RIP Sunderland Registrars Indexes

[stanmapstone]

The URL is http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1399
Registration - copy certificates http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=505
Stan

[Vivsimm]

Thank you, Stan.
Vivienne

[specfreak]

I got a message from the Registrars this morning.  They have suspended the site for further testing and to fix the errors with other browsers.
I was able to order a cert via Internet Explorer the other day, but all the others didn't work, following my reports.
They say the site will be back up as soon as possible.
I've had trouble in the past where my order was blank but they e-mailed me for the details so they could get the certificate to me.  They are very helpful if you get in touch. 
I think it's just a case that their site is out of date and needs updating to cater for newer browsers, especially the payment gateway.

Sorry I opened my big mouth, but hopefully they'll fix the problems and everyone can benefit.

[Clarrie]

Just called the Registrar's office for an update.  The woman I spoke to said that it is not possible to order online any more, the system was down and she did not know when (implied whether) it would be back up.  This lady has helped me a lot before and was very polite and professional but couldn't be persuaded to be more specific and  I didn't like to push it any more than I already had.

The only way to get certificates now is to call the call centre on 0191 5205553 and order through them. I tried and got a recorded message saying they hoped to answer my call after eight minutes, along with a lot of messages about adoption and fostering. I didn't feel very hopeful so have decided to write to the office.  Call centres have never improved my quality of life...

I also hadn't realised how much I used the indexes as a resource until I couldn't any more.
   

Obviously I'd rather give the money for certificates to Sunderland than the GRO and get copies of the original but long waiting times and a call centre won't encourage people to use their service.

If anyone has an update in future please keep us all posted.

Yours depressedly,

Clarrie

[specfreak]

Yes, it's a real shame.  As you say the officers who deal with you either on the phone or in person are very helpful and polite.

I think they just needed to disable the payment option as that's the part that was broken.
They could have left the search facility available, but perhaps a 3rd party wrote the code for it, and they not longer have a contract to fix or update it.  I suspect the code is old and so doesn't work in newer browsers. 

So they've chose just to close the service again.

[Sunderland ICT]

Hi All,
I am an ICT programmer at Sunderland City Council. I have been made aware of this blog and of an e-mail I received via the registrars regarding the online BDM system.
First off, I'd like to apologise to you all regarding the length of time it has took to get around to this problem. I hadn't actually realised that people like yourselves were using the system just to search the records database! We built the website to allow people to order copies of certificates and I was under the impression that was all it was used for, now that I know it has another use I will try and keep it available in the future.
Just a quick explanation as to why it went missing. We started to have problems getting payments through our payment portal, resulting in garbled orders, customers not being able to make a payment and customers making a payment but no order details coming through to registrars. It was getting very messy so the decision was taken to switch it off. About a month ago I switched it back on having installed some stronger validation and 'markers' in the web pages to try to find the problem. After a week we had some perfect orders and some without payment. During that time I was forwarded an e-mail from a customer who had noted that it seemed to work fine with Internet Explorer(IE) - but not other browsers (for example Chrome, Firefox etc). Based on that information I have updated the pages again. Now the system will let any browsers search the records - but will only allow IE users to purchase a certificate. This will hopefully get it back online and while it is restricted to just IE we can investigate what the issues are with the other browsers.
I have made the changes and asked the service if we can go live again this Monday (25th April 2016).  I will try to visit this forum and keep you up to date with any changes - and I would really appreciate it if you have any feedback that I could use to make the service better - and if you have any information about errors you may receive when making orders.
Once again - sorry for the long delay and thanks for your patience.
Kind Regards,
H

[briann1]

Thank you so much for keeping us all in the loop as to what is happening with access to the registrar's B M D Index's .This is a fantastic service and I hope you are able to get every thing back on line
Once again I thank you for this explanation

[Ryhopelad]

Thanks for letting us know what is going on with the Registrar's site and hopefully everything will be up and running again soon.
The site in the past has been a great resource to myself and the other small group of volunteers who are indexing the parish records for the Local Studies Library in Sunderland. Where names can be sometimes very difficult to read on the microfilms the site allows us to cross check the names on the site with the film ensuring we are as accurate as possible in recording the information.

Ryhopelad

[briann1]

GREAT NEWS. Thanks to H from Sunderland ITC the index's are back on line