Where and when has NFS gone live?

In other threads, mention has been made that the New FamilySearch has already started to go live, and that it will take about 18 months until all temple districts have switched to it. I think it would be interesting to know what temple districts have gone live so we can watch it roll out over the globe. (The allusion to the stone in Daniel's dream was intended.) Also, I think it would be interesting to hear of any changes in system function from the recent (early 2007) beta to the live system.

The new family search program has been released to all members in the St Louis temple district just this week.

This was in January 2007, we are now in July, is there any progress?

Gaerman111 wrote:This was in January 2007, we are now in July, is there any progress?

Actually, these two posts are from June.

Gaerman111 wrote:This was in January 2007, we are now in July, is there any progress?

The only thing with nFS that I know was going on in Jan was the planning of releasing nFS to selected stakes. It was still in beta for a few months after that and as mike said these posts are from june. (The one about St. Louis getting the new system was actually late June)

Live in St Louis, Reno and Snowflake next. Rumor has it going to the small temples first, and then the larger, with the Utah temples last. This is just rumor. Can anyone verify?

When I talked to Mike, I suggested that maybe they were doing the "snow belt" temples while the weather was good and saving the tropical ones for winter. He didn't deny it.

I get the sense that the first roll outs will be slow, but once they learn how to do it, the pace will pick up.

I think clues to impending implementation area will be seen in the preparations at each particular temple. The rollout of the new, barcoded temple recommend seems to be happening in parallel to the nFS rollout. Workers in the San Diego temple are reporting installation of barcode scanners and they've promised to tell me when the recommend desk workers are trained to accept the nFS name "manifest" document. I think the training will be minimal since nFS replaces only the name submission method, not the internal temple procedures to track names undergoing ordinances.

Of course, I could be way off base on these assumptions.

Does anyone know how this is announced within the temple district? Was there a big meeting of the stake or was it just announced in wards? Or did the temple just start telling people the new way to submit names?

I've already guessed the URL for New Familysearch.Org and you can probably do the same. Try to register and if you don't succeed, it's because nFS is not available in your area. You'll be given a polite notice that when it becomes available, you'll be notified through priesthood channels.

According to a post on FHCNET there is a letter that is sent out via the priesthood line, and a packet sent to FHC directors, which contains a DVD and other paper materials on the switchover.

This happens approximately or at least 90 days before the temples switch over in the areas they will be rolling it out in as they go forward. Beyond that, things are still a bit unclear as to when and how the FHCs are notified that it's OK to toss the TempleReady program and start doing only NFS submissions.

Here's a data point for you:

- The bar code scanner has shown up in the stake office
- The temple was recently closed for work
- The FHC director received the DVD (but she's also the regional FHC director), but no other announcement has been made
- nFS rejects my attempt to create a login

YMMV (Your mileage may vary)

In another thread, it was stated that the barcoded temple recommends and NFS are independent. Portland Oregon is switching to barcoded recommends, but there has been no word (not even rumor) about NFS here.

RussellHltn wrote:Here's a data point for you:

- The bar code scanner has shown up in the stake office
- The temple was recently closed for work
- The FHC director received the DVD (but she's also the regional FHC director), but no other announcement has been made
- nFS rejects my attempt to create a login

YMMV (Your mileage may vary)

The roll out of bar coded recommends appears to be independent of the NFS. I was under the impression that the US and Canada are to have all recommends replaced with bar coded ones by the middle of September. The Fresno Temple received all of its recommend scanning equipment in June. It is all working now. Our Stake is exchanging recommends now. No shutdown needed. The Stake nomally activates the recommends, but it can be done by the Temple Presidency. The only modifications needed in the Temple was the addition of a network connection at the Recommend Desk. That was done during one Monday when the Temple was normally closed.

Our Temple received notice of the NFS rollout and that each temple would be notified approximately 6 months in advance of implementation. We haven't been notified yet. It should take only a day to load the software. Training Temple and FHC personnel may take longer.

As for an update Provo Temple is switching to Barcoded Recommends but it is going to be the last for nFS. So Recommends and nFS are separate. Of course if someone has more nFS rollouts we would like to hear about it and where.

Latest info: St louis, Reno, Snowflake - live, Orlando, Billings - live Aug 28

The Ancestry Insider blog says that the Snowflake temple is not on New FamilySearch.

See http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/200 ... earch.html

I contacted FamilySearch support and a support missionary in the Mesa area verified that NFS is not in use at the Snowflake temple.

