One of the account I manage has switched over to the new 23andMe.  ACK!  It is not at all user friendly - nearly impossible to find things.  And everything is so big!  No more nice lists.  In order to see enough on one page, I had to adjust my Chrome browser settings to 67%, which then ruined everything else I viewed in my browser, so I had to switch it back.  The Ancestry Composition no longer allows the chromosome view (the view I always used and found so useful), but only has a big circle with colors and the accompanying world map - pretty useless visuals.  The list of areas is still there, but no nice feature to highlight ethnicity locations by chromosome (I REALLY miss that!).  There is no message center with lists - just large copies of the most recent messages the user has sent -- doesn't appear to be any sort of in box where you can go to your most recently received messages.   And all I found in the message archives were messages I sent out.  I'm not sure if the messages received are anywhere! there are some nice features.  Information about your match is combined on one page (with very large type), and it allows you to make notes, which is nice.  Apparently any notes you had previously made are gone. I did once find the new family inheritance advance page - again, not condusive to easy comparisons.  I left the page and could not find it again...   Overall, I'd say they tossed the idea that people will be using this site for genealogical research, communication, and analysis.  Just awful, in my view.  I have already been recommending FTDNA if only for the 23andMe price increase.  And now, the unfriendly genealogical interface is one more reason to recommend testing elsewhere.  This should be a great boost to FTDNA for folks interested in genealogy! I am SO disappointed! Pam Paschke

Dear Pam, >From what I have read, many other people are having similar experiences. See http://annettekapple.blogspot.com/2015/11/ancestrydna-takes-few-steps-forward.html and http://blog.kittycooper.com/2015/11/initial-report-on-the-new-23andme-for-the-more-advanced-users. I am still on the old 23andMe website and have limited experience with the new version. I hope that 23andMe is able to restore the original functionality of 23andMe soon. Christine from 23andMe posted some information about changes that 23andMe is planning make in the near future. I am inserting her comments as below. See https://www.23andme.com/you/community/thread/41597 and https://www.23andmeforums.com/discussion/112 for further discussion. Sincerely, Tim Janzen "We're excited to be moving forward with the new site experience and we appreciate all the feedback that is being shared. The transition has included a lot of complex challenges and tradeoffs around timing and feature availability. Many of the following updates and improvements were already part of the plans even before we heard this feedback - we know that these are important items and we are committed to addressing these as soon as possible. * Downloads for DNA Relatives match list and DNA View Downloads have been temporarily paused as part of the transition to the new site. You will be able to download both your match list and the comparison information - including segment start and stop points - from the DNA View. (This was previously available via Family Inheritance: Advanced.) * Viewing Ancestry Composition for your shares and Open Sharing matches Interacting with your share's reports is different on the new site. Rather than accessing their results from each individual report or tool, you can view their reports and how you compare to them in the Share and Compare tool or within DNA Relatives. The Ancestry Composition section of the compare view in either of these tools shows a comparison table where you can see your percentages side-by-side with your share. We are working on a more in-depth view of the Ancestry Composition report for the profiles you are sharing with, which will include a view of how the ancestry appears across your match's chromosomes. * Searching vs. scrolling on lists of shares In the DNA View and in Share and Compare, your matches are listed in sets with the option to select matches from that list. However for profiles that have extensive lists of shares, the loading and selecting is not easy or efficient at the moment. We will be adding search capabilities to these pages so you can type the name of a profile you're looking to compare with to locate it more quickly. * Recency sorting in DNA Relatives There are lots of sorting tools available in DNA Relatives, but we acknowledge that when everyone has been transitioned and new customers are being added, it is critically important to be able to easily see new matches. A recency sort will be added to DNA Relatives, in addition to the Notifications that will let you know when you have new matches, invitations, or messages. * Open Sharing and Expanded Profiles Every person who logs in to the new experience - whether he or she is just receiving results or transitioning from the old site - is prompted to confirm participation in DNA Relatives by either selecting a display name or opting out. This