Search Options in SP Changed?

[Forfarian]

Oh well, it's not as tiresome as the change that can make it so awkward to search for deaths of married women using both surnames.

For some combinations of surnames, you often get "Your search for 'other surname' returns too many results, please narrow your search criteria to return less than 1,000 results" even when there are fewer than 1,000 results for the first surname on its own.

Just be grateful that, unlike the Northern Ireland web site, you are not restricted to searching only 5 years at a time, and that there is the option of wild cards or phonetic matching, which are not an option on the New Zealand and New South Wales ones, and, again unlike those last two, that you can search most of SP without a surname.

[RJ_Paton]

Chris Paton has added an update after a reply from Scotlands people - it appears possible that "Fuzzy Matching" at least may be reintroduced.

https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/02/why-has-scotlandspeople-changed-its.html

[ikas]

Thanks for the update Falkyrn. Sounds hopeful. Weird change to make so let's hope it is quickly reversed.

[dowdstree]

Thank you for the update Falkryn.

Hopefully they will have a rethink before too long.

Dorrie

[Liviani]

I thought it was a problem at my end, seems not. Disappointing as I used "name variants" often. I found it especially useful when searching for a Jane/Jean or Christina/Christian/Christine

[Forfarian]

I use J*an* to find Jane/Jean and Christi* to find Christian/Christina/Christine but not Christopher.

[Liviani]

Thank you for the tip Forfarian. I'll be sure to utilise wildcards more than I have been.

[Rosinish]

The autofill has almost disappeared too!

Originally, if you typed an initial into the surname box, a drop-down list of previous surnames you'd searched with that initial would appear...

Now, when you type an initial in the surname box, the drop-down list of surnames is combined with forenames of previous searches.

To search previously typed names, for the drop-down list to show without the addition of either surname or forename, you now have to type in an oblique / forward slash, then the initial.

Not sure what others think but in my view these changes are a few steps back as SP was fine the way it was.

Annie

[ikas]

Originally, if you typed an initial into the surname box, a drop-down list of previous surnames you'd searched with that initial would appear...

Previous surnames starting with that letter still do appear for me. No forenames are included in the list. Inserting / then a letter includes surnames with that letter anywhere in the surname so a longer list but again no forenames included.

Perhaps someone else can try to see if it still works for them.