The Ancestry Insider identifies the source of the rumor as a post on the New Family Search Google Group:

From: Bill A
Date: May 2, 2007 7:55 am
Title: Arizona temple district online?
Message: I've just read in another group over in Yahoo that the Arizona temple district is now using the new Family Search...

From: A Wickstrom
Date: May 2, 2007 11:39 am
Title: Arizona temple district online?
Message: Which Arizona temple district - Mesa or Snowflake?

From: James W Anderson
Date: May 6, 2007 8:02 pm
Title: Arizona temple district online?
Message: Didn't hear about Arizona, Snowflake or Mesa, but I did hear that Reno NV and St. Louis MO...

From: Bill A [Notice this is the poster who said Snowflake.]
Date: May 7, 2007 7:54 am
Title: Arizona temple district online?
Message: Yes, sorry about that, my brain went whonko, I knew it was Reno but put it in Arizona instead of Nevada...

JamesAnderson wrote:According to a post on FHCNET there is a letter that is sent out via the priesthood line, and a packet sent to FHC directors, which contains a DVD and other paper materials on the switchover.

This happens approximately or at least 90 days before the temples switch over in the areas they will be rolling it out in as they go forward. Beyond that, things are still a bit unclear as to when and how the FHCs are notified that it's OK to toss the TempleReady program and start doing only NFS submissions.

Does anyone know the time frame as to the roll out of NFS to a temple district and the registration of the members to NFS?

With permission from the source of the information, here are the dates of the first four that are now live:

St. Louis, Missouri - June 26, 2007
Billings, Montana - Aug. 28, 2007
Orlando, Florida - Aug. 28, 2007
Reno, Nevada - July 26, 2007

Also with permission, two more scheduled for October:

Albuquerque, New Mexico and Cardston, Alberta

My stake president got a notice dated today in his Church email that is the 90-day kickoff for the Winter Quarters Temple district moving to NFS. It was a generic notice with a cover letter from Sept 2007 signed by Elder Marlin Jensen and a separate .pdf with instructions for the FHC Director. No "go live" date was indicated.

JLRose wrote:My stake president got a notice dated today in his Church email that is the 90-day kickoff for the Winter Quarters Temple district moving to NFS. It was a generic notice with a cover letter from Sept 2007 signed by Elder Marlin Jensen and a separate .pdf with instructions for the FHC Director. No "go live" date was indicated.

Most likely, your temple has received its installation packet. In that packet will be the projected “go live” date. About a month before the “go live” date an official priesthood announcement will be made and all registered family history consultants will be given access to the new FamilySearch so they can start training on it. Family history consultants will play a major role in training members to use the new FamilySearch. General membership in the temple district will be given access on or shortly after the “go live” date.

I have posted a map that I am updating as new temples announce the release of nFS. It is at http://milesmeyer.googlepages.com/templ ... milysearch

It is a Google map so you can zoom in/out and click on the icons to see specifics. Each icon is placed directly over the temple if you want to zoom in that far.

Miles

Very cool map, though where did you get the announced temple locations?

The map is based on FHC Directors posting their announcements on various discussion boards and e-mailing me their information when they get the 90 day announcement.

Here are the districts that have been released so far:
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Reno, Nevada, USA
Billings, Montana, USA
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The word is that In the next couple of months, we should see the program released some areas in California, Mexico, Guatamala, Texas, Louisiana and Nebraska.

(This is from a post on FamilySearchForum.org)

--- Eric

You have listed Ft. Lauderdale, Florida as a temple with nFS. That should be Orlando, Florida. There is not a temple in Ft. Lauderdale. Also, I was just notified that Perth, Australia received their 90 day notice. I have added them to my map.

http://milesmeyer.googlepages.com/templ ... milysearch

Miles

Ah, thanks for the info. Perhaps "Ft. Lauderdale" is the name of the temple district or something like that.

--- Eric

We're being told "mid 2008" in the Stakes associated with the St. Paul MInnesota Temple.

Previously it's been said that by "mid 2008" all temples should be on the new system. Utah area will be last.

Las Vegas Temple District is going live soon. Registered family histroy consultants and priesthood leaders have been given access to NewFamilySearch.

RussellHltn wrote:Previously it's been said that by "mid 2008" all temples should be on the new system. Utah area will be last.

