This may be copied and placed anywhere and is free for all to view including but not limited to web pages, newspapers, mail lists, snail mail, and any form of print distribution. A group of former GenConnect message board administrators, and USGenWeb county coordinators are getting together to offer a new service. This will be an alternative to using the new Rootsweb message board system, and it should be available within a couple of weeks or so.  The goal is to create something similar to the old GenConnect message boards, and probably better.  This alternative service plans to offer the following features: a.  Server space and message boards b.  It will be FREE c.  It will be fully searchable d.  There will be no registration required for posting or reading messages e.  The political atmosphere found elsewhere will not be tolerated f.   The user will ALWAYS own his/her own posts g.   User contributions will be gladly accepted, but not required h.  There will be a distinct absence of nonsensical corporate mentality There was a great sense of loss in the genealogical community when RootsWeb was acquired by Ancestry.  That sense of loss has been compounded with the changes during the past few days involving RootsWeb, Ancestry, and MyFamily.com, Inc. The recent decision to combine and replace the GenConnect message boards on Rootsweb.com and the FamilyHistory.com message boards into a new message board system has generated a great deal of confusion and dissatisfaction.  Concerns with this changeover include, but are not limited to the following: 1.    The following copyright notice was placed on the new board system, and displayed any time that a user attempted to print out a posted message:        © Copyright 1996-2001, MyFamily.com, Inc.  All rights reserved.  This material is for personal use only.  Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of MyFamily.com, Inc. Members of the RootsWeb Message Board Team subsequently stated that this copyright notice was an error, and it no longer appears on the messages.  Copyright concerns still exist since the following notice appears on the bottom of every board page: <A HREF="http://www.myfamilyinc.com/about_us/copyright.htm">Copyright</A> © 1998-2001 MyFamily.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. A review of the policies as currently posted for each entity, i.e. RootsWeb, MyFamily.com, and Ancestry indicate that policies can be changed at any time without notice to the user or subscriber.  This should be of great concern to every user or subscriber. 2.    The conversion was accomplished without adequate notice to board administrators as is evidenced by the hundreds of email messages that have been posted to the <A HREF="mailto:BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com">BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com</A> mailing list over the past few days.   3.    It appears that the new message board functions were not fully and adequately tested prior to their deployment.  It also appears that there were inadequate instructions and no help files available to assist the board administrators during this critical time. 4.    The answers to questions asked by board administrators have been inadequately answered. 5.    The upper management personnel at MyFamily.com, Inc. have been unavailable to respond to the board administrators and users during this chaotic situation. 6.    In at least one instance, a Rootsweb staff member suggested that if a board administrator was so disheartened by all of this that she give up her boards and setup wherever she would be happy.  This is certainly not a very courteous response to a user expressing their concern about some disappointing new policies. If you are interested in participating in this exciting FREE new service for genealogists, please reply via private email to <A HREF="mailto:arockef@home.com">arockef@home.com</A>  You will then be notified as soon as the service is online. You may certainly maintain your present boards and sites, as well as having a site on the new service.  The choice is yours, and now you DO have a choice.  As genealogists, you deserve RESPECT for your efforts to preserve your family history.

Howdy! I tried to subscribe, but the e-mail would not go through. libpitts@bellsouth.net ----- Original Message ----- From: <HowdyCuzin@aol.com> To: <SCNEWBER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 7:10 PM Subject: [SCNEWBERRY] Message Boards Solutions > This may be copied and placed anywhere and is free for all to view including > but not limited to web pages, newspapers, mail lists, snail mail, and any > form of print distribution. > > A group of former GenConnect message board administrators, and USGenWeb > county coordinators are getting together to offer a new service. This will be > an alternative to using the new Rootsweb message board system, and it should > be available within a couple of weeks or so. The goal is to create something > similar to the old GenConnect message boards, and probably better. This > alternative service plans to offer the following features: > > a. Server space and message boards > b. It will be FREE > c. It will be fully searchable > d. There will be no registration required for posting or reading messages > e. The political atmosphere found elsewhere will not be tolerated > f. The user will ALWAYS own his/her own posts > g. User contributions will be gladly accepted, but not required > h. There will be a distinct absence of nonsensical corporate mentality > > There was a great sense of loss in the genealogical community when RootsWeb > was acquired by Ancestry. That sense of loss has been compounded with the > changes during the past few days involving RootsWeb, Ancestry, and > MyFamily.com, Inc. > > The recent decision to combine and replace the GenConnect message boards on > Rootsweb.com and the FamilyHistory.com message boards into a new message > board system has generated a great deal of confusion and dissatisfaction. > Concerns with this changeover include, but are not limited to the following: > > 1. The following copyright notice was placed on the new board system, and > displayed any time that a user attempted to print out a posted message: > > © Copyright 1996-2001, MyFamily.com, Inc. All rights reserved. This > material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, > including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior > written consent of MyFamily.com, Inc. > > Members of the RootsWeb Message Board Team subsequently stated that this > copyright notice was an error, and it no longer appears on the messages. > Copyright concerns still exist since the following notice appears on the > bottom of every board page: > > <A HREF="http://www.myfamilyinc.com/about_us/copyright.htm">Copyright</A> © 1998-2001 MyFamily.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All rights > reserved. > > A review of the policies as currently posted for each entity, i.e. RootsWeb, > MyFamily.com, and Ancestry indicate that policies can be changed at any time > without notice to the user or subscriber. This should be of great concern to > every user or subscriber. > > 2. The conversion was accomplished without adequate notice to board > administrators as is evidenced by the hundreds of email messages that have > been posted to the <A HREF="mailto:BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com">BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com</A> mailing list over the past > few days. > > 3. It appears that the new message board functions were not fully and > adequately tested prior to their deployment. It also appears that there were > inadequate instructions and no help files available to assist the board > administrators during this critical time. > > 4. The answers to questions asked by board administrators have been > inadequately answered. > > 5. The upper management personnel at MyFamily.com, Inc. have been > unavailable to respond to the board administrators and users during this > chaotic situation. > > 6. In at least one instance, a Rootsweb staff member suggested that if a > board administrator was so disheartened by all of this that she give up her > boards and setup wherever she would be happy. This is certainly not a very > courteous response to a user expressing their concern about some > disappointing new policies. > > If you are interested in participating in this exciting FREE new service for > genealogists, please reply via private email to <A HREF="mailto:arockef@home.com">arockef@home.com</A> You will > then be notified as soon as the service is online. You may certainly maintain > your present boards and sites, as well as having a site on the new service. > The choice is yours, and now you DO have a choice. As genealogists, you > deserve RESPECT for your efforts to preserve your family history. > > > ==== SCNEWBER Mailing List ==== > > > > ============================== > Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! > http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 > >