Genealogy Chat

With so many new members posting I thought a thread on how to use the boards to best effect might be useful? please add.

First tip: when asking for help post on one board only, This enables 'helpers' not to duplicate each other's material, thus saving time to find more!

'Records office' is probably best if you need a census, birth, marriage or death record searched for .

'Tips' is good for general queries , maybe where to look for websites, how to find information generally, as regards places , occupations, etc

'Trying to find' is a good place if you are looking for living relatives.

corrections and additions welcomed!

Rose xx

Good thread Rose, as a relatively 'newby of 3 years' am still learning...
sites I didn't know about for a while, invaluable

FreeBMD

Family Search

And GOOGLE, its amazing what you find

Hi Maggie :)

'Newbies' ...We were all new once! don't feel intimidated lol.
Read other threads to get a feel for the best way of posting a query ,
keep your request as clear as possible so it is easily understood. That will get you the best help in the quickest time :)

Please check your request before it appears on the boards as so many do not include vital information such as names, places etc or whether they have actually found any census information.

To find a message you have posted simply click on Community above and then, on the left, you will see My Threads.

Click on My Threads and your message heading will show.

Click on the message heading and you will see your message and any replies underneath it.

To respond and thank the helpers, simply click on the purple reply button which is near the top left of your message.



Unfortunately, GR do not notify you when there are replies to your message.


Hope this helps.

When asking for help, please be careful with spellings of names, or note if there are historical variations. It can be very annoying to spend time searching for a person and then be told you are looking for the wrong spelling!

Also, be careful with place names, give county and country (e.g. Scotland records are in different places to England and Wales ones) to narrow it down.

Yes I was just about to say that jonesey, but you beat me to it.

Nothing worse than spending a lot of time on checking something out only to be told "I already knew that, I was hoping someone might find a different answer.....!"

If you have census records that show the names of children, PLEASE post the names, ages and birth places ............. searching on the names of other family members often helps to find "hidden" poeple, expecialy when there have been mis-transcriptions/mis-spellings.

If you do not do this, the searchers will probably have to go find that census record in order to find the names. You may find that a searcher will then post that census on your thread in order to help others who are also looking for your ancestor ........ please don't get mad at a searcher for doing this!!




Also ........................


please do try to stay around at your computer for 10 or 15 minutes after posting a request ............... it is not unusual for a request to be answered within seconds of posting! The first "searcher" may well have a question for you.


This also applies even in the middle of the UK night ............ there are members on these boards from all over the world, and many of us post at very different hours!



Please indicate in your heading if you are looking for information from another country (eg Australia)




sylvia

n


this is a 'nudge'. If you see this on a message it means that someone wants that message to go back to the top of the first page so that it can be seen again.


Each time a comment is added to a message, the message goes back to the top.

and another "n" for the evening people

One or two more things.....

Please DO

give ALL the info you have - names dates places - and say what it is you are looking for - ancestors decendents etc.

make sure the persons name is quoted in full - if you go via the surname search the name may not show.

check back to your thread regularly

Please DO NOT

use txt spk - I won't even try to read anything

TYPE IN CAPITALS - MAKES READING DIFFICULT

Expect miracles - if the information isn't there noone can find it.


Andy

Another thing that would save time for helpers is to specify where a village, town, district actually is (if you know of course )

for instance I know that Hartley is in Kent, most might not, so if you just put 'Hartley' as place of birth the searcher then has to google it first to find that out.

Laying the information out as clearly as possible with spaces between lines makes it much easier to read and will get a quicker response . :) ( and will make it easier for you to see which parts of your query have been answered!)

Rose xx

As a new member I just wanted to say the site is brilliant, people are so willing to help and it's great to see people taking the time to search for one another. There's so much good experience on here it's made it much easier to find information.

I think the site is really clear and easy to use until you come to the community boards. I got in a real muddle and couldn't find my way round it at first - was posting and didn't know how to get back to my inquiry etc. Didn't know if my post had gone on the site and ended up sending private messages to people as well as posts - not deliberately you understand but just because it was quite difficult to use.
It does take a wee while to get used to it.

I hope I'm now finding it easier and finding my way around. And am hugely grateful for all the help i've been given here.

GR will send you "Hot Matches" every couple of weeks. This tells you if another member has a person in their tree with the same name and year of birth as someone in your tree.

GR's program cannot match the Place of Birth so don't despair if your granddad was born in Liverpool and he is matched with someone else's uncle who was born in Canada. If you are sure about your relative, just delete the hot match, but sometimes even Granddad could be wrong. He might think he was born in one place because he has lived there all his life - but would be surprised to know that his parents had lived somewhere else at the time of his birth - and moved soon after he was born.

If you feel your Hot Match might be a connection, follow GR's instructions to send a message to the other member and tell them what you can about your relative. They should reply and might give you access to their tree, but not all members will give access, so best to wait for them to offer.

Don't forget that you should have permission from living relatives to include their names on your tree unless you "hide" them. This can be done by clicking on "My Account" and selecting the option on your profile page.

n

nudge because I can :)

To find any answers to your postings, click on MY THREADS on the left , that will take you directly to all your replys

To help those who are struggling.

To Helpers...To not assume that everyone has the same standard of education as you or the ability to organise their thoughts, and so try and 'lead by example' with clear answers and with patience and encouragement :))

To Newbies... To be aware that all 'helpers' are using their own time and sometimes money to try and help you. We all have different styles of 'response' some give only the specific information asked for, without 'pleasantries' (it saves time!) , others tend to put smiles :) and maybe add extra info they think might come in handy...


edit , oh yes and ...we all have bad days where we can get a bit 'snappy' :)) lol

If you are sitting at the computer waiting for a reply to your post - do click off the thread and then back on to it occasionally. Or use your refresh button at the top of your screen.

You will not be sent an e-mail with responses - you do need to learn to find your way back to your thread (see instructions on page 1).

Also, please do not send messages direct to helpers - click on the purple "reply" button at the top of the thread - not on the name of the helper. That way every helper can see your answers. (Only make exceptions to this if the person you are looking for is still alive when a helper might well send you a personal message so that the information is not added for all to see.)

Jill