The goal was 18 months for rollout. St Louis went live at the end of June. That would indicate all temples hopefully will be live by the end of 2008.

RonaldF wrote:The goal was 18 months for rollout. St Louis went live at the end of June. That would indicate all temples hopefully will be live by the end of 2008.

I do not dispute the math, but since then I remember hearing that the goal was for everyone by mid 2008. I guess I need to keep track of my sources.

I do remember what you heard Russell. It was at a Tech Talk here in Provo (Don't know if you went to it) but I think the initial roll out got delayed so the end date got pushed back to the end of 2008.

thedqs wrote:I do remember what you heard Russell. It was at a Tech Talk here in Provo (Don't know if you went to it) but I think the initial roll out got delayed so the end date got pushed back to the end of 2008.

I was thinking it was the other way around - started out calculating at "end" and then later announced as "mid". Oh well. I hope Gordon checks in and can give an update.

As noted on Miles' (very cool) map, we in the Oakland temple district got the 90-day letter on November 9. I AM PSYCHED!!!! I did a presentation in PEC on nFS and our ward is making plans to get the ward members aware and involved. Response has been very positive so far.

Kathryn

To all interested,

The WInter Quarters Temple District held a meeting for all Stake Presidents, Bishoprics, High Priest Group leaders, FHC staffs, and ward consultants on Nov. 28th, 2007.

We were told to hustle and complete the on-line trianing for all the above was given a kick-start, with packets and instructions. They indicated that we should go live in about 60 days, and that all members were to be alerted to the change.

Ward consultants should be ready to especially assist those persons who have a large number of names already prepared via TempleReady to not delay getting them to the temple and printed. One sister has over 22,000 names, and even with the recommended (100 name) upload into nFS, she would have a real problem trying to confirm and verify any that will be found to be in the system already. Those with fewer names shouldn't have too much trouble.

The nFS is really a "sweet" piece of software. Kudos to all the team of web and coding guys that have worked on this. It was so exciting to see my own family line come up with all the correct dates and even the ones where a merge and confirm were necessay. What a blessing.

(On a side note... the guys who prepared the on-line indexing should be given an award for creating one of the most user-friendly and effortless methods of cataloging huge numbers of records I have ever seen produced, either commercially or privately in the past 50 years. I've been involved with corporate I.T. since 1981, so I know whereof I speak.) Excuse me if I repeat myself in praising those guys in the Indexing forum pages.

Fresno is live.

Temple Districts have been added to New FamilySearch as follows:

Jun. 26, 2007 - St. Louis, Missouri
Jul. 26, 2007 - Reno, Nevada
Aug. 28, 2007 - Billings, Montana
Aug. 28, 2007 - Orlando, Florida
Oct. 30, 2007 - Cardston Alberta, Canada
Oct. 30, 2007 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov. 27, 2007 - San Diego, California
Dec. 4, 2007 - Fresno, California
Dec. 11, 2007 - Guatemala City, Guatemala
Dec. 11, 2007 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec. 18, 2007 - Villahermosa, Mexico

dec 15 2007
we in the Atlanta Temple District are now getting bar code rec's and in the chattanooga stk will having a meeting on Jan 19 2008 about genealogy . From the invitation for this meeting of those to attend it sounds very much like what has happened before the "Rollout" in other areas.??????

thomasjking wrote:dec 15 2007
we in the Atlanta Temple District are now getting bar code rec's and in the chattanooga stk will having a meeting on Jan 19 2008 about genealogy .

A barcode reader at the family file desk in the temple would be a strong sign.

Barcode reader at the check-in desk or in the stake is meaningless. Those are for recommends and it's a different program on a different roll-out schedule.

RussellHltn wrote:A barcode reader at the family file desk in the temple would be a strong sign.

Barcode reader at the check-in desk or in the stake is meaningless. Those are for recommends and it's a different program on a different roll-out schedule.

Agreed that all information says the barcode recommends are independent of nFS.

Are you sure a barcode reader/scanner at the family file desk means anything? At the Portland Oregon Temple, family file ordinance cards have had barcodes since long before nFS rollout started. Wouldn't they have had barcode scanners at the family file desk to use those non-nFS barcoded cards?

rmrichesjr wrote:Are you sure a barcode reader/scanner at the family file desk means anything? At the Portland Oregon Temple, family file ordinance cards have had barcodes since long before nFS rollout started. Wouldn't they have had barcode scanners at the family file desk to use those non-nFS barcoded cards?

