Hello Everybody, Before our list administrator curtails this thread as not "a MDX matter" I thought it was time for somebody to put a few words together in defence of FMP, to which I have been a subscriber for four years. A lot of the problems that users come across are due to failing to use the filters correctly and failing to specify in the appropriate box which record is the one for which the search is requested as well as not selecting the name variant box. Perhaps I am luckier than most subscribers to FMP because I have no complaints at all no difficulty in tracing sought information. Regards Rod in Hampshire. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

I agree with you Rod, I have made some wonderful finds, it's just a case of learning how to use the site correctly. Brenda ----Original message---- >From : middlesex_county_uk@rootsweb.com Date : 13/03/2015 - 21:22 (GMTST) To : middlesex_county_uk@rootsweb.com Subject : Re: [MDX] FindMyPast Hello Everybody, Before our list administrator curtails this thread as not "a MDX matter" I thought it was time for somebody to put a few words together in defence of FMP, to which I have been a subscriber for four years. A lot of the problems that users come across are due to failing to use the filters correctly and failing to specify in the appropriate box which record is the one for which the search is requested as well as not selecting the name variant box. Perhaps I am luckier than most subscribers to FMP because I have no complaints at all no difficulty in tracing sought information. Regards Rod in Hampshire. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com . ************************************** Send your List messages using *PLAIN TEXT* and always *DELETE* all previous messages EXCEPT the one to which you are replying. *MEANINGFUL Subject Lines* ie name or topic, date and place with surnames only in CAPS. List Admin can be contacted at: Middlesex_County_UK-admin@rootsweb.com The List Archive, containing all messages posted, can be found at: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=middlesex_county_uk . ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MIDDLESEX_COUNTY_UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 13/03/2015 21:22, Rodney Whale via wrote: > Before our list administrator curtails this thread as not "a MDX matter" I > thought it was time for somebody to put a few words together in defence of > FMP, to which I have been a subscriber for four years. > A lot of the problems that users come across are due to failing to use the > filters correctly and failing to specify in the appropriate box which record > is the one for which the search is requested as well as not selecting the > name variant box. > Perhaps I am luckier than most subscribers to FMP because I have no > complaints at all no difficulty in tracing sought information. I started using FMP when it was 1837online and had the GRO indices, hence name. It expanded to include the censuses and searching was simple. There wasn't much there after all :) It renamed itself, added an ever widening range of records but searching was still easy. I could knock up a basic tree covering 100-150 years in a couple of hours in an evening so I could work on it in depth the following day. I could skip from census to census, back and forth in BMDs. No problem. Even the occasional tweaks (like removing the list of census years from each census search page) didn't make a huge difference. It was more an irritation than anything else. Then they "improved" it and that's when the trouble started, justifiably so IMO. At least they did start listening and they do seem to have responded to the criticisms - up to a point. Having just had another look, they seem to have streamlined the search again to make it a bit easier but it's still not as straightforward as it used to be. Using variants just results in thousands of irrelevant results. It's not (IMO) easy to get the filters to work well enough. More than once I've applied filters and had zero results but put the same original search criteria into Ancestry, get excessive hits and refine it easily and bingo! The result I'm looking for pops up immediately. Finding other databases (or datasets) wasn't that hard either. It isn't a matter of using it correctly. It's more a case of being able to figure out how to use it at all now, esp after years of being able to use it - and the page is still too big! ;) I'm wondering if they are lining up a single world wide site given the options on the current pages and the fact the UK site is defaulting to World, not UK. I don't have a sub but I can still have a look to see what there is. I've just found the electoral rolls! LOL I wondered where they'd gone or if FMP had removed them altogether because of complaints. But I still can't find the tithe maps and associated records which are supposed to be available because Origins had them. Putting "Tithe" in the search box results in being told to "try again with a broader search". I'm not sure how much broader it can get! -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Ashcott, Shapwick, Greinton and Clutton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk