Give me access to your tree!!

[Lisa Harding]

Hi all,

Lisa, It's worth doing a search first to see if anyone else has people on their tree that match your ancestors. I like GR, for one thing it's a useful place to store the family tree, although there are other good sites for that that are free, like tribal pages.
Erin 

HI Erin

Thanks and good point. I made a small tree on GR today just to see if i get any links. I did fond one posible person tht might have a link to me and I have politely emailed her asking if she wants to share information.

I dont mind people sharing my information as long as it the basic stuff up there but like a lot of others here, i have done a heck of a lot of hard work over the past two years and will share with others who have done similar work or who i might have a link with.
I certainly dont want to pass info on at a whim though - if that makes sense.!

Lisa

[Springbok]

I agree with many of the comments which have been made on this thread.

I have just this last week, had a "newbie" contact who allowed me to see her tree, without checking.  We were connected and I opened my Tree. I then found that she had added all my side to her site(including my name)

I contacted her and being new she just hadn't understood the protocol ,so I spent some time giving her some advice.
I also gave her links to this site and to the Beginners thread.
I,m sure most of us did things when we first used the internet, now make us cringe .
Spring

[Heather D]

I have just one of those situations on genes right now ...maybe someone can help me out here?

I've been contacted by someone who is clearly related and I wrote back giving my email address and offering to exchange information.

I return I got one of those requests to view my tree. She has opened hers to me and it contains precisely one person - herself! Bearing in mind she may be a newcomer and I don't want to appear snotty or put anyone off ...how do I politely say show me the goods first?!

I have a LOT of information on her line which has taken many hours and a lot of money to put together 

Heather

[JoJoBuggins]

Hi

I agree with your comments about GR, the frustrating part I find is when someones name keeps popping up on HOT matches, you write to them, get no reply for weeks etc. Only to find when they do reply , you can find no direct link and they have 19,000 ancestors on their tree  I think NOT!!

One person had my gr gr grandfather all his siblings on and his wife and her siblings etc, no direct link.

I feel very reluctant to open my tree for this person

Jo

[Lydart]

Go carefully with contacts you find via GR is my advice.  When I started on our FH, I used GR and was contacted by someone whom I knew was related to us.  He 'lifted' all my stuff with no 'may I?' first, including many of my errors which I have now corrected  on the tree on my computer!  I have watched his tree on GR over the past 3 years, and have seen it go from 15 people, to 50, to 5,000 in a matter of months ... accurate ?   I very much doubt it !  

FH on RootsChat is a much more civilsed matter ... give and take, help freely given, friends made.  What more could one want ?

[JoJoBuggins]

   couldnt agree more Lydart

Jo

[RonnieG]

I have mixed feelings about GR.

I have been given access to trees without asking - and the amount of personal information disclosed to me about living people is embarrassing - their occupations, where they work, previous spouses, childrens names and ages - it's ridiculous.

I have replaced my "full tree" with just a single line that I'm stuck on and hopefully a "hot match" will come my way.

The other side of the coin is that another rootschatter to whom I'm related (and met through Rootschat) did make an excellent contact through GR that has benefitted both of us greatly but which wouldn't have been made if he didn't have his/our tree up there.

RonnieG

Looking over the above before posting, I think my attitude to GR is very selfish but what is a boy to do?

[Lisa Harding]

Well following on from my previous post and not having used hte site before i registered and sent a few polite requests out only to get a lovely email from the grand daughter of my lost great grandmothers brother.

this is the infamous relative (Harriet Mary Fowler) that i have been searching for for two years to no avail. It turns out this lovely lady on GR has photographs but did not know who Harriet married which i am going to help her out with.

So, i finally solve a mystery in my family and another kind soul gets some information for their tree that she never had too - so it cant all be bad over there.

Im defintely airing on the side of caution though and have heeded the advice to only have a basic tree up there and keep the in depth stuff here on my laptop!

Lisa

[Springbok]

Today I just had a GR  e-mail saying " ??" has opened her Tree.

Same name and date.  I answered suggesting that she should really not be so trusting and then I contacted GR asking if it possible That  a prominent Beginners  link could be put on the Home Page.

I thought that there was a link once?

Spring