That's possible. I haven't kept up with the system used at the family file desk.

The 3 x 5 cards, as well as the name slips, all have barcodes. Sometimes you get one scanned just before you start an ordinance. Otherwise, they are probably scanned after the fact once each ordinance is completed.

So it might be possible then, that what one would be looking for, is a barcode scanner right at the desk where you pick up the cards at. And a printer right there as well, as it would be necessary to have a printer close by to print the cards you were to get from your 'Family Ordinance Request' when you brought that paper in after printing from NFS.

If anyone here is on NFS already, what have you seen if you have printed a request of NFS and then taken it to a temple also on NFS?

JamesAnderson wrote:The 3 x 5 cards, as well as the name slips, all have barcodes. Sometimes you get one scanned just before you start an ordinance. Otherwise, they are probably scanned after the fact once each ordinance is completed.

So it might be possible then, that what one would be looking for, is a barcode scanner right at the desk where you pick up the cards at. And a printer right there as well, as it would be necessary to have a printer close by to print the cards you were to get from your 'Family Ordinance Request' when you brought that paper in after printing from NFS.

If anyone here is on NFS already, what have you seen if you have printed a request of NFS and then taken it to a temple also on NFS?

You can’t really tell by the equipment. The equipment may or may not be set up prior to the official priesthood announcement. The big difference is the software. The software is not normally installed until after the announcement. Ours was a week before the go live date. The announcement is the only true indicator. Ours was conducted by our Area Seventy with invitations to Priesthood leaders and family history consultants.

Sam Burggraaf wrote:Temple Districts have been added to New FamilySearch as follows:

Jun. 26, 2007 - St. Louis, Missouri
Jul. 26, 2007 - Reno, Nevada
Aug. 28, 2007 - Billings, Montana
Aug. 28, 2007 - Orlando, Florida
Oct. 30, 2007 - Cardston Alberta, Canada
Oct. 30, 2007 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov. 27, 2007 - San Diego, California
Dec. 4, 2007 - Fresno, California
Dec. 11, 2007 - Guatemala City, Guatemala
Dec. 11, 2007 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec. 18, 2007 - Villahermosa, Mexico

Fresno went live to the public on the 11th.

I received an official email notice today from Family Search Support:

"Beginning Tuesday, 15 January 2008, the new process for printing temple name cards using Family Ordinance Requests will be used in the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple. New FamilySearch will be available to the general membership of the Church who live in the Winter Quarters Nebraska temple district early in the morning on the previous Saturday, January 12, 2008. No additional notice will be sent to priesthood leaders or members of the Church in the Winter Quarters Nebraska temple district concerning these dates."

I just got this from a friend, not sure how accurate it is, but it seems at least as accurate as the google map posted earlier. Both are great. This one is easier for me to read and use on a daily basis for my clients.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com ... llout.html

BradJackman wrote:I just got this from a friend, not sure how accurate it is, but it seems at least as accurate as the google map posted earlier. ...

I've found Mile's map and Renee's table to be accurate for publicly known English speaking temples. Another in that same category is "Temple Districts Using New FamilySearch," at ancestryinsider.blogspot.com. The link is on the right-hand side. Or go directly to

http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/200 ... earch.html

--Robert

zaneclark wrote:We have been told that the New FS will be in the Las Vegas temple district in February. I have already received some preliminary posts on this as a Family History Consultant.

The latest information is that the nFS will be available in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 23rd, with the temple using the new process on the following Tuesday, February 26th.

Someone indicated on FHCNET that the problem seems to be either with the software or hardware used at the temple as part of the NFS system. No date was indicated for resolution, that is why the delays according to the poster.

Whatever the problem is, it remains unknown as to what it exactly is, or if it is just one problem or several.

Once they find the issue, Las Vegas and the others should eventually be able to go live, in the past, delays have only been less than a month based on prior reports of delays.

Houston is also apparently delayed. I had heard it was coming but no official word but I tried to sign on tonight anyway and was unable to. Hopefully it will be soon.

Is receipt of an email message about evaluating nFS an indication that one's temple district is going to be getting nFS soon? I'm in the Portland Oregon temple district. The only indication we have about nFS is our stake president recently said he wants FH consultants trained (on the old methods) by May 1.

Then, today I got email from Church HQ "reminding" me that I had supposedly signed up to evaluate the nFS user experience. While I did participate in the nFS beta test in the first half of 2007, I don't recall having signed up for anything since then, and I don't have nFS access (that I'm aware of).

