New FamilySearch New Features as of February 2011

In February 2011, we begin welcoming the public to use the new FamilySearch website. Several other changes have been made.

Working in a Public System

You can no longer assume that everyone using the system is a Church member. Please be courteous and inclusive when you contact others.

Everyone’s contact information has been reset. Please review your preferences, and select the contact information that you want displayed in a public system.

  • Your contact name continues to show.
  • If your preferences were set to show your e-mail address, your e-mail address still shows. If your preferences were set to hide your e-mail address, it is still hidden.
  • If your preferences were set to show a mailing address or telephone number, they no longer show. If you want them to show again, you need to update your preferences. (On the Home page, click Update my profile and preferences.)
  • In your e-mail contacts, please do not assume that all contributors are Church members. In Discussions, do not proselytize or discuss confidential church information.

Signing in to Use the System for Someone Else

  • The feature that you use to sign in to help someone else has changed:
    Only Church members can sign in to use the system for someone else.
  • You can help Church members, whether or not they are registered to use the system.
  • You can help the public after they have registered and added a helper access number to their user profile.
  • The required information has changed:
  • To help individuals who are already registered to use the system, you enter their contact name and helper access number.
  • To help Church members who are not registered to use the system, you need to enter their full name, birth date, and the last 5 digits of their membership record number.

New Help Center

A new version of the Help Center is now available. To see it, click Help Center from the Home page. From there, you can print a document that explains the differences.

The What’s New Document Is Available on the Home Page

You can now print What’s New in the New FamilySearch Website from the Home page.

Teaching and Assisting the Public

We have begun a limited public release of the system. The public can use the entire system with the following exceptions:
They do not see LDS information and features.

  • They cannot sign in to help someone else.
  • When you help the public use the system, please encourage them to do the following:
    Update their user profile to include a helper access number. Having this number in their profile will help FamilySearch Support provide better service should they contact us forhelp.
  • Update their user profile to show the contact information that they would like displayed.
  • Help them build their family tree. Because we cannot use Church membership records to connect them to the information that we already have, they see only themselves on their family tree. Help them do the following:
  • Correct the gender on their record. Since the registration process did not ask for gender, their record lists it as Unknown. (To edit the gender, click Details. Then click the Edit link for the gender.)
    Manually add their parents, grandparents, and other living, direct-line ancestors to the family tree. Note: Remind them to obtain permission of living relatives before adding them.
  • See if their deceased ancestors are already in the system. Have them click the Add or find... links to search the database. If they find ancestors, link them into their tree.
  • If the database does not already contain some of their ancestors, contribute a GEDCOM file containing the missing information.

The system accepts GEDCOM files with up to 1,000 individuals. However, unless they are sure that the system does not have the information, encourage them to contribute files with 100 individuals or fewer.

New Developments at FamilySearch

rch.html

Check for information:

New FamilySearch Watch

You can now “watch” individuals in your family tree and receive an e-mail notification when information about them changes. Just Click on ‘Watch’ in the Upper right corner of your screen.

At present the notification identifies the following types of changes:

• Someone changes the individual’s summary.

• Someone starts a new discussion or adds a

comment to an existing discussion.

• Someone combines an individual that you

are watching with another record.

• Someone separates a record from an

individual that you are watching.

The notification e-mail will eventually list

more types of changes.

* * * * *

Posted by lida larkin

FORUMS WILL BEGIN TO USE NEW LOG-IN

We are excited to announce that beginning on April 11th, you will be able to log in to the FamilySearch Forums with your FamilySearch or LDS Account, a single account that gives you access to all of the FamilySearch websites. This is the last FamilySearch website in English to switch to the new user account system, so with this change, all of your English FamilySearch websites and programs are accessible with this single user name and password. When the change is made, the forums will be “read-only” (meaning you will be able to read forum posts but not respond to them or create new ones) for about an hour, starting at approximately 10 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. (Watch the Forums for possible changes to this time.)

Capturing Your Forum History

It is important to note that when you first sign in to the Forums with your FamilySearch or LDS Account after this change, the Forums will show you as a “brand new” Forum member with zero posts. If you would like for all of your previous posts and user information to be connected to your FamilySearch or LDS Account user name, you will need to "merge" your old account into your new account. You will have until May 11th to do this.

To merge your accounts and capture your posting history, you will need to follow a few steps:

  1. Before April 10th, write down your CURRENT forum user name and password.
    If you can’t remember your forum log-in information:
  2. Go to
  3. Log out (if it shows you as being logged , in the upper right corner).
  4. Attempt to log in.
  5. If you log in with the wrong information, follow the steps to retrieve your user name, or reset your password
  1. When you see the changes on April 11th(it will be obvious because the forums will have a new look), you may log in with either your “old” Forums user name, or your FamilySearch or LDS Account.
  1. The system will detect which one you are using and walk you through the steps of what to do at that point to merge the accounts together.

