New FamilySearch throughout Utah and Idaho in read-only mode

Yesterday members of the Church logged into the old FamilySearch site (http://www.familysearch.org) started seeing a new message when they went to any page that contains LDS ordinance data. You can read the full message, but the essential points are:

Ordinances are no longer being updated in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) by temples on the new system. Because of this, members should use the new FamilySearch site to view and verify the latest ordinance information.
...
Members who have registered in the existing FamilySearch.org site will be given access to register in the new FamilySearch system.
...
Some members living in Utah and Idaho temple districts will not be able to add or make changes to data in new FamilySearch for several months, but will be able to view the data.

To me, this seems to be big news, but there has been no corresponding big announcement. Everyone in Utah and Idaho now should have access. Even though most of them can't edit at this point, there's a lot you can learn (and probably a lot of support needed from ward Family History Consultants) just in read-only mode.

So my wife tried to register for the site. Unfortunately, she got the standard message telling her that new FamilySearch is not available in our area. Undaunted, I emailed FamilySearch Support, which responded very promptly:

All members of the Church will be able to access New FamilySearch on a read-only basis, if their stake is not yet rolled out. If members of your stake are receiving the error message, they need to send an email to support@familysearch.org, with "NFS Read-Only Access" in the subject line, and their full name, temple district, and membership number in the body. They will be allowed read-only access within 24 hours.

So my wife sent such an e-mail message, and we'll see what happens (it's been less than 10 hours so far). I don't have enough data to conclude whether most Utah/Idaho members (outside the few live temple districts) will be able to register without having to send the e-mail, or if this e-mail procedure will be the primary way access is granted.

It would be nice to know, so feel free to chime in with your experience with this, if you are in one of the not-yet-live Utah/Idaho temple districts. In any case, I'll report back when I learn more.

Ordinances are no longer being updated in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) by temples on the new system. Because of this, members should use the new FamilySearch site to view and verify the latest ordinance information.

Just to be clear, I think that's been true from the start. Temples that moved to nFS have not been updating the IGI found in old FamilySearch. So there's quite a bit that's not there. In contrast, the old TempleReady system hadn't been updated since 2000. So the gap there has been enormous.

I'm surprised that the first I'm hearing of this (read-only access for members) is from you. Normally hear about this though the FH email lists. So to say there's been no announcement is a understatement. Interesting...

RussellHltn wrote:I'm surprised that the first I'm hearing of this (read-only access for members) is from you. Normally hear about this though the FH email lists. So to say there's been no announcement is a understatement. Interesting...

I just happened on it by luck. I found a record of an ordinance in nFS that looked a bit different than I had remembered, so I logged in to old FS just to see what it looked like there. As soon as I went to a page that showed ordinance information, I got the popup message warning me to go to nFS to look up ordinance records.

Once my curiosity was piqued, I just had to investigate and follow up. It was interesting that the FS support person who replied to me said, "Those are the instructions we received within the past few hours." So it sounds like some aspects of this caught even the support staff by surprise.

Alan_Brown wrote:So my wife sent such an e-mail message, and we'll see what happens (it's been less than 10 hours so far). I don't have enough data to conclude whether most Utah/Idaho members (outside the few live temple districts) will be able to register without having to send the e-mail, or if this e-mail procedure will be the primary way access is granted.

I have one more data point -- someone in my stake was able to register and use new FamilySearch without having to send an e-mail. That's good to hear, since that's more straightforward and will reduce the burden on support, both local support and FamilySearch support.

My wife still doesn't have access, and it's been almost 18 hours....

Alan_Brown wrote:Some members living in Utah and Idaho temple districts will not be able to add or make changes to data in new FamilySearch for several months, but will be able to view the data.

I've wondered if perhaps they want to target nFS going live in Utah/Idaho with the opening of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (i.e. when they start doing ordinance work there, following the dedication).

Most Family History Consultants in Utah and Idaho now have full access, I think only Jordan River and Provo Temple Districts Family History Consultants don't have full access. The general membership in most of Utah and Idaho only have read only access for now. Beginning in Mid July all Utah Temples will be only using the newFamilySearch software so any Temple Ready disks will have to be converted to newFamilySearch before the cards can be printed. The IGI will not be updated by any temples after mid July (with the exception of possibly the temples in the orient). So people will have to get assistance from Family History Consultants to get their temple submissions ready for newFamilySearch until they are granted full access.

