- Stronger Caution for Merging Persons
They have added a message that we hope will help users realize that they should merge records only after careful consideration.
Knowledge Base Article # 61051 “Resolving Common Merge Situations” can be reassuring for patrons who are nervous about what to merge and what not to merge. It offers a chart of circumstances to consider and encourages decisions. - More Cautions for Deleting People from Family Tree
To help users make better decisions about when and whether to delete a person from Family Tree, we have added stronger messages to help them understand the implications of what they are doing. We also require them to acknowledge that they have reviewed the relationships and have entered a reason statement. - Pedigrees of Unmarried Users
If the user is not married, they see their parents in the main position of the pedigree, with themselves shown as a child. Previously, the user was in the main position. Their parents and ancestry were shown, but the half of the pedigree intended for the spouse’s ancestry was blank. This change allows single users to view a complete tree. Response from single patrons has been mixed. - Life Sketch
This mini biography is right at the top of the person page drawing attention to details of their life. - Latest Changes now show 25 at a time instead of 10
This reduces the time required to search through recent changes. - Notes Migrated from New Family Search
Many patrons have used Notes to document their research and provide supplementary information. The notes on individuals and relationships from nFS are now added to Family Tree. - Print the Fan ChartThis option is available from the Person details page in the same box as the Print Pedigree and the two versions of Print Family Group Record.
It will bring up the seven generation colored fan in a PDF version which can then be saved or printed. (You may see 4 but 7 will print) This may work best in Chrome and Internet Explorer.
(In Firefox, it will have the same problems as the print pedigree or family group records. Please see Article 56376 for Mac and 56384 for Windows or 56353). - Changing the Order of Sources on the Person Page
For some time, sources in Family Tree could be dragged to a different location in the list. This can be helpful when certain sources should be emphasized or de-emphasized because of their relative importance.
Previously, this feature had no buttons or other visual indications that you could move the sources. You just had to know. There are now arrow icons that make this process more visible and easier. Hover your mouse over the source you want to move, and arrow icons appear to the right side of the source. If a source can go either up or down, you get up and down arrows. Click the appropriate one, and the source moves one line up or down. If a source is at the top of the list you only get a "down arrow". If it is at the bottom of the list, you only get an "up arrow". - Wording of the Tag Option for sources changed to Tag Event
To associate a specific source with a vital event, you tag it. The wording of the option used to do this task has changed from “Tag” to “Tag Event” to be more descriptive. - Giving Feedback to FamilySearch
It is now easier to send feedback to FamilySearch. Just scroll down to the footer, and click Feedback.
You will see a screen that asks if you want to report a problem or want to offer a suggestion or compliment.
If you click Suggestion or Compliment, you go to our Get Satisfaction community. Click on Share your idea - Report abuse on person page This feature is intended for reporting misuse of Family Tree that violates the terms of use. Some examples of misuse include:
Offensive or abusive language
Information that might harm or embarrass living relatives
Links to external web pages with inappropriate content
Solicitations for business or research services
The report abuse feature is not intended for reporting incorrect data about a person (names, dates, and places) that another user has added. The process for resolving those issues involves adding sources, entering good reason statements, discussions, and contacting contributors. - Print Family Group Record without SourcePreviously, all family group records printed from Family Tree included sources. Some of these printouts were 15 or more pages long. You can now print a family group record with sources and ones without sources.
- Selecting the Default (or Preferred) Spouse or ParentsIt is now easier to indicate which spouse or set of parents should show up by default on a pedigree. If a person is linked to multiple parents or spouses, the Family Members section of the details page has a check box you can click to select the one you want to show up by default on your pedigree.
Works in IE and Firefox but NOT in Chrome - New Features for Photos and Stories
1,000,000 photos have been added to the Photos and Stories Website.
It was the hope of Family Search designers that this site would awaken interest in patrons to preserve their family history. It is working!
Find photos and stories in Google SearchFor some time you have been able to search for photo from within the Photos and Stories tool on FamilySearch.org. We recently made the same index available to Google, meaning that Google searches now have access to the words, names, and phrases that are included in the tags, titles, and descriptions for the photos you upload and the stories you share. So, the priceless family memories you add to Photos and Stories just might be found and enjoyed by relatives and friends that are not yet be familiar with FamilySearch. Visit Google Search and give it a try! - BadgesIf you’re seeing small blue dots all over the Photos and Stories pages, don’t rush out to see your ophthalmologist. You are simply seeing a new indicator (“badge”) that tells you at-a-glance how many tagged people, comments, and stories have been added for each photo.
There is also a badge that shows how many albums the photo appears in. Since it would be impossible to show all the comments, stories, album names and people names all at once, the badges let you know what more there is without having to click on each item to check. - Link a Person's photo to Family Tree by ID Number
Every person listed in Family Tree is assigned a unique person identification number—called a PID. The number can be found in several places.
It is simple to link the faces tagged in the photos you upload to people listed in the Tree using the PID. A tag in a photo will show a red dot with an exclamation point, indicating that the person is not linked to Family Tree. Clicking on the person reveals the “Link to Family Tree” option which, when selected brings up the “Identify this person in Family Tree” dialogue box. At the bottom of the dialogue is a place to paste in the PID of the person you want to link to. This is a quick and easy way to make links that will allow other family members to see the photos you upload. If you have the Family Tree open in one window and the Photos tool open in another, it is easy to copy and paste the number into the right place and make the link. - Documents - now in BetaOn the current Photos and Stories navigation, you have options to view all your photos, view by people tagged, view by album, view stories, and search by keyword. There is a new classification for uploaded material: Documents. This is a frequently requested feature—to be able to designate an uploaded image as a document. Documents will still be taggable (and linked to Family Tree), but with squared-off edges instead of the circles used to tag faces. In addition to introducing the Documents classification, we will also start offering the ability to upload multi-page PDFs.
Adding documents is a step toward a new Photos and Stories site design that will be based around albums. In addition to general refinements to the look and feel, the new design will make it easier to preserve family memories, organize them, and share them with family. If you have uploaded a document as a photo, there is no need to upload it again as a document – you can change a photo to a document on the site. - Change a Photo to a DocumentTo change a Photo to a Document, you can follow these steps:
Open photo in the beta viewer.
Click Options (on the bottom right of the photo).
Click on Change to document.
This will work on photos that you have uploaded.
From Familysearch Family Tree and the Photos and Stories Website.
List and explanations compiled by Sister Dorothy L Brown, used by permission.
I have omitted her graphics to conserve space on my blog.