Note: If you do not yet have a FamilySearch or LDS Account, or don’t remember the user name or password of that account, the website will walk you through how to retrieve that information.

Once you have merged the two accounts, you will see that:

(1)Your old posts will still show under your old user name, but clicking on your user name will take you to your new user page. (2)You will have to enter the user name and password each time you come to the site; the Forums will no longer save your user name and password and keep you logged in. This is for security purposes and can’t be changed.

Forums New Look

Additionally, the look of the Forums will be changing to match the FamilySearch.org website. Click here to see what the forums will look like after these changes.

If you have any problems, there will be prompts on the website to help you know what to do. If those don't help, visit the FamilySearch Help Forum, or call FamilySearch at 1-866-406-1830.

Thank you for your contributions and involvement in this work.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch

Community Patron to Gain Access to new FamilySearch Beta Testing

Starting March 7, 2011, 2000 Community Patrons will be allowed to register for newFamilySearch and Activate their FamilySearch account. After the first 2000 are accepted, they will be taken to a sorry page and a page to enter information and be put in a queue for the next group to be allowed to enter the next group of BETA testers. Program will be in a BETA test mode until sometime in 2013.
Information was from training agenda given to FamilySearch Missionaries this morning. (1 Mar 2011)
1. Look at the 'What's New' link to the right of the login boxes when you go to nFS to sign in, that document is specifically there for those first 2,000 people.
2. Once in, a different 'What's New' document also appears, with additional updates, and it additionally says that 'one should not assume that everyone on (the site) is a member of the Church.
From the "What's New in the New FamilySearch Website" page:
In February 2011, we’ve invited a limited number of public users to begin testing public access to the new
FamilySearch website.
These testers see the entire system with the following exceptions:
• They do not see LDS ordinance information and features.
• They cannot sign in to help someone else.
These valued testers will help us make sure the system can handle the increased load. We also hope to gaininsight about how FamilySearch Support can continue offering great support for a product that provides different features for different groups of people.
We have already selected our public testers. But as our test expands in the future, we plan to let you invitenonmember family members to participate. When we are ready, we will let you know how.
Working in a Public System
You can no longer assume that everyone using the system is a Church member. Please be courteous andinclusive when you contact others.
• Everyone’s contact information has been reset. Please review your preferences, and select the contactinformation that you want displayed in a public system.

- Your contact name continues to show.
- If your preferences were set to show your e-mail address, your e-mail address still shows. If yourpreferences were set to hide your e-mail address, it is still hidden.
- If your preferences were set to show a mailing address or telephone number, they no longer show. Ifyou want them to show again, you need to update your preferences. (On the Home page, click Updatemy profile and preferences.)

• In your e-mail contacts, please do not assume that all contributors are Church members.
• In the discussion boards, please do not discuss LDS church information ordo not proselytize.

6 Places to Uncover Ancestral Origins

By Juliana Smith 16 February 2011

  • Family Correspondence and Memorabilia
  • Immigration and Naturalization Records
  • Military Records
  • Death Records
  • Newspapers
  • The Records of Others

Read the entire article at this site:

WASHINGTON DC FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE MAY 7

Our Annual Conference - Saturday, May 7, 9:00 - 3:15

Registration for our 5th annual family history conference is at a brisk pace! We are delighted with the response and look forward to seeing you there! There are 23 classes on a wide variety of topics - there is something for everyone! The keynote speaker is James Sweany, Head of the Library of Congress Local History & Genealogy Reading Room. For further information and registration, please visit our Conference Home Page at:

Classes also offered in Washington DC FH Center

April 16 at 9:30 a.m.
"FamilySearch Indexing - Easy, Fun and Rewarding!"
Instructor: Mary Jean Sokolowsky

FamilySearch.org is the largest free source of
online records. Indexes make these records name-searchable. By June 2010, FamilySearch volunteer indexers worldwide had completed more than 100 million records with a goal to complete 200 million by the end of this year. Learn how easy it is to index and how to join this phenomenal group of over 100,000 volunteers.

Family Village on Facebook

You know it just had to happen! There is now a family history game on Facebook. Family Village is the first Facebook game that enables players to participate in family discovery about their relatives. Users can explore their own family tree while building an online game community connecting real families. Integrated with popular FamilyLink applications, the game enables families to connect with billions of records and people using the Facebook platform. familyvillagegame.com/
Information from Generations Newsletter, Carol Petranek, Newsletter Editor, Terry Willard, Gary Petranek, Directors, Washington DC Family History Center, 10000 Stoneybrook Drive, POBox 49, Kensington, MD 20895, Telephone 301-587-0042
FREE FAMILY HISTORY CHARTS

has some nice free charts that you can download.