Members who had old FamilySearch accounts should be able to register for newFamilySearch without contacting support.

GarysTurn wrote:So people will have to get assistance from Family History Consultants to get their temple submissions ready for newFamilySearch until they are granted full access.

Members who had old FamilySearch accounts should be able to register for newFamilySearch without contacting support.

This communication and the previous one I had from FamilySearch Support raise some related and important questions:

1. In both communications, it was mentioned that having an account with old FamilySearch is a prerequisite to being able to register with new FamilySearch. Is that really a requirement? That seems really odd -- you have to provide your member record number to new FS in order to register, so what difference should it make if you have an old account?
2. If old FS registration is indeed required, can a member without an old account register for old FS, then immediately register with new FS?
3. A FH consultant who is registered with new FS can submit temple work on behalf of someone else by being in Helper Mode on behalf of that other person. In order to do this, is it required that the other person be registered with new FS (at least in read-only mode)?

On top of the original policy change at the top of this thread, this latest "announcement" is really quite stunning, in particular because it hasn't been announced through any normal channels, as far as I know.

The logical conclusion of the "announcement" is that in a mere three weeks or so, temple submissions will become completely impossible within these Utah/Idaho stakes unless the stake:

• Gets family history consultants (at least one in the stake) reasonably trained and able to do new FS temple submissions
• Communicates this new process to the stake (at least everyone who might want to create new temple submissions)
• (if the answer to #3 above is yes) Gets all those submitters registered with new FS (which in at least some cases seems to involve a long process of working with FS Support to before it happens).

That last point makes me nervous -- it's been five days since my wife started this process, there have been 4 e-mail exchanges with FS Support (in addition to the automated responses), and a frustrating phone call where FS Support basically threw in the towel and said they didn't know why she couldn't register, and could she please start over with a fresh e-mail request for read-only access -- and she just barely got access sometime last night (but with no e-mail to let her know that it had been granted).

Welcome to new [font=&quot]family search. Awhile ago I posted that the tech support person on the phone told me that it was not possible to operate the program using a laptop, so I would have to buy a desktop or go to a[font=&quot]family history center. I have also been on hold so long that my battery died. I wasn't kidding. It is a [/font][/size][/font][font=&quot][font=&quot]fact. I am avoiding the program until either it works or Legacy has an inter[/font][/size][/font][font=&quot]f[/font][font=&quot]ace with it. And the last email that I got[/font][font=&quot]from them came on 22 June 2009. Here it is:

"[/font] [font=&quot]Dear Member,[/font] [font=&quot]The Family History Department is looking for individuals willing to help us test the new FamilySearch on the Internet. For this test, participants must be able to give their feedback in English.[/font]
[font=&quot]Our goal is to start testing on June 25th of this month. The first test will last about five days, depending on the feedback we receive. Two more test cycles will follow in July. You may participate in any or all three of these tests. Any help you can give is much appreciated.[/font]
[font=&quot]To participate in this test, do the following:[/font]
[font=&quot]1.[font=&quot] [/font][/font][font=&quot]A day or two before the test begins we will send you another e-mail, which will include test instructions. Review these instructions. They will include a “link” to the test site and a few exercises or challenges to help you test some of the program features. [/font]
[font=&quot]2.[font=&quot] [/font][/font][font=&quot]Follow test instructions and give your feedback through new FamilySearch Feedback. Please test in your own language, but give feedback in English.[/font]
[font=&quot]3.[font=&quot] [/font][/font][font=&quot]When all three test cycles are completed, we would like you to complete a simple survey. [/font]
[font=&quot]We look forward to your participation and are grateful for your help.[/font]
[font=&quot]If you cannot help us test at this time, please ignore any further communications about this test. We hope you will be able to help us in the future.[/font]
[font=&quot]Please do not respond to this e-mail.[/font][font=&quot] It is for your information only.[/font]
[font=&quot]Thank you.[/font]
[font=&quot] [/font]
[font=&quot]Family History Department[/font]
[font=&quot]New FamilySearch Beta Release Team"[/font]


[font=&quot][/font][font=&quot][/font]

scion wrote:Welcome to new family search. Awhile ago I posted that the tech support person on the phone told me that it was not possible to operate the program using a laptop, so I would have to buy a desktop or go to a family history center. I have also been on hold so long that my battery died. I wasn't kidding. It is a fact. I am avoiding the program until either it works or Legacy has an interface with it.

As a FH consultant I can assure you that it doesn't make any difference whether you use a laptop or desktop. I don't know why that comment was made, but I have other consultants in our stake that I know are using Nfs on a laptop computer.

Alan_Brown wrote:

1. In both communications, it was mentioned that having an account with old FamilySearch is a prerequisite to being able to register with new FamilySearch. Is that really a requirement? That seems really odd -- you have to provide your member record number to new FS in order to register, so what difference should it make if you have an old account?
2. If old FS registration is indeed required, can a member without an old account register for old FS, then immediately register with new FS?
3. A FH consultant who is registered with new FS can submit temple work on behalf of someone else by being in Helper Mode on behalf of that other person. In order to do this, is it required that the other person be registered with new FS (at least in read-only mode)?

Alan, I can't answer the questions in regard to the rollout in Utah and Idaho. But I can tell you the answer to number 3 in other areas where nFS has been rolled out. It is this. A family history consultant can sign in using the helper mode and submit work for another member who is not registered with nFS. What is needed is the full name, birth date, and helper number of the member being helped. The helper number is the last five digits of the member number for the person being helped. I have done this for both members with a nFS registration and for those without a nFS registration. Everything behaves as if the member without the nFS account was actually signed in. This includes submitting names for temple work.
I see no reason why it would work one way for all other temple districts and then require a member to be registered in the Idaho and Utah areas in the read only mode. This doesn't make sense.

Alan_Brown wrote: 2. If old FS registration is indeed required, can a member without an old account register for old FS, then immediately register with new FS?

I just registered my wife for the old family search. I then went and tried to register her for the new family search. It gave me the same message that the new family search is not available in our area. I have used the old family search for years and I was able to get in. We'll wait to see if it works within the next 24 hours to see if this is a possibility.

OK, so I logged into NFS as myself, went to the Home tab, and clicked on "Sign in to help someone else." I then had to put my wife's name, her birthdate, and the last five digits of her member number. It then let me see her information and her ancestry (which really helped to find the FSID of her parents and grandparents so I could add them to my database). I then logged in to Helper Mode and put in my daughter's information. It was pretty easy to see her 4 generations and beyond (anything like Buzz Lightyear?).

Alan_Brown wrote:In both communications, it was mentioned that having an account with old FamilySearch is a prerequisite to being able to register with new FamilySearch. Is that really a requirement?

I have used New FamilySearch for a long time. I began using it when it rolled out in my temple district last year.

I have never, ever had a login or used (old) FamilySearch. I do not believe a registration on the old system is required to access nFS.

And to confirm the answer already given to your 3rd question, I was able to assist my wife in nFS helper mode long before she ever registered for nFS.

lajackson wrote:I have never, ever had a login or used (old) FamilySearch. I do not believe a registration on the old system is required to access nFS.

Although I certainly believe you, I'm not so sure your experience is relevant. We're talking here about a new read-only mode of nFS, with two different places specifically mentioning the requirement to be registered on old FS. Such a requirement is conceivable for this mode, but it still seems odd, and I'd love to find out that it is not a requirement.

What we need is someone from Utah/Idaho who is not registered as a consultant or registered on old FamilySearch to attempt to register on nFS. Only if such a person can register on nFS would the prior registration be proved to be superfluous. I have a couple of adult children that could be my guinea pigs, if no one else is able to test that scenario.

lajackson wrote:And to confirm the answer already given to your 3rd question, I was able to assist my wife in nFS helper mode long before she ever registered for nFS.

I do believe that your response and jdlessley's give sufficient evidence on this question. That's a good answer for those of us in Utah and Idaho, since it means that we should be able to help people with temple submissions after that mid-July change in procedures, even if they may be experiencing challenges in registering themselves.

Alan_Brown wrote:What we need is someone from Utah/Idaho who is not registered as a consultant or registered on old FamilySearch to attempt to register on nFS. Only if such a person can register on nFS would the prior registration be proved to be superfluous.

I'll bite.

I don't believe I have ever registered on FamilySearch (I can't remember for sure). I just went to new.familysearch.org and successfully registered and logged in. I live in Utah County.

mkmurray wrote:I'll bite.

I don't believe I have ever registered on FamilySearch (I can't remember for sure). I just went to new.familysearch.org and successfully registered and logged in. I live in Utah County.

Thanks for doing the test. That's somewhat comforting (but would be more comforting if you could remember for sure ). You can always go to http://www.familysearch.org, try to sign in, and use the "if you have forgotten your username or password, click here" link to see if you do have an existing registration there.

mkmurray wrote:I just went to new.familysearch.org and successfully registered and logged in.

So are you in with full access or read-only access? If you have full access, you'll see a bunch of Edit links on pretty much every person you look at, but if you are in read-only mode, you won't see any Edit links.

The reason I ask, is that my wife actually got full access this morning, even though she only requested read-only access. I thought at the time that perhaps that was because they were having so many problems with her account that they just gave up and gave her full access.

I'm trying to decide how that theory fits in with the e-mail she just received from FamilySearch Support that says:

Due to the many problems we have found, Read Only Access has been discontinued. Please see your ward consultant for help with processing names for the temple.

That just raises more questions. They seem to imply that my wife would not be able to register, but she does have access. Was my wife's registration a fluke? Was yours? When did they discontinue read-only access? Is it really discontinued? The e-mail to my wife was at 2:06pm MDT today, but your post was at 2:45pm MDT. Hmmmmm....

Alan_Brown wrote:So are you in with full access or read-only access? If you have full access, you'll see a bunch of Edit links on pretty much every person you look at, but if you are in read-only mode, you won't see any Edit links.

I went to my great-grandmother and clicked one of many Edit links on her details. I was given the following message, though if I understand correctly how the new FamilySearch works, this doesn't mean I only have read-only access:

Because you did not contribute this information, you cannot edit it. You can add another opinion of this information. The system keeps
all opinions.

I assume I have full access.

Alan_Brown wrote:Thanks for doing the test. That's somewhat comforting (but would be more comforting if you could remember for sure ). You can always go to http://www.familysearch.org, try to sign in, and use the "if you have forgotten your username or password, click here" link to see if you do have an existing registration there.

Oh, darn it! I do remember registering for old FamilySearch. I doubt my wife has though. I could try registering her tonight and see what happens.

mkmurray wrote:Oh, darn it! I do remember registering for old FamilySearch. I doubt my wife has though. I could try registering her tonight and see what happens.

I tried with my wife's information, who has never registered on old or new FamilySearch, and was given the message that it's not available in our area yet.

I think that confirms it then.

mkmurray wrote:I tried with my wife's information, who has never registered on old or new FamilySearch, and was given the message that it's not available in our area yet.

I think that confirms it then.

Yup, same here.

The beta test that I mentioned this morning has been post-poned.

"Dear Member,
There are a couple of issues we need to fix before we can start testing new FamilySearch. Please do not test until you receive your test instructions. We hope to be ready to test within a day or two.

Thank you for your patience and assistance in testing new FamilySearch.

Family History Department
New FamilySearch Test Release Team"

Alan_Brown wrote:So are you in with full access or read-only access? If you have full access, you'll see a bunch of Edit links on pretty much every person you look at, but if you are in read-only mode, you won't see any Edit links.

I registered my in-laws (Davis County) on Wednesday and didn't have any problems. They have full access. We were able to edit existing records and it shows my father-in-law as the person editing the record.

We took an ordinance request from my account to the Ogden temple and they were able to print cards from it. We didn't have anything to submit, or I'd have tried running an ordinance request through my in-laws' account.

scgallafent wrote:I registered my in-laws (Davis County) on Wednesday and didn't have any problems. They have full access. We were able to edit existing records and it shows my father-in-law as the person editing the record.

We took an ordinance request from my account to the Ogden temple and they were able to print cards from it. We didn't have anything to submit, or I'd have tried running an ordinance request through my in-laws' account.

But, you haven't really proved anything unless you can verify that your in-laws never had old FamilySearch accounts registered.

I had an old FS account and got in fine with Edit ability, but my wife never had one and was unable to register for new FS yet.

mkmurray wrote:I had an old FS account and got in fine with Edit ability, but my wife never had one and was unable to register for new FS yet.

This makes me wonder if it is still possible to register for the old FamilySearch. Specifically:

1. If I have never registered for anything, can I register for the old FamilySearch, and then register for the new FamilySearch and get access.

2. If I never regestered for the old FamilySearch and new FamilySearch didn't let me register, can I still go back and register for old FamilySearch and then re-attempt the registration with new FamilySearch.

(I don't know if I worded that well because it even made my head spin just to type it.)

Note: in my case all of this is moot, because I have already registered for the old FamilySearch, and because I live in a temple district that has already gone live with nFS, I have had access to new FamilySearch for about a year already.

scgallafent wrote:I registered my in-laws (Davis County) on Wednesday and didn't have any problems. They have full access. We were able to edit existing records and it shows my father-in-law as the person editing the record.

mkmurray wrote:But, you haven't really proved anything unless you can verify that your in-laws never had old FamilySearch accounts registered.

Indeed, that post doesn't answer the question of the whether an old FS account is required in order to register in Utah/Idaho for New FS.

But it does raise a new question. It appears that some people in Utah/Idaho are now able to register and get full access. If that is true for any significant number of people, then we've got a support issue on our hands. My wife was given full access, but I called that a fluke, since I assumed that the FS Support people got tired of the problems they had giving her read-only access, so they just threw in the towel and gave her full access. But perhaps full access is available to more regular members than I thought.

Stakes are supposed to have at least 90 days notice before NFS is available to their membership at large, so that they have time to get all the consultants trained, communication and support plans in place, etc. If a significant number of people can get access before that support structure is in place, we might have some problems.

jbh001 wrote:If I have never registered for anything, can I register for the old FamilySearch, and then register for the new FamilySearch and get access.

The answer to the first part is definitely yes. There's nothing stopping anyone from registering for old FS (if they had not previously registered there).

The second part of the question is what I asked in this post earlier in the thread, and that seems to have mixed results.

Alan_Brown wrote:It appears that some people in Utah/Idaho are now able to register and get full access.

I guess we (those on this forum) haven't seen enough data to determine if this is a random thing or if the access is tied to specific temple districts or something.

Alan_Brown wrote:Stakes are supposed to have at least 90 days notice before NFS is available to their membership at large, so that they have time to get all the consultants trained, communication and support plans in place, etc. If a significant number of people can get access before that support structure is in place, we might have some problems.

When nFS rolled out in our area, there were some communication problems. When it all ended, the support structure had gotten about a one week head start over the general membership.

It all worked out ok, but consultants and leaders had to scramble to be able to provide real help above and beyond the "I tried this and it worked" level of answering questions.

The biggest challenge we had was that the FHCs turned off TempleReady before nFS went live in some temple districts. And after the switch, patrons had to travel several hours to a nFS temple to get ordinance requests turned into real cards before they could go on vacation to other areas where they actually would be doing the work at temples not on nFS.

But again, we worked through all of it, following the time-honored tradition that convenience is not an option. [grin]

Renee's Genealogy Blog usually keeps up with these things. According to her sources, the "read only" was dropped and the plan now is for consultants to help the members search for dupes for members in those areas.

The pop-up in FamilySearch has changed. It now reads "Temple ordinance information is no longer updated in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). Church members who wish to verify completed temple ordinances for their deceased ancestors may contact a family history consultant, or visit a local family history center for assistance."

OK, so I signed my wife up for the old Family Search the other day, and was able to log into it (the old one) and work fine (of course getting the pop-ups that everyone has been talking about it). I have tried several times in the past days to sign her up for the new Family Search with no success. We live in Utah County, and I was able to sign up during the "read-only" period, but now I can make and edit changes when I log in (yeah!).

Ancestry Insider explains what is happening with this read only thing on his blog. It appears it has now been discontinued.
http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/200 ... ccess.html

*Alpha* testing is going on where people already have access.

" Dear Member,
Thank you for your willingness to help us alpha test the features and functionality in new FamilySearch. This time we will be testing to ensure new FamilySearch is working correctly. There are really no changes in functionality but the underlying code has changed quite a bit so it is very . . ."

The email & instructions are rather lengthy.