prompt also includes the options to add profile information like surnames and locations, as well as opt in to Open Sharing. We have received feedback about the discoverability of these sections and will be evaluating ways to improve their visibility. There are more items that we'll be addressing in the coming months as we continue the transition to the new 23andMe, including the speed and performance of the site, message organization, and additional options for sorting in DNA Relatives." -----Original Message----- From: genealogy-dna-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:genealogy-dna-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of P. Paschke via Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 7:29 PM To: DNA Genealogy Mailing List Subject: [DNA] new 23andMe One of the account I manage has switched over to the new 23andMe. ACK! It is not at all user friendly - nearly impossible to find things. And everything is so big! No more nice lists. In order to see enough on one page, I had to adjust my Chrome browser settings to 67%, which then ruined everything else I viewed in my browser, so I had to switch it back. The Ancestry Composition no longer allows the chromosome view (the view I always used and found so useful), but only has a big circle with colors and the accompanying world map - pretty useless visuals. The list of areas is still there, but no nice feature to highlight ethnicity locations by chromosome (I REALLY miss that!). There is no message center with lists - just large copies of the most recent messages the user has sent -- doesn't appear to be any sort of in box where you can go to your most recently received messages. And all I found in the message archives were messages I sent out. I'm not sure if the mes! sages received are anywhere! there are some nice features. Information about your match is combined on one page (with very large type), and it allows you to make notes, which is nice. Apparently any notes you had previously made are gone. I did once find the new family inheritance advance page - again, not condusive to easy comparisons. I left the page and could not find it again... Overall, I'd say they tossed the idea that people will be using this site for genealogical research, communication, and analysis. Just awful, in my view. I have already been recommending FTDNA if only for the 23andMe price increase. And now, the unfriendly genealogical interface is one more reason to recommend testing elsewhere. This should be a great boost to FTDNA for folks interested in genealogy! I am SO disappointed! Pam Paschke

I guess that I am looking at all these changes on a relative scale - relative to what Ancestry.com did to us when they precipitously cancelled MyFamily (which they had earlier purchased). We were given a few weeks to "download" our data before the entire site went blank. I was out of the country, and busy with other things, and before I knew it the site was gone. When I brought up the matter on Ancestry's facebook pages, I was criticized by them for not recovering my data in a timely fashion. When I asked others what they obtained from their "downloads" it was nothing more than pictures without captions and gibberish. All of the messages between distant cousins, the explanations as to how everyone was related, the family tree, the e-mail addresses - all gone - and Ancestry could not possibly have cared less. They could have used pdf to create a package of all the info on my 5 sites for which I had paid over $2,000 over the years. So we were left with nothing - at least with 23andMe we will have some approximation of what we used to have they will not pull an Ancestry.com and simply remove everything then blame the customer for it all. I will never forgive Ancestry from their callous attitudes toward customer concerns, but I will give 23andMe the benefit of the doubt on all occasions. David. On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 8:25 PM, Tim Janzen via <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Dear Pam, > >From what I have read, many other people are having similar experiences. > See > http://annettekapple.blogspot.com/2015/11/ancestrydna-takes-few-steps-forward.html > and > http://blog.kittycooper.com/2015/11/initial-report-on-the-new-23andme-for-the-more-advanced-users. > I am still on the old 23andMe website and have limited experience with the > new version. I hope that 23andMe is able to restore the original > functionality of 23andMe soon. Christine from 23andMe posted some > information about changes that 23andMe is planning make in the near > future. I am inserting her comments as below. See > https://www.23andme.com/you/community/thread/41597 and > https://www.23andmeforums.com/discussion/112 for further discussion. > Sincerely, > Tim Janzen > > > "We're excited to be moving forward with the new site experience and we > appreciate all the feedback that is being shared. The transition has > included a lot of complex challenges and tradeoffs around timing and > feature availability. Many of the following updates and improvements were > already part of the plans even before we heard this