Pike and Harris County, Georgia researchers: I received the following message recently concerning the GenConnect Message Boards. Those changes are now largely already in place. "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. [This is my problem.] 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." My own comments - Temporarily, the GenConnect Board buttons still appear as they were on the county GenWeb page. The query button still takes you directly to the appropriate County queries, though they look a little different. The other buttons take you to a selection of: Family History, Localities, Rootsweb Topics & Localities, Surnames and Topics. I'm not sure right now how you find the wills, obits, bios, etc, but eventually you will be able to do so. I will include some basic instruction when I figure it out myself. The search machine on the pages will be more comprehensive and search across all the boards so that part may be an improvement over the old. Barbara Smallwood Stock Coordinator of the Pike and Harris County GenWeb sites