Asked by
ArctophileLady
on 10th April 2014
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Do you not think that the current rating on Find My Past of 4.2/5 is grossly misleading? The company itself states that the old site is gone forever and therefore the position now should be influenced only by comments relating to the new site, the majority of which are 1 star (2 star at best).
Answers (44)
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KOJones
Written on: 11/04/2014
As far as I am concerned the web site is still an excellent site - the newer style interface (compared to the old one) might have some rather interesting styles/approaches, however the material the findmypast has on its databases is excellent and thus worth a really good score
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jennyarmour
Written on: 11/04/2014
I liked the old website above all others and said so frequently. I have not had occasion to use the new one yet, nor have I heard any good of it. One friend who joined because I recommended it only 2-3 months ago has asked for a refund and no longer wishes to use the site.
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custardpot
Written on: 11/04/2014
Find My Past's new site is nowhere near as good as the old site. The rating should relate to the new sit not the old site.
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armtre
Written on: 11/04/2014
Find My Past was an excellent site prior to the recent major changes and was well worth the high rating. However, since these changes I am finding it very difficult to use, incomplete, and slow. It is clearly a work in progress. To all intents and purposes it is a new site and the rating should start, as it were, from the date of initiation of the new site. But, I am an optimist and expect that FMP will eventually make the new site as good as the old one. It was certainly the best in my opinion. It was the gold standard for amateur genealogists like myself.
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Pattisalt9
Written on: 11/04/2014
I completely agree that the rating of 4.2/5 is grossly misleading and its about time that was changed to reflect reviews posted after the 1st April when the new FMP website was foisted on to all of us. FMP are behaving in an unbelievably arrogant manner, talking down to its customers as if we are all idiots because we dont like their new format. However they maybe will sit up and listen when they find that subscription renewals will be sinking like the Titanic and their profits go sliding into the sea
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Richard-Geard
Written on: 11/04/2014
No. I am a member and have pr. today no thoughts of terminating my membership. Times change and FMP has also changed; just as it should be; or else? Richard Geard, Norway
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MmmmeM
Written on: 11/04/2014
My original question to the FMP staff was:-
Why does the menu item "Search All Records" not search anything at all?
The power of the old system lay in its NOT wasting time breaking things down into unwanted subdivisions.
Someone should be fired for this and the old system made available in parallel until the individual renewal dates of all existing customers.
They replied by telling me that they had tested it ( using the subdivisions) and got results back.
Hence not grasping the meaning of my simple question.
I shall post my subsequent comment in a further response here.
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MmmmeM
Written on: 11/04/2014
subsequent response to FMP
It's the systems analysts who have got this wrong, not the hapless programmers now forced to tweak the wrong model. "Less is more" was the good advice provided by some earlier designer who knew what was required to get quickly on the track of something. The exact opposite of what has been perpetrated in this obliteration of a really good resource.
There'll be money in it somewhere for someone, but they will not be getting mine. Sadly it's my loss, and that of the elderly people whose roots I voluntarily help trace. A couple of weeks ago I did this for someone whose family had once lived near me and who is now in residential care further North. Not only could I find her ancestors right back to the 1700s, but they turned out to have originated 2 miles from where she is now, and can all be found in the churchyard there. She has a very common name and there would be no hope at all of success like this using the current set-up.
What a waste.
I also searched for census records that existed on the old system and they were either not there or required some redundant criteria. I am not prepared to be an unpaid (paying actually!) diagnostician and intend to go to another search engine which works.
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Familytreetwigsandall
Written on: 11/04/2014
As always when an existing site changes, it takes a while to get used to the new one and to find your way around. I did not find it very user friendly, but, that is only after a couple of tries. I will still persevere as I have always rated this site highly, if nothing else for the content. If you are unable to locate records on this site, then you may find it on another and the reverse is also true. At present I would mark it down, as low as 2 star, simply because the new site design, fails to cater for the wide ranging technical abilities of the users (some with very basic knowledge and limited PC skills to computer wizards). However, the content would remain 5 star and it is worth taking time to learn how the site can work for you. The Findmypast team are extremely helpful and will try to respond to you and guide you to progress with your research. So stay with it, try it for a month and email them for help if you are unable to find what you are looking for. Maybe we will all have to do that until we understand how to navigate the site. overall, until I get used to the site I rate it at 3.5, for all the reasons above. It is extremely frustrating when a site changes and stops your research. Hopefully the new reviews will bring it to their attention.
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jaygen2
Written on: 11/04/2014
Absolutely agree - can't find my original review now, but I've always rated Ancestry as superior and much more user friendly, and I reflected that in my reviews of both FMP and Ancestry.
