Genealogy Chat

Hello, I've not been on here long, but am already addicted. I have found a lot of information and have sent loads of messages to other members who I think may be connected to my family. I've not received any replies and wonder if that is normal. I suspect this is the wrong place to post this question, but it's far from clear how to contact the support team.

No trees are ever deleted ( unless the member deletes their account entirely) . If a paying member lets their sub lapse they just become a free member so people may have added a tree 10 years ago which still shows when you search trees. But they are no longer looking at the site or receiving notification of messages because they have since changed their email.

To tell if a message has been read, look in your 'sent messages', if the envelope is still showing the message has not been opened.

But be patient, some people only look in from time to time. Make sure any message you do send is not GR's standard message to open a tree... put in some detail as to why you think there may be a connection, eg the names and birth dates of the mutual relatives.

Thanks for the quick reply, I was beginning to think I had paid into a ghost site! All my messages have been non-standard and have a little information on each one with a request for contact if they think we may be connected.

I must admit I do feel as though there are a lot of out of date posts and information on here. I have tried to do the ged.com thing so that I can get my tree a little more readable, but even that has got me nowhere. It's stuck on 'your export is pending'. I've also read that GR are winding down and will be closing?

Could you also help me with the keepsake records? They all look the same in saved records and when I want to go back to a certain record, I have to go through them all to find the one I want. How can I put a note on each of them so they are easily identifiable?

I wish I'd thought twice about signing up until the end of the year. I didn't realise that subscriptions didn't include viewing documents and have had to buy a lot of credits. Or that saved records are not indefinite, and have to be paid to view again! Perhaps I'm just naïve in thinking that this addictive hobby would be anything other than expensive!

And I still don't know how to get in touch with the support team....

Thanks.

It's not always a cheap hobby lol but you can do a lot of the groundwork with the free sites, I don't use GR records myself and know credits are an expensive way of doing it.

here are some of the most useful free sites,

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ Births marriages and deaths after 1837 to around the early 1970s depending on area. Absolutely indespensible!

https://familysearch.org/

You can take free trials on Ancestry and FMP, the free trials don't cover all records, but you can find out a lot in a two week trial, just remember to cancel the trial before the end date so that you don't get charged.

and of course you can ask on here, there is nothing other members like more than being able to help :-)

email for Genes support is
[email protected]

I'm not entirely sure on this, as I don't save records to keepsafe, only photos, but there is an option to put a title when you create a new folder, so I'm guessing you could do that for each item?

Someone else will probably know and add advice here :-)

Re exporting/importing a tree...there have been reports of problems with that, especially if it is a large tree, contact support on that one , they may be able to help.

Also depending where your ancestors are you can find parish records free online,

eg Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project -

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/

http://www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk/

both free and it is always worth using Google to look for names, parish records, family history groups etc.

Certain sites have specific records that may be essential, eg FMP has the 1939 register, Ancestry has the LMA records which have saved me a lot of money with my London ancestry as you can see the images of baptism and marriages.

Best advice is shop around, take the free trials and see what site best suits your needs :-)

Irish ancestry, if you have any, has some great free sites .tips on that here:
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/951721

Thank you so much for all that information. I wish I'd known half of it before I spent all my bills money! lol

If you get stuck just ask on here and there is always someone around who will help point you in the right direction for records :-D

Since you mentioned Keepsafe + Records...

If you've accessed them via your subscription or credits, once that expires you'll no longer be able to view them.
One option is to view them while you can, download to your computer then upload back into your keepsafe into what ever folder you create or assign.