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Archive for the 'New Features' Category

WorldConnect Update – Ancestry.com Hints now appear on WC trees

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

The world of trees has changed today. 

You will now see hints for Ancestry.com appearing in both the individual and pedigree views for persons in your tree(s).  These hints will alert you to possible record matches for the individuals on your tree in databases on Ancestry.com.  Clicking on the link, or leaf will bring you to a list of hints; in order to see the records you will need to be signed in to Ancestry.com. 

Hints on the Individual page

Individual page

Hints on the Pedigree page

Hints on Pedigree

New Additions to the Banners

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

As I am sure some of you have already seen we’ve made some changes to the banners on RootsWeb hosted websites.  The most notable additions are the search fields for Ancestry.com. 

You will not need to do anything to change your site so the new banners will appear.  If you are noticing difficulties with your site,  or another site, please email our support team.

The World Archives Project

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Today Ancestry.com and FGS announced the Public Beta for the World Archives Project.  This project is a community keying initiative that will allow participants to contribute to the effort of indexing genealogical and historical records.  You can read about the project on the main Ancestry.com Blog here.

If you are interested in participating to help preserve the world’s records, please download the software and let us know what you think.  The URL for the main World Archives Project page on Ancestry.com is www.ancestry.com/WorldArchivesProject; we invite you to share it with anyone interested.  If you are a society leader or member and are interested in learning more about how your society can be involved in the World Archives Project please send an email to worldarchivesproject@tgn.com.
 

I think the World Archives Project fits right in with what RootsWeb stands for – not only will the indexes we assist in keying be free for everyone but the community is assisting each other in bringing new records online and preserving valuable information. 

If you are out in Philadelphia attending FGS please stop by the Ancestry.com booth to learn more, and to say hi.

New Additions to RootsWeb!

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

Over the past few weeks you may have noticed a few glitches while you were searching and browsing the site.  The main reason for the interruptions is the addition of 18 new servers – yes 18!  We are very excited for this addition to the site as it means a more stable environment, a little increase in overall site speed, the ability to add additional features, and overall a lot more flexibility. 

We are about three quarters of the way through the move so you will likely notice a few delays over the next coming weeks.  As we work on more major areas we will post notices up on the Help page.  We appreciate your patience and support as we continue to move data to the new servers.   

 
The RootsWeb team is very excited for the new additions and want to say a special THANK YOU to our developers for all the work they have done to get the servers up, running and the data moved.  

Linking to More Resources on the Message Boards

Thursday, February 28th, 2008
We have introduced a new feature on the Message Boards. We now automatically recognize last names included in message board posts and offer special links to additional surname resources. (We have done our best to identify surnames but you will still see words that will be linked that are not surnames in the context of the message.)

These links will look different than direct hyperlinks that members may include in their posts, and will not interfere with any hyperlinks in the message. A hyperlinked name will show up with a light green underline. When you move your mouse over the linked last name you will see a small pop-up, from this pop-up you will be able to click through to the surname message board for that last name or to a special page on Ancestry.com, Family Facts is a free feature on Ancestry, offering family history facts and resources for the surname.

We hope that giving quick links to these resources makes it easier to find all the valuable information available to help our members research their family history. If you have any specific feedback about this new feature please email it to feedback@rootsweb.com. We hope to be able to make improvements based on your feedback.