FamilySearch's new home page
 

What on earth is up with it? Has it become a social media site now?

It's eliciting all sorts of information from unsuspecting users. :(

This question seems totally irrelevant to family history:
Did your kids do anything crazy, or sweet, this week?

While there's no way I would share that sort of information, those questions are the sort of things we would encourage beginners to ask themselves when we gave talks. Memories and anecdotes are exactly the things that you don't find on websites.

Granny's sayings, your Dad's first job, the flowers in your mother's wedding bouquet are the sorts of things that nobody will know, after you've gone.

I used to use FS a lot, but in the last few years I have never found anything useful. If I copy searches I did in the past I can' get the results I did before. In general the results I get have nothing to do with what I'm looking for.

The only thing I've found useful is when they have the images of PRs or BTs and even then very often the images are not for what they say they are, but just a couple of times (in maybe 5 years) I have got lucky.

Now you say something has changed, but nothing has changed for me! Perhaps someone could give me a link to the "social media site" page :o

As a test, I looked for a marriage Kate mentioned she's looked at yesterday on FS for Mary Ann Abraham 1863 Penge Surrey. I was given 2,175 matches, but at least the one I was after was on the first page, so that was good. I tried clicking Filter by Marriage and when I hovered over that it suggested I would be left with five results, but nothing happened when I clicked it. (I couldn't make any of the filters work). If you ask for a particular place why are the results still from all over the world?

EDIT I did manage to get the 'Filter by Collection' to work eventually.

I no longer use FS for the reasons Merry gives. At one time I knew my way round the site blindfold and knew how to manipulate the results easily. I also made great use of their library catalogue which gave me much I would never have found anywhere else - you don't know what you don't know.

I have tried to filter results down to something manageable but to no avail. On the very rare occasion I do find something useful it is endlessly and pointlessly repeated, mixed in with other completely irrelevant records.

I used to visit my local LDS centre one day a week, to browse registers. This facility has been withdrawn because "it's all on line now". But I haven't worked out how to browse a complete register online so that's lost to me.

Such a shame, it used to be a marvellous resource. I'm sure it still is, if only I knew how to work it meaningfully.

OC

https://www.familysearch.org/en/
You may have to log in before you see what I'm talking about.

I agree that the FS website is unwieldy and that it's difficult to research a specific person. For that reason I don't use it much any more. I used to love the Batch Number facility years ago.

One way I do use it is like this:

On the records page select Catalog.
Then check Online.
Then type in the place in which you are interested.
I use this a lot for Cornwall.

You have to type England, Cornwall, St. Blazey, for example.
Press search.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/...ility%3AOnline

If you select Church Records you get a drop-down menu and the last one is the parish records. If there is a camera icon you can view the images.

For Cornish wills,
England, Cornwall
Online
Probate records (12)
Original wills, administrations and inventories for the Consistorial Court of the Archdeaconry of Cornwall, 1579-1859

Some of the records are locked but the vast majority is viewable.
To assist searching, use the search facility at Kresen Kernow or use the Cornwall OPC website where there is a searchable index.


This method can be used for any county (and abroad).
It's good when you have a very specific query.

I also use it for Sussex.

Thank you Elizabeth, I'll try that.

OC

I'm mostly using FS for the image collections nowadays, which have been particularly useful for Italy. I'm finally managing to do my OH's tree!