I attended the training but I'm sorry to say that the main thing I learnt was that "we're all in the same boat - it's not just me then!" I felt sorry for Paul Nixon as it was apparent that many in the audience understood the new site (and its idiosyncrasies) better than he did (but he is now in charge of licensing and not "Search"). I did, however, have a private meeting with the FMP development team in the afternoon, representing professional genealogists, and passed on several detailed feedback papers, including screenshots, from professionals on what doesn't work (or works inadequately). I understand that the much loved census household page is currently being restored to something like it was before. But I was shocked to discover that the team had no idea that the layout of many of the search pages and results pages varies according to the route you take to access them. Apparently no-one had mentioned that! As an ex-market researcher I do despair of the user testing they have done. After my visit, I had an email from the CEO of D C Thomson (who own FMP) asking me for a telephone conference with her and her Chief Customer Officer - and this took place yesterday evening. So the feedback I gathered has now been taken to the very top of the organisation!! They certainly know what we professionals think of the current site, and I was assured that ALL the functionality of the old site will be restored as quickly as they can possibly do so (no timings were given unfortunately). I did find the two latest Lost Cousins newsletters helpful, especially regarding the way you access different searches: http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/easter14news.htm#FindmypastTips http://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/lateapr14news.htm#findmypastTips If I get a chance I may blog about all the workarounds - someone should! I can also report back here when FMP give me a progress update on their corrections (which I've asked them not to call "improvements") which they have promised to give me. Rosemary Morgan Professional Genealogist London Roots Research www.londonrootsresearch.blogspot.com On 30/04/2014 15:15, "Rae Knight" <knight.rae@gmail.com> wrote: >Can anyone who attended the recent FMP training at the SOG please report >back on if they learnt anything useful. > >I am still having terrible problems with the site and FMP aren't replying >to legitimate questions on Facebook (their chosen media). > >They have also deleted literally 1000's of comments from their feedback >site including many helpful workarounds. > >I was wondering how the training/meeting went and if it was in any way >helpful. I would liked to have gone but all the places seemed to go within >2 hours. It would be nice for somebody to post a report on how it went. > >Thank you > >Rae Knight > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thank you so much for that Rosemary. I don't know how long they spent testing the site but it clearly wasn't adequate. Quite frankly I am appalled at the number of errors and inconsistencies. It's very good to get such an honest appraisal from a professional genealogist something which has been lacking in my opinion. Rae Knight On 30 April 2014 16:23, Rosemary Morgan <rosemarymorgan@btopenworld.com>wrote: > I attended the training but I'm sorry to say that the main thing I learnt > was that "we're all in the same boat - it's not just me then!" > > I felt sorry for Paul Nixon as it was apparent that many in the audience > understood the new site (and its idiosyncrasies) better than he did (but > he is now in charge of licensing and not "Search"). > > I did, however, have a private meeting with the FMP development team in > the afternoon, representing professional genealogists, and passed on > several detailed feedback papers, including screenshots, from > professionals on what doesn't work (or works inadequately). I understand > that the much loved census household page is currently being restored to > something like it was before. But I was shocked to discover that the team > had no idea that the layout of many of the search pages and results pages > varies according to the route you take to access them. Apparently no-one > had mentioned that! As an ex-market researcher I do despair of the user > testing they have done. > > After my visit, I had an email from the CEO of D C Thomson (who own FMP) > asking me for a telephone conference with her and her Chief Customer > Officer - and this took place yesterday evening. So the feedback I > gathered has now been taken to the very top of the organisation!! They > certainly know what we professionals think of the current site, and I was > assured that ALL the functionality of the old site will be restored as > quickly as they can possibly do so (no timings were given unfortunately). > > I did find the two latest Lost Cousins newsletters helpful, especially > regarding the way you access different searches: > > http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/easter14news.htm#FindmypastTips > > > http://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/lateapr14news.htm#findmypastTips > > > If I get a chance I may blog about all the workarounds - someone should! > > I can also report back here when FMP give me a progress update on their > corrections (which I've asked them not to call "improvements") which they > have promised to give me. > > Rosemary Morgan > Professional Genealogist > London Roots Research > www.londonrootsresearch.blogspot.com > > > > On 30/04/2014 15:15, "Rae Knight" <knight.rae@gmail.com> wrote: > > >Can anyone who attended the recent FMP training at the SOG please report > >back on if they learnt anything useful. > > > >I am still having terrible problems with the site and FMP aren't replying > >to legitimate questions on Facebook (their chosen media). > > > >They have also deleted literally 1000's of comments from their feedback > >site including many helpful workarounds. > > > >I was wondering how the training/meeting went and if it was in any way > >helpful. I would liked to have gone but all the places seemed to go within > >2 hours. It would be nice for somebody to post a report on how it went. > > > >Thank you > > > >Rae Knight > > > >------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > >quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

If anyone has found a workaround that will enable me to download a copy of a newspaper article, I would be grateful if they would share the secret with me. Unfortunately, the Snipping Tool is not producing a sufficiently clear and complete copy. Best wishes, Marion Woolgar Bognor Regis, West Sussex