text:
We've recently added the ability to link photos (or other files like stories, audio, and video) to any fact or event you have for a person in your family tree.
Adding photos and stories to your family tree can create a much richer history of your ancestors' lives, and make it much more interesting when sharing it with children and grandchildren. Where previously you could only add a date, place and description to describe key moments in your ancestors lives, now you can add images, stories, audio, and video to make these important events that much more exciting to share and preserve.
313 Comments
I've just had a look at this and I must say I am severly underwhelmed. I liked that if you had residence and occupation entries for all census' from 1841 to 1901 you could see it on one screen. Now because of this new "add media" link you have to scroll further down.
It makes it look messy and overcrowds the screen.
I'm also wondering if these "improvements" to the site have interacted badly with the saved web hints in my FTM2010 so that its now crashing every time I hit web search?
This "feature" kills a major amount of space on my small screen computer. It will slow me down incredibly.
I often make a screen shot of my pages so that I can move back and forth between info and now the screen shots will mostly have the useless "add media" lines filling them up.
I do not like the "Add Media". It separates the data from the description, it looks messy, takes too much space, and is redundant due to the media drop down tab. This is the most annoying of your "improvements". Instead of adding green print to our pages, give the ability to print ALL photos on page print-outs, and the ability to edit the order of our added photos. Thank you.
Can this ridiculous addition be switched off? What is it with your obsession for adding media? This latest piece of nonsense appears right in the middle of a record and reduces the amount of the tree that can be viewed on screen.
I. Now I cant find how to
a. delete an event.
b. edit an event
II. Now I have the words Add Media to every event on the screen.
PLEASE rethink (or should I say think) this thing through and fix it – better yet put it back the way it was. Why is this mandatory?
I do NOT like the new Media feature you have added. It needs to be and stay under the Media Gallery tab.
Rather have the space in 'Timeline' for residence and occupation entries & notes. Here to do research not put on a Media show.
This seems like a rather redundant feature, considering we can already add media via other methods.
As one poster said, we're "Here to do research not put on a media show."
You could focus on fixing things instead of adding "features" that aren't very helpful for the majority.
Argghh … this makes an ugly mess of the pages with all the "+ Add media to this event" plus extra blank lines on every event. This adds a whole extra screen page to people that have a dozen or so events.
Please reduce the "add" function to a button on the far right of the location line and remove the extra lines when no media is present.
I sometimes get the feeling that the IT dept. at Ancestry just plays for the sake of playing, and blows functionality out the window. Relocation of links with no apparent reason…Changing of clickable links to "hover" mode that doesn't always work…and now this "add media" event which 1) duplicates the already functional capability and user-friendliness of the "add photos," etc. above it, and 2) creates visual chaos in the screen. The point of this software is to easily collect, organize, see and utilize data. This new bell and whistle defeats that. Come on, people, get a grip and serve your customer.
You have really messed up my ancestry page with all the " + add media" to each event in my site. WHY???
It is also almost impossible to delete events. You haven't listened to your subscribers and for the prices we pay you have really "done it to us this time." STOP ALREADY!
Carol Re: #1
Yep- once again they haven't thought things through.
1). The "+Add media to this event" should be beside the event name not under it.
2). Once you click to add media you are confronted with a *very* poorly designed interface.
The top item "Add additional media items" has no need at all for a "choose an option button" as there is plenty of screen space to simply show the four choices with checkboxes and thus reduce the number of clicks needed for this particular function.
The same holds true for the "Or select from media that is already in your tree." section.
In summation:
A for effort
C- for execution
Nice idea to make it a little easier to upload photos and to tie photos to events.
Poor execution.
We need to be able to turn this off.
I'm in the minority here, but I love the ability to attach photos to specific events in the timeline. I have photos of people, places and documents that I like to see next to the event.
I agree that the spacing needs to be tightened up, and that it would be good to have a way to allow attaching the media to events without having the "+ Add media to this event" on every event.
I also would like to be able to sort the photos and select the one photo that will show. I would also like to order the photos in the media gallery so that I do not have duplicate photos showing (i.e. the profile photo and the photos attached to events).
Once again, it would be good to have a group of beta testers look at your plans BEFORE you roll them out. You would avoid a lot of negativity here.
Also, how do you "un-attach" a photo to an event?
I think someone should ask subscribers about some of these so called "features". A lot of us are on small screen laptops and the "add media" feature in plain language is just a bunch of bull. Things were fine as they were. I have spent half the morning trying to figure away to delete that feature, if you plan on leaving it, you should give us that option.
I am totally disgusted, waste of time, and space!
I juss logged into my tree and see that there additional 'Add Media' buttons now for EVERY single fact I have added for a person. As I have BMD, census and occupation (as much info as possible) for a person this is truly annoying as it adds unnecessary lines to the page, means having to scroll down rather than seeing most info on one screen & makes reading the info unfriendly… Additionally when editing a fact, you click on the fact and then it brings up an ADDITIONAL screen where it has another selection to go to edit (used to be you could click the fafct and edit easily). This too is annoying as it makes updating info really laborious.
Kenny, Who comes up with these 'enhancements'? Real-people users or a tekkie?
There was already a way to add media without having to see this for EVERY fact.
PLEASE move the link for this to the edit page for an event … get it off the main profile page …
Since we can't attach images to the blog I've worked up a proposed change concerning the "Add media to event" Screen and posted it here:
Comments are welcomed.
Also, PLEASE get the media gallery off the Overview/Timeline page … there was already (and still is) a way to access this from that page … it's a redundant space-gobbler …
P.S. The link posted in comment #20 is broken … I had to cut & paste it.
The concept is good but adding the actual picture, document or other media file to the timeline will take up too much room and the "Add media to this event" is in the wrong location. It takes up too much room and junks up the timeline.
I don't add a lot of media files to my trees but do have a few pictures and documents I have added to the media gallery that I have referred to in the timeline by adding notes. However, this new feature is not the answer to linking the media gallery files to the timeline event.
I suggest that instead of adding the media file to the timeline event, you just add a link to the media gallery file, like with the source citations. You could put this link under the sources citations. This would not junk up the timeline. Also, instead of the "Add media to this event" in each box of the timeline, you could have a link next to the "Add a fact" called "Add media" and have a drop down box to pick a timeline event to link the media gallery file to.
I absolutely love the new feature. I used to have to type (See Photo above…or See Story above) so that a connection could be made. What you added makes so much sense. Thank you!!
My only suggestion would be for you to make all photos available on the page when it is printed.
While the "add media" is a nice feature to add for the specific event, it takes up way too much space and totally splits up the information really wanted that you can look at and read easily.
Also before I could just go in and "edit" residence, etc., save it and it would bring me back to the overview page. Now when I hit "residence" I have to go thru a whole additional step to add the info then save it and it doesn't bring me right back to the overview page adding another step.
I also used to be able to type in an address in the description space and if I had the same for another after typing only 2-3 letters it would pull up a drop down menu and I could just click on it to add to another with the same info—-can't do that any more, which also adds time having to re-type it over and over, this is very anoying since it was so SIMPLE before.
Maybe if you move the placement of the "add Media" over to the right and not splitting up the description it would be easier to read and not extend the lenght of the whole page.
Have you ever thought of maybe having a group of users on a "test this out" first before you make changes and get their comments to see if it would probably be agreeable to the "whole user group" first????
Line splits so you'll have to copy and past both lines into browser.
If you're going to have "media" presentation capability (and you should), it makes good sense to facilitate an awareness of and presentation of "event"-associated media rather than a "bushel basket" of available media at the top of the page. I like the concept ACOM…good on ya!
As to refinements? Of course. One might be a smaller, less obtrusive "thumbnail" representation of the "media" available…but I like the thought behind the re-design.
I like the idea – but, like many others, don't so much like the execution. I won't re-hash what others have said, but in general I agree with many of the comments.
I thing I did notice: is there a way to add a photo to an event via the photo editing screen? If there is I don't see it. And it seems natural to be able to add the photo to an event while viewing the photo.
BryklynBridge Re: #26
I fully agree. The thumbnail should be no bigger than the icon that holds the event date. The purpose is to let people know that there is a picture attached-not to show the picture.
They can then click on the picture in the thumbnail to see the full picture.
Type your comment here.
Nice feature, but needs improvement.
Hi Earley's.
I would find as manny Earley's can.Let me know what state you live in. I live in Ohio.
Please, please reevaluate this repetitive and unnecessary feature or allow it to be a choice. This might be fun if I only had twenty people in my tree, or if I was trying to use Ancestry as a social networking site. However, I am trying to find out and keep track of real information about my extended family, about most of whom I will never have "media" to add. The screen space used by and the visual chaos created by thousands and thousands of repeats of an "add media" link that I am unlikely to ever use is not helpful.
Please, allow us to turn this feature OFF!. Yes some people will like it but having to scroll so much is annoying.
And while we're on it … how about an "Add Fact" button at the end of the Overview as well as the top? You fixed this in the Advanced Search; now is the time to fix the scroll problem here as well.
Tried it. Don't like it. It makes my Ancestry pages look like ebay pages!
It may be suitable for those who have to fill their tree with pictures to distract from their poor research?
I know where the origianl media button is and I use it on the odd occasion when necessary. I really don't need to have it in my face all the time when viewing a person's profile.
PLEASE get rid of this stupid addition to to each profile.
Great new feature! Great work!
We have been asking for this for a long time. Thanks!
Now if we could get the "Add media to this event" reduced to simply "Add Media" and move it to the right above "# source citations".
Also could you please add the "Add Media" option to the list under "More Options" under the following "Edit Profile" tabs:
Vital Information
Facts & Events
Relationship Events
I use those tabs to build my timeline events mostly, and would like to be able to add the media attachments there and would like to see an indicator if any media are attached or not for the events on those tabs.
The clicking to get to extra pages just to add a description to events is really annoying!!! I've been adding census and marriage records today and want to add info to the description line.
This would be a great time to add my request that there be a description line on the original page that comes up when adding a census or other record. Right now only date and place are available.
I feel that the placement of the "+Add Media" link is messy and disruptive to the page. This is especially true if you have any information in the description area. Why isn't this link (if it needs to exist at all) in with the add source or add alternative date location?
Additionally, it seems that the most recent update has also changed the view on the story pages such that the story is no the full horizontal length of the screen. Instead, it shares space with a media box. This bunches up the story which should be the focul point of the page and creates a more difficult to read presentation. I'd like to see the story fill the horizontal width of the page as it was previously and introduce the other elements (media box, tools, attached to this tree, etc) either below or above the story. It seems that the story page is supposed to mimic the other media (photographs, for example) pages, but what works for other media does not work for text.
I feel like the updates reduce the functionality and readability of the site as they are currently incorporated.
Jeez, it is even worse than I thought as you now have to make at least one additional click to edit any textual information for an event, plus the text data has been reduced to an itty bitty space. Great, I guess if you want to focus only on media, but not so much for text or even text and media.
I hate the new "improvement" and the reasons have already been very well stated. At least it should be where it could be removed if desired!
Please allow those of us who are not interested in this feature to get rid of this "add media" feature line. I am far more interested in having the source of my information stand out in that section. It distracts from that!
I, too, dislike this new, redundant feature. It's visually horribly distracting and makes it harder to add comments after adding a source. Please, please return the original overview page! Besides, most trees need to add reliable sources, not "media."
Please restore **one-click** access to actually editing Timeline Event info:
and to **deleting** the Timeline Event.
Why on earth do we now have to first click on the Event name and now in addition have to click on "edit event" to get to what **yesterday** we could get to with one dandy little click?
Please, oh please, oh please get rid of the new barrier "Event" page with duplicated functions (add media! select different event!) and restore the one-click access.
Please establish protocol that the Person Overview Page should offer one-click access to all functionality, not layers and layers of stuff in between.
What y'all have done reminds me of what the (horrorshow) MD Archive has done, hiding document storage numbers behind 4 or more layers of web pages when they could have put all the essential data on *one* page with *one* table. When I get mad enough to compare your action to that horrendous mess, you know I am quite peeved.
Intention: 6 on 1-10 scale.
Execution: 1
The new add media feature is absolutely awful.
It clutters up a small space and separates information. In fact the link stands out as the most prominent text.
Get rid please!
On the story page,
The "Print" option does NOT print the entire story anymore. It only prints the part of the story in the scroll window.
