I've looked around the online tree and find it easy to use. I looked at the Classic view too and assume that photo's could be added to the tree entries as well as to the individual profiles in this view.
However, as you know I have reservations about online trees especially details of people still alive. I know it's easy to pick up information about people from lots of different sources but a family tree makes it even easier by supplying lots of information in one place.
I'm also very cautious with money (my family call it something else!) and £150 seems a lot of money to me to provide information 'on tap' for others. In the past on the website you have provided various different branches of the tree when information was requested and this seems to be adequate.
To sum up: It's easy to use, it's a useful tool but £150....mmmm. Is this an unnecessary expense when you already provide a fantastic website.
Sorry, just my view. Perhaps I am missing the point.
With 56 million members and 17 million trees I'd say My Heritage is very well established for both hard-drive based and online trees. I also think that there is no more chance of being hit by a virus through My Heritage than using facebook or by clicking on one of those random email links that circulate about the place.
My Heritage is also a paid service for tree's with over 250 people in them and were the service to be problematic to use I'm sure it wouldn't have survived to hold 17 million trees.
I've also spent a lot of time researching the tree platform prior to selection.
I guess following feedback, I am trying to make my Oliver family 'people' information available in a more friendly format, if people want to use it then great, if they don't then I'll save myself £150 of my own money and cancel the subscription, I have the information, I know the information, the benefit of the online tree isn't mine so much - 'simples', as they say at compare the meerkat.com. You raise some really good points Jane, thanks, my subscription is unlimited in terms of numbers of people and storage space should I want to add files and pictures etc. It all seems very comprehensive from a functional perspective, things like multiple marriages and source citations all standard fodder which is good.
However did you manage to find time to create an online tree as well as organising the Oliver day? Do you have more hours in the day than us ordinary mortals?! If so, can I book you to do my spring-cleaning please?
I haven't used MyHeritage.com before. I haven't registered yet, so these are my initial experiences as a 'guest' user.
The other day I said to you that I thought it had opened in Family view first on my computer - but having tried again I think I was being too impatient (not realising that the tree had to grow leaves before it would appear) and so probably clicked on Families.
There's already a lot more info than in your old list of people. Having it all in tree form will also make it easier to work out who is connected to whom. Is there plenty of room to expand the number of individuals in the tree, and the amount of information about each person, if you want to add more? Is it able to cope with the complexities of families (such as illegitimate children, multiple marriages, etc.?). Another important criterion for testing family tree packages: can you add references to the sources of your information?
I haven't spent enough time exploring yet to give much feedback. However, one thing I am finding a bit tricky is moving around in the tree. Would it be possible to make the family tree open in a new window? The reason I ask is that what with my browser's headers and toolbars, the Oliver page headers and then the MyHeritage headers, that only leaves about the bottom half of the screen for viewing the tree -- which means that you can't see much of the tree at any one time.
Unlike Irene's, my antivirus (McAfee) doesn't seem to be complaining. It has the site status as grey (for uncertain) rather than green (safe). I think that's just because no-one has submitted any reports, good or bad, as to the status of the site.
I had better stop there and go and find some supper
Hi Shane, Appreciated is all the hard work you are doing BUT I tried signing up (not as a guest) and the little protectors of my machine told me it was dangerous as there were virus about. Do not proceed. So I did not. The information you can get as a guest only, does not help much at all. Maybe I am thick, but it seems too slow and complicated. Sorry.
As I briefly mentioned at the Oliver Family History Day on Sunday I am in the process of transferring the simple (and very out of date) list's of people that were previously on the website into what will hopefully be a much more useful online family tree.
The original lists of names really didn't give any idea on parentage, if they married who they marriage, what children they had etc - the new online tree should give all of this and much more.
I just wanted to give a brief overview as to the main screen to help get you up and running should you want to take a look.
1 - When you select the 'Family Tree' option from the top menu of the website an animated tree should appear and sprout branches and leaves and then be followed by the tree itself, positioned initially at John Oliver 1699.
If you do not have a 'My Heritage' account it will tell you that you are a guest. You are not able to seeing living people within the tree as a guest, however, creating an account is free and easy should you wish to do so.
2 - Highlighted below is the main tree area of the screen.
3 - Each person in the tree has his or her own profile which appears to the left of the screen. The profile can be closed and opened as required in order to maximise screen space for the tree itself.
4 - Top left you'll find a search box which can be used for searching, locating and selecting specific people. By clicking on the name the tree will then locate to them.
5 - The vertical slide bar at the bottom right of the screen allows you to zoom in and zoom out.
6 - The horizontal slide bar at the top right of the screen allows you to increase or decrease the number of generations that are shown on the screen, outwards from the person selected.
7 - By clicking on the small blue and pink icon's that appear above an individual this expands their own part of the tree.
Please do try the new tree and give me your feedback, its a new service for me so I'm learning aswell. Its a paid service rather than something I have created myself so I probably can't change it that much, but if there's anything you find that you think could be better or any data errors or anything missing, just let me know.
