RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: FeeJay on Tuesday 20 June 06 13:00 BST (UK)
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I have searched many names on the site and contacted quite a few people. Since the details given are so sketchy and some of my names are not that unusual I have mostly been wrong. Almost everyone has replied.
One name I have discovered as a possible relative is quite unusual and I was pleased to find it on GenesReunited. I sent a message but got no reply. I suppose this person might not want to be bothered replying (inwhich case why post details?) It has just occured to me that they may no longer subscribe and may not have got my message.
Is there any way of finding out if someone who has posted on gr is still a subscriber?
FeeJay ;)
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FeeJay
I don't think there is and I think that could be why I've had some unanswered emails in the past too.
That would be a useful facility because it would let you know if it is even worth trying to contact someone or not.
Kerry
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Hi FeeJay
Patience is a virtue.
Occasionally, several weeks have gone by and suddenly someone has replied. One person said that they were on holiday and another said they had no access to a computer.
About 25% of the people I try to contact do not reply. I've no idea why. It doesn't cost them anything to reply except the time it takes to type an email.
That's life I'm afraid.
downside
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Does anyone know if it's possible for someone to know he's got a message even if he no longer subscribes?
I'd be really disappointed if I didn't get a reply from this particular person.
FeeJay ;)
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I'd send GR an email to get the official answer.
People that are not subscribers can contact you on GR.
downside
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I'd send GR an email to get the official answer.
People that are not subscribers can contact you on GR.
downside
How? I would love to be able to do that.
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Hi Gardener
I'm sure a non-subscriber told me that they could contact people on GenesReunited without being a member. I had a look through my messages but I can't find who told me that. In general I receive 2 types of messages from contacts.
1) the most common type are messages in a green font .
2) plain messages in a black font.
I assumed the plain messages were from outsiders, but I might be wrong.
downside
PS
How much does it cost?
It is free to register with Genes Reunited. You can build your family tree, use the search facilities to find possible matches to your family name, add notes against relations in your tree, receive emails from other members and view the Genealogy Links page and the Message Boards. Also, if you already have experience in researching your family history you can import your GEDCOM file on to your Genes Reunited family tree.
If you choose to upgrade to full membership for the current annual fee of £9.95, you will have the ability to contact other members from your search results, link up to view other members' trees when they invite you to do so, post photos on your family tree and add messages to the message boards.
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i find that people on there don't seem to want to help one and other .it has taken me about six or seven attemps to get them just to let me see there tree .most of the time i find i have to give them an email address before they will talk to you . just hard work . or maybe it's me i don't know
migky
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If you are not a fully subscribed member, you can RESPOND to messages sent to you by full members - but you can't make the initial contact. You are therefore in a passive situation, where you have to wait for someone else to find a possible match and approach you.
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Hi keenbutconfused (nice name)
That probably explains why I upgraded from a Registered User to a Subscriber.
Possibly I sent a Registered User an email and they responded and that gave me the illusion they were a member.
A tenner a year makes it worthwhile to join in my opinion. Shame about the 'hot matches' though.
downside
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I think I agree with Downside! :o :o ;)
It is a small fee compared to some websites and it can prove useful except for the hot matches which seem to be trouble for everyone.
Kerry ;D ;D
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I agree downside - for a tenner, it's well worth it. I've not been researching my family very long, so I'm still very much a beginner - and it was the first place I found where i could put my tree! Didn't know anything about all these all-singing, all-dancing programmes you can get! I have had quite a few contacts from people who have passed information to me - usually from 'side branches' but brilliant to have, none the less. I suppose it would be wonderful to find someone who has a direct direct link, but that might be asking too much!
I've found it very much a useful thing - and I tend to just rattle through the Hotmatches, getting rid, and keep them down to less than a page of 'possibles' - haven't got round to contacting all of them yet!
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Hi migky
I expect they take one look at that animated gif you have on your profile and dive for cover :o
downside
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you mean they can see right through me 8)
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Thanks for the information.
I think this means I'm not going to get a reply from my (possible) rellie.
I must find out about these hot matches everyone keeps mentioning see if I can find someone else instead!
FeeJay ;)
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i think you are better off on here anyway. only ever had 1 person not reply to me . and its free.
but good luck with your search
migky
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Hi FeeJay
You don't need 'hot matches' to look for potential relatives. 'Hot matches' tend to be a waste of time about 99% of the time.
You are better off using the standard search method searching by Surname and Location.
downside
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Another good way of eliminating for later those names that are not connected with your tree.
I have had a few of those and most people nicely send a polite email back just saying that their Joe Bloggs did not live in the same place as mine, sorry.
Compare that to the rude replies I have for the hot matches and I think it shows that hot matches winds most people up!!!!
Kerry
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I am beginning to wish I hadn't wasted money on GenesReunited as I haven't really found any rellies. Because the details given are so brief it's hard to tell whether the names are the ones you want or not. I do have some very common names in my tree, Thomas Smith and William Parker for example, so there are so many possible matches.
I hope there is a gr user out there who could help me with something that has also confused me. The email from gr (New Names Alert) invites me to see surname matches added in the last fourteen days. When I click on this is takes me to a page with a list of my chosen surnames. At the right side, alongside one of my surnames it says 2 new messages. Alongside another it says 1 new message. I looked in my message box and there are no messages. So what does this mean? Where do I look for these messages?
Sorry if this is a bit rambling,
FeeJay ???
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This confused me too FeeJay - I actually think that it relates to messages on the message boards, not in your personal message box, so to speak. I did track them down once, but can't remember how I did it now!
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Hi FeeJay
Firstly, £10 is not a vast amount of money in terms of genealogy research costs.
Secondly, there is always the chance someone will identify one of your ancestors and get in touch with you.
Joining GR is a sign of optimism that there are people out there that share your interest in finding out more about your ancestors.
The New Names Alert might contain potential leads but it will also contain a lot of false leads. The same is true of 'hot matches'.
Your messages are in Messages. I don't understand the problem you are experiencing with that.
Admittedly an element of luck is required if you are to get results. You can make your own luck by participating and putting the details of your ancestors out on GR and hoping someone will respond one day. You also have the ability to search on GR and elsewhere.
downside
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downside
Do you mean my message box or the message boards?
FeeJay ???
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Hi FeeJay
Your message box.
You don't get alerts from message boards as such, or they go via your message box.
Have you tried the 'Trying to find' feature?
downside
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Firstly, £10 is not a vast amount of money in terms of genealogy research costs.
Secondly, there is always the chance someone will identify one of your ancestors and get in touch with you.
Joining GR is a sign of optimism that there are people out there that share your interest in finding out more about your ancestors.
I made 5 positive contacts via GR last year, and to this day we still email each other to swap information for our Family Trees. The extra details that I have had sent me was certainly worth the membership fee - maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones ;)
Jan
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Definitely no messages in my message box. Maybe they're not getting through? It would be ironic if the person I was trying to contact had sent a message but it didn't arrive, wouldn't it?
Also £10 may not be a lot to some people but it is to me. :)
FeeJay ;)
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it might be only ten pounds but GR take in millions they should make the system work a lot better than it does .it's not like they are new to the internet.
migky
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Hi All
I've only just noticed that GR has a lookup section called Records Office.
Where did that come from? It looks like a cut down version of Rootschat.
When did it start? As far as I can work out it started in early June?
Click on the Community tab and then Records Office for more details.
downside
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Is there any way to check whether my message box is still working?
I just had a look ar GR's records office. It does seem like Rootschat but not organised into any categories. I don't think I'd post requests there.
Feejay ;)
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I've only been registed with GR for about 2 weeks and have received several replies and at least 2 are definitely distant relatives.
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Hi FeeJay
So it has been worthwhile joining GR then?
I've been researching my family tree on and off since 1988 and I must have spent hundreds of pounds since then.
The cost of transport - going to records offices £???
The cost of BMD certificates £???
The cost of photocopies of census returns £??