We need to be able to print the entire story, and don't need "Media Options" to be on the print.
Previously it was just printing what on the screen, and now it is doing the same, but the entire story will not display on the screen, as a scroll up and down bar has been introduced. Please change the "Print" to display and Print a "Printer Friendly" version of the story.
PLEASE, PLEASE make this an option. Does anyone listen to ANY of these comments?? It's distracting and ugly.
Again, why can't this be an option that we can turn off?
I'm very happy to see this feature. Although it is true that the layout/interface needs to be streamlined and less cluttered. But the functionality of attaching media items (already uploaded or newly uploaded) is very welcome and will ultimately create a richer experience as I work with my family history. I look forward to seeing how things evolve.
PLEASE, remove that "+add media to this event", or tell me how I can remove it. This is far too much clutter, takes up too much space, almost eliminates the ability to see timeline events in a nutshell. I don't like this at all! Please switch this back to the way it was. The drop down tabs for photos, stories, media, etc was just fine. This "improvement" is definitely overkill.
What I would like to see is a new drop down tab for documents, a separation to be able to add documents alone instead of adding them with photos. Photos has it own drop down tab and documents should have its own also I believe you would see alot more additions of documents if they were not intermingled with photos. I don't mix my photos with my documents, they have their own folders per person.
Thank You
To actually be productive, what I would like to see:
1. Remove the Media Gallery from the top of the individual profile page. With the media gallery tab located right above it and with the added function of added media to each event, this seems redundant. Perhaps if it needs to be on the page, it could be located at the bottom of the page as, I believe, it was previously.
2. Remove the "+add media" from every event on the main profile page. This link should be available in the detail view of any given event or for all events (as it is currently). If this "+add media" must remain on the page, please move it so it doesn't disrupt the flow of textual data (currently dividing location and description) or stretch out the screen.
3. Restore one touch editing of textual information in the individual facts and event page. I should be able to change the date, location, and description without having to click through more links. Add sources, add alternative data, and add media should remain as separate links to the respective add pages.
4. Create balance on the individual facts and events page. Right now, the empty (and even if it was full) media area overwhelms and dominates the area for textual information. Additionally, it seems repetitious to have the media space (with add link) and another media box (with add link) under the vital information and separating the vital information from the source. Perhaps an evenly split page with textual data and sources on one side or even on top and the rest of the page (either right or bottom) with a mini media gallery for the event.
5. On the all facts and events page, there is currently only an add media link. It would be helpful to have an add source link (in the source column for each event) and edit data link (in the fact/event column). I could very easily see doing a lot of my editing from this page with that functionality. The links should remain even after a source or a piece of media is added.
6. Create an easy way to add media to an event either from the media gallery or from the actual media (story, photograph, etc) page.
7. Restore a one click link to delete an event from the individual facts and events page. Again, I shouldn't have to click through multiple links to do this when it could all be available on one page.
8. Redisgn the story page. It looks like the attempt was made to create a uniform look for all media pages (textual, pictorial, or audio). Although the layout works nicely for pictures, video, and audio with sufficient space for the piece of media, additional information, and clearly marked area for editing, this layout is not ideal for text. Currently the text is de-emphasized and bunched together with strange formatting. This makes it difficult to read and less helpful. Ideally, the text would cover the full horizontal width creating a clean reading space and removing the current formatting issues (particularly with word wrap and line breaks with is not evident from the editing space).
9. The ability to add multiple pieces of media to a single event would be helpful. In this case, a single choosen representative piece could be displayed as a thumbnail with a link to the facts and events page with a mini-gallery devoted to that event or fact. The more pieces of media added to the mini-gallery should determine the size of the thumbnail. That way events with only a single picture attached would display the full picture in this space while events with more pictures would have a thumbnail gallery linking to the fullsize picture pages.
10. An easier way to add on-site images and sources (such as a census) to facts and events. For example, the 1880 Census reveals that my ancestor was a farmer. I would like to be able to add a fact with Occupation, date 1880, location, and description (farmer, rent). Then I would like to be able to link that fact with the 1880 Census source and image available on Ancestry.com much like you would supported facts and events like birth, marriage, etc.
I agree that a beta would probably be helpful in testing the functionality and desirability of updates like this and like others. I would love to be a part of one.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this new "Add Media" optional – it is messy looking and takes up way too much space – esp. since most items will not have anything to attach At the very least make it a small button on the side.
I agree with most of the comments. Having "Add Media to this Event" show up in along listing on every items just adds cluter since most people will not have items to add. At the most, if somebody has something actually added, let them show the link here — but have them do this uploading from a location that is a lot less visible.
Right now it is just adding cluter and makes it appear to newbies you have NOT done all you should ahve done.
I am in agreement with most of the comments regarding the add media to timeline events. I use the description field for additional notes regarding family composition in the census, or to source information. The "add media" line only serves to obscure my notes which are there for a purpose. I would prefer that the bells and whistles not get in the way of the actual data. It needs to go away so we can keep a clean profile.
At first glance, it would be useful to add headstone photos and obituaries to the "death" event. But I do not care for the duplication in the media gallery. I'd prefer to keep documents and photos separate. And I'd prefer the ability to set a preferred photo for each event.
This "enhancement" definitely needs refining. Please consider that most of us are interested in an environment that presents the data foremost, otherwise we could do this on Facebook.
Get rid of the option PLEASE, it maybe good for people who want to add stuff about Mum & Dad born 1950's, but what good is it for an ancestor born 18th century. Maybe it's being aimed at the facebook generation…
While it will no doubt ruffle some feathers here, for those of us who have elected to utilize FTM 2010 (I can't speak to earlier versions or other genealogy software), a more seamless integration of FTM 2010's features and capabilities (with an ultimate eye towards a facilitated "synching" of offline and online databases) is, I think, written in stone…and this evolution, I believe, is an inevitable step in that direction.
Change is, for many, a painful reality but I'm confident that ACOM is and will be responsive to constructive criticism in improving the new model…but the dye has been, IMHO, properly and inevitably cast.
Besides, I LIKE the new format anyway 😉
I have to agree with most of the comments about the annoying addition of the "add media" in the timeline. There should be a way to turn this feature off.
If you really wanted to change something, add a feature that would notify you of an individual all ready entered in your tree. This would speed the entry and eliminate duplicates.
I dont know if you are aware but this new media thing has a flaw.
I like to add the Grooms and Brides address at time of marriage and the Grooms occupation ,now if you edit the Grooms the same info automatically gets added to the brides so if the Groom has an occupation the Bride gets the same?????????? its taken me ages tonight to change the Brides info.
Please get rid of this add Media thing on my screen its driving me mad.
It's stopping me editing properly too as I used to be able to click on event and alter and now I can't -its a nightmare which I can't abide.
If you make the site too complicated then you'll lose subscribers.
Please put it back to what it was.
Kenny, re: er, #55 (a couple of posts deleted?)
Your hearing appears to be excellent 😀
All help appreciated!
With all the money I'm spending annually to Ancestry.com to do family genealogy research, should not give you the right to do my thinking for me. I'm an intelligent person and computer-literate. I can figure out for my self how and when I want to add media to my Family Tree. I don't recall reading in the fine print that I gave up that right. We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, so stop telling me what I do and don't need. Obviously, you aren't reading these messages, because the overwhelming majority keep telling you to leave well enough alone, and YOU'RE NOT LISTENING. The old adage, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." applies to all these so-called new and improved upgrades.
The "Add a media to this event" destroys the Overview page. Now I have to go through all kinds of contortions to add or edit a source. Please either take this feature off or give me an option to take it off this page.
Thanks ACOM for listening and giving us this new feature of linking Media to events in the timeline. With just a little tweaking it will be perfect.
We look forward to many, many more new features this year.
Keep up the great work.
I would love to see a new feature every week, so I could keep entertained by reading all the complaints from those that don't like any improvements.
Thanks for investing in improving the FREE tree system.
I don't like it for all the reasons listed here and elsewhere and it's not just because it's a "change" as some condescending people seem to think.
What I want to know is have the fixes been implemented that we've been waiting for since last month? And the ones from the month before that? Or those from the month before that? Can I print the Family Group Sheet yet?
I should have kept a list of all the things we've been waiting to have fixed but I didn't. I think I'll spend some time tracking them down and checking.
And now I trust Ancestry and its empoyees less than I did before. Some people were talking about a new responsiveness from Ancestry but as you can see it's all b.s. and nothing has changed.
I agree with #49 in removing the media gallary from the top. I liked it better when the stories, pictures, etc were separate and it was at the bottom of the timeline.
I love the idea of being able to attached the items to each individual record on the timeline but do not like the duplication of being in the media gallery.
Someone else commented on being able to sort pictures and documents and I agree that would be fantastic. I hate that my pictures are in order of when I added them and not by date.
#49…you can add more than one media record to the timeline at a time. It's a little awkward as the rest of the editing and such but it can be done.
Going forward when adding new records and being able to add to the media in the timeline would be good…it's just frustrating and alot of work to have to go back and catch up.
With some tweaking as indicated in some of the comments this could be a great feature.
Jo Re; #63
There really *is* a new responsiveness…
The old Ancestry would *never* have admitttted they made an error.
In fact, the old Ancestry wouldn't have responded at all!
Sooner or later they will learn that it is MUCH better to put up a mockup of proposed changes here on the Blog where we can see it and offer suggestions on improvements BEFORE they do the actual coding and roll out. It would save them much labor as well as lessen the ill-will generated by these blind-sided releases of half thought things that then have to be re-done.
The descriptive information falls under the media choice as though that information is not important, which it is.
I vote,if there is one, to remove this choice or the ability to turn it off.
I would like to know how improvement suggestions are weighted and from whom the suggestions come?
Ugh! Today is the first day I encountered the new space-wasting "Add media to this event." I find it more than annoying. It is also redundant and unnecessary. Why not have ONE box on the side of the page that says "Add media to AN (emphasis mine) event" and then you could specify which event you wanted it added to? Why repeat the same thing in every block? It is quite distracting.
SECOND UGH…effective today when you click on a story that someone has added you get this little bitty half page teeny font version of the story that used to go all the way across the page in a font size that was readable without the use of an electron microscope.
Some changes are not always for the best. These two definitely are not. Please reconsider these "improvements."
The new feature "add media" makes editing life events a two step process. Is that supposed to be progress? I don't think so.
How about putting it back the way it was. If you want to change features in the name of maintenance it might be nice to ask subscribers what they think firs.
Also the blog feature is not very friendly to Firefox. I had to log in using IE in order to see the "submit comment" button.
The new feature "add media" makes editing life events a two step process. Is that supposed to be progress? I don't think so.
How about putting it back the way it was. If you want to change features in the name of maintenance it might be nice to ask subscribers what they think first.
Also the blog feature is not very friendly to Firefox. I had to log in using IE in order to see the "submit comment" button.
Kyle #64
I DON'T agree with #49 in removing the media gallary from the top. I like the gallery at the top above the timeline, and many in our family absolutely hated it when one time they put it below the timeline. The only way to make everybody happy is to give us the OPTION of configuring the profile page, so that we can move up/down sections (Media Gallery, Timeline, Comments) of the column.
Kenny Freestone said June 2009,
"Photos, front and center
You spoke up, we listened. You let us know that you prefer photos above the timeline. That's where they are now — back on top. In addition to showing photos, the media gallery shows all of the media items you've added."
If we have photos attached, we want them displayed above the timeline, and NOT hid below the timeline. So many times when it was below, so many of the family said, we didn't see any photos, and that is because they would have had to scroll all the way down past the timeline to see them. Some of our ancestor's/family have long timelines/ large number of timeline events.
Please keep the media gallery on the profile page where it is on top, or give a configuration option to move it for those who want to.
Proposed Layout Change to Timeline
I've posted it at:
Note: URL breaks so yu have to copy and paste to browser.
All Comments welcomed
I join the chorus re. the media event intrusion. Poorly done. You would serve best by offering an option to customize settings. What you have done has adversely impacted functionality. Seems like the great majority is asking that you put it back and work on a better game plan.
Another thing that drives me nutty: is there a way you can come up with a faster way to move through searches than sorts by "alphabetical" or "relevancy?"
Your site provides a wonderful service but compared to what has come to be routine expectation of internet searches, say on Google, Ancestry seems woefully clunky. If I'm missing something here, I'd appreciate knowing. I'm a relatively new user and wondering whether it's worth the effort.