Might this be an indication that nFS is coming to my temple district soon?

rmrichesjr wrote:Is receipt of an email message about evaluating nFS an indication that one's temple district is going to be getting nFS soon? I'm in the Portland Oregon temple district. The only indication we have about nFS is our stake president recently said he wants FH consultants trained (on the old methods) by May 1.

Then, today I got email from Church HQ "reminding" me that I had supposedly signed up to evaluate the nFS user experience. While I did participate in the nFS beta test in the first half of 2007, I don't recall having signed up for anything since then, and I don't have nFS access (that I'm aware of).

Might this be an indication that nFS is coming to my temple district soon?

This is just a bulk mailing, I got one just like it. It has nothing to do with Temples coming onto nFS.

RobertRaymondUT wrote:I've found Mile's map and Renee's table to be accurate for publicly known English speaking temples. Another in that same category is "Temple Districts Using New FamilySearch," at ancestryinsider.blogspot.com. The link is on the right-hand side. Or go directly to

http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/200 ... earch.html

--Robert

Check out this blog site. Also when your Temple District is about to go on line you will get an email from support that reads.

[INDENT]To: Priesthood leaders, family history center directors and family[/INDENT]

[INDENT]history consultants in the ___________ temple district.[/INDENT]


[INDENT]Beginning [go-live date], the new process for printing temple name cards using Family Ordinance Requests will be used in the ___________ Temple. New FamilySearch will be available to the general membership of the Church who live in the ___________ temple district early in the morning on the previous [3 days before?]. No additional notice will be sent to priesthood leaders or members of the Church in the __________ temple district concerning these dates.[/INDENT]


[INDENT]We ask that family history consultants and center directors encourage members who have existing TempleReady disks to take them to the temple and have their temple name cards printed before [go-live date]. Beginning immediately, please do not create any new TempleReady disks in your family history centers for processing at the ___________ temple.[/INDENT]


[INDENT]If you have not done so already, please complete the new FamilySearch online training prior to [go-live date] in preparation for helping members to use new FamilySearch as part of the new process for preparing ancestral names for the temple. Please contact FamilySearch Support by e-mail or phone if you have any questions or problems.[/INDENT]


[INDENT]Thank you for your support of temple and family history work.[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Sincerely,[/INDENT]

[INDENT]FamilySearch Support[/INDENT]

fergie34 wrote:Also when your Temple District is about to go on line you will get an email from support that reads.

[INDENT]To: Priesthood leaders, family history center directors and family[/INDENT]

[INDENT]history consultants in the ___________ temple district.[/INDENT]

That's true if you've registered as a "Priesthood leader, family history center director or family history consultant" with familysearch. (And yes, Stake Technology Specialists are included - whoo hoo!)

mbatemantx wrote:Houston is also apparently delayed. I had heard it was coming but no official word but I tried to sign on tonight anyway and was unable to. Hopefully it will be soon.

Lubbock is also delayed. We have all the equipment and some of us in the temple have access to NFS. I heard that we may go live in May. We'll see.

I was wrong. Lubbock IS delayed, but we are delayed "until further notice." I learned on Friday (after I posted the message above) that the problem is a server issue. The Church had contracted with one company to provide server space for all of the temples, and after the company learned that because the temples are all over the world it meant that the information would have to be accessable 24 hours a day, they said they couldn't provide that much space. Now they are trying to contract with a second, possibly a third company to provide the additional server space needed.

Just got back from the Bismarck ND temple. They are using nFS. Ordinances performed were online before I got home from the Temple.

The San Antonio Texas Temple went live in January 2008. The Dallas Texas Temple had training for leaders and Family History Consultants on March 29th and will go live "soon". The date has not yet been announced (I believe due to the previously mentioned server capability delay), but the temple is capable of taking the nFS barcoded ordinance requests and processing them into ordinance cards. They still primarily accept the old TempleReady diskettes.

The challenge for our members is that many of them are processing ordinance requests, then traveling to areas to do the work with family members who live in temple districts that are not yet on nFS, and are not able to get the cards converted. We have cautioned them to have the ordinance cards printed first locally, and then travel with the ordinance cards, not the barcoded ordinance request paper.

Official notification was received yesterday from Family Search Support that NFS will "go live" in the Chicago Illinois Temple district on 20 May 2008.

