Does anyone know when the new Family Search is going to be launched

I know it takes a long time to get something like that ready but i really want to start on the New Family Search. Some lady in my ward was showing it to me on Sunday and i just love it. The latest i heard was a 3 month launch date. Is there any information about this? Is it possible i can sign up as a family consultant to get access?

It's a phased roll-out. It's already live for some members. It will be last for Utah. I think the goal is everyone by the end of the year.

The nFS is rolled out by temple districts. How they decide who is next is unkown. But the good news is that about 90 days before it is rolled out in a temple district the family history center directors in that district are sent an e-mail through their ldsmail.net account with instructions. All the FHC workers and key Priesthood leaders are permitted to register and begin familiarizing themselves with it. Unless you are on the list of FHC workers that the FHC director sends to FamilySearch Support or hold a calling identified in the key Priesthood leadership positions you are out of luck until the role out for your temple district.

falisrm wrote:I know it takes a long time to get something like that ready but i really want to start on the New Family Search. Some lady in my ward was showing it to me on Sunday and i just love it. The latest i heard was a 3 month launch date. Is there any information about this? Is it possible i can sign up as a family consultant to get access?

I notice that you are in the Seattle Washington Temple District. Priesthood leaders in the Seattle Washington Temple district were notified about 5 June 2008 that the Seattle Temple would be switching over to the new FamilySearch software in about 3-4 Months. Estimated date as shown on the Ancestry Insider Blog is 23 Sep 2008. With this announcement priesthood leaders and Family History Consultants can now get advanced accounts and the general membership in the Temple District will get access once the Temple goes online. The consultants and priesthood leaders get their accounts by registering for their callings at this Site. (about 4 days after this registration consultants and priesthood leaders can register for accounts at the new familysearch site) If you are not a Family History Consultant or Priesthood Leader you should get access by registering for an account at the new familysearch site sometime around the end of September when they announce that the Temple is on the new system. (attempting to register prior to that date will not work)

Priesthood Leaders who can register: Stake President and his Counselors, Stake High Counselors, Bishop and his Counselors, Elders Quorum President and his Counselors, High Priests Group leader and his Assistants.

This is great. I did learn the temple was closing so i hoped that was when they were updating the system. I'm just the elders quorum secretary. (oh, man, only the presidency can register) I was so close. haha

This is good information. Is it a good idea to explain this in elders quorum now or through emails or newsletters or something like that? I know a lot of people don't know about it.

falisrm wrote:This is good information. Is it a good idea to explain this in elders quorum now or through emails or newsletters or something like that? I know a lot of people don't know about it.

This would be good to discuss with your local leaders. I would think that the stake presidency and bishops would be coming up with a plan for disseminating this information. The introduction of nFS is a great opportunity to reinvigorate the members in the area of Family History research and temple work. So it may be a good idea to have a coordinated plan that leverages this new information to generate some excitement.

In our stake, even though we are in Utah and thus are at the end of the nFS line, our stake presidency has already had some preliminary discussions as to how we can use the introduction of nFS, as well as the open house and dedication of the Draper Utah Temple, to help the members turn their hearts to their kindred dead.

falisrm wrote: This is good information. Is it a good idea to explain this in elders quorum now or through emails or newsletters or something like that? I know a lot of people don't know about it.

There is a Helper Mode in newFamilySearch. Someone with an account can sign into nFS and click on the link "Sign in to help Someone Else". When you select that option another member can enter their name and birth date and their helper access number (the last 5 digets of your membership number) and they can then use nFS for their family under the supervision of another user. So if you can get one of your priesthood leaders or a family history consultant to register and get an account they can sign in as a helper to you and you can use it under their help.

I'm going to sign up as soon as possible. I know someone who can help me get set up. Thanks for that info. I can't wait.

GarysTurn wrote:There is a Helper Mode in newFamilySearch. Someone with an account can sign into nFS and click on the link "Sign in to help Someone Else". When you select that option another member can enter their name and birth date and their helper access number (the last 5 digets of your membership number) and they can then use nFS for their family under the supervision of another user. So if you can get one of your priesthood leaders or a family history consultant to register and get an account they can sign in as a helper to you and you can use it under their help.

To use helper mode, isn't it necessary for both the one doing the helping and the one being helped to have nFS accounts? That would seem to imply it is not useful for someone who cannot (yet) register for an nFS account. Or, am I missing something?

Gary can elaborate, but I believe it's possible to sign on without the helpee having an account. However any changes made are attributed to the helper, not the helpee, which can make things a bit complicated when someone starts asking questions.

rmrichesjr wrote:To use helper mode, isn't it necessary for both the one doing the helping and the one being helped to have nFS accounts? That would seem to imply it is not useful for someone who cannot (yet) register for an nFS account. Or, am I missing something?

It is as Gary wrote. I took a screen shot of the page with the pop-up that shows the information necessary to help someone else. All that is needed about the person being helped is their name and birthdate.

To help someone in the Helper Mode the person being helped does have to be a member of the Church, but they do not need to have a new FamilySearch account. The helper access number is part of the members membership number. Changes made in the helper mode are attribuited to the member making the changes with a tag note that they were being helped by someone and it shows the contact information for the helper. No contact information for the one being helped is displayed, only their name. Contributions by someone being helped are tied to the persons membership number so once an account is set up I would expect contact information would then be shown for that person. I have logged in and used the helper mode for several people without nFS accounts. I have just encouraged them to work on combining and wait to do disputes until they get an account so people will be able to contact them about the disputes. I have mostly used the helper mode to do training for other FH Consultants to help them learn how to use the new system.

rmrichesjr wrote:To use helper mode, isn't it necessary for both the one doing the helping and the one being helped to have nFS accounts?

No. The helper must have the nFS account but the person being helped does not.