The new Findmypast (Part 1)

[LizzieW]

I've been on Facebook to see all the complaints on there, and amidst them all I found a hint of a better way to search.

Click on Search Records and at the bottom of the list is List All UK Records.  Click on that and you get a page with lost of different headings, Birth, Marriage, Death and parish records is one heading and under that are listed Births and Baptisms, Churches and Religion, Deaths and Burials, Marriages, Parish Record Browse and Wills and Probate.  Mind you, when I searched under Wills and Probate for my 2 x g.grandmother's will (which I knew was on FindMyPast) the results brought up not only the will but also the 1851 and 1861 census.  Not sure why, or why it didn't show the 1841 census.

Try it and see what you think - not as good as the old FindMyPast though but unless they revert to the old site, this is how I'll search until my sub runs out in October.  I've already unticked auto renew so they can't just take money for a new sub.

Lizzie

[2mm]

Hello All
I emailed FindMyPast yesterday morning regarding how to delete unwanted " My Records " 
Will let you know outcome.

omega

one at a time always took for ever, just left them to long,  so why can't we have at end of each  full saved page" little boxes next to entry with the old  X " , with 1 option at bottom of page delete all old kisses not wanted, or words to that effect.
Do this with my unwanted e mails, its soooooooooooo  easy, perhaps that's why F M P wouldn't even consider it
2mm

[Hampshire Lass]

I've been on Facebook to see all the complaints on there, and amidst them all I found a hint of a better way to search.

Click on Search Records and at the bottom of the list is List All UK Records.  Click on that and you get a page with lost of different headings, Birth, Marriage, Death and parish records is one heading and under that are listed Births and Baptisms, Churches and Religion, Deaths and Burials, Marriages, Parish Record Browse and Wills and Probate.  Mind you, when I searched under Wills and Probate for my 2 x g.grandmother's will (which I knew was on FindMyPast) the results brought up not only the will but also the 1851 and 1861 census.  Not sure why, or why it didn't show the 1841 census.

Try it and see what you think - not as good as the old FindMyPast though but unless they revert to the old site, this is how I'll search

Lizzie

That's a brilliant tip Lizzie.....thank you so much

[locksmith]

Lizzie

I think there are quite a few cases where you select a record set and you get results from other record sets after a search. This is really a case that thzey have released the new site before it has been properly tested. If I were to release software like this at work, without proper testing, I wouldn't last long in the job. There appears to be no involvement of those who were going to be using this site to get their views before they produced such an unfriendly search engine.

Simon

[smudwhisk]

I think there are quite a few cases where you select a record set and you get results from other record sets after a search.

It's quite funny really in light of all the complaints about ancestry new search, but if you search a single data set on ancestry, you still get results from just that data set.  For once ancestry currently wins on that.

There appears to be no involvement of those who were going to be using this site to get their views before they produced such an unfriendly search engine.

I believe they are claiming a 1,000 subscribers test run the new website and provided positive feedback.  However, I've not seen any comments from anyone suggesting they were one of these people which does make you think FindMyPast are just trying to justify the change anyway possible.

[LizzieW]

Hampshire Lass - Glad to be of service, it wasn't my tip but I thought it worth passing on.

Lizzie

[BumbleB]

I don't understand 

If I just enter the surname Archbell (no other information at all) from the home page, then I get a number of results - OK it's an unusual surname  - and the categories are shown in the filters when the results appear.   However, if I then chose the filter from the list, I only get those results.  And if I change the filter parameters, then I get different results.  And even more importantly from my point of view I only get English results.  What more do you want?  Or have I lost the plot completely 

[smudwhisk]

Perhaps the FindMyPast filters are working for some people properly but not others?

[locksmith]

Or have I lost the plot completely 

Not at all BumbleB.
The problems are not with the general search forms where you reduce your 'hits' by applying more filters on successive searches which is where you have the results that you expect. The problems are with the individual search forms that you get to by selecting 'all search records' and subsequently the specific search set. eg If I select 'all search records' then 'births and baptisms' then the 'Parish marriages 1538-2005' set, put a name in to search, it brings up results from all sorts of sets (rate books, deaths and burial, censuses etc), clearly a fault in the system. If you look at the marriage record collection for instance, it lists sets for burials and baptisms and is a bit of a mess and shouldn't have been unleashed on the subscribers in this state.

Simon