Findmypast search changes?

[Bob Spiers]

Oh I am so not mainstream in oh so many ways, part of making life interesting.

Oh I agree, as you would know had I not missed out 'not' so it should have read ...'No mainstream you are certainly not Rhian'.

I accept the 'hidden settings' concept, but am currently intrigued by my own investigations.

Using PC1 and the EDGE browser (which I do not ordinarily use for FMP -just my own idiosyncrasy) it opened with the 'new concept' FMP ('World' default). Back to PC2 (the PC I use for FMP usually in FIREFOX but now in CHROME) and sure enough it opened conventionally with a preset search default of Britain. Reverting to PC1 and EDGE but using a different tab I typed in Findmypast.co.uk and selected the secure https version. This time FMP opened conventionally and allowed a Britain default. Puzzled I decided to try FIREFOX on lap2. This time I typed in www.findmypast.co.uk (no insistence on https) and it opened conventionally with a Britain default. The only difference here is I was not auto signed in and there were no cookies present to recognise the site.

Only one thing left but to go back to PC2 and open FMP in FIREFOX using a new tab and typing in the same URL. The result -As the saying goes - 'Well, I'll go to the foot of the stairs'... that too opened conventionally, Britain default. Time to lie down and rest and consider what I have discovered.

The browser used is not critical although I must give the edge to CHROME as that works every time. The others -well Edge & Firefox at any rate - depending on how you locate FMP can open to new or old but if you are presented with the new concept, use a new tab and type in the URL www.findmypast.co.uk (https if offered although most likely this will be taken as read by the browser, especially Chrome). This done you most likely will get the good old standard FMP which ALWAYS allows one line results for BMD records.

Food for thought: Why did FMP not point all this out to me even if they choose not to recommend a specific browser? Is the new concept World default (also not contradicted by FMP when asked) in the wings and about to be foisted upon us?

 

[peter]

Food for thought: Why did FMP not point all this out to me even if they choose not to recommend a specific browser? Is the new concept World default (also not contradicted by FMP when asked) in the wings and about to be foisted upon us?

It's very difficult* for someone in Customer Service to work out what the problem is; they will have given you their best answer based on what they thought you were telling them.

* I have the same problem when LostCousins members report issues; sometimes I guess wrong, sometimes I ask for more information.

 

[Bob Spiers]

It's very difficult* for someone in Customer Service to work out what the problem is; they will have given you their best answer based on what they thought you were telling them.

* I have the same problem when LostCousins members report issues; sometimes I guess wrong, sometimes I ask for more information.

Yes I think that is right, as the response (which I resurrect)..."These new updates are there to make Findmypast an easier search engine to use"..."we are sorry if you are unhappy with these changes due to the update"... are really no more than well meant platitudes. I suppose the onus was on me to elaborate or contact and ask to speak to a technician.

Still my experimentations may be useful to someone if they encounter similar problems.

Edit : What should I find in my inbox but FMP asking me to comment on the advice given! Don't worry I will be kind.

 

[emjay]

Yes Bob, the 1939 Register is a wonderful resource although searches can be challenging from some 'strange' transcriptions, however it gives us some eureka! moments when such challenges are overcome.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I have just had a response from the FMP Customer Support Team about my default 'World' problem and the way results were displayed (see previous). Today the CS Team report to say they have..."taken my suggestions onboard, (and) they have now been implemented on the website". So a result which hopefully will show through for others.

As it happens since using Chrome and opening FMP, it always defaults to 'Britain'. But a few days ago I tried opening FMP from Firefox which, true to form, defaulted to 'World'. I will check it again in a day or so but I am happy to remain with Chrome for FMP. Hopefully the problem will be rectified for other browsers.

 

[peter]

As it happens since using Chrome and opening FMP, it always defaults to 'Britain'. But a few days ago I tried opening FMP from Firefox which, true to form, defaulted to 'World'. I will check it again in a day or so but I am happy to remain with Chrome for FMP. Hopefully the problem will be rectified for other browsers.

Does your Firefox incorporate a VPN? The Findmypast site might be using server location (if I use Opera's VPN Ancestry thinks I'm in the US).

 

[peter]

I notice that using Edge or Chrome the Findmypast site switches to tablet mode only when the browser window is less than 1000 pixels wide, but using Firefox or IE it does so if the window is less than 1400 pixels wide. For anyone using a laptop with full HD resolution these limits won't be a problem, but some older laptops have 1366x768 screens.

 

[Bryman]

For anyone using a laptop with full HD resolution these limits won't be a problem, but some older laptops have 1366x768 screens.

It is not just older laptops which have 1366x768 screens. I saw several new laptops with that size of screen when I was choosing my new (full HD) laptop in April.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Having just encountered a Déjâ vu experience with Opera this time (previously Firefox as posted) defaulting constantly to a 'World' search default, instead of 'Britain', I contacted FMP as I could not recall how I overcame it previously -other than by switching to Chrome - and FMP were quite helpful.

Their advice was of course to ensure I was using findmypast.co.uk and as far as I was concerned that was so. But when I checked the URL address it showed: 'search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world records' ...which told its own tale of course. Then I realised it is my long established habit to 'Tab Pin' my most regularly visited web pages in all browsers -causing them to align (and more importantly stay) to the left - so, must at some point have done just that after manually selecting 'World' search. Even if I later selected a 'Britain' search it would only last for the remainder of the session and the next time I selected FMP from the Tab, it would open with a default 'World' search.

The solution of course was to remove the tabbed FMP page and retype 'findmypast.co.uk' and Tab Pin that page. I could of course pin both pages, but icon wise they are identical and I am sure to forget which is which. So in future if I need to manually revert to a World search I must remember to close it and get back to my 'Britain' default by selecting the pinned tab.

 

[peter]

Well, Bob, if you followed my advice and searched individual record sets you wouldn't have got into that pickle.....

 

[Bob Spiers]

Well, Bob, if you followed my advice and searched individual record sets you wouldn't have got into that pickle.....

True Peter, and who's to say I don't when it suits a particular search format; otherwise I find it fiddly and sometimes a waste of time when I cannot locate a record set that suits. (Some areas better covered than others). However, if truth be told the real reason is I am a creature of habit, and you know what they say about teaching old dogs ...but I appreciate the reminder nevertheless.

 

[peter]

True Peter, and who's to say I don't when it suits a particular search format; otherwise I find it fiddly and sometimes a waste of time when I cannot locate a record set that suits.

Hmm... if the records aren't in the database then you're not going to find them whatever type of search you use. At least when you search individual record sets you know precisely where you've looked (and where you haven't), and can modify your search to take advantage of the different fields.

When you carry out a wider search you can't be sure whether you missed the record you're looking for because it isn't there, or because of the search strategy you chose.

However, if truth be told the real reason is I am a creature of habit, and you know what they say about teaching old dogs ...but I appreciate the reminder nevertheless.

Even 'old dogs' can get satisfaction from learning 'new tricks' - try it!

 

[Bob Spiers]

I note what you say and understand fully what you imply, but in FMP I prefer the 'wider' search regardless of whether or not records are in the data base . Where that fails usually -and more often than not- Ancestry comes to the rescue. I have a love/hate with both, disliking intensely the 'less is more' philosophy of FMP -a 'cop-out' if ever there was one - and the 'tell me everything in case it rings a bell' that Ancestry prefers which can be equally infuriating.

I am currently actively searching both databases and as invariably I wish to search from within an ancestor's page - for the obvious reason there is no need to type in names and give 'pack drill' - I begin with Ancestry. For the essential BMD and Census information Ancestry comes up trumps more often than not and even, often surprisingly, with some subsidiary data facts. But it has its limitation which is when I turn to FMP and then have to bear in mind its modus operandi. True I prefer to search wide, but if Ancestry has failed (say) in a Census search I will select go straight to the Census year data base before trying anything else. The same also where I know FMP has strength in certain data base areas but, that apart, I revert to the wide search, and borrowing from Manuel in Fawlty Towers...tell it nothing"!

I'm quite happy to try 'new tricks' but only if I believe it improves on the overall end result.

 

[peter]

I'm quite happy to try 'new tricks' but only if I believe it improves on the overall end result.

In the old days, when I was able to offer far more one-to-one research help than I can now, I frequently received requests from members who couldn't find a particular baptism even though they had "looked everywhere". In other words they hadn't kept any record of what records they'd searched, what period they'd searched, or precisely what they had searched for. I couldn't help them.

Unless you search individual record sets you really don't know where you've looked and where you haven't. Unless you research systematically you're bound to miss things - or worse, pick the wrong record.

By all means go on the occasional 'fishing expedition' to pick up records that you might otherwise have missed, but don't make that the backbone of your search strategy.