Hi Group: I am a fairly new member and have found a few closely related cousins on Genes Reunited. When receiving a query from another member, I answer through Genes the same day, usually immediately. Takes 5 minutes or less to look up a person on your own genealogy software, see if a match or not, and reply with a quick note. There seem to be lots of name collectors at Genes, and lots whose research is incorrect, but I have also found one marriage of mine to be incorrect. No one is infallible! On the other hand, there are excellent genealogists who are members too. Some members have absolutely nothing on their trees which defeats the purpose of Genes in a way. Are these members just plumbers and not sharers? And yes, some people never respond to inquiries! This is annoying. Why do they belong if they don't respond? Many members wonder about this. Upon the advice of another member of this list and through my own experience, I do not list everything on my tree at Genes. I list the mininum, concentrating on BMD and no sources. Members wanting to learn more about my folks hopefully will contact me. Of course, lines that I really want to connect with someone on are not being researched! Hopefully some day some of these people will join and get in contact! The Genes website is cumbersome to work with. There are a lot of areas which need improvement I feel. Regards, Eve ----- How do the rest of you get on with the Genes Reunited web site? Personally I find the Genes Reunited site unnecessarily tedious to use - I can't be bothered with all the secrecy and the convoluted workings. I have up loaded my 'tree'as a Gedcom file to it, but tend to redirect 'contacts' from the Genes Reunited web site to my own web site where they can search to their 'hearts delight' and to then contact me again by direct e-mail to discuss our joint ancestry. And what is it with the 'contacts'? They go to all that trouble to initiate a contact, then you reply, then nothing! Even when it was obvious from the start that there was a 'firm' match - nothing! Are the people who use Genes Reunited serious about their Family History or was it a passing phase they went through one wet Saturday afternoon? Then again they may be the types who only switch on their computer once a month, or members of the IT inept. How do you get across to them that by not following up on a contact they have started, they are wasting your time and being rude in the extreme? The Genes Reunited system seems to have this situation designed in to it. What's the point of it? Not communication - or uniting any genes that's for sure! Good Huntin' Trevor Tomasin ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.