Please get rid of this ridiculous addition. It fouls up the screen and has messed up the way I like to add things. I am in agreement with the majority of comments. Get rid of this feature.
I agree with those who want this feature removed…quickly please!
I also agree with Nancy #37 regarding the addition of a description line on the original page when adding a record.
Val #57: My Brides and Grooms have always done that, and it takes me forever to get them both right. If I delete info from one, it deletes from the other. When I add to one, it adds to the other. Ugh!
I would also love it if the search process could be improved, as Catherine #72 mentioned.
first, dislike the add media showing in every event, can it be switched off & enabled only when needed.
second, dislike the extra clicks & timeconsuming having to go to yet another window to edit an event.
third, just wondering if any diligent testing was performed with a group of real genealogists who tested these features, oh well…what could they be thinking.
sure wish improvements would reduce time & clicks, not add to it.
best wishes.
why not put +AddMedia on the +AddAFact window, like you had with +AddASource.
then you can restore the previous more-streamlined Edit feature.
Done again! Last night it was down for two hours and I waited until tonight. Now it just went down again for maintenance I guess (2AM MST). This is unbelievable. 6 times in the last month and a half!
I hate the new format. Put it back to the old way. Also, I just found out you've done something so that I can't go back into my Tree and delete duplicate records I put in my mistake. You used to be able to click on the place and it would take you to DELETE and now you can't. What's up with that? Leave things alone. Sheila
Lisa #36 said:
"Great new feature! Great work!
We have been asking for this for a long time. Thanks!"
Obviously Ancestry have been listening to the wrong people!!!
Get rid of this new mess you added. I want my old Tree back. You made it so much harder to get back to your own Tree after you add something. THis is awful and takes up too much space. Put it back the old way or tell me how to change mine. I noticed when you go to Search other Trees with similar names the same look is not there. So put it back and fire the person that decided it would be a lot better with all that extra "stuff"!!! Sheila
I like it other than the space issue.
What happened to the ability to limit searches to the local collection? I would search Canadian only on the .ca site, British only on the .co.uk site and French only on the .fr site. Now on the Canadian site I search for Britts who have never lived in Canada and get only Canadian results on the UK site????
I do like the ability to connect images to events. As you say, it enriches the story of our family's lives. I don't believe that adding media is "obsession".
However, I agree that the link is placed too prominently in each event- to the side would be better and less intrusive. I would also like to be able to sort the order of photos in the media gallery so the most important would show on the main page.
I appreciate your continued efforts to improve the total Ancestry experience, although this means changes, and no change will satisfy everyone's needs. Genealogy is very personal and we are all looking for something different. But for me, Ancestry.com continues to provide a wealth of information and a way to coordinate (and share) that information. Thank you.
I'm glad I'm reading a building consensus that confirms my own view that this "Add A Link" feature is not helpful and generally annoying. I'm sure some may have found it useful but at least we need a way to turn it off to keep an otherwise orderly and uncluttered timeline.
Why not add the "add media to this event" under the source citation , with smaller letters. PS you do realize that if someone likes the look their going to really want to upload everything such has census image even though theirs a link to image, therefore requiring alot more space on your parts.
Been think, why not remove the "add media to this event" from the timeline view. Instead add it to the media view instead. For example when view the media item, why not have it their. You would have the ability then to still add media to the timeline but not mess up the timeline view with the add ability. Also how does this work from ftm2010. Does it mean that if we have a media linked to a fact their that it will link in our ancestry tree? We already basicly cant upload media in a upload to our online tree and this would kill it for the rest.
While just reiterating what many others have expressed, the + Add Media is intrusive (by its location) and redundant it. Suggest it be eliminated or relocated graphically.
Let me add my voice to the majority. I do wish you there at Ancestry would not do your "not so wonderful" changes to what most of us are satisified with as is. This latest is just one more in a long, long line. Please give us an option not to have to use this. I am still using old search, if that tells you anything. Options, Options. When you add something this drastic, please please give us the option to not have to use it. In the first place. I pay big bucks to get some of my documents and if I add them to my tree, then everybody and their dog, lifts them off and I find them everywhere. So I don't add them. If you want to make a change, fix it where people can't lift off the media for their own use, but must contact the person who added the material. Then if we want to share it with them, we can.
I agree with #87 Rita completely, of all the changes this is the worse I have encountered. I pay full subcription also, but never again. All I have is a page of crap that is totally useless to me.
I have used the old search also, all the time, because the new search is like all these upgrades, just pure crap!
#68 – I have Firefox and had the same problem, but a roll of the mouse would reveal the "submit comment".
When will these problems ever be addressed?
I still find blank pages for a couple of PA WWI Draft Cards – I don't know how many times I've "reported" the problem!
How long has this message been shown? "Note regarding the images for the states of PA, MD, WV, and DE. These four states were scanned at the National Archives facility in such a way that the back of one person's draft card appears on the same image as the front of the next individual. The result is that when you click to view the original image, you will see the correct front side of the draft card, but the back of the previous soldier's card. Ancestry is aware of this problem, and is working to correct this issue."
Fix what needs fixing, and leave the rest alone! I still see no advantage to "New Search"!
delete event is buried under too many clicks.
should i be putting my Description for events in the Location field now so it will show with the event title.
when i edit an event, can you take me back to the Overview view instead of leaving me in the Facts&Events view.
gosh this +AddMedia change is a mess, totally not an improvement. changes are supposed to be transparent and not cause so much disruption.
hoping it will be fixed for the better soon.
Oops!! I've lost my paragraph spacing on the story pages. Having that space makes for a much, easier read. Please bring that part back!!
I don't like this added feature. It wastes space and makes the page look cluttered. You should make it an optional feature, rather than offering it for every event entry on every person within a family tree.
Sorry, but this looks horrible on the Overview/Timeline page.
My great-grandfather has 47 entries on his timeline, with each entry now having "+Add media to this event" on it, which is totally unnecessary.
This feature should be available if you click on an event and then you can add media if required. It should not be on the Overview/Timeline.
Alternatively, only add this feature to entries that are from the last 50 years, where media is likely to be available.
What media are you expecting me to add to my nine-times great-grandfather's burial?
"+Add Media" has added superflous space to profile pages. If you want to add (what to me are) useless bells and whistles, then give us the option to not use these space-wasting add-ons.
ok, it was easier to add the second parent on the 1930 census so that I could add all the childen without them showing up as children with "unknown father", even though I already had this census on his overview, but now I can't find how to "delete" this second "residence" from the list! Where is the secret "button"!
At first I thought this was a good thing. But apparently, you had better make sure that you attach the exact media item you want to..because the only way I see to detach a photo from an event is to remove it from your tree completely, or from the person completely!
I like the idea of adding Media to events but I am afraid to say it has been badly implemented. Surely new features that are added should make the users experience more user friendly. As far as I can see from this update all it has managed to do is slow my ability to enter data down. If I want to edit an event address or description I have to go through 2 screens to reach my desired place to edit anything. I do not understand why this can not be done just by clicking the text on the main screen which would make it then appear in an edit box. In a similar way as you could edit a pictures Title and Description etc. before the upgrade which I have just noticed that you have also turned off!!!!
While I am on rant mode on the backward steps Ancestry are taking on user friendliness. Surely there must be an easier way to enter Source citations to people and events. Lets take for example a marriage certificate. I set up the source as I usually would. No problem at all. But this source has at least 4 people that I can link it too. The Bride, The Groom, and the 2 fathers. Under these people I would like to link it to several events lets say Birth, Marriage, Residence, and maybe occupation. At the moment I have to go into each person and remake the source for each event. Surely there must be a way of making the source once and copying and pasting it to each event. Or even when you create a source an option could appear to select the people you would like to link it to, which could then take you to a new screen that shows all the events for the selected people with tick boxes by them. In a few clicks the source would be added.
Ancestry really need to think of ways of making the user experience more streamlined and stop slowing things down.
Something else I just realized on the overview page is that you can only "unhide" the source citations for one event at a time, you can no longer view ALL of them at once. Until a few days ago, you could view all of them if you wanted. Why in the world world would you change this? I've said this before – I truly think you just change things for the sake of changing them.
I guess I'm in the minority, too, because I really like this new feature. It does mess up the spacing a bit, and if the media (pictures) were on the other side so that all of the events lined up again in the left margin, people might be happier. But I really like it and I wish we could even add the census images from our tree, too.
(Now, if we could just reorginize the pictures in the media gallery . . . When oh when?)
I, too am very frustrated with this addition. How do you change or even delete information you don't want? Very difficult to navigate; I am tempted, after being a member for several years to back out of my membership.
Would like more information on Nova Scotia.
How do I get information on Ireland?
I'm disappointed with the new "+Add Media" link. It wastes valuable space and is very distracting. Please make this an option we can turn OFF, or move this functionality to another tab.
I think the Overview tab should be kept as clean as possible — a tab where we can see the RESULTS of all our hard work, without all the gewgaws & gimcracks!
Hell"o My name is Ann from Ar.I have beening looking for the same person
form 2005. I have us all of your resource as for as i know. The ancestry i am looking for is Thomas Henry Cocke Mary Webb Wern.This name show up in union county Ar in the 1840 and ther childrem but i can not find any thing on ancestry before then It said they were born in north carolina no info.on eather one. please help.
#98 Pat Secord:
You are right; you can't view all the source references at once. Geez, I didn't think it could be worse but it is.
#2 Linda Bryan:
I also used to make screen shots and use them as you do. With this mess, you need to make multiple shots. Waste of paper and toner. Not "green." Expensive! I don't want to work on my trees with this mess. I'd rather watch TV, bad as that can be at times. Less frustration.
Isn't there another site to give Ancestry some competition? For about 2 years I have been saying, "Stop making changes and fix the indexes!"
The dolts who thought this would be good should be fired. Don't even let them fix anything. I'm losing confidence in Ancestry. It's too much work and less fun. It makes me want to vomit.
Do they want to make research take longer, to insure you will need the site longer which means you have to pay for the site longer?
No one get finished. Well maybe the name collectors do with their 200,000 names.
Why am I working so hard to provide good sources and notes for others? I thought it was for sharing. My notes and sources are obscured by the big plus sigh and "Add media." Geez I can read! I don't need symbols! I especially don't want symbols and words that are useless to me.
My goodness, you've been busy! I like the new crisp look of Ancestry.com. It feels a little faster to me, although that could be unrelated. And the new resources helped my search in New England. Very happy with the changes. Thank you!
This "added ability" does not appear to be the only change.
Where have many of the greatly needed "Edit" buttons disappeared to? Now it appears that for editing things like alternate names and other data, one must go through a couple more menus to do the simplet task.
I just spent a huge amount of time battling with the apparently new public tree format. I evidently chose the wrong alternate name as the preferred name, and I'm sure there must be an option to change it SOMEWHERE, but I gave up trying to find it.
I've also noticed that most of the formatting options for public tree stories seem to have disappeared. Bulleted lists no longer work. Blank lines between paragraphs disappear. I've tried editing stories on three different computers, using two different Internet connections, and the results have always been the same. The vertical line spacing looks awful, there's no blank spacing between paragraphs unless I want to triple space in order to create one blank line, and the italics no longer work.
And even the simplest editing task in a public tree is now at least twice as complex, with at least twice the keystrokes as formerly. Am I misunderstanding something or doing something wrong, or has the whole system greatly devolved in something that's an extreme problem?
Another problem is that if I add an event to a public tree, the description, which is often the most important and interesting part, appears in tiny print and seems lost and easily ignored because of the gigantic "add media" link above it.
These links are too many and too large.
previously i was able to unhide a source and then edit the event.
and i would work my way down the list of events, unhiding a source, editing an event and so on.
that way i knew which events i had edited because the source was still revealed.
now you've made the unhide a bubble that goes away if i click anywhere else.
if i work from the Facts&Sources view, when i hover i will see the clickable ViewEvent. CAN YOU PUT AN EditEvent here too so i can go straight into edit! and if you can do that then just put the +AddMedia there instead of on the Overview page.
please make this easy for us!
Kenny – Once more you have done it again, so I will SHOUT it again.
Add Media.
Great, now I can at last easily add the video of my ancestors building the pryamids.
Get rid of it Kenny, or at least give us the option to opt in or out of using it.