The cost of accessing pay-per-view census records (mainly 1901 census) £??
Just to go to my nearest records office will cost me a fiver - even if the information is free when I get there.
Imagine what it was like in the pre-computer age trying to trace your family tree.
The internet has changed everything and a good deal of information is free.
£10 is definitely good value!
Two weeks is nothing. Try waiting several years before you find anyone who has links with your ancestors.
downside
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downside
I've been with gr since January. I used to look for names before paying and I found one person who has some names that are in my tree. This was the reason I paid the £10 to try and find out more. It turned out that this lady was an incredibly distant relative. I later found out after Googling names that this lady's tree was accessible to anyone on the net!!
I have contacted several others to see if our names are the same but no luck. This latest person I contacted did not bother to reply.
It's been an experience. I think I'm just one of those people who don't have rellies who post on sites. That's just the luck of the draw. I'm sorry if my little grumble has offended you.
I'm stuck at home due to illness so have to rely on the generosity of my husband to pay for all this. With hindsight, I'd rather have had some credits for Scotlandspeople instead.
FeeJay
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Hi FeeJay
I'm not offended.
Time for a reality check.
Genealogy is for life :D
downside
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FeeJay
I do sympathise with you about the price of GR, though no expensive when you add it up with every other resource you find your 'hobby' costs you more than the mortgage!
Also I need a few more good contacts from it to consider it as good value for instance as Ancestry. Whilst Ancestry costs a lot of money for a yearly subscription the amount of info I have got back from the site has been brilliant.
And of course there is Rootschat, free and the information I have gained from this site is vast!!!
Kerry
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That sounds a bit serious Kerry :o
Have you considered joining G.A. (Genealogists Anonymous) ;)
downside
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i still think GR is not that good ,you would think that they would get it right by now .still things on the site still don't work properly. only yesterday ,i had to keep sending the same mesage to allow some one to see my tree. as for realty checks lol think GR need that ;)
it also gets me why by law we have to give census info but have to pay to get it back ?
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has anyone noticed the bingo and 1 arm bandit adverts inviting you to play..and also records are now bought on credit....regards...allan
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Hi migky
On the subject of census information.
In theory you do not have to pay to get it back. If you go to your local county records office you may view your regional census free of charge. You may also find that local volunteers have compiled a Surname card index to help you locate individuals by surname.
What you have pay for on commercial sites is the ability to search by surname or address throughout the whole UK. In order for you to be able to do that hundreds of people have to sit down and wade throught the entire census which is millions of records and type in the details to create a searchable index. All the inputters want paying naturally. How are the companies supposed to recover their costs? By charging people to use their indexes.
downside
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GR is a very commercial site and it's there purely to make money. When I first used it I followed their link to the 1901 census. I bought one lot of credits and found they went nowhere.
Ancestry may appear expensive but I have been able to search endless records. I've even looked through censuses of entire towns searching for relatives when I only had sketchy details of names.
I think that GR is like many commercial sites - you don't know what you're going to get until they get your money. It's as much a gamble as putting your money on a horse!!
FeeJay ;)
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Hi fiftyfive
Have you noticed there is always an advertisement saying "What's on ITV" ?
I expect the fact that GR is owned by ITV might have something to with it.
downside
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I think you are right feejay, money thats what rules.like most things in this world ,all like to take and not do much for it . don't want to know when thing go wrong . think when my membership is due for renewing i dont think i will .
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At the Family Record Centre in London you can now view the census 1841-1891 as a searchable database free of charge.
The only problem is the 1901 census which is owned by GR which is both expensive to use and highly inaccurate.
downside
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That sounds a bit serious Kerry :o
Have you considered joining G.A. (Genealogists Anonymous) ;)
downside
Join - I'm a founder member!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Kerry
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downside
I would love to visit the Family Record Centre. Trouble is - I don't live anywhere near London and the train fare would be more than my subscription to ancestry! (I know it's not as good but it lasts longer.)
FeeJay ;)
PS This GA - where do I sign up???