dear Chrissy, you are not a happy bunny viewing Ancestry Tree hints, even though as Suzanne mentions, they can be switched off. As a long time Ancestry user with 'other Tree' hints turned on I rather enjoy - (as already named) ...the good, the bad and the ugly. They just need viewing with some circumspection and it is the work of a moment to sort the wheat from the chaff.

    Then comes the magic day when you spot details that just seems right. Names, dates match as do parents, spouse(s) and if applicable children; perhaps you spot an additional child or spouse, and you are curious to view the Tree. You note true birth dates, middle names you do not have, and more complete death dates. Gut instinct tells you you are viewing your ancestor for certain and the obvious next step is to send a message to the Tree owner via Ancestry in which you set out your connection. Now I admit you are not guaranteed to be messaged back, but success I find goes hand in hand with Tree integrity. In the very best scenarios (and I have a encountered fair few) you swap emails, discover how you each relate and, with a bit of luck and a fair wind, end up with photos, and family information you might never have achieved and best of all find you are able to reciprocate in kind.

    After a few of these under my belt I completely forget about the 'funny farm' Trees because believe me they are but nothing compared to those once encountered when a member of My Heritage where you do indeed find yourself dancing with the fairies. :)
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  15. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    I'm assured there is absolutely no intention to allow public trees - I was naturally aware of the tick box and made a point of querying this before writing my article.
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 2
  16. Tony

    Tony LostCousins Member

    That's really interesting! Thanks for clarifying that point.
     
  17. KirstenB

    KirstenB LostCousins Star

    I appreciate the comments about this subject as I have been wary for many years about putting a tree on line for several reasons.
    1. Security, is your information safe from corruption, loss or damage? Clearly if you only keep your data in only one place there is a greater risk. Backup etc. helps with this and maybe keeping an on line tree could actually positive.
    2. Ownership
    , who owns your information? Peter raised this at least once 21 Feb 2009. I am not sure this is resolved with Ancestry or where FMP stands on it.
    3.Use of data,
    what people do with your data. Articles in, 28 June, 12 July and 23 July 2014 put forward views on both sides particularly about people taking data attaching it to unrelated trees mixing it up and perpetuating myths and errors as truths. I know Peter produces the NGS guide on sharing information. Generally keeping an online tree private (if that works?) would avoid this but then what are the advantages to putting it on line as opposed to keeping it (backed up) on your own computer system?

    Bob you mention your use of Ancestry Member Tree hints and finding (and sifting) “member Public Trees. You imply your tree is also public and if so how do you feel about people using or misusing your data?

    So I am back to wondering whether to put a tree on FMP even if currently (and they say it will always be) private, will the benefits be worth it?
     
  18. Bryman

    Bryman LostCousins Megastar

    I have now submitted two further trees for uploading to FMP and found that yet again, all hints seem to be related to facts already included in the input tree. This made me wonder if that might be by design on the part of FMP?

    Rather than automatically mark such hints as "to be ignored" or "Rejected", which might be difficult for FMP to confirm, perhaps the intention is to find just such 'matches' in the initial search in order for the tree owner to eliminate the obvious and clear the decks for what might be found later? That would place the onus fully on the user and avoid FMP from ignoring or dicarding something which might be of possible interest.

    If true, that might be very clever on the part of FMP but would lead to a very tedious and long drawn out initial check of the first set of hints for each tree. What would one then have to do in order to initiate further searches for hints to be performed by FMP?
     
  19. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Thanks you for the question Kirsten, and many Forum members will guess my response as I tend to stand out with my views on Ancestry Public Trees, which in many cases are the polar opposite of others; particularly, but not exclusively, Peter. However no bad thing to have differences of opinion and just as in politics, there are others who share my opinion; so here is how I answer the question.

    Yes my Trees (I have more than one) on Ancestry are Public and have always been so. I began as did many others using Genes Reunited, but a cousin of my first wife's was well into Ancestry and suggested it as a better medium for research. She had a Public Tree and once I found the Ancestry fee affordable I subscribed with a general subscription. The cousin shared her Tree with me so my wife's Tree was far more advanced than my own, and I knew her research was top notch and indeed had access to elders in the family at the time who were able to corroborate information. So I uploaded a Gedcom (not that I understood what that meant at the time) from Genes and began to develop my own Tree which grew exponentially as my understanding of Ancestry (and the many other free research sources) grew with it.

    I do not deny the place for a private Tree -and here I do not just mean on the PC where I have a very old genealogical data base program called 'Family Tree Legends' - but an online one at Tribal pages on which I have written over 100 stories, uploaded over 800 photos (including scanned BDM certificates) and as it includes the various branches, twigs and leaves of my combined families (including from a second marriage) over 6000 entries. That is completely private but can, and is shared with close relatives by use of a passcode.

    But Ancestry warmed itself to me once it began to provide hints and allow searches of other Trees, both Public & Private. Did my 'William Edward Somebody' relate to someone of the same name, dob and birth place with related parents, spouses and children. This was deduced by Ancestry (not Tree owners) based on a search algorithm which to be honest was not that good at the beginning, but surely and slowly improved over time as its own data bases grew. Of course it came up with a mixed bag of 'matches' many of which I learned to dismiss almost at a glance; but every now and again I struck oil and often make contact with the owner, and not just because the Tree was private; I chose to. This worked both ways as others latch on to my own Tree(s) and message me with questions. I enjoy every minute of this symbiotic exchange and mind not one bit. I am a big fan of Ancestry and whilst I know others prefer to keep Trees private, for me my Trees are Public and will remain so.
     
  20. KirstenB

    KirstenB LostCousins Star

    Thank you Bob for responding so fully. As you say it’s no bad things for people to come at an issue from different angles. I stand pretty close to Peter on this one, though I have moved a bit. I don’t have the data that you do though after 40 odd years of research have a fair bit. I haven’t had my data directly misused as I have been fairly careful about who shares it but I have got “cousins” who have been upset when their data has been misused and it has caused fallings out. My only direct experience was finding someone “adopting” a whole swathe of my family when they were related to only part of it through a first marriage. I had been happily in touch with them before this came to light (I didn’t complain just explain) but I never heard from them again though their Ancestry tree remains. The web site I run for a particular surname has a public and private part which so far has worked. I do think in some ways more people might come to light and share info if more of it was public but I am cautious by nature. I have never been a great fan of Ancestry (though I have used FTM since before they bought it) so will have to make a decision about the FMP tree and hints but as Bainers did I may try a small tree first. By the way have you had your generosity with data abused?
     

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