#106 Steven Phipps wrote:
"I've also noticed that most of the formatting options for public tree stories seem to have disappeared. … Blank lines between paragraphs disappear …"
This is also true of any comments added to someone on a tree. I have deleted comments I've made, rather than leave the jumbled mess of text with all the sentences running into each other – it does nothing for legibility or clarity.
Instead of hiring your next web designer/programmer, how about hiring a graphic artist properly trained in the art of typography.
What a mess the "add media etc" is!
It gets in the way of viewing the timelines. It's not neat and it's not cute. And it's definitely not clever.
And I'm not sure what media I'm supposed to add for pre-photography age ancestors. My humble ancestors did not have their 'likenesses' taken, their homes have long since been demolished, etc.
It's a gross intrusion on the existing product. Stop messing with it. It's more data bases, without having to upgrade your memberhsip that I want, not superfluous, unnecessary gimmicks.
I am disgusted with the
improvements. I call them trying to confuse an old lady who has spent several years learning your system and now you change it.
Why make us hunt for family trees and now I don't even have the 'add' button to the bottom of the group.
I have a lot of new infomration about one family and now I can't add it to the individuals.
Ann Clawson #103
Take a look at the title of this article and read all of the postings. Does it look as if this is the place where people post requests about their personal research??????
My Ancestry screen is telling me that there will be a 3 hour maintenance shutdown next Thursday. Perhaps they have actually listened this time an are getting rid of this latest disaster?
I'm sure that there are a few odd users who would prefer to see flowery borders and a background of fluffy pink kittens, but they need help! I want a clean, clean, uncluttered interface, which in no way distracts from the genealogy. K.I.S.S. Ancestry!
Why not put the "add media" function one level down from the main screen like the "add source" function?
Is adding media really more important than adding sources?
The new option of adding media to events is fine. It is just the implementation that is bad. Just because it took a lot of work for some programmers does not mean it has to be prominently (annoyingly) featured.
Also when a "story" is added to an event the correct placement of the icon followed by "Stories(1)" should be on a line after the Description lines not before them.
Facebook for dead people. Clean the program, keep the features that facilitiate the input of facts and data, keep OPTION in discrete small but visible links for those folks who like building webpages for visual effect. But please, get the mess cleaned up. This is nuts.
Facebook for dead people. I don't need it.
Clean the program, keep the features that facilitiate the input of facts and data, keep OPTION in discrete small but visible links for those folks who like building webpages for visual effect. But please, get the mess cleaned up. This is nuts.
Re: Bee #89. Ditto on the Penn. WW1 draft card issue. It's been at least 3-4 years that this message has appeared, rendering the database essentially useless. Ancestry has obviously made the decision to turn itself into another social networking site, at the expense of providing accurate records and an effective way to search for them. Whenever I read these blog posts I give thanks that I didn't upload a tree – I'd be totally insane by now trying to adjust to all the "improvements". Now that FamilySearch and Footnote are making headway on their census projects (one free, one much cheaper than Ancestry), I will be cancelling my Ancestry subscription when it's up this spring. It's too bad 'cuz I've been a subscriber for about 10 years.
Hurray – I cracked the code! Timeline – "view events", click – "view even"{again?} click – Edit residence, click – remove, click – so it can be done!
I too hope Ancestry will use the three hour maintenance shutdown next Thursday to rollback these ill-conceived "improvements" (Bromaelor #115). What is this "obsession" (Rina #4) that Ancestry has with media? Based on my experience viewing other Family Trees, "Adding media" is a rarely used feature.
Please keep the Overview tab clean and simple, where we can see our Genealogy at a glance. Be more like Google, not Yahoo!
Despite the negative feedback, I think this is a great improvement I've wanted for a while. In particular, I needed to:
1. Upload scans of source documents, link them to the event, and have them properly labelled as documents.
2. Properly label and link pictures of headstones to burial events.
Thank you.
Two very simple changes will do it …
1) take the 'add media' item(s) off the Overview page …
2) When we click on a Fact, open the item with the Edit Box already displayed … that is probably 99 out of 100 times why we want to go there.
I don't have anything advising me of a 3 hour maintenance shut down next thursday. I went to every area of Ancestry.com but didn't see it. Perhaps it's just for the UK site?
I like it. Thank you.
I *love* this new feature. I've been asking for it for a long time and I'm so glad that it's finally here. I love creating picture timelines of my ancestors and being able to link the pictures. This seems like such an obvious feature I was surprised when I found out I couldn't do it in the first place.
It's ridiculous how upset people are about "taking away space" with a link. Although maybe a small icon on an event which can expand when you over over it to add media like a Plus sign maybe, could give the space back. I don't think it's much of a problem though.
I DO NOT like the "Add Media" addition screen. Kathleen's (#3)comment echo's mine exactly. I, too, like the printed page in addition to my screen work and this new addition absolutely negates the ability to have a cohesive printed copy. I am most upset, actually, that with all the questionaires that I have participated in, I don't ever remember being asked about a format change. I just woke up one morning, and poof, there it was!
For those who have media for their ancestors this would certainly be a useful feature. I only wish it were better implemented.
Why does such a rarely used feature need to take such a prominent place? Couldn't there be just *one* link, or could this be moved to another tab? Especially, why must this link separate the Event from the Description.
I find [+ Add Media to this event] this to [+ Add Media to this event] be [+ Add Media to this event] very [+ Add Media to this event] distracting!
Don't know if this is related to the change, but I noticed media uploads take far less time than they use to.
Keep up the good work!
This is NOT and improvement. It takes up much too much room and it is very annoying. Other things are needed more. Since most of the people on my tree were born long before there was any media to add, except for photos–and there was already a way to do this, I do not like this feature. Please take it off. Since others can't see info on live people, something not applicable to many, takes up more than its share of space.
Please make it optional, not mandatory. Thanks.
A more fitting place for media and links to add media is the Facts & Sources page, since it already has the Events and the links to add media. Just remove the sources in the middle, which are redundent since they're already listed on the Sources page, and you'll have plenty of room to add the media.
The Overview page should be just that, an overview, a clean & easy to read timeline, not everything in the person's life jammed together on one huge confusing page.
That should make everyone happy because not everyone is a visual person and they would rather read lists, whereas the visually inclined would enjoy seeing a page of images. Most people would appreciate both but not at the same time on the same page.
The design is getting ridiculously out of hand with so much redundancy of information. Either you try to put *everything* on one page or you put it all over the place muliple times on multiple pages. That needs to stop and you need to have a well-designed plan and stick with it.
wondering if developers have a plan to delete the Media Gallery if/when the +AddMediaToThisEvent is fully implemented.
i know how software engineering works… don't tell users and force implementation, instead of asking for permission just go forward and let the users stumble endlessly until they are beaten down into using whatever they are given.
Some users are happy.
Personally, for me, do NOT plan to use +AddMediaToThisEvent because it takes the user to a very low-level inside the Overview.
My inexperienced Guest viewers won't look at each event for media. Guests will go straight into the top level MediaGallery and stay in there! i don't want to get complaints from them saying oh i didn't see the picture or the certificate whatever, I will put all media in the MediaGallery regardless of what ancestry.com does with +AddMediaToThisEvent.
QUESTION: if something is added via +AddMediaToThisEvent, will it ALSO show up in the MediaGallery. please please say YES!
i'm back.
ok, please, think about this, or follow along with what i'm doing.
I'm on the Overview screen.
I'm looking at an event, Residence for example.
I can see the title, the location, the description, plus the sources are visible there as well. this is great!
The ONLY reason i would click on the event is because i want to Edit. Clicking on the event should take me directly into Edit mode.
why why why do you make me go to another screen just to click Edit?
if anyone is wondering,
my ancestry.com userid is
108 Baker: I totally agree! I was working on this post and was about to add it when I read your new posts. But I will post this anyway. The new posts are being added faster than I can type.
From the Overview/Timeline, when you added an event or merged a census, you used to be able to add a "Description" (read: note or explanation) to that event at the same time. If I didn't do it at that time, I could always click on the event (residence for census) and add it later. Now it takes two clicks to get to that editing ability later if you didn't do it at first.
Once I was going to suggest Ancestry refine that procedure but I was afraid they'd mess it up. It seems that's what they did anyway. They seem obsessed with procedures, not with the end result.
I also thought it might be nice to ask for a warning if you had already attached a record to a person so you wouldn't have a duplicate person or record. Again, I was afraid to ask for that because of the above-mentioned obsession.
Also, you used to be able to pick from a list of previously entered occupations or sources, if you wanted to add an occupation or a source. Now it seems you have to retype everything each time. No time savers there! Extra work that you didn't have to do before.
I don't think these things are improvements at all. It seems the means IS the end! I'm sorely disappointed and quite angry. The whole thing is like an gigantic continuous "put the pegs in the holes" exercise. I want to have time for RESEARCH! I do have a life other than genealogy.
#110 Paul: Yeah, my ancestors were there right beside yours on those pyramids! Too bad I don't have pictures! I'd share.
#126 Jesse: Please read #131 from Jo. Makes sense to me.
#119 Deb: I'm beginning to regret putting trees on Ancestry. Of course I keep a database at home so I already do double work.
I hate it! I find it messy beyond words. I put in more data below (description) and now I have that mixed in there. We already have a spot for media, why would one want to put in more and clutter up the page. I find it very distracting also. The first thing my eyes go to is that. Ugh!
okay i have to give more feedback.
so i'm on the Overview screen, and then several clicks later i'm able to edit an event. and when i'm done editing, you leave me in the Facts&Sources screen INSTEAD of automatically taking me back to the Overview screen.
First, what do you think…am i gonna edit it again?
Second, are you planning to do away with the Overview screen. just tell me now so i won't be disappointed later if/when it goes away!
and, third, where did the autofill go? why did you take that away? AttentionAttention–that autofill was a major timesaver! Please give it back.
Re: Add Media Windows complaint sent to aol.
Reply from Members Solution:
The Add Window cannot be removed from the profile page (already figured that out). Message forwarded to "developers" for "further consideration." Um-m, sounds to me like we're stuck with this riduculous new format. So sad…
Karen Re:#138
Why would you complain to AOL about this??
Charles Robinson #110
Try Wikipedia!!!
To Jerry (#121)
Sorry, it does say that the Ancestry *UK* site will be down for maintenance on Thursday. So perhaps it's not the big roll-back that the vast majority of us were hoping for after all?
Bromaelor Re:#141
Judging from past history, I don't think Ancestry does "big roll-backs".
They certainly didn't when the new Home Page was introduced, or when the new Member Trees pages were done, or when the New Search was introduced.
In each of those cases, the changes were kept but vastly modified to handle the complaints about the original version of them.
I'm pretty sure this will be the same with this "Add media to event" thing.
It really is a good idea- it was just the implementation that was so woefully lacking.
Awwww, don't get so disheartened at the comments. I think we are all prone to being VERY resistant to change. I know I've been gripy about changes before, and I eventually got used to them. Actually, I think it is great, especially if you share your tree. Now for me, I am also more of a researcher than a "share-er," but I wish I had this kind of capability in my Family Tree Maker software on my computer. Oh, I know I can go to "Publish," and make custom pages, but it would actually be kind of neat to have my Person pages look more like the online ones. An "always visible timeline," if you will. Anyway, you can tweak it, so it doesn't offend people so much, but I think its a pretty good idea.
Please, let's not dumb-down Family Tree Maker to the same 'bells-and-whistles' level that we are now having to put up with on-line!!!
Please remove the "add media" for every event. 99% of my events have no media, so this link is just visual clutter.
2. On the other hand, adding sources to events is more difficult than it needs to be.
Both media and sources could be better handled within the event editor.
When I read the comments, the reactions to the "add media" link have been overwhelmingly negative. Where was the beta testing program that would have uncovered the poor implementation of this feature?
3. The performance of your servers over the past week has been mediocre. Please improve.
Agreed, change is difficult for everyone — and poorly implemented change is especially difficult.
Please, Ancestry, resist the urge to impose changes until they're "ready for prime time".
I also agree with the other Tree members, This is clutter I dont want or like. It is duplication of the media, takes too much space , and is more time consuming to enter, change, or TRY and figure out how to delete the info. KIndly, PLEASE take it off.. I have many tree that I am owner or editor with other.. and have been a subscribe for many years now. Nice try but can you now delete it, or give me a way to add it to the fact only when I want to ??
Other than that, I love the Ancestry Tree.