Like FamilySearch, Ancestry also brought in a new search, but allowed their users to fill out a survey and have since included features of the OLD search! AT LEAST ANCESTRY ARE WILLING TO LISTEN TO THEIR USERS! They also kept the old search going for many months whilst improving the new search - FMP hasn't learned from this.
I cancelled my subscription with FMP just before they implemented the new search, but apparently, there's a forum where you can make yourself heard.
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Quintain
Written on: 11/04/2014
I am finding the new site confusing, I struggle to find exactly what I am looking for at present, I currently am unable to zoom in quickly to exactly what I want like I did with the old site. Would guess it will take a good number of months before I become as confident with the new site. Some more educating 'how to use' clips would greatly help. Meanwhile would only give it at the most a 2
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Vallonian
Written on: 11/04/2014
It is early days and I am still trying to find my way round it. However my first impressions are not favourable.
It has some useful stuff on it - if you can find it! Unless there is an improvement I would have to think hard about renewing my subscription.
Vallonian
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Christine44
Written on: 11/04/2014
I do not have a problem with the new website and still find it as easy to use as the old one. So I will continue to do my research on this site as I have done for over ten years. I would rate it as 5 star.
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jaygen3
Written on: 11/04/2014
Sorry to use this box to contact the Review Centre - it probably won't get through to anyone anyway, but...
I'm registered, and received an email asking me to answer this question - I can't remember my password, and sadly, when I get the email to reset my password all I get is a window saying that
"The address is not valid"
THERE IS NO WAY TO CONTACT ANY STAFF ON THE REVIEW CENTER ABOUT THIS! SO I THINK, AFTER GIVING A HELPFUL REPLY TO THIS QUESTION AS YOU ASKED ME TO DO, I'll have to stop using this site. I had to use the user name Jaygen2 and a new email address which I never use.
If there's anyone out there - thanks for listening!
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Phill2610
Written on: 11/04/2014
Hi, like Jenny Armour, I too have not been on the 'New' website, but will shortly be doing so as I have a lot of research to do on one family member. I have been with Findmypast for over 15 years and pay the full member subscription so I do not have to bother with 'Credit' and have found it to be an excellent site. I also subscribe to Ancestry.com and between these two sites have had excellent service. I find it a bit worrying with what jenny has said about her friend leaving..?? Is this because she/he was not used to researching on these sites, as this as a 1st timer can be quite daunting. Will therefore reserve judgement until I get on the 'New' site. Will do another review after that.
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hubbard51
Written on: 11/04/2014
Yes the 4.2/5 is totally misleading and inaccurate. I would not even give the new site a 1 star for the following reason. There is information there on FMP but everyone I know has been unable to access it. I have had a subscription for a number of years but guess what when I tried to see exactly how many years my history was not available. Unless there is a radical change to the site I will not be renewing my subscription and nor will many other people I know.
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sjwa
Written on: 11/04/2014
The current site bears no resemblance to the old one, therefore only reviews after 1st April are relevant. The old site is allegedly history, so the old reviews may as well be discarded, meaning the real star rating is in the low ones.
It is most unfortunate that FMP didn't understand what was so good about their user interface and chose to replace it with a system that is vastly inferior in design as well as being unfinished and untested. A very large number of people who greatly enjoyed searching on FMP on a daily basis have had their pastime ruined by possibly well meaning but ignorant website designers. The best thing they could do now is reinstate all the old search forms and result formats exactly how they were. They are struggling to try and add previously available features to the disorderly new format (some text boxes added this week are only there for appearances sake - they don't actually work) resulting in an untidy, inefficient and difficult to use, mess. Results are inconsistent and untrustworthy, you can't be sure the search system has found the right person any more; it often doesn't find records you know are there. Quite apart from the flawed design of the search process, there are myriads of small, unprofessional errors that really annoy experienced users such as the +/- years not showing, surname/forename boxes randomly interchanged and the dreadful spaced out multi-page layout of census search results. Primary school kids could have done a better job; indeed the huge type and double spacing suggests it was designed for kindergarten use. There are thousands of reviews all saying the same thing - what used to be a very good site has been ruined to the point where it is virtually unusable for serious research.
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sklirou
Written on: 11/04/2014
The current rating is a farce. As it stands now the new site is not worth the money we spend in subscriptions. It has been put into use before all the problems have been ironed out, the incorrect spellings of names seems to worse. This site is no longer attractive to serious researchers. After very many years of enjoyable researching using FindMyPast I shall be one of the disappearing members unless the old version can be made to run alongside the new one until all the problems have been sorted.
W.Kemsley
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Portsmouthgirl
Written on: 11/04/2014
I had already put in a review about the new site (which hasn't appeared as yet) saying that I am embarrassed to admit that I recently recommended FindMyPast to a friend, and have now told her that the site is no longer the useful site it once was.
