Forwarding as requested.
Jackie Hufschmid
MN SC
Please forward to your CCs:
IMPORTANT MESSAGE BOARDS IMPROVEMENTS
You have probably heard about the new message board changes coming about
in
the next days and weeks.
Ancestry.com and
RootsWeb.com will be
releasing a
new integrated message board system that is a combination of two powerful
message board systems (i.e., GenConnect and
FamilyHistory.com). Users will
be able to take advantage of a much larger community in which to share
experience, tips, and genealogical information. Users will be able to
access
these new message boards on either
RootsWeb.com or
Ancestry.com,
and
message board access will remain free on both sites.
We expect the new system to be more stable and have more features.
Improvements include the following:
--- The new message boards database will be by far the largest collection
of
such messages on the Internet. In fact, the FamilyHistory and
RootsWeb
messages are extremely complimentary. The majority of the messages on
FamilyHistory are surname-based, while RootsWeb's strength is in the
locality and topic areas. Not only will the new combination enjoy a larger
set of data, but users will have access to a much larger audience.
--- The new message boards can now handle attachments to e-mail messages
in
the form of uploaded pictures (scanned documents, family photos,
etc.) and
GEDCOM files.
--- Users will be able to view the e-mail address of message authors and
be
able to respond to them easily and privately. However, the message
boards
cannot be "crawled" by unscrupulous third parties to gather e-mail
addresses
for spam mailings.
--- Search functionality will be improved compared to either the RootsWeb
or
FamilyHistory systems. Search hits will be ranked by relevance and
wildcard
searches are available.
--- The hardware infrastructure supporting the new message boards is
faster,
can handle larger traffic loads, and is more stable. The new system
is
also
less expensive over time and easier to maintain.
The boards, however, will definitely be a change. One specific concern we
have is with existing hyperlinks to the old GenConnect system. We believe
we
will be able to redirect most of the traffic to the proper
destinations in
the new system, however there may be some adjustment required by USGenWeb
SCs and CCs. USGW CCs will still be able to use the new message board
system
for their query requirements for XXGenWeb's. Actually, we hope
that we
have
preserved the important features
and conveniences from GenConnect as well as added a few new bells and
whistles. It is important to us that these new boards continue to serve
the
needs of the USGenWeb users.
We will be working hard to help you learn about the features of the new
system so that they can continue to function as important research tools.
Please help us by being communicative yet patient as we launch the new
system. For now you can direct questions/suggestions to vicki(a)rootsweb.com