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  • Is anybody getting on with FMP now

    I'm sorry but its driving me bonkers , so much narrowing down to do, cannot find how to look for a marriage with both names, or a Birth with the Mothers Maiden name ,or to look at census records with more than one name UGH
    I will actually be pleased when my membership runs out as I spend so much time on there and not finding what I want.
    I dont believe that anybody likes it now.

    Any ideas what sites to use instead ?? I do have Ancestry.
    Last edited by Guest; 26-05-14, 00:39.

  • #2
    I had my membership extended until 6th June, but I will not be renewing it.

    Since the flurry of complaints, the recognition that most of them were valid and the promise to improve things, nothing much has changed.

    Address searches still don't work anywhere near as well as they used to (and this was FMPs biggest advantage over Ancestry), it is impossible to narrow down BMD searches and even with the census reference numbers there are loads of records I cannot find.

    Ancestry is far from perfect and have also gone backwards with the new search, but it is much more user friendly and easier to narrow searches than FMP.
    Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
    Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
    Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
    Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
    Devine in Ireland

    Comment


    • #3
      Glad its not just me Pete, its so annoying to think I have a sub till February , and am finding practically nothing ,I feel cheated.

      Comment


      • #4
        I'm not confident with either site these days and find them both long-winded. Luckily, I use them mainly for helping out a group involved in local history projects; I try to find the information first and then mentor individuals as to what kinds of records there are and where they could look to find out the information they need.
        I've just about got to grips with the revamped familysearch.org.

        Jay
        Janet in Yorkshire



        Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

        Comment


        • #5
          i never did like fmp or ancestry's uk bmd search. i always use freebmd- though their format for deaths after 1968 is clunky, so thats the only time i use fmp for bmds.

          havn't searched census with address, or ref, but did using other's in the household, and found what i needed.

          they are fixing these issues, but i agree they are taking too long. and if they want to keep subscriber's, they need to release decent record bases for the uk sub. i know it's the anniversary of the first world war, but the records are useless as my ancestors are among the destroyed ones. they need to add their yorkshire records, and not at xmas to boost their subs.

          Comment


          • #6
            Val - our collected links to various help guides are here:


            Simply put, to answer both your questions:
            Start from the Search all records menu.
            Find Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
            Select the search page you want from the drop down list (reached by clicking on the little arrow which points down) called All Collections. Here you will find both the page which has maiden names and spouses names, one is called Births and Baptisms, the other is called Marriages and Divorces. Click on the one which you require.
            Caroline
            Caroline's Family History Pages
            Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

            Comment


            • #7
              I use both FMP and Ancestry every day for my one name studies. I find what I want so I'm satisfied with both.

              My real complaint is with another site I was tempted to join with a 20% reduction. I have found NOTHING on there and will certainly not be renewing that sub.

              I will continue using both FMP and Ancestry. They are not perfect but, remembering what finding anything at all used to be like (pre indexes and sub sites) they are fantastic value! It would cost me the whole amount of one of those subs to go to the area I need for a day. When I got there I would find about 1% in a day of what I find every day now.

              Anne

              Comment


              • #8
                I've just had a thought Val. I haven't got a FMP sub, so don't know too much about it. I wondered though if, from what Caroline has said above (6#), you could find the pages that give you the search facility that you want and then save that page to your favourites? That's what I do with Ancestry to save having to search for the page I want every time. I do it for the things I use the most.
                Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

                Comment


                • #9
                  i'm pretty sure the things val is complaining about are on the 'planned' list. i've been reading the forum for ideas, and last time i looked, mother's maiden name and spouses name for searches were being fixed, but weren't sorted yet.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
                    i'm pretty sure the things val is complaining about are on the 'planned' list. i've been reading the forum for ideas, and last time i looked, mother's maiden name and spouses name for searches were being fixed, but weren't sorted yet.
                    Those search pages have been accessible all the time through the little arrow as described above - at least since I was moved over on 1st April, before that I can't comment.
                    Caroline
                    Caroline's Family History Pages
                    Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Uploaded on 4th April for the now defunct thread on FMP Feedback Forum:

                      Shows the drop down menu which gives the two search pages.
                      Caroline
                      Caroline's Family History Pages
                      Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thanks for replies and thanks for that Caroline, but why have they made it so complicated it was so much easier before , and Chrissie thats a good point I shall do that today thanks.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Val wish Id never started View Post
                          I'm sorry but its driving me bonkers , so much narrowing down to do, cannot find how to look for a marriage with both names, or a Birth with the Mothers Maiden name ,or to look at census records with more than one name UGH I will actually be pleased when my membership runs out as I spend so much time on there and not finding what I want. I dont believe that anybody likes it now. Any ideas what sites to use instead ?? I do have Ancestry.
                          I subscribed to Findmypast after reading the complaints on many of the forums I am on just to see what is was like.
                          I only seldom use such online providers as most of my research is medieval and beyond much of what these providers have. However I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the site was to use, possibly because I had no preconceived ideas how to use them.
                          I used to old way of searching that is providing as little as possible at first and only adding more information when required to reduce the numbers of returns.