The searches are so much more cumbersome, the familiarity is gone. It was once my "go-to" site for family tree research, but I think now, that ease of use has gone forever. It should have been thoroughly tested prior to going live, but now they are merely fixing problems piecemeal, as their customers bring things to their attention.
One star is all I would recommend, currently.
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vicstotten
Written on: 11/04/2014
As far as the new site is concerned I find it confusing and nowhere as good as the old one. On the old one I could access all the information I was looking for just by searching all the areas at one go. Having tried to do the same thing on the new site find that it does not always work and I am left to start all over again. I feel that the new site is vastly over- rated at this point and myself would only give it 1star.
Vic Stotten
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GenealogyResearchAssistance
Written on: 11/04/2014
The old search was an awesome tool which has now been put out to pasture and I for one will miss it.
As to whether or not the score is grossly misleading I disagree. The records are still available and Find my Past are adding new records and so from that point of view the score remains unchanged or improves. However, the new search engine, (which as been in use on findmypast.com and findmypast.ie from the start)needs tweaking to get better results. The address search was far superior on the old option as was the refine search across the board.
Would I still recommend Find my Past? Then the answer is yes. It just needs to iron out its teething troubles.
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sammyhammy
Written on: 11/04/2014
I tend to agree with KOJones' answer - the content is still there and is still expanding. I will not be cancelling my subscription as I find it so good for research. I stand by my original score.
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nell99
Written on: 11/04/2014
Yes I agree with you absolutely. The material is good when it can be found but finding it is so cumbersome that it is easy to lose the will to live going through all the filters.
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EMA1251
Written on: 11/04/2014
Absolutely! Reviews should reflect the current state of the item or service being reviewed. The old site is now sadly defunct and currently, although the new site still has (probably)excellent content, it is very slow, has basic search filters missing and is not at all user friendly. Maybe in 6 months time they may have a good site again but FMP's customer service responses (like 'we have turned off the phones') and complete disregard of current subscribers complaints currently make it a 1 star at the most.
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Cherryexile
Written on: 11/04/2014
The biggest factor in any score has to be the data which is still of very high quality and growing in size and breadth all the time. In my opinion it remains one of the two 'must have' genealogy website subscriptions. The look and feel may take some a little while to get used to, but that would be the only issue.
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Bessyb
Written on: 11/04/2014
I agree that the new version of the web site should be rated on how it now works and what it offers which in my opinion is still excellent value. It does need a different approach to find the best way of searching for the records you want and I have had to download Google chrome to see the census returns but I am looking forward to the new records which are going to be added throughout the year.
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CarolKeen
Written on: 11/04/2014
This is a very good point.
Leaving aside the arguments over whether the 'new' site is or will be an improvement on the 'old' site, FindMyPast have stated categorically that the 'old' site has been retired, can no longer be accessed and is gone forever.
Therefore reviews of the 'old' site have no relevance to potential users of the 'new' site as the two are completely separate entities.
I think it would be fairer and much less misleading to separate reviews into those relating to the old (now dead) site and those relating to the new site.
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nightowl33
Written on: 11/04/2014
The old site was worthy of the rating 4.2/5, but the new one isn't. I've been using ancestry and freebmd much more since findmypast changed. I don't understand why they've changed the site? If it's not broken don't fix it! The old site was so much quicker and easier to use.
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Maesteg
Written on: 12/04/2014
I totally agree that the ratings should reflect the new site reviews only, by including the reviews of the old site and rating both sites together makes the current rating questionable at best.
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OldBrummie
Written on: 12/04/2014
I am sorry but I do not understand the question. If it means "do I prefer the new site over the old one", then I have to say the comment I made still stands - "If it ain't broke then don't fix it".
I found the old site far easier to use and am having difficulties with the new site.
My project is coming to an end so I will simply try to soldier on.
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anniej10
Written on: 12/04/2014
My first review of Find My Past was based on use of the previous site. No doubt the information is still as good as ever but the routes to finding this have changed so much as to make it much harder to discover the facts you need. Change is always unpopular and personally I find it harder to use the site. Whereas you could once home in on the section you wanted now you have to wander through a cumbersome broad field which may or may not get you to the same point. FMP has become unnecessarily complicated and tends to be slower. I am sadly considering ending my link to this site when my subscription runs out and will stick with Ancestry.
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HiTowerUK
Written on: 12/04/2014
It is grossly mis-leading! It's all very well suggesting that the data they have is excellent, it's not much use if it's not accessible without unreasonable delays, crashes, errors and very poor search facilities.
In my opinion, FMP has taken a major dive downwards in my estimation and this could cost them dear if it isn't resolved very quickly!!
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jillcou
Written on: 12/04/2014
Up to the new site unveiling I would have recommended FMP 100%. However, in line with many other users I consider it a retrograde step. Maybe you could try on Pay as You Go before committing yourself to a full subscription. I trust it will soon improve in line with many hundred requests from existing users.
