Find Ancestors

The problem for both the management's post and yours, Roger, is as I already explained:

Most new users are reading *only* their *surname board* (this board filtered by a particular surname -- but in most cases they have gone *directly* to the surname board as instructed to do in emails from the management).

Neither the management's post nor any other general-advice post appears on any surname board, so most users still do not see them.

Well if Genes team cannot get the message across how to use this thread, what hope do I have NONE so I am wasting my time trying to help people on here.

As Genes have tried by putting a thread about how to use this thread and names are still not been used i have reposted this.

nuddge

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Nudge

I don't necessarily disagree, SRS. Problem is, just about every newby who posts here thinks they're looking for people who share a surname, when the reality is

(a) nobody they're looking for is ever, ever going to see their message;
(b) the odds are good that if unrelated people help search, somebody will find a member of the family they're looking for.

I've posted messages myself to a "surname board" where I've started by saying I'm not looking for help, just going on record in case someone in a family I'm looking for (say, my grfather's sisters who moved to the US 90 years ago) happens by.

But then, I familiarized myself with the website before I started posting here ...

lol Patricia, don't worry I'm not the most observant person :)

I notice it a lot on chat where they never used to have threads but individual threads. When people reply to old "threads/posts" it actually says for example "Patricia's thread" in the subject title. I don't think it uses the term thread in the title on this board though.

I've been here quite a while so you tend to notice these things more because they were more obvious when the system first changed.

Hi Janey :)

I know I'm going off at a tangent a little bit. My issue is that I quite liked those little caves lol (like it used to be) where you could just look at those messages that related to your family and you weren't looking necessarily for advice or help from people who weren't searching for the same families.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to have another board such as records, tips etc where you can ask for help finding people. However, I think there is a place where you can just list who you are interested in and those who are interested in the same surname can respond.

I know people like to be helpful but sometimes it isn't about getting help from strangers (sorry strangers isn't the right word), just making contact with those that have a shared interest in a surname in a particular area.

Oh well, I doubt they'll bring it back the way it used to be but if I ever owned GR lol

Well it is not a crime, but I don't have the time to go looking for all threads looking to see if they is a surname which corresponds with whom I am researching, so those people could miss my help, as I will help anyone searching those names.

Well, Jane, did someone say something was a crime?

I think Roger posted a request, with an explanation.

"It's not always easy for some people to get across what they are looking for", so a tip or two to help them should be useful, doncha think? I do.

Of course they'll never see this one any more than they see all of the tips on TTF, precisely because they are looking at their own little "surname board" (where all those old posts are) -- just as site management says in its emails they should do, without ever ever telling them there is a whole wide world outside those small caves, where all kinds of potentially helpful people are reading their posts and have no idea what surname they're talking about unless they say out loud (and not just in the "surname" line on their post ... which we can't see ...).

Some people do just go looking for things to argue about, I must say.

Hi Patricia,

Most people are not putting their own names in the subject line, if you read the dates of the first post in the thread, you will notice that it is an older thread. Older posts will automatically show the poster's name rather than the subject. When the boards then changed to the current system a few years back, people could then put their own titles in. Obviously the threads that you are seeing are where other posters are replying to older posts :)

It's not exactly a crime is it Roger.!!!
It's not always easy for some people to get across what they are looking for, especially in a short way. They try to put as much info as they can so it helps the person suppossidly looking for them.

If people are accessing this board through their surnames, then those who are searching the same surname will know which surname the poster refers to. They may not be looking for specific individuals, just those people with the same surname from a particular area. Therefore they won't be listing individual names.

nudge

Well since I first put this on here I think the thread has improved a bit, but we still get people putting looking for this my Grandmother etc etc on the title line.

It is the surname of the person you are looking for so please help us help you by putting the surname of the person you are looking for first and then the relevant information you aleady know so we can then try our best to help you

Keep nudging Roger-I think I detect an improvement recently-or am I deluding myself !!

nudge

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