New format = plus for clarity of the timeline and the inclusion of major life events for close family members. Minus (strong) for changing placenames from what they were at the time of events to present day, no doubt 'politically correct' names. A really bad example is translating Sebastopol in Russia in the Crimean War to the Ukraine. Thoroughly irritating is Ceylon, at the time of the Indian Mutiny, to 'Western Sri Lanka'. 

I have been using Ancestry for some years now as well as other sites. I have researched my own, my husbands as well as an american friends family history and overall find ancestry one of the easier sites to use. Each family history site has it's strengths and weaknesses but I use ancestry most of the time. As I have some non british ancestry I have found some difficulty in getting information on this area, but do not necessarily think this is ancestry's problem, as it would appear that you would need to be on a higher level of genealogy to access (a professional). I would like to see greater co-operation with the Scottish ancestry site but am aware Ancestry has tried to gain this.

I have been using the UK version of Ancestry for several years and have built a comprehensive Family Tree and met lots of interesting people along the way. I am pleased with the general coverage of Ancestry, particularly census returns and the London Parish Registers but my biggest frustration is the poor standard of transcribing. I have often found names by dint of lateral thinking and, when I have checked the image, seen the names are quite clearly written but have been transcribed wrongly, sometimes bizzarely. This even applies to mis-transcribing the place of birth when the census has been taken in the same geographical area. I have often remarked that transcribers need a gazetteer or simple atlas alongside to check spellings.

On the whole we are happy with the record sets,indices and digital books available on this site. Good coverage of Census records although some of the transcriptions are a little 'off' that leads to problems with the 'search' facility. The range of records is good and we particularly like the parish registers as these have often backed up other evidence and pinpointed parishes in London. We have also used the worldwide Ancestry.com and are subscribers. Although the cost sounds expensive, if you are using Ancestry.comon a more or less daily basis it id great value for money for family historians who are just beginning their search to seasoned professionals. We would recommend the package to all aspiring genealogists and hope that there wil be more digital parish registers and wills added in due course.

The biggest issues are poor transcriptions but you can ammend them.Sometimes it's a misread but others are consistant and really annoying like Holbron instead of Holborn and Hertfordshire is Suffolk I think it's because of American transcribers!? The list of records available at the side are NOT all of them, check your dashboard for updates or search direct from outside FTM. Best used in conjunction with other sites to help locate missing entries. Interesting collection of records but you need to keep checking for updates. Use sideways thinking if you can't find your entry. Family Tree Maker interface is good and easy to use with instant merge but be aware not all facts will be added automatically. I researched pricing compared with other sites and this worked out best for me but do use the free searches elsewhere to guide you when you lose someone. Shoebox facility is useful. Do not take other peoples trees as accurate check them!

Ancestry is a great tool for researching your family history. It has many records that other sites don't e.g. WW1 records, and they are always adding more. I definately prefer their family tree builder to any other (GenesReunited tends to crash all the time), although I think FindMyPast will soon catch up. My only major concern about Ancestry, and in fact any other family history site, is the ease for other members to simply copy another members entire tree without doing any research themselves and then this is repeated by many other members, so the end result is many family trees that are completely wrong. I would very much like to see more privacy settings such as, allowing members to show their tree to others but hiding their media gallery, or allowing members to only show certain lines of their tree to others. It's not due to an unwillingness to share, but simply trying to prevent incorrect information becoming fact through mistakes being copied repeatedly. Overall I would definately recommend this site to someone interested in family history but the advice I would give is cross referencing is key! Always use as many websites, record offices, and other sources of information as possible to form your family tree and remember it's fun to do this! You tend to lose that when you simply copy someone elses tree. :)

Overall Ancestry is a very useful site for genealogists. My main gripes are that a lot of transcriptions are appallingly bad. Clearly transcribed by people with no knowledge of the country from which the records come. My second gripe is the 'New Search' results. For example you might search for a female from a certain area and the results may show males at the top of the list from a completely different area than the one you have specified. You may find a closer match at the bottom of the page! There is the ability to use the 'old search' which gives more accurate search results and I can't understand why, if the New search is a better version it gives worse results. Ancestry's rivals Find My Past search is far easier to use and gives superior results in a simple and easy to read list.

Ancestry was drawn to my attention just after Christmas 2010 when I decided to take up the option of a free trial. I was immediately fascinated by the site and it's capabilities so signed up for an annual premium membership, which I have just renewed for a second year. The Ancestry site very cleverly connected me to other previously unknown family members researching the same 'tree'. I have discovered many living cousins I didn't know I had, including one whose dedicated research has enabled me to trace my roots back to 1592. It has been exciting to discover ancestors who worked on the land at Downton Castle and Berrington Hall following in the footsteps of Capability Brown who laid out the Hall grounds. Yet another who worked at Elton Hall where the eminent botanist, Thomas Knight, carried out horticultural fruit breeding experiments. (Ancestry Tithe and Census Records.) Other Ancestry records have highlighted ancestors' occupations, amongst which are coachman, groom, gentleman farmer, market gardener, miner, railwayman, preacher, gun forger, writer, servant, cook and dairy maid. The War Records are sobering. Relatives have been lost both on land and at sea. I have discovered records that have been singed around the edges due to a fire in the storage facility and details of war memorials remembering, mostly, young relatives lost in both World Wars. On Passenger Lists I have found the names of relatives who emigrated to far away lands on liners such as the Vulcania. Also, a fascinating section, unimaginable today, relating to Bastardy Trials. Wills and Probate provide another useful source of information. It seems that chairs, cushions and cattle were valued equally once upon a time! I am a dedicated fan of Ancestry, but I have only scratched the surface of the huge amount of material on the site. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and butterfly from place to place - in the end not really getting what I hoped for. When the 1911 Census came on line I was thrilled; I thought I would be able to fill in some irritating gaps. In actuality, because of the volume of users, the site seizes up. The 'help' facility does not always seem to answer my question. I would like to download everything I have recorded so far onto disc but don't see how this can be achieved. Maybe I am asking my question in the wrong way? These are very minor, and I hope, constructive criticisms. Overall I love Ancestry.co.uk to the detriment of all the other loves of my life - my partner, my family, my gardening, my writing ...........