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Linton-Clegg
Written on: 13/04/2014
I have not looked at the new site so cannot comment.
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ghan
Written on: 13/04/2014
Agreed - I' rate it 1-2* now. Searches far too slow. Difficult to search single data sets. No "printer friendly view" - I used this continually to copy and paste info into my family tree notes and sources.
Unfortunately "New Search" on Ancestry is even worse - I've rated them 1* because their transcriptions are less accurate than fmp. It's a toss up which subscription I cancel first - I haven't the time required to negotiate the search functions on these sites!
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PennyASmith
Written on: 14/04/2014
Yes, it is very misleading. Problem with site at present is FMP IT people, who do not appear to be genealogist, have completely redesigned search function and rewritten reports without reference to users, thrust it upon us with inadequate testing and expected subscribers i.e. paying customers, to accept the horrendous system presented. Paying customers resent this attitude and added to this FMP have not even bothered to utter the word "sorry" but continue to invite those same customers to suggest improvements as if FMP are trying to give something new.
Maybe, once FMP have sorted out their problems, remembered their customers do have a choice, and used the word "sorry" (which is long overdue and now seems very inadequate), maybe the site may get better. Unfortunately this debacle will leave a nasty taste for some time to come.
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Gillian471
Written on: 14/04/2014
In response to the rating given to Find My Past I would like to say I have only commented on the old site which I found worked really well. As yet I have not commented on the new site as I have only used it on a few occasions since the change over. However like any new system it will probably need time to bed in and hopefully anything that does not work as it should will be updated. Most other sites are updated an a regular basis
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RetiredTeachersue
Written on: 14/04/2014
I renewed my subscription just days before they changed me over to the new site - and I had terrible problems with it. For several days I was unable to get on to the site at all, and when I did get on searches took so long that they timed out.
Having said that, it is slowly improving, but I do not think it is as use-friendly as before and would now only rate it 3/5. It is no longer my first choice of site for research
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grillagh29
Written on: 14/04/2014
I really liked the old FMP site and found the records to be very good. However I have not used the new site as yet and so am unable to comment.
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EMA1251
Written on: 14/04/2014
Absolutely! The 'new improved' FMP bears no relation to the previous platform apart from its content, if you ever get to access it and should therefore be rated as the 'New' FindMyPast.
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bb-oz
Written on: 15/04/2014
That might be over-simplifying things. Certainly the platform has changed, but the data has not. It is still possible to search successfully within the new platform. I would personally rate it 4 and a half stars. There's always room for improvement.
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Gifford1234567
Written on: 17/04/2014
There is no valid criticism about the quality of the records held by FMP. It has been a very valuable research site. However, without user-friendly and reliable tools to find the records, they end up as questionable at best and next to useless at worst.
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grumpya
Written on: 18/04/2014
I found the old website clunky but it had some useful info on it that was not available elsewhere. the new site has the same & some more new stuff so from the point of view of the info available how can that be worse? Most people don't like change so there are bound to be moans, plus if people are happy with the new site they won't normally bother to go out of their way to leave a review unless asked, moaners will go out of their way, you only have to look at hotel review sites to know that that is true.
The search is far better than it was, & streets better than ancestry. There is none of the problems created by user input data where one idiot puts in a load of rubbish then dozens of others copy it, which is what is gradually ruining ancestry as the search results are so influenced by users input. The new FMP is probably better for the more experienced researcher but I found a relative I had mislaid for 30 years this morning because of the way the search results are laid out. She never showed on the old format or on ancestry or some others but because the date of birth defines the order the results are presented on a simple search I found her.
Give it time and hopefully the moaners will vote with their feet & the reviews will pick up & reflect the true quality of this site. Most people who are happy with the new one will not go and revue it for a second time if they were happy with the original site as they are probably busy using their free time to persue their hobby rather than writing reviews.
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Dingdongdi
Written on: 20/04/2014
Quite frankly, I think that the rating for the new site should be 0. I spent over a week trying to do an address search for the 1881, 1891, 1901 & 1911 UK census'. The only one I got a positive response to was the 1901 census, the rest returned 0 results. Having the names of two families from that census I went on to Ancestry and found one of those families there in the 1891 census at the same address. 0 result from FMP!
Not only the lack of results was frustrating but the fact that one now has to waste time applying filter after filter to obtain the information that was readily available on the old system is also very frustrating. I also tried the new system out by redoing searches that I had previously done on the old system to see if I was over reacting, I wasn't. Again, the numerous filters made the whole process extremely tedious and time wasting.There is an old saying that perhaps they should heed, "if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it." I am a seasoned researcher and have been a subscriber to FMP since 2008 and I have always sung their praises, up until now that is. I will not be renewing my subscription when it falls due next month. Dingdongdi
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