Bill Buchanan

There are lots of cute ones online. Try the pedigree chart shown at


There's one with roses that may appeal to the girls as well as more traditional looking ones.

Rosemary


This is my school website, go down the page to the specials area and then to Grade 7-8 Family History Project. Many links and activities.

Ellen Allen, Surprise, AZ

Ancestry.com Free Databases

Are you aware that there are some databases at Ancestry.com that you can access at home for free? Of their nearly 30,000 databases, less than 400 are free, but one of them may just be the answer to one of your genealogical brick walls. Interestingly, databases free at Ancestry.com are not available in the FHC edition of Ancestry.com. Access the free databases at home and the free FHC edition databases at our FHC. For a list of those free at home, click on help (upper right) and search for "Free databases." The help article explains how to use the old card catalog to see a list of databases. Those that are free are marked FREE. You can also see a list of the Free databases at AncestryInsider.

Source: Ancestry.com FHC Edition, Ancestry Insider blog, Monday, Jan 31, 2011

Surprise! Where to Look for Family Photos

By Ancestry.com - Monthly Update

08 February 2011

What do you do when you’re trying to find photos of your ancestors – but you’re not sure those photos exist?

There’s more than one way to find a photo of your ancestor. Even if your scrapbooks and shoeboxes don’t reach beyond the 1940s, you may still be able to find a photo of your ancestor at Ancestry.com or even in unexpected places. But where?

First step: Family SaysProGenealogists’Natalie Cottrill, the first place to search for photos of your family is with members of your family.

“The absolute best place to obtain photos of relatives is with living relatives. With family members spread all over the globe, this can sometimes feel daunting. It might take some serious negotiations to encourage relatives to stop what they’re doing and scan or mail to you copies of photos. But it’s worth it,” says Cottrill.

“If you’re still living near your grandparents or older relatives, your negotiations for photos might be as creative as helping them clean house,” Cottrill continues. “I found some of my most treasured family portraits while helping my grandmother clean her home. I found an old smalltintype of my great-great-grandmother in one of my grandmother’s bureaus. Then, in the same week and under her cellar stairs, of all places, I found acharcoal sketch from the mid-1800s of my great-great-great-grandmother. The latter was torn and damaged and it was an absolute miracle that it survived 150 years, but, thankfully, it did.”

Other good places to connect and find photos include:
Family reunions. Cottrill suggests having a friendly competition around old family photos: prettiest ancestor, dourest ancestor, ancestor with the best clothes, worst clothes, etc. And have a scanner handy, but always ask permission first.

Social networking sites. Search for groups associated with your family name and tack on “family tree” or “genealogy” – you may discover one or more that are directly related to the family you’re researching.

Next stop: Ancestry.comIt’s easy to upload photos at Ancestry.com – which makes it a fantastic place to search for photos that include people from your family tree, too. Cottrill suggests starting in theAncestry.com Pictures collection. Search for the family name and also try searches for photos based on a hometown, school or military unit. Items in the collection include yearbooks, postcards and public member photos, Civil War photos and more.Also try the Stories, Memories and Histories collection.Andnewspapers,passport applicationsand naturalization records often contain photos, too.

Finally: Unexpected sourcesCottrill’s last suggestion? Get creative. Use your imagination and search places that aren’t naturally linked to family photos at all. Specifically, try the following:
•eBay. Old photos people have collected from garage and estate sales are often posted here.
•Online photo archives, history databases and scanned books. You’ll find links at
•Everywhere you look. You may find a photo of that elusive ancestor in an old desk, under other photos in a picture frame, stuck between a baseboard and a wall, doubling as a bookmark or mixed in with other family history documents.

Note: I like and Also Sylvia

WEEKLY TIPS TO IDENTIFY PHOTOS

By Gena Philibert Ortega

If you were lucky enough to inherit some family photos, you may wonder what year they were taken. Unfortunately, for most of us, those photos we inherit are not necessarily identified. So what's a genealogist to do? The following are some resources to consult as you date vintage photographs.
Books
Dating Old Photographs, 1840-1929. Toronto, Ont: Family Chronicle, 2000.
Frisch, Karen. Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, 1991.
Nickell, Joe. Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1994.
Severa, Joan L. Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995.
Taylor, Maureen A. Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2000.
Taylor, Maureen A. More Dating Old Photographs, 1840-1929. Toronto, Ont: Family Chronicle, 2004.