                          When I search the census I simply use forename and surname, the census year in the event box and occasionally to hone in I will use the forename of another person in the household such as wife or child.
                          Having found the correct family in one census I would then search using the same terms in the previous or latter census until I exhausted the years.
                          I succeeded in around 95% of my searches using this method.
                          Occasionally I would have to swap the husband’s name for the wife’s name if I thought the husband may have died between census years.
                          I use the file, print preview, print option on my browser to print out the returns as then I can resize the pages at will before printing.

                          I searched the newspapers in a similar manner using as little information as possible, often I would not put the name in the name box but in additional info box instead again I could follow events until it no longer became news.
                          I am glad to see the option to download the page image has returned.

                          I only checked a few BMDs but those I did returned correct ref for the few I obtained from the GRO (most of my certificates were purchased from local offices and of course have a different ref. number). I would suggest that those who have problems reassess their search methods and ask themselves if they could search in another manner to make the best use of the site. I am not saying the site is perfect but it is usable for a whole range of records including original parish registers and similar records.

                          Cheers
                          Guy
                          Last edited by Guy; 26-05-14, 14:15.
                          Guy passed away October 2022

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I suppose Guy as I had been using it for years and was able to find most of what I wanted ,I find it frustrating now as it takes ages to find stuff.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The huge problem with FMP at the moment is that there are at least two different search screens for each record set, one accessed from the 'A-Z of Records' drop down arrow in the top right, one from the 'Search Records' menu at the top. This is counter-intuitive; I would expect the best way to search is through the search menu, and the A-Z list the best way for browsing record sets (when searches don't bring anything up).

                              One search form usually works better than the other, but in some cases criteria I would like to search on are on the separate search forms and can't be used at the same time. Until FMP sort these anomalies out the site is just too confusing.

                              Although the guides Caroline mention are very helpful, constantly having to refer to help guides just slows the whole process down.

                              Even when entering information on the correct search form, I often get thousands of results (not necessarily a problem) but narrowing that down by adding just one more search term, especially if that is any form of location information, returns zero matches!

                              If they were making moves to sort out the issues it wouldn't be so bad, but there are a huge number of issues that have been reported, acknowledged by FMP as real problems and flagged up for fixing, but as far as I can tell nothing much has changed in weeks.
                              Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
                              Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
                              Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
                              Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
                              Devine in Ireland

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Originally posted by PeteW1959 View Post
                                The huge problem with FMP at the moment is that there are at least two different search screens for each record set, one accessed from the 'A-Z of Records' drop down arrow in the top right, one from the 'Search Records' menu at the top. This is counter-intuitive; I would expect the best way to search is through the search menu, and the A-Z list the best way for browsing record sets (when searches don't bring anything up).

                                One search form usually works better than the other, but in some cases criteria I would like to search on are on the separate search forms and can't be used at the same time. Until FMP sort these anomalies out the site is just too confusing.

                                Although the guides Caroline mention are very helpful, constantly having to refer to help guides just slows the whole process down.

                                Even when entering information on the correct search form, I often get thousands of results (not necessarily a problem) but narrowing that down by adding just one more search term, especially if that is any form of location information, returns zero matches!

                                If they were making moves to sort out the issues it wouldn't be so bad, but there are a huge number of issues that have been reported, acknowledged by FMP as real problems and flagged up for fixing, but as far as I can tell nothing much has changed in weeks.
                                I think it depends what you are trying to do as to which way in is the most useful. If you know exactly what census you want, for example, then go through the A-Z and get to the 1841 direct. If you want a global search of more than one census then use the Census and land survey from from the Search records menu and filter for the ones you do want. If you want a global overview of all types of records for a person, then use the Search on the Home page and filter on the left. If it is greyed out, then there is nothing there.

                                Yes, the address search needs a lot of work as it's not consistent yet and if people were involved in location studies that must be infuriating. On the other hand I used to get very annoyed when I had to look at lists of house numbers but now I can see the names.

                                There are extra boxes on some pages, there are missing boxes on others, but that is only a matter of putting the boxes on the results pages and they are gradually being sorted out - it has been pointed out that there are thousands of pages to be checked. Personally I am really enjoying the flexibility of the new system. It took a few days to work out the new way of searching and I still find myself in the wrong place sometimes (senior moments not FMP's fault), but I don't swear at it as much as I do TheGenealogist or Ancestry!!!
                                Caroline
                                Caroline's Family History Pages
                                Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Caroline View Post
                                  On the other hand I used to get very annoyed when I had to look at lists of house numbers but now I can see the names.
                                  I find the list of names on an address search annoying and would rather have the house numbers! If I have had to resort to an address search it is because I haven't been able to find someone from a name search, usually due to a horrible mistranscription, or even an address under multiple occupation where every family has been dittoed with the same name by the enumerator. In this case a list of names is useless; I just need the individual house and a list of people registered there, which is how it used to work.

                                  It recently took me ages to look at every name on a street of 284 houses (most in multiple occupation) to find if someone was still at the address on a birth certificate 7 months earlier. They were there, but with an entirely different surname; a mistake in the enumerator's book or a deliberate act by my family! Trying to narrow the result for the street with a first name or a place or date of birth gave me no results at all, so the long manual search was the only way. This is going back to the searches through census returns pre-computer index days, and if someone is searching using PAYG credits the search is just not viable.

                                  I guess it is down to personal preference, and you can't please all of the people all of the time, but why we can't have both sets of search results (name and house number) I don't know; the data is obviously available and it wouldn't take that much programming wise to implement it.
                                  Last edited by PeteW1959; 27-05-14, 18:39.
                                  Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
                                  Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
                                  Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
                                  Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
                                  Devine in Ireland

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by PeteW1959 View Post
                                    I find the list of names on an address search annoying and would rather have the house numbers! If I have had to resort to an address search it is because I haven't been able to find someone from a name search, usually due to a horrible mistranscription, or even an address under multiple occupation where every family has been dittoed with the same name by the enumerator. In this case a list of names is useless; I just need the individual house and a list of people registered there, which is how it used to work.

                                    It recently took me ages to look at every name on a street of 284 houses (most in multiple occupation) to find if someone was still at the address on a birth certificate 7 months earlier. They were there, but with an entirely different surname; a mistake in the enumerator's book or a deliberate act by my family! Trying to narrow the result for the street with a first name or a place or date of birth gave me no results at all, so the long manual search was the only way. This is going back to the searches through census returns pre-computer index days, and if someone is searching using PAYG credits the search is just not viable.

                                    I guess it is down to personal preference, and you can't please all of the people all of the time, but why we can't have both sets of search results (name and house number) I don't know; the data is obviously available and it wouldn't take that much programming wise to implement it.
                                    I'm hoping that they can do both/give us the option as otherwise nobody will be happy!! Either way, one ends up having to look at numerous images. Fine in a short road, but annoying in a large village.
                                    Caroline
                                    Caroline's Family History Pages
                                    Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      Originally posted by PeteW1959 View Post
                                      I find the list of names on an address search annoying and would rather have the house numbers! If I have had to resort to an address search it is because I haven't been able to find someone from a name search, usually due to a horrible mistranscription, or even an address under multiple occupation where every family has been dittoed with the same name by the enumerator. In this case a list of names is useless; I just need the individual house and a list of people registered there, which is how it used to work.

                                      It recently took me ages to look at every name on a street of 284 houses (most in multiple occupation) to find if someone was still at the address on a birth certificate 7 months earlier. They were there, but with an entirely different surname; a mistake in the enumerator's book or a deliberate act by my family! Trying to narrow the result for the street with a first name or a place or date of birth gave me no results at all, so the long manual search was the only way. This is going back to the searches through census returns pre-computer index days, and if someone is searching using PAYG credits the search is just not viable.

                                      I guess it is down to personal preference, and you can't please all of the people all of the time, but why we can't have both sets of search results (name and house number) I don't know; the data is obviously available and it wouldn't take that much programming wise to implement it.
                                      One of the reasons could be many towns and villages in the earlier census (prior to 1891) did not have or consistently have house numbers or house names. I which case the online providers could not show them. This could then result in a nil item return for ones search.
                                      Cheers
                                      Guy
                                      Guy passed away October 2022

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