We've been advised that there are changes in the works for the various GenConnect Boards/Forums that we used for posting Van Buren Co. obits., queries, bible records, etc. They (RootsWeb.com and Ancestry.com) are promising many improvements. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and just hope it is indeed an improvement and not something else. Apparently this will be happening soon. In fact, in the middle of posting Obits. this morning, suddenly the option to post disappeared. Nor can I do my normal administrative work so I suspect this signals a changeover is upon us shortly as they must be trying to "freeze" what is already on the boards in order to move the data over to the new system without losing any new posts or changes. Stay tuned . . . and keep your fingers crossed as I am! Rich P.S. The advance announcement which came a few days ago. COOL TOOLS COMING by Jake Gehring, Executive Producer, RootsWeb.com Drum roll please! In the next few weeks, Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com will be unveiling a new integrated message board system. The biggest change to the new system is the combination of two powerful message board systems (i.e., GenConnect and FamilyHistory.com) into one -- users will be able to take advantage of a much larger community in which to share experience, tips, and genealogical information. The new message boards will be indexable by the major Internet search engines, and as a result queries, discussions, and helpful suggestions from the genealogical community will reach the widest possible audience. In addition to new messages posted, the collection will contain more than 15 million messages from researchers who have shared their experience and expertise since 1987. Messages in the new system can be accessed from Ancestry.com or RootsWeb.com and access will remain free. Other enhancements include: --- Improved search functionality with hits ranked by relevance --- New infrastructure allowing for faster access, and larger traffic loads, and better stability --- Users will be able to view the e-mail address of message authors and 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. --- The new message boards will be able to handle attachments to e-mail messages in the form of uploaded pictures (scanned documents, family photos, etc.), and GEDCOM files. Administrators rejoice! The new message boards also feature centralized and simplified admin capability for the benefit of the thousands of volunteers who monitor and administer individual boards. Administrative improvements include: --- Each message board has a special "administrator" page, where administrators can supply information about themselves and/or the topic. They may even add helpful text and links to appropriate resources elsewhere on the Internet. --- URLs in messages are automatically recognized and hyperlinked so that users can visit referred sites on the Internet with one simple click. --- Administrators can take advantage of a convenient "recycle bin" feature which allows them to delete inappropriate messages (spam, inappropriate content, etc.) or even restore such messages if deletion was inadvertent. * * * ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com