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  1. #11

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    Apparently, the thanks button is not a standard feature of the software used to run the forum, and it will cost a lot of time and be expensive to add. Right now, they are most concerned about security - hence the update. As far as I know, the thanks button is on our (the Mods) wish list for the future.

    I’ve just noticed that the Mods had had a wish that’s been on the top of the list for a while granted!

  2. #12
    Growing old Disgracefully
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND
    Posts
    3,216

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    Since when have we had "Hire a Researcher" when we do it for free useing our own resorces are they tring to get rid of us ?????

  3. #13

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    Sandy the new site incorporates stuff from Forces War Records and they have the facility for people to hire a researcher if they so wish. It is its own thing. The forum is still free and the help of the members will continue to be voluntary.
    If anyone needs to hire researchers there is now a button to click
    Sadly, our dear friend Ann (alias Ladkyis) passed away on Thursday, 26th. December, 2019.
    Footprints on the sands of time

  4. #14

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    What is not clear on the new layout of the main site is that your previous forum log in saved on the system will not work. Does that mean that when the "security upgrade" is complete we will need to sign up anew?
    www.jeaned.net
    [url]https://edmck.blogspot.co.uk[url]

  5. #15
    Super Moderator - Completely bonkers and will never change.
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    England
    Posts
    9,620

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed McKie View Post
    What is not clear on the new layout of the main site is that your previous forum log in saved on the system will not work. Does that mean that when the "security upgrade" is complete we will need to sign up anew?
    There's two 'bits' to British Genealogy now.
    There's what Admin is calling the main site, which is https://www.british-genealogy.com/
    Then there's the forums which is at https://www.british-genealogy.com/forum/

    If you use the latter as a bookmark then you should be able to sign in and out as you used to do.

    You only need to sign into the main site if you want to hire a researcher. Usually if you want someone to go to Kew for you.

    As Ladkyis explained earlier, the BG forums will still operate for free, as they always have.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  6. #16
    Famous for offering help & advice peter nicholl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Somerset
    Posts
    1,029

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    While forum members appreciate that organisations such as FWR are central to the supply of the framework in which we operate, it is the members themselves who give their time and expertise in order that the forum is the success it is. Some, especially "old hands", have lived through similar changes in the past. However, I would postulate that to know what is proposed is better all round than waking up one morning to be shown a fait accompli. Members are not employees of the forum, but the following from the Havard Business Review puts it succinctly:
    "Harvard Business Review The Secret to Leading Organizational Change Is Empathy. "... in my work as a communication consultant, I’ve observed the same thing time and time again: how information is communicated to employees during a change matters more than what information is communicated. A lack of audience empathy when conveying news about an organizational transformation can cause it to fail."
    Peter Nicholl
    Researching:Nicholl,Boater, Haselgrove & Vaughan

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pam Downes View Post
    There's two 'bits' to British Genealogy now.
    There's what Admin is calling the main site, which is https://www.british-genealogy.com/
    Then there's the forums which is at https://www.british-genealogy.com/forum/

    If you use the latter as a bookmark then you should be able to sign in and out as you used to do.



    Pam
    There's the rub. Should be able to! Doesn't work"as before" for everyone. Curiouser and curiouser!!
    www.jeaned.net
    [url]https://edmck.blogspot.co.uk[url]

  8. #18
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland
    Posts
    627

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    Yes, I dealt with a lot of change management, both operationally and in training in my career. I agree completely with Peter Nicholl. How these recent changes have been managed would be perfect training material for “how not to do it.” Perhaps John Cleese is available to make a suitable amusing video?
    ELWYN

  9. #19
    A fountain of knowledge
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Trowbridge
    Posts
    479

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    Thanks to the Mods for doing all the answering! I did look but can't see anything that seems unanswered. I apologise if any user has found the new design a bit confusing and I do appreciate very much that any change will cause friction occasionally.

    The login button on the home page is for those who are using the paid for services of a researcher, not for the forums.
    As far as I'm aware forum users will not have to change any sort of password or login in the foreseeable future either.
    This may well be improved to ensure it isn't confusing in the near future, however.

    When the forum was first 'built' it was using software that was as modern and flexible as it could be at that time, however it urgently needed upgrading to the latest version to ensure your details stayed safe and the site could stay operating, unfortunately with a lot of software progress - sometimes bits & bobs don't work as they are not 'core parts' of the software but add-ons/bolt-ons, usually built by a completely different programmer/company.
    Sometimes these can be easily replaced, sometimes not. If that causes an issue then I can only apologise, it really is a stark choice with such software -you can only keep it the same for so long until something, at any point of the chain, changes and then prevents the rest from either working correctly or worse still -taking the whole forum down with it, perhaps permanently.

    We have had websites operating well over 20 years now and all have had to change with the times and all have occasionally upset people with those very necessary changes, all changes cost in terms of time & money and we wouldn't be making those changes if they weren't totally necessary I can definitely assure you! Most of the time these software issues are compatibility -something which can't really be predicted and something which generally can't be rolled back either.

    It was and is always our intention to offer this forum completely free of charge, but I'm sure everyone understands that every website costs money to administer, repair and maintain even if it wants to 'stand still', let alone work with all the new computer devices and new ways of accessing internet-based services.

    The previous owners funded the free forum by linking to their genealogy shop business, we have so far funded it by linking it to our Forces War Records website.

    We've had professional researchers working for the military site for many years now and the demand for research into family trees, probate and even house history has increased massively -to the point we believe there is a market for a fixed price service and our expanded team of freelance researchers are very keen to have that work also since they already offer similar services themselves in any case.

    I do recognise that most forum users enjoy helping others with genealogy tasks, but I don't see the offerings we're now intending to make as in competition with that at all, I am a member of many military history (& vinyl record collecting for that matter!) groups and there are professional services/shops there also -the commercial and non commercial aspects complement each other rather than compete and I'm sure the same will be true here.

    The really should be NO difference whatsoever to the usability of the forum, except it's now wrapped in a more commercially focussed site, the bits of which you will be able to entirely ignore in any case, navigate straight to & remain on the free familiar forum.

    The only changes to the forum were caused by the necessity (not a choice mind you) of upgrading the software the forum is based around. It is impossible to get around that inevitability and I'd be very suspicious of the security and longevity of any site where no such changes have occurred relatively recently in fact -security threats and data protection requirements change constantly after all.

  10. #20
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Hampshire. Near Basingstoke
    Posts
    653

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    Morning Timbo58

    Thank you for your post but you've missed my point. Others above have made my point better but it was the lack of communication prior to the upgrade that took simple folk like me by surprise and left me floundering for a while.

    Users who understood that the forum is provided free at your cost are presumably as grateful as I am that you do so and that you try to keep our data safe. So there is no problem for me at any rate when you upgrade the software. I would however appreciate it if you would post beforehand that you intend to change things and let us all know what we need to do to log in if that isn't obvious.

    Maybe you should also bear in mind that some users may come to the forum by recommendation but with no knowledge of how it is provided or that you have a commercial imperative to deal with too. Long-standing members are bound to know some of the background but newer members may not be aware and that's why you are now getting some of the comments above. Something to consider possibly?

    Thank you again for what you do. I for one appreciate it.

    Tony
    "People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” Edmund Burke

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