Here is a message that I received about the changes at rootsweb & ancestry. Deborah Byrd > 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. (Any > FamilyHistory.com bookmarks will be redirected to the message boards at > Ancestry.com) > > Overall, 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 different. We hope that we have > preserved the important features and conveniences from FamilyHistory.com as > well as added a few new bells and whistles. It is important to us that these > new boards continue to serve your needs. > > 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. > > Thanks again for your help. > > Jake Gehring > Product Manager > Ancestry.com