Suggestion for the timeline:
Remove the "Add Media To This Event" from the timeline in it's current position.
Replace it with:
On the far right of each timeline Fact
Put a "Options" above or below "# source citations", but further right OR to make it even cleaner
Let us hover over the timeline Date box
We hover over it and we get options menu
with the following options:
Add Source
Add Alternate Birth (if it is a birth fact)
Add Alternate Death (if it is a death fact)
Add Media
A hover would make it so we don't have to click, we would only have to click once for the option we want.
That sure would make it easy for a remove which have to do so much as we get duplicate Residence facts when attaching census and we don't already know we have them attached.
We would then have 1 click Edit, Remove, Add Media, Add Source, Add Alternate for each fact in the timeline
In addition if the "Options" route was taken on the far right, then also make it so that clicking on the "Date Box" on the far left takes it straight to "Edit"
Just some thoughts for options.
Another nice feature would be make it so we don't have to click on each "# source citations" to see them,
but simply put a
"Options" hover on the Timeline Column Heading line, with an option "Show Source Citations". This "Options" hover over would be somewhere in front of "Add a fact" in that line.
Clicking that would show ALL source citations for each timeline fact. After clicking it it would show
"Hide Source Citations" so that it would return to just showing # source citations.
In that same "Options" hover I would like to see other new options such as
"Show Birth of Children" and "Hide Birth of Children"
so that the timeline would be populated with the the Birth events for the children. Hover over "Options", click "Show Birth of Children" to show them in the timeline and hover over "Options", click "Hide Birth of Children" to take them away.
Thanks for considering these suggestions.
me again
on the Overview screen, for SourceCitation, Hide & Unhide aren't working the way they used to.
I want to Unhide several citations to compare what's in there and now each one disappears if i unhide another. how do you expect me to remember what i'm seeing if you use a bubble view that goes away whenever i click elsewhere.
please restore the static Hide & Unhide feature.
Re #141 Bromaelor
Australia is being advised that Ancestry.com.au is off for maintance Thursday 18th Feb 3.30pm – 6.30 pm (AEDT). So UK and Australian users will be affected.
Just in case you haven't received enough negative comments about the new Add Media line, I too do not like it. It clutters my screen way too much and should be OPTIONAL to turn it on or off. Also agree that we should be able to SORT photos into the ORDER we would like them to show up – just like I edit the order of my children in a family on my PAF software. If a few people love this feature great, but the majority don't, so please correct this. I agree that you should have asked us to BETA test this first. There are so many other things we would like to see improved rather than this. But thanks for trying. I know your heart is in the right place!
I am really disappointed in this change. There is now way to much scrolling involved. It's also too many more "clicks", steps to edit a fact or event.
Ancestry.com needs to hire a Web Usability consultant!
I DO NOT like the new Media feature. PLEASE!!!! Get rid of it and go back to the way it was!
As a 'pièce de résistance' to the new Ancestry page layout I would suggest an option be attached to every event to play an appropriate piece of background music for that event? Here are a few suggestions:
Birth: "Baby can I hold you" by Boyzone
Marriage: "What's Love Got to Do with It?" by Tina Turner
Divorce: "D.I.V.O.R.C.E" by Tammy Wynette
Death: "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen
Burial: "Forest Lawn" by Tom Paxton
"They'll give me a simple funeral there I know, With a casket lined in fleece, And fireworks spelling out 'rest in peace""
"Rock of ages cleft for me, For a slightly higher fee."
#154 Bromaelor
For heaven's sake … no, for *our* sakes, don't put ideas in their heads!
No seriously! I went to a meeting of my local genealogy society a couple of weeks ago and we were told by two people there that they had used a medium to contact some of their dead ancestors. They claimed to have been given some useful family history information! I think Ancestry should also try to incorporate this type of research into their new page format? Possibly an "+add medium to this event" option?
My photographs no longer appear, all I have are blank squares with the individual's name below them. If I click on the blank display image and select "View original" I can view them in the pop-up window, but I can no longer see them displayed all on one page nor on the individual's page.
This defect occurred immediately after I upgraded to version 10.
Any ideas?
This ranks as one of the WORST addition/changes to Ancesry's website. It is frustrating to navigate. You must click through too many pages to do things that were simple and intuitive before. Another example of how IT people have too much time on their hands and are out of touch with the reality of their end users. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should! Please get rid of this annoying, redundant addition. Suggest next time you beta test before implimenting and ask your subscribers what they would like to see added, huh?
Update to my last post #157 – I cleared out my browser cache and deleted all my temporary files, and all my photographs displayed again.
Problem solved!
Kenny – It's been 142 posts, in 4 days, since your last response.
Will you let us know what you think about all this feedback we're giving you, here and on the message boards?
Is it going to make any difference or is Ancestry just going to ignore us until we stop & go away?
Please get this useless, space wasting "Add Media" lines off my tree immediately. Lee
Let me add my voice to the growing chorus of complaints about this distracting and space-wasting "feature". How much negative feedback will it take before it dawns on you that the overwhelming majority of your customers WANT THIS REMOVED!
Please, at the very least, give us the option to turn it off. Is anyone listening to us?
A few weeks ago I was asked by Kenny to let him calle me regarding desirable things re: the member trees. One of the things he said they were thinking of was the ability to sort photos and documents into folders. There was nothing in that discussion about "add media to every event" in the timeline. Come on Kenny. When did sorting photos and documents into folders became the space hogging thing y'all have foisted on us. Also, since it was just a short time ago that we spoke I would assume this thing was already in the works. Bad, bad, bad. I have not counted the percentage of posters for or against but I would venture to say that 95% of us actively hate it.
Andy #139
I started laughing when I saw your reply — good eye! I complained via email to Ancestry and received reply from ancestry support. Think I was still furious about the change when I typed that note. Then again, we might get just as good a response from the developers at aol as ancestry!
Dear Kenny and team,
Here are a few new ideas I would appreciate Ancestry considering:
1. Have a web page showing future enhancements you are working on (like Google Labs does).
2. Allow users to rate what they think of future possible enhancements (Like the ratings users make about new movies on Yahoo).
3. Is there a way to search just your own Ancestry records? If there is, I can't find it. When your online files grow past 100 and on up to 3,000, etc., it is vital to be able to keyword search just your own records. (This is a feature in PAF Companion.) For example, you recall that a relative emigrated from England to Paterson, New Jersey, and you have found another that also moved there. It should be easy to search for these folks so you can see if there is a relationship — maybe they knew one another, or are related, or are both silk weavers. I often have to do this within my off-line file of 4,300 individuals.
4. Is there some way we could sort our own entries so we could see the newer records we have been working on? (In PAF, each entry has a record number and these are sortable.) This is very useful when you jump around working on one set of ancestors, then another. How about, letting us click on a button so we can see just the last ten people we worked on? For now, I use the Quick Links feature to remind myself, but I think this would be useful.
5. Note – Are you aware that many people create their family trees solely using Ancestry? I hope that most people have their own software and then add things into it when they find them on Ancestry, and also add new things to Ancestry from their personal family tree software. But guess what, this is a lot of work!
I know you can download GEDCOM files from Ancestry, but these are pretty simple, with a lot of work done on Ancestry stripped out, including media. This is important because 1) you folks may need to be reminded how important it is to maintain and safeguard our Ancestry data (like the LDS Church does); and 2) so you will start thinking of other ways folks can download more of the data and media they create in Ancestry.
6. Speaking of the LDS Church. What other projects are you working on with them? How about an enhancement that allows Ancestry users to link to their IGI Index database? There is a lot of great data in the IGI index that you folks do not have in Ancestry.
7. Consider adding a feature that lets us translate information as we are viewing it so English speaking folks can see their German Ancestry relative's info, and vice versa (like Google can do). Right now, the language barrier is a big one if you have foreign ancestry but don't speak that language.
8. By the way, a feature that you have that I think is pretty good is the Historical Record and Family Tree "hints" that pop up when one adds an ancestor. Can you build on this idea?
a. For example, I often find family records in censuses that do NOT transfer family members over for easy merging. I then have to go back and link them one at a time. I assume this is because the relationships like "son" "dau," etc. are not clear, such as with the older censuses. However, could the software be set to "suggest" that these folks (with the same last name, on the same page) may be related, and allow me to merge them in, choosing which I believe are the "son" "dau," etc.?
b. Here is an easier idea that people should appreciate, and would cause less errors in user-entered data. 99.9% of the time a women's maiden name is NOT her husband's last name, yet every time we merge over census data, this is wrongly filled in. Couldn't the software be set so that the MARRIED women's last names in census records came over as a blank, or with a warning to re-check the married women's last name for accuracy?
Hang in there. We really do appreciate all you do.
I'm not sure I like the new story viewer. It squashes everything up and takes out all the blank lines. I like the old one much better.
I think this change occurred the same time the new link photo to events feature was added.
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
[+ Add Media to this event]
geesh! gotta followup my most recent prior comment…
even if i work from the Facts&Sources screen in order to see which sources are linked to each event,
the description information for each event isn't displayed.
so i still have to go back to Overview screen to see my descriptions but there i cannot see all the sources at the same time.
you give us redundancy but no consistency.
i'm thinking your software programmers are NOT researchers!
these recent changes have wrecked the best features of the prior configuration.
…i'm crying here!
I have been in Genealogy along time. 30 or so years.had to travel to find stuff,THen i joined Ancestry .com–the way it WAS set up all i had to do is click in on family tree. there it was, now this is to much. I may have to cancel . don't won't to but i spent all afternoon ,DIDNOT find anuthing. please put it back the way it was—O.K.
I kind of like it. Perhaps it would be satisfactory for all if the photo wasn't shown but a link to the photo was listed as the sources are listed.
I'd like to see weblinks added to the media tab instead of having to scroll to the very bottom of the page to add or see if there are any.
Benny Re: #165
Why would *anyone* want to link to the IGI ??
It runs a close second to OneWorldTree as being the greatest collection of junkology which presently infects the world of online genealogy.
Hey Kenny….Hope you guys get the message. #167 was so well done and shows so well why people are upset.
OK, so maybe I am a real geek & kinda quirky, but this new update really makes me smile all over! I love being able to add a pic next to the occupation, or wedding date, etc. From the looks of it, I may be the only one, but it may be the highlight of my entire month, so thank you very much for the smilies!
As a Family History Center Librarian, I am more than willing to help people get started and continue with their genealogy. I work for free, absolutely no pay as all the librarians do. I have been doing it for 27 years! I love helping people.
Andy Hatchett is absolutely correct! NO CHECKING for accuracy is ever done on submissions to the IGI, Ancestral File, Pedigree Resource File or any other Church generated database. All other records are about the same as the census for accuracy. Many are partially correct, but most records and documents generated by human beings will have flaws. It is up to the individual genealogist to do research and find as many documents as possible to get at least enough circumstantial evidence for a reasonable conclusion that what you have is correct or near correct.
Unless you personally were there at a birth, marriage or death, you will always have to do this. People will always make mistakes. Usually not intentionally. It's just the human condition.
I always tell people they must find the proof themselves. Many are surprised to hear this. If you think of it logically, you will realize this has to be an individual task. No organization can possibly guarantee 100% accuracy. The manpower just doesn't exist. The more source documentation you have on a single person, which you can provide, the closer you get to being accurate.
However…..Ancestry used out-sourcing from offshore people for their indexing, when they were not using OCR. These people were not highly familiar with American English script enough to be 100% accurate. Little known fact. Hence, stupid mistakes in transcriptions as well as understandably honest ones.
Use your brains, people! Get the BIG picture.
That is why the source documentation with notes is so important. More so than pictures. The importance of pictures is secondary as they can have wrong information written on the backs. The picture will be of a real person but how many are going to have accurate notation? How many will even have pictures of ancestors?
Family crests do NOT carry down to 20 generations. Read up on heraldry. People living today do not have the right to most family crests.
The "+ Add media to this event" does nothing in the Timeline/Overview to help get source documentation to the forefront where it should be. It is dazzling to the non-professional, the casual "genealogist," and the name collectors.
And it is labor intensive. From my 27 years of experience with people, few are really doing a quality job of research. You cannot force people to do things the hard way. Easy will always win out. Have some pride in your research. Do it right even if it is harder!