feedback - we know that > these are important items and we are committed to addressing these as soon > as possible. > > * Downloads for DNA Relatives match list and DNA View > Downloads have been temporarily paused as part of the transition to the > new site. You will be able to download both your match list and the > comparison information - including segment start and stop points - from the > DNA View. (This was previously available via Family Inheritance: Advanced.) > > * Viewing Ancestry Composition for your shares and Open Sharing matches > Interacting with your share's reports is different on the new site. Rather > than accessing their results from each individual report or tool, you can > view their reports and how you compare to them in the Share and Compare > tool or within DNA Relatives. The Ancestry Composition section of the > compare view in either of these tools shows a comparison table where you > can see your percentages side-by-side with your share. We are working on a > more in-depth view of the Ancestry Composition report for the profiles you > are sharing with, which will include a view of how the ancestry appears > across your match's chromosomes. > > * Searching vs. scrolling on lists of shares > In the DNA View and in Share and Compare, your matches are listed in sets > with the option to > select matches from that list. However for profiles that have extensive > lists of shares, the loading and selecting is not easy or efficient at the > moment. We will be adding search capabilities to these pages so you can > type the name of a profile you're looking to compare with to locate it more > quickly. > > * Recency sorting in DNA Relatives > There are lots of sorting tools available in DNA Relatives, but we > acknowledge that when everyone has been transitioned and new customers are > being added, it is critically important to be able to easily see new > matches. A recency sort will be added to DNA Relatives, in addition to the > Notifications that will let you know when you have new matches, > invitations, or messages. > > * Open Sharing and Expanded Profiles > Every person who logs in to the new experience - whether he or she is just > receiving results or transitioning from the old site - is prompted to > confirm participation in DNA Relatives by either selecting a display name > or opting out. This prompt also includes the options to add profile > information like surnames and locations, as well as opt in to Open Sharing. > We have received feedback about the discoverability of these sections and > will be evaluating ways to improve their visibility. > > There are more items that we'll be addressing in the coming months as we > continue the transition to the new 23andMe, including the speed and > performance of the site, message organization, and additional options for > sorting in DNA Relatives." > > > -----Original Message----- > From: genealogy-dna-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto: > genealogy-dna-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of P. Paschke via > Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 7:29 PM > To: DNA Genealogy Mailing List > Subject: [DNA] new 23andMe > > One of the account I manage has switched over to the new 23andMe. ACK! > It is not at all user friendly - nearly impossible to find things. And > everything is so big! No more nice lists. In order to see enough on one > page, I had to adjust my Chrome browser settings to 67%, which then ruined > everything else I viewed in my browser, so I had to switch it back. The > Ancestry Composition no longer allows the chromosome view (the view I > always used and found so useful), but only has a big circle with colors and > the accompanying world map - pretty useless visuals. The list of areas is > still there, but no nice feature to highlight ethnicity locations by > chromosome (I REALLY miss that!). There is no message center with lists - > just large copies of the most recent messages the user has sent -- doesn't > appear to be any sort of in box where you can go to your most recently > received messages. And all I found in the message archives were messages > I sent out. I'm not sure if the mes! > sages received are anywhere! > there are some nice features. Information about your match is combined on > one page (with very large type), and it allows you to make notes, which is > nice. Apparently any notes you had previously made are gone. > I did once find the new family inheritance advance page - again, not > condusive to easy comparisons. I left the page and could not find it > again... Overall, I'd say they tossed the idea that people will be using > this site for genealogical research, communication, and analysis. Just > awful, in my view. I have already been recommending FTDNA if only for the > 23andMe price increase. And now, the unfriendly genealogical interface is > one more reason to recommend testing elsewhere. This should be a great > boost to FTDNA for folks interested in genealogy! > I am SO disappointed! > Pam Paschke > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GENEALOGY-DNA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >