Hints at Findmypast

[Bob Spiers]

There it goes again, someone concerned about ‘My Heritage’ (MH) which has now extended its reach through its ‘Hints’ and ‘Tie-ins’ with established programs like Legacy & Roots Magic. ( I have dropped Legacy and have not used Roots Magic).

I have had my own experiences with ‘MH’ -as many will know as I have posted often enough – and so understand only too well they pay no regard to data protection of any kind. Their concept is simple, and can be effective…put everyone in touch with everyone by whatever means available… and sadly today their means are greater than ever.

Subscribers will have ‘smart matches’ thrown at them from every angle, and non-subscribers - linked through ‘tie-in- subscriptions - will be tempted by forbidden fruit in the form of ‘Hints’. I am reminded of the nursery rhyme…” come into the parlour said the spider to the fly”.

Of course, on occasion (but infrequently as it is more a matter of chance than solid foundation) you will strike gold. Just do not be surprised if it also reveals things that others -who pay regard to data protection - would be required to withhold.

 

[peter]

So long as you use websites run by companies based in the EU or the USA they will be subject to the sort of data protection that we have come to expect. But when you use a site which is based elsewhere the level of privacy could well fall below your expectations.

There will, of course, be many companies elsewhere in the world who are subject to similarly stringent local legislation, or who choose to meet the reasonable expectations of their international users; unfortunately, judging from the comments above, it seems that My Heritage may not one of them.

 

[emjay]

I have not been a regular visitor to the forum this year, so hope I am ok on this thread. I have been using FMP Hints quite a lot, so on occasions where I have searched for something specific, I notice that it is so much slower than a hints search. How long have we all been enduring the twirling/buffering circle thingy ? Is this a 'new improved' system ? It is making Ancestry searching looking like a preferred choice !

Just better mention, the hints are via Roots Magic database, but I should imagine they are similar via FMP online tree.

 

[peter]

I have not been a regular visitor to the forum this year, so hope I am ok on this thread. I have been using FMP Hints quite a lot, so on occasions where I have searched for something specific, I notice that it is so much slower than a hints search. How long have we all been enduring the twirling/buffering circle thingy ? Is this a 'new improved' system ? It is making Ancestry searching looking like a preferred choice !

Just better mention, the hints are via Roots Magic database, but I should imagine they are similar via FMP online tree.

How slow is slow?

I've noticed that instead of Search results appearing immediately they now take about a second, sometimes a little longer, to be displayed. This may be because they are currently running two Search systems in parallel - one new, and one old (I've only noticed the slowdown since I went onto the new Search).

Whilst an extra second on every search adds up, the new system saves me time by telling how many results I'm going to get. So overall I think it's quicker.

 

[emjay]

Peter, I may have a look at the old search. In answer to your question 'how slow is slow?' considerably slower than via a hints search, it is also slow returning to the search form, so not very good overall.

 

[peter]

Yes, but are we talking half a second, a second, or more? I'm trying to gauge whether what you are experiencing is similar to what I'm seeing.

 

[DavidP]

emjay: You are lucky. I have not had any luck with with FmP hints working via Roots Magic for months now. When I click on a 'hint' and then click on 'Resolve', I get a 'Sorry an error has occurred' message. I reported it to FmP some months ago (can't remember when, but probably October or November) and got the usual your problem is important to us and our team is working on it, blah, blah. Still the same this morning. Frankly I have given up on Hints as they do not seem to give me anything I did not already know. They may be OK for new researchers, but once you have spent a couple of years on your tree, you should have just about gathered everything of use from FmP. I have now disabled all hints in RM.

 

[Rhian]

I almost never use hints, when I have they give me incorrect or none relevant answers so I would rather spend my time doing useful research.

I have noticed that FMP dataset searches are now taking a lot longer than a few months ago, 2 to 3 seconds is about the shortest wait, and the same time returning to the search page. I have never seen the option for the new search so have never seen how many results I may get. This is increasingly looking like an 'improvement' that makes things worse.

 

[peter]

I almost never use hints, when I have they give me incorrect or none relevant answers so I would rather spend my time doing useful research.

I agree - I rarely look at hints at any site.

I have noticed that FMP dataset searches are now taking a lot longer than a few months ago, 2 to 3 seconds is about the shortest wait, and the same time returning to the search page. I have never seen the option for the new search so have never seen how many results I may get. This is increasingly looking like an 'improvement' that makes things worse.

There is no option to switch to the new search - it seems that some of us have been forced to try it out. The point I made earlier is that if they are running two systems side by side it could slow both down.

For me, seeing the number of results I'm going to get makes a delay of a couple of seconds worthwhile. However in order to generate that data as I complete the Search form they must be carrying out lots of extra searches , and this may account for the slowdown that others are seeing.

 

[Bob Spiers]

For me, seeing the number of results I'm going to get makes a delay of a couple of seconds worthwhile. However in order to generate that data as I complete the Search form they must be carrying out lots of extra searches , and this may account for the slowdown that others are seeing.

Purely on using FMP to search (I do not use Hints) I have to give credit to FMP for its new results anticipation, almost as you type in the search data. How wonderful is that and even 'No result' is useful to allow you to modify the search data. BUT having said that it then vexes as it goes into its 'ring cycle' (apologises to Wagner) routine, when you just want to return to the Results page. It takes some 3 or 4 seconds (seems longer) to restore each time and this negates somewhat the advantage of the results anticipation. I expect someone has already complained but if it continues for much longer I will be sure to do so.

 

[Britjan]

I've recently been using FMP to search for details about soldiers who enlisted in South Africa during WWI but who were likely born in the U.K. I'd certainly be happier if the "results anticipation" had a slight delay as I'm working from a range of sources and they normally narrow the range of possibilities. It takes time to key the relevant fact and it's annoying when I don't have time to do so. Of course what would make me really happy would be connecting newspaper searches to the same data base for "one stop shopping" !!