TO 'Volunteer for 27 years'
I try to explain to folks that
any information on any given document is only as good as the informant's knowledge…
As to this 'add media event'
Suzanne #173
You carry on smiling, the rest of us will just keep laughing! "Geek" and "quirky" say it all! If this rubbish is the highlight of your entire month, you need you get out more!
The folks at Ancestry are being mighty quiet about these comments. Does anyone think they're even reading them?
Re: #165 and #171 follow-up.
Okay, I agree, IGI has lots of junk in it. I withdraw that idea. I definitely prefer that Ancestry concentrate on original source data.
I wonder if this a record for number of posts on a blog?
Hope this isn't too much "off topic", but perhaps if ancestry spent their resources on acquiring more actual documents from vital records and other sources and have the transcribing done by volunteers like the World Archives Project, we could get more actual records to search and better transcription?
If I see an unusual surname and can't find it on any previous or later census in that state, I will search through that particular census comparing how various letters are written until I can decipher the name.
It always amazes me that someone will take the names from a census, add them to their "tree", then add different names from a previous or later census, so that one child now becomes three! I've seen it all!
I am continually checking for new documents. I see that death notices for AR are now showing up, but why do "hints" pop up for dozens of "Ancestry Family Trees", but most times I have to "search" for actual documents, unless they come in as "hints" with the "Ancestry Family Trees" hint? I would certainly prefer to have the documents show up as hints, since 98% of the "tree hints" can be ignored, especially when so much is copied.
If Ancestry would like to make improvements to the media section, it would be very nice if you could make it possible to organize the media. I would like to be able to sort through any put my photos and stories in any order I want.
I do like being able to attach media to a particular even, but it does make the page very busy looking.
I'm 70+ yrs young, and I do NOT like "add media" option.
How can I disable the "add media" ?
Please reply asap. Thank you.
Ellie Re: #182
The short answer is that you can't disable it.
We are stuck with it until Ancestry changes it (and there is no doubt in my mind at all that they *will* change it!).
Edit Page Proposal.
Comments welcomed.
the URL is:
Kenny Re: #186
I'd personally favor it being on the event page itself but could easily live with it appearing under the source citations on the right.
Good job.
Kenny, thank you for at least looking into this 'problem' that so many of us do not like. Putting it over to the right is certainly better then where it is, but still messy. We have a photo gallery, we have a media gallery, I think these are enough so we do not need this at all. Now putting it right off the timeline is the best so far. I personally hope you take it out completely. I just don't think it is needed.
A step in the right direction Kenny, thanks.
Now, put please put Editing a Fact back the way it was with one click to edit and a drop-down text box so that I don't have to re-type everything. I like to add Ports of Call for long sea voyages and having to re-type everything gets old quickly.
Thank you! I think this is a good solution to meet the needs of all users.
I have one question…will the "Description" for the event go back to being on a third line, rather than before the location? I like to put cemetery names, etc., in that field and have missed being able to find that info quickly.
Thanks, Kenny, for responding. I do like the ability to add media to a specific event. It's obvious from reading this blog people do not necessarily embrace change. I can understand their points. Its apparent that Ancestry is trying to make things better and is responding to critiques. What more can we as consumers expect?
…i'm still crying here!
programmers could have just included +Media where we see +Source
would have avoided all this chaos
PLUS two of my favorite features have been wrecked — unhide source citations on Overview and the one-click Edit.
I "vote" to have two options – turn off the link in one fell swoop and be able to turn off/on manually in individual pages.
I have just made a test on my dad's page. Already I had about ten events for him, with detailed descriptions. I don't have media for all events.
On Marriage, 1st Comm, 1st home, etc, I have added a picture (and their license on Marriage).
Two problems…rather three:
What was already an overly elongated page (made longer by the previous upgrade which squished titles and descriptions into shorter lines!!)is now TWICE as long and the spaces around the media, to the right of, and below, is a vast wasteland.
Secondly, all my carefully written titles — for instance, the year they first bought a house. My title was nice and neat on one line…
7364 Botanical Lane | Smithton Home
Now, Home is on a line all by itself, and the Location (next line) I have the City, county and zip of the house, but now the zip is on a line by itself!
What took up about an inch of space originally is now at least 2.5 inches — and that is only one entry!
And thirdly – maybe the answer has already been given though I have read most comments — I would now like to remove photos/documents from those events, but I only see a 'Remove' and not a 'Detach' option??
I thank those who came up with this idea, since many will opt to add the media. But for those of us who have no pictures or documents for MANY of our ancestors, it makes sense to have the option to turn it off or hopefully a retooling will put it on the edit page, and not front and center in every event. Thank you! ~Patricia~
I don't like the new "add media" feature. I feel it's redundant and it makes the page busier, harder to read. But, if we are forced to have this feature, moving it over to the right is a better option. The BEST option would be to put it back to how it was originally. We already have the ability to add media, I don't think that this is an addition that will be used by most people.
This is the best written message I have read in a long time. I came back in October from a trip to the Czech Republic where I copied birth, marriage and death records of my ancestors out of church books. It took me WEEKS, nay MONTHS to type in the sources (parish registers, page numbers, etc.) into my records on ancestry.com. Now this stupid "media" line totally distracts from that information. But, not to worry, at least these ancestry trees that "member connect" imposes on me daily (which show the wife of an ancestor of my husband to have been born 200 years after her husband died–an ancestry tree copied blindly by DOZENS and DOZENS of people whom I informed a year ago of this mistake….none of whom have made a change to their record…), thesse trees are safe! What's wrong with this picture? Oh, yeah, you can't put THIS picture into the time line event lines!!!
Also, PLEASE give us a way to sort photos and media into folders/albums! That is MUCH NEEDED!!!
How about using scan scale icons to the event overview (i.e. a small camera icon) similar to the icon with the pencil for "Quick Edit" on other pages to add media to events. Then it would tighten up the spacing and still provide the feature for those who want to use it. I have been doing genealogy research trips and like the idea of being able to add a photo of a place to the event.
The addition of all the new features is great, but these additions need to be done in a way that doesn't clutter the screen.
How about allowing users to have a "customize view" option on the overview and profile screens. You will never find a format that satisfies every user's needs, but by providing the ability to customize the view you will go a long way to satisfying the majority of users.
Html test
I think this change is very much in line with the complaints most folks have about the "add media" taking up too much space. I wonder if this would be possible:
1 source citation
Add media | Edit
it all fits in the same amount of space as your proposed edit and would allow for editing the even from the main page. Many folks simply won't find a way to edit and remove an event if they have to click down even one page.
And let me reiterate my comment above: I like this new feature. It does take up more room, yes. However, I think it draws the eye down the page and to individual events. The media gallery can be hard to navigate when there are a lot of events present and this is a good *start* at organizing media.
As I've been adding media to events these past few days, I've been able to see where I've forgotten to upload certain photos and documents that apply to other events.
Thanks for the fast reaction to our feedback on this issue.
Is there particular blog for suggestions for additional features or improvements?
Here are some suggestions for the "List Of All People" screen:
1. add an ascending and descending sort by date of birth and date of death
2. add a "Quick edit" feature to make quick corrections without needing to go to the individual profile pages.
These features would be extremely helpful in managing large trees.
Either here for general suggestions:
Or here for Member Tree suggestions:
To Marianne #180-and also to Kenny-per conversation-I thought being able to put our photos and documents in the order we wanted them was what was going to happen! Kenny, what happened to that?
Kenny (#186) — Thanks for your response. Your proposal sounds like a reasonable solution, although still a compromise.
Overall, I'm happy with my Ancestry subscription. This is why I felt the need to criticize a problem in an otherwise excellent product. Elsewhere, when dealing with mediocre products or services, I don't bother wasting my time with feedback.
Diane (#194) — Very well said. I share your opinion of the +Add Media feature and the proposed compromise.
Is there a way to block private family tree members from copying information from my public family tree?
Pam Re: #204
In a word- no; not as long as you keep it public.
Ancestry has chosen to enable and encourage the "one-click" namegatherers rather than try to restrict said namegatherers ability to engage in bad genealogical practices.
At last, common sense prevails! Thanks Kenny. I look forward to normality returning.
Pam Re: #204
You can read "Public" as "Open Access". If you make your tree public any other Ancestry user can take what they want from it, text, photos, …
I agree with Herbert Dawson, I don't like this new add media thing eather very cornfusing to me, the old way was better.
Not a fan of this. Adding "media" to someone born in 1835? Looked all over you tube and can't find great great grandpa or grandma
I just want to remove a photo that I posted to the incorrect family member. Previously I could do that without any problem. Now I have no photo for the correct person and I have the wife's photo as the primary photo for the husband.
Why change a good thing where you could add, delete from just the person you wanted. This new ADD MEDIA procedure wastes time, takes up more space and I do not find it an 'enhancement' to adding, deleting, changing photos. It makes me hesitant to add any more photos.
Now how do I delete the photo from the hubby's site?
Don #209 and many others in same vein, you say "Adding "media" to someone born in 1835? Looked all over you tube and can't find great great grandpa or grandma."
Heheheheh, apparently many have no experience with obtaining photocopies of documents that can be scanned and treated as graphics files (photos) — land grants and survey documents, estate inventories, deeds, wills, etc.
Even on Ancestry.com, recent addition of the wonderful London Vital Records collection could enable saving & uploading original baptismal records for ancestors born in 1635 😀 [Now if I could only prove the link with Poynters recorded in St. Lawrence Jewry & Mary Milk ;)]
Kenny, re: #186,
Thank you extremely for intending to restore easy navigability in one-click access to editing Event fields.
I completely agree with the requests also to restore the type-ahead features, which are so handy when entering
–places that are so often repeated because family members lived in the same places;
–explanatory text duplicated when entering data from one document regarding multiple individuals, such as devisees of a will.
All help greatly appreciated 😀
Type your comment here.
I really don't like the 'Add Media' in the events column either. It confuses the column and makes it harder to scan events. I liked it better the way it was. Sometimes making things easier isn't a good idea.
Kenny, re: #186
That looks like a good compromise. Related suggestion: When clicking on the event, remove the 2/3 page that reminds "No media has been added to…" The format you had prior to the change was so functional; the information and sourcing is what is most important: The fewer clicks to get there and the more room to add the information in a way that's visually simple, the better. Thanks.
I have been using the add media but I see no place to remove media. When I have added more than one media item to an event, I don't have an option on which media is displayed on the page. So I want to remove a media item so the placement is as I want. Am I missing something on the page that lets me remove the media item?
#204 – Pam
Yes you can.
Click on the name of the person saving the records. A dialog box will open with the option of blocking that person from seeing your tree.
That's what I do.
The goes along with #211 and what Jade said.
Many comments here are complaints that researchers don't have media to add to their older ancestors due to them having been born so long ago. Folks, media doesn't just mean photos and videos – it's a great many things.
Media might include: marriage records, death certificates, church records, obituaries, pages from newspapers and books, land records, wills, other legal documents, military records, tombstone photos, ship manifests…
The list goes on and on and I only listed documents that could easily be found for someone born in the early 1800s.
If you don't have any media that could be added to your family tree, I'd have to say that you don't have a very well documented tree.
I do not like this new feature. It required twice as much keying/mousing to enter comments for events. And it takes up too much space on my machine. I can see where you might want to connect a picture with an event (wedding, military). However, I have lots of photos and LOTS of family records and the new system is not worth it. I add notes way more frequently than any desire to put a picture with an event.
#217 Charlie, does that block the person from viewing your tree or just block them from contacting you?
#216 Dee, see Kenny's post #17 for how to remove media attached to an event.
#221 Nancy – Thanks for the info on removing photos from the event. Works.
#220 Nancy
As far as I know it blocks them from seeing your tree.
When I see someone whose "vacuuming" information off of my tree I block them, and I don't see them again.
Nancy Re: #221 Charlie Re:#223
It doesn't stop them from seeing your tree at all.
Ancestry says:
What kinds of activities does the connection service use to connect people?
Categories of activities that the connection service uses to find people you might be interested in contacting include:
1. Things you add or post to the site. These may include such content as: things in your tree(s); comments and corrections you make in OneWorldTreeSM, on records and images, etc.; your public profile; and records you link to a person in OneWorldTreeSM.
2. Your research activities on the site. These may include records you save in your shoebox and favorites you add on the site (under your account).
How can I stop receiving messages from a specific user?
If you enroll in the connection service, you therefore will be able to both send and receive anonymous messages as described. You may also choose to block communications from certain members by adding them to a Block List. The listed senders will not be notified by Ancestry that they have been blocked.
I do not like the "Add Media". It separates the data from the description, it looks messy, takes too much space, This is an annoying so called "improvement". I would like to see an option to switch the add media off for printouts Thank you
I would prefer that we have the facility to drag & drop any photos or document photos into chronological order rather than attach to a specific event in the main panel
As there are so many of us subscribing to ancestry surely we should have some input into what goes onto our pages? We should be given the opportunity to put forward suggestions that can be actually trialled by ancestry subscribers before being released publicly
Charlie #217
Very wrong!!!
All you have done is to stop those people contacting you via Ancestry Connect. They can still see, and copy, your public tree! A public tree is an "open access" tree for ALL Ancestry subscribers.
I think this new feature is great!
Then again I work on a large and widescreen monitor sometimes 2 monitors so space is not an issue for me.
It certainly makes a timeline way more exciting to look at. In this day and age there is no excuse for just straight text – it is just plain boring and will not help bring more young people into the fold!
Lastly it makes it easy for me to see what source documents I have yet to find. 🙂
I work on a 24 inch widescreen monitor and have no issues with space. What I object to is the tackiness, the glitz and the bling that is inevitably going to appear with the new layout!
We've always had the ability to load images into our Ancestry trees. But, from my experience in looking at other peoples trees, the number of images attached to a tree is usually inversely proportional to the number of sources listed!
You couldn't please some people no matter what you did. I am very satisfied with the new improvements you all do, keep up the good work. Ann
I see I'm in the minority here, but I love having media next to the event. I agree things could be tightened up a bit, but overall, love it!
#231 – Debbie,
I agree completely!
I've read a huge number of well-founded complaints here, about the ubiquitous giant "add media" links," the disappearance of many of the regular "edit" buttons, and the horrible changes to the public tree stories editing options.
I wonder if Ancestry is considering any plans to rectify the situation, or whether the company is hoping we'll eventually get used to it.
With regard to the public tree story formatting, that function appears to have recently been rendered nearly unusable. I can't place source titles in italics, I can't do bulleted lists anymore, sometimes line breaks appear in mid-sentence for no reason. Surely they plan to do something about it at some point.
I really like the change, especially since I made a very similar suggestion last year. I have one additional suggestion. The suggestion is to change the name of the tab from STORIES to DOCUMENTS.
Steven et all- please see Kenny's post #186.
Changes are being addressed. They won't happen overnight, or even in a day or two; but they will happen.
Writing code take time, writing good code takes even longer; and writing good code to fix bad code takes longest of all.
One suggestion I have is instead of showing the added media (photo, text document or whatever) button in its present location is to move it to where it says "n" Source Citation(s). That is, from left side of the timeline column to the right side. That would free up and tighten up some space.
Also, I may be repeating what others may said, instead of having the add media "button" on the timeline page, move it to or keep it on the event page.
Once again, I like the ability to add documents to events in the timeline.
I love having the add media by the event. I think photos are a very important part of documentation and history. If you have them it is nice to put a face or other picture with a fact.
I know you can connect the photos to as many people in the tree that you would like, but it would be nice to be able to "tag" each person.In other words. If you click on there face it shows you who they are.
Please do not remove this feature, but maybe have an option to view or hide as necessary.
#234 Jeff. Right now many object to their documents (such as death certificates) being called stories just because that is currently the only way to upload a pdf.
But I wouldn't want to have stories labeled as documents either!
Type your comment here.
regarding #174 and Andy Hatchett's comments…
I AM SO GLAD to hear that others are as tired of the junk info, not verified, just copied from a zillion other trees as gospel…
So many trees have not taken the time to realize that a parent died 20 yrs BEFORE their last child was born, or they were born in New England 10 yrs before they immigrated here,or attaching the wrong families to parents.
Not to offend anyone but..how can people post their ancestors back to Adam and Eve !! I have a hard time getting back to the 1400's and some branches stop in the early 1600's..
I try and search books, documents, web sites like Gen WEb, or Google book searchs are very helpful.
If I am not sure about a person/family I am working on, I add a note on my timeline stating NOT VERIFED, NEEDS PROVING, so I know what I need to work on, and others wont take as valid..just a starting point.
I do not mind posting info, Obits, Cemetery photos, etc for others to save to their trees.. If my research has helped save someone hours of time duplicating what I have done already, Im glad!
I have connected with many wonderful and helpful "cousins" and we have shared much info.
I hope that all of us that have trees would dig for the proof, That is the fun and frustration of Genealogy.
#238 Nancy
I think that I am one of those that object to documents being called stories. I have said so to Kenny in private messages. Because you are right, many documents are not stories and shouldn't be called or labeled as such. Also, vice versa.
I made another suggestion that you haven't seen is to add another section/label/whatever you want to call, called DOCUMENTS. That would be in addition to the stories "tab."
224 Andy & 227 Bromaelor
None of the names I've "blocked" have shown up on the "Recent Member Connect Activity" after I've clicked on block.
Maybe they already took everything they wanted.
When I notice that someone has taken a dozen or more records/stories to add to their private tree, and I look at their profile and see that they've volunteered to help others with research, I think 'well you're going to have to do your "research" somewhere else'. And I click on block.
If this doesn't block these people, there should be a mechanism that does. Otherwise I guess I'll have to make my tree private, or take it offline completely.
Charlie Re: #242
Once they are blocked their activities will not show on your "Recent Member onnect Activities". That doesn't mean they aren't still actively taking stuff from your tree- only that you are not being told about their activity.
A Public Tree is just that-Public. Anyone can see it anytime and take anything they want and there is absolutely no way you can stop them short of making your tree private.
#241 Jeff
I'd love to have another tab for documents. I have lots of marriage, death and land records. Anything that helps me organize them would be great!
#229 Bromaelor: Lucky you, a 24 inch wide monitor. It's true, people seem to load more pictures, copies of documents, and other printed items than sources. Very sad. It's the easy way to do their "work."
Valid items are good. Family name crests are not.
#244 Nancy,
I agree. Although if that were to happen, Ancestry might turn into a real genealogy "program." Then we might hear someone that Ancestry.com isn't meant to be a genealogy program.
OH, Jeff, now I know Andy will be chiming in!
Photos are fine in their place; but their place isn't front and center in genealogical research and hopefully never will be.
Quite frankly, if someone can't supply dates and places for a person then I have no need for a photo of them.
"Do you know when your grandmother was born?"
"No- but I have a lovely photo of her"
"When was it taken?"
"I really don't know"
"How do you know its your grandmother"
"Because someone sent it to me and told me it was"
"There's nothing written on the photo?"
Really great documentation!!
Another suggestion. At the end of a blog, how about a link to take you back to the top of the page. lol!
Kenny, I wanted to thank you for listening and for the many responses to various concerns regarding this latest addition. Kudos to you. I'm sure it will all be worked out in time.
As I stated before, I'd like the option to hide the add media.
Not on topic, but was wondering… It would be nice to be able to collapse the Media Gallery and expand only when necessary (regardless of the add media decision). Maybe this has been addressed before. Thank you!
Jerry #167 for PRESIDENT!
Excellent 😀
When presented with empty space, some people have an irresistible urge to fill it, with anything! Never mind the quality of the research, look at the pretty pictures!!!
I have no problem with genuine family photos, gravestones, relevant documents, etc (but preferably all included in an album and not attached to individual events!!!), but some people dumb-down to the level of a holiday brochure with modern images of the area, maps, etc. (and all ripped-off from Google?). Just who are they trying to impress?
Carol A H #245
I've just read your posting and we seem to have come to the same conclusion.
Rae #240
You have touched on a very sensitive area here which does need addressing! We all come across trees where the data is so blatantly wrong! So what do we do about it? If it concerns people I have in my trees I usually use the messaging system to point this out to them, and in the vast majority of cases get ignored! Example are: appearing in two (or more!) places in the same census; continuing to have children after they have died; living to be several hundred years old; dying and then re-appearing in the next census; having several children with the same names and all living!; and on and on, and usually all courtesy of One World Tree! All without a single source being mentioned!!!
If Ancestry feel the need to provide extra functions let's have an "IDIOT" button, similar to those which send standard 'insults' to people on messaging programs. Let's all keep pressing it and pointing out to these people that their level of "research" is unacceptable!
Ignorance is NOT bliss!
Bromaelor #253 [and others in same vein],
". . . .and on and on, and usually all courtesy of One World Tree! All without a single source being mentioned!!!"
Well there *are* sources given; US Census, and myriad trees from which mistaken stuff is lifted.
The problem is not lack of "source" but lack of ~evidence~ for the assertions.
Thanks in part to Ancestry.com's very busy marketing dept., genealojunk trees and genealojunk add-ons multiply much more quickly than any few hundred individuals could keep up with sending corrective notes to the owners.
Bad genealogy is everywhere on the web. There is no expunging it and few venues allow even leaving publicly viewable messages about mistakes. No point wasting time/energy resources on herding a million or so cats.
Can you at least put the "Add Media" link so it shows below the Description? It interrupts the flow to have it between the Location and Description.
PLEASE!! – REMOVE the "add media" to every event!!! It is terrible – wastes space, it was easy to add media the way you had it previously. (I see I am with the majority here!) You are making this less of a proper genealogical site. Even the changes where media is added is less useful – making changes/edits to the comments about a photo one has added used to be right below the photo. Now there is this stupid comments from others window.
Stop 'fixing' this visual stuff, and concentrate on providing more great source info.
Yet another plea to remove the "add media" tag to every event. It's made everything look a real mess, it's difficult to read the entries. Or, if you must keep it – please move the tag or make it smaller. Please ………… do you want us to beg?
ok where do I look for instructions on how to upload photo's
Adriennel RE: #258
Are you uploading from Family Tree Maker or just uploading images on you computer?
I like the add media to events but dislike the added camera icon. That addition is totally unwarranted. I understand what others say about Add Media line though, it does look messy when printed out but its ease of use wins out. Perhaps a move to a seperate small box at the end of each event line would be a happy compromise for those totally opposed to this addition.
#258 Adriennel,
Send me your email. I will be happy to do some screen shots on uploading a photo to your tree. It is very easy and only takes a few moments.
I know I have posted that I hate the "+ Add media to this event" several times and cited some reasons. It is Friday evening and after a long week, I thought I would catch up on some work on my trees. I opened a tree, and here's something I experienced.
Maybe it is just me, and my eyesight, but, honest to God, I feel like I have double vision looking at my timelines! I'm having difficulty seeing what I need to do, due to the clutter. I just can't seem to focus on what is missing, and what I need to work on.
I had a list of notations which I had used before, and which would pop up when I started a similar reference to a new event. I could select it and then edit the details to be specific to the current person. (Like cut and paste.) I frequently use the Massachusetts Vital Records as a reference and cite the volume and page number, and then add additional notations. That pop up is gone and I have to type EVERYTHING again each time! This is more work. There was no need to remove that feature.
This is unacceptable!!! I want my list restored!!! It was a big time saver. It's as though Ancestry is discouraging people from adding citations to events, and encouraging media only. Does this sound right? Not to me!
I can't work with this mess. There is nothing wrong with my eyesight except I need glasses to drive a car. My close up and computer vision is perfect. I should know. I just had cataract surgery on both eyes last summer, very successfully.
Until Ancestry added that stupid media thing, removed my list of references, and put in huge spaces, I was cruising along. I daily got messages from Ancestry informing me that new people had been added to one of my trees. I knew that; I put them there! So I created a separate folder in my email and stuffed all those messages there.
I want my reference list restored and my timelines to look and work as they used to. I cannot work in a garbage heap!
**sigh** no response to my prior comments but i'll make a couple more because i'm a thinking creature.
please ask your programmers to continue working to improve and make this website as slick and streamlined as the 21st century would suggest it should be.
and hey!! i subscribe only to the U.S. records. so please flag my account aand do NOT suggest hints for international records! that's just a clutterbus ADVERTISEMENT and very annoying to see those inaccessible and usually bogus hints!
thank you for your consideration.
Love the new feature and think it adds to entries. Thanks and keep up the good work. Rich
#251 Bromaelor: Until you posted about it, I had forgotten all the modern media of places that are on some people's trees. The travelogue stuff, not to mention the modern flags, and family name crests to which they have no right. I usually don't pay attention to them so it slipped my mind. Not exactly Ancestry's fault. They don't monitor anything except the blogs on occasion. I suppose if someone added a really inappropriate picture, someone else might point it out to Ancestry, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.
Problem seems to be some folks think this is a social site. They clutter the site with media that doesn't fit the original intention. They are not experienced real genealogists or historians. We have to live with that. We don't have to live with Ancestry's stupid ideas and pay for it as well. We can leave, but who really wants to not be able to see records. So we compromise and make our complaints known, hopefully.
Ancestry used to be so good. Fast and reasonably efficient. Sigh!
Well here's new wrinkle! I logged out of Ancestry and then logged in with another username and password. I looked at one of my own trees which I knew had source citations and NOTES!
From the borrowed username, the words "+ Add media to this event" DOES NOT SHOW!" So as owners of a tree, we are the lucky ones who have to deal with this junk.
Of course, it makes sense. Duh! Others cannot edit our trees. Neither do they have to see excess "enhancements." Too bad. Maybe if they did they would complain.
"Let's you and him fight." From the book, "Games People Play." Argh!
Carol Re: #266
I take it that the borrowed username was not an "editor"-right?
But an "editor" invited to a tree will see the "+Add media to this event".
I am overwhelmed! Thank you for what you have done for us. I'm just so grateful for the ability to place pictures, stories and documents at the place and events take place. So great to have the census document where that census is on the timeline.
So many possibilities of what to do, placing children's pictures in the timeline where they are born. I will be thinking of things for quite some time with what you have given us. And it was so unexpected. Thank you very much! You have done a wonderful job.
I absolutely love being able to add media. It is makes Ancestry so much more fun to look at. I think Ancestry is very boring without media. Now my family that doesn't even have an interest in genealogy loves it. Thanks for the great addition.
Is there a way to change the picture you want to see next to the event on the timeline when you have several pictures added?
Yes, Andy, it was just for a test. Not something I would use normally. I'm a paying subscriber and am fine with paying for something good. I don't have folks as editors. Got enough problems. People can still copy with no problem and they get the notation, a bonus.
Gotta' run. I have a date with a 4 month old sweet boy. I like them young. (I'm his nanny.)
I like this feature a lot, although it seems that is a minority opinion.
How can a photo be linked to an event, but does not show up in the "Media Gallery."
Yet another example of why this blog needs 24 hour moderation?
Since I have uploaded my photo's and other doc.onto ancestry.com how do I down load these sames photo and doc to my personnel computer? Or do I have to start over?
#274 Bromaelor: Stuff like that (#273) can get on the blog because anyone, even non-members, non-subscribers can post to the blog. I don't know about 24-hour monitoring but certainly a daily monitoring would be good. It doesn't happen often so I guess we are lucky.
I saw a post advertising cheap shoes on GenForum but I think it got removed. I know Ancestry can remove that #273 if they find it.
Anyone know when Ancestry will actually do something about that dumb "+ Add media to this event?" I know Andy posted it will take some time and I know they only work regular hours, Monday to Friday. We are left on our own weekends.
It's like you are in pain–it goes on forever, even though it has been about 10 days or so.
Off topic, but I notice when I post the time stamp is different. A two-hour difference. If I post at, say, 3 pm, the time will show as 5 pm. Ancestry is in Mountain Standard Time, only one hour different than me. So the posts gets a Central Standard Time stamp.
Their business hours are 10 am to 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. How's that for some more time confusion? Don't tell the folks in the UK or Australia. They have enough problems.
Please remove the "add media". There is no reason to use it.
Carol, #273 is also another good reason for allowing only Ancestry subscribers to post to an Ancestry blog. I can think of no reason why non-subscribers would ever need to post here anyway???
#279 Bromaelor: Good idea. It's probably just mischief. Even non-members have to give an email addy when posting. Seems like Ancestry could block that particular addy. If they are not paying, why should they have a vote?
Regarding the constant changes Ancestry is making, I think the bottom line here is CHOICE. Give us OPTIONS to try something and then not use it, if it is a pain for us. That might make more people happy. It would me. I don't want to be stuck with changes that don't help me. It has nothing to do with resistance to change, as some would say. I want ease of use and speed and efficiency. The latest addition has none of the above.
Until my ancestors knock on my door and say, "Here I am, grab your camera," the add media is usless to me.
Carol Re: #276
About the posting times…
I'm in the Central Time Zone and am posting this at 3:50pm
Let's see what time is actually shown when posted. Then ew can figure out what time the Blog's servers are on.
Hey there, Andy, I think we got that one pinned down. Just thought it would be interesting. I'm a born snoop!
Carol Re: #282
Now- the question becomes "Why?"
I know the Ancestry servers are in Utah- I've personally seen them.
So why are they set to Central Time??
What about #272.
I believe at one time I saw that there was a way to down load a photo on your ancestry.com site, but not have it included in the "Media Gallery" for an individual. I would like to try that to see if I can link a photo to an event, but not show up in the individual's Media Gallery.
Thank you.
For those who wish to add scans of certificates, parish records, cemetery records you may wish to investigate who owns the copyright before adding them to your tree, whether private or public. For instance, I have scans of Parish registers from a county Record Office in England. They own the copyright to the image, but not the data on it. I also transcribe Parish Records from scanned images at the county Record Office. The data I transcribe is then loaded to FreeReg.org.uk (equivalent to FreeBMD.org.uk). The data is not copyrighted, just the image.
Just be careful, that's all.
#283 Andy: I guess you would have to ask Ancestry. They must have some reason. Unless they overlooked that! They already have trouble converting time for different zones.
# 285 Rosemary: Excellent point. Well said. We don't want to do anything to jeopardize our ability to see and get vital information. The information is public record but you can't publish a copy of it, if it is owned by an organization. I have no idea where the line is drawn regarding these records but when in doubt, DON'T.
Here in the USA, the rules may be different. Many are doing just that on this site. They may be in violation of some rule or law. This country is already too litigious. All we need are more frivolous lawsuits to threaten our access to records.
OK, #275, Charles. I'll bite. How did you get them there in the first place? Didn't you have to use your computer? You must have the files you used.
I know how to steal photos from online sites, but I'm not telling.
Public Records obtained from any US Federal Agency or any State agency are free of copyright and can be copied, posted, etc., at will with no fear.
Good news, Andy. Thanks.
At first I thought it looked like a fun idea. Then I tried it.
What I want is the ability to put the photos I have in order – or better yet, to have the program automatically do this when I have dated the photo.
And I am curious why you messed with this when there are SO many other things that need fixing. My pet beef is the fact that Ancestry makes us call people 'spouse" even when the parents weren't married. I knew in 3rd grade that you didn't have to be married to have a baby!!
Or the fact than when first cousins marry you can't merge the parents! Now I have two trees going back where I only need one!
Or same sex couples! What do we do about that?
It seems to me you're just adding stuff the same way Nabisco adds "NEW!" to the package hoping we won't look too deep.
Make it go away and fix the stuff that matters. We're here because we care about ACCURACY and DETAIL… this isn't facebook.
Re: #289 Alexandra – I'm glad you brought up the problem of merging parents. I've often wondered if there was a way to do this and I was just missing something. Anybody out there know if this is possible?
I don't think media will work for a lot of folks, most of us are not techy enough.
What I would like to see is more images of original documents from the time before photography came on the scene.
289 Alexandra and 290 Pat Secord:
When you enter the parents of cousins who married, you don't add them as new people the second time, you choose them from those already in your tree. You can't merge them, you'll have to delete one of each duplicate person.
Re: #292 Jo – that makes sense! I'll give it a try – Thanks!!
Im trying to redo my family tree-I messed up the names & dates.I need help to remove it & fix it.
Janet Re: #294
If you are talking about a family tree made with Family Tree Maker, go to this link and post your problem.
If you are talking about an online Ancestry Member Tree you need to go to the link below and post your problem.
Just had the Ancestry.com news letter in my inbox and had a quick read. In there they have a bit of write up of this new add Media feature. They have a picture off the add media link with it positioned on the right hand side of an event under the source. When I saw this I thought yipee they have finally moved it from been wedged in between the address and description line. But when I go into my tree I still see it stuck in the same place. Is it just my tree that has not been updated or is everyones still the same?
No Haydn, you are not alone. Mine is still the same 🙁 I check it several times a day to see if it is gone. I hate working in there the way it is.
Haydn Re:#296
It is still the same!
I saw the newsletter as well and hurried over to my tree to see the new look – but the trees haven't been updated yet. Hmm…
Re : #296, 297, 298, 299
I haven't seen the newsletter but wonder- did the article actually say:
a). That the change had been made.
b). That this was what the change was going to be.
c). You just saw the picture and didn't closely read the article?
Andy, here is the article minus the photo.
Tell a More Complete Story in Your Family Tree
Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. And you celebrate your birthday every year. And the same was true for your ancestors.
Now, a new feature in your tree allows you to attach photos, video, audio clips and stories to these and other important events in your ancestors' lives, so you can document a more complete story.
To get started, visit an ancestor's profile page in your family tree, select one of the events in their timeline (birth, marriage, move, etc.) and click "Add media." Once you're done, be sure to click on the actual life event itself to see all the facts, records, sources and media surrounding that event in one central location. Go to your tree.
Ah… thanks Candi.
Sounds like the article was written before the blowup about the location of the "+ Add Media", then a mockup of the proposed change was made and shown on the Blog, and then that mock up was accidentally used with the article instead of an actual screen shot.
Yesssssssssssss! It is a done deal. I just found the add media is over on the right under source citations! I can live with that. Not as intrusive as the original setup. Happy Night!
While an improvement, it may be only a MARGINAL improvement. Now the vertical spacing between the lines (Event, Location, and Description) is IRREGULAR!
Here's hoping this is just temporary until it can be tweaked.
You are right Jerry. After I saw your post I took a look. When I put in a description it is way out of whack. I didn't notice at first…..I was too excited. I too hope they can tweak it!
THANK YOU!! for moving the 'add media' over to the right, much better place for it. Makes it alot easier to read what we all have put into our description lines.
I can only speak for myself but…
Everything looks fine- until you actually add a media item and then it all falls off a cliff!
I have just one small question-
Did *anybody* at Ancestry bother to look at the overview page after adding a media item??? !!!
After the firestorm caused by the original mess could anyone actually believe that this result would be acceptable??
This is horrid! Almost worse than the original mess.
Everything is scrambled- sources under the image, etc.
Re #304, #305. O God I see what you mean. That is awfull. And if you where stupid enough as me to try sticking a few photos in there to see what it looked like you still get the name photo wedged inetween your address line and description line. But still my main major gripe has not been fixed. You still have to do all this multiple clicking to get to edit anything. Sureley in this day and age it would be easy for Ancestry to be able to implement a 1 click edit system.
One more time *sigh*
The link below links to a post with an attached image of what I think most people want the overview page to look like *after* adding a media item. Comments welcomed.
is anything alright?
stop trying to make it "better" please!
i'm crying here.
OK, so that nasty "Add Media" is now out of harm's way but why is there a big gap left??? Please bring Event, Location, and Description back together!
If this is causing problems with adding silly pictures, even better!! The simple answer is to remove that option altogether.
To sum up:
The majority objection to the initial revision of the Timeline section was adding an extraneous item between the principal fields (Title, Location, Description).
Moving the "add media" link out was a good thing but the new version in totality does not solve the problem:
–new large space between the 3 principal fields (usually, but not always)
–adding the camera logo between principal fields when a 'media' item is added.
Added problems with the new version include:
–the new spacing scheme between the 3 principal fields is irregular, sometimes with a large space, sometimes with a slightly too small space;
–sometimes text from one of the 3 principal fields actually overlaps text from the next field (viewing in Firefox, don't know about in IE, Safari, etc.)
Examples of the above posted here:
Actually, I LIKE the feature of adding the media to the event. I think people like or dislike it based on their use of the application (if all you are doing is uploading pictures I can see why you don't think is of value). I have scanned documents as pictures (not stories or such), thus a picture of the marriage license can be added to the marriage event. I do think this is an improvement- I love it in fact!
However, that said, I do agree that the space should be tightened up as others have indicated. Perhaps simply a note on the event in (or a icon can appear if media is added to the event) Overview tab that media has been added to an event and then you can click on the Media tab and the media is sorted by events (with items unattached to an event first).
Wanted to let you know that this new feature is helpful to me.