On may 5th we received notice that the Manhattan Temple District will be going live with new FamilySearch on May 20th as well.

I heard this evening that a specific date has been set in the near future for the Houston temple, but I do not know what it is.

Campinas Brazil Temple have since this week the NFS on air and working.

The following list was found as document 102463 in the nFS help center

Temple District Albuquerque New Mexico Asunción Paraguay Baton Rouge Louisiana Bern Switzerland Billings Montana Bismarck North Dakota Boston Massachusetts Cardston Alberta Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Columbus Ohio Dallas Texas Detroit Michigan Fresno California Guadalajara Mexico Guatemala City Guatemala Kona Hawaii Laie Hawaii Los Angeles California Melbourne Australia Mesa Arizona Monterrey Mexico Oakland California Orlando Florida Oaxaca Mexico Perth Australia Reno Nevada Sacramento California San Antonio Texas San Diego California Snowflake Arizona St. Louis Missouri Toronto Ontario Villahermosa Mexico Winter Quarters Nebraska

Now also Zollikofen (Bern, Swiss) temple is active and working.

St. Paul, Minnesota temple district is in a 4 month limited training. The rest of use are supposed to get it then.

I heard that the Denver Colorado Temple will go live the end of September. I would expect that to change as we get closer, but who knows. We were originally supposed to go live in April...

I'm a family history consultant in the Preston Temple district. We received the 'four month' email at the weekend, so I've been able to get onto the site and play. I hope to goodness that the problems we are currently experiencing with nfs are fixed prior to roll out, as otherwise I cannot see anyone in my ward attempting to contribute. I'm very very concerned, to be honest. I consider myself very IT literate and I almost threw my laptop at the wall in frustration a couple of days ago, and I know I'm not the only one having problems.

annesusan wrote:I'm a family history consultant in the Preston Temple district. We received the 'four month' email at the weekend, so I've been able to get onto the site and play. I hope to goodness that the problems we are currently experiencing with nfs are fixed prior to roll out, as otherwise I cannot see anyone in my ward attempting to contribute. I'm very very concerned, to be honest. I consider myself very IT literate and I almost threw my laptop at the wall in frustration a couple of days ago, and I know I'm not the only one having problems.

What type of problems are you having? Besides it being a little slow it seems to be working here.

I'm looking at it primarily as a family historian/member trying to upload information as opposed to a techy view, but so far it's been a nightmare.

just for starters:

instability- depending on the time of day, it appears, I can get some features to work, and not others..for instance, if I click on the ' temple ordinances required' box, sometimes it will open, sometimes it won't.
however, when I have found a feature that had been working and then doesn't work, I then try it again right then in a different browser ( I have IE, firefox and opera) and find it WILL work in another browser.

the possible duplicates feature: a friend is in despair over this as it seems to throw up so many possibles, many of which could only be described as possibles at a stretch. Most members I know here will be completely thrown by this.My friend entered one name yesterday with an exact date of birth, it wasn't a very common name. NFS threw up more than 20 pages of possible duplicates, most of them not even on the same continent.

I don't want to come across as completely negative, so will end thispost here, but there is more.

Does anyone know who is providing the first line technical support..is it Church service missionaries? We've had several cracking support replies amongst us, which are fairly cringeworthy.

annesusan wrote:I'm looking at it primarily as a family historian/member trying to upload information as opposed to a techy view, but so far it's been a nightmare.

just for starters:

instability- depending on the time of day, it appears, I can get some features to work, and not others..for instance, if I click on the ' temple ordinances required' box, sometimes it will open, sometimes it won't.
however, when I have found a feature that had been working and then doesn't work, I then try it again right then in a different browser ( I have IE, firefox and opera) and find it WILL work in another browser.

the possible duplicates feature: a friend is in despair over this as it seems to throw up so many possibles, many of which could only be described as possibles at a stretch. Most members I know here will be completely thrown by this.My friend entered one name yesterday with an exact date of birth, it wasn't a very common name. NFS threw up more than 20 pages of possible duplicates, most of them not even on the same continent.

I don't want to come across as completely negative, so will end thispost here, but there is more.

Does anyone know who is providing the first line technical support..is it Church service missionaries? We've had several cracking support replies amongst us, which are fairly cringeworthy.

Technical support is provided by Church service missionaries. They can forward some technical problems on if they are not able to handle the problem.

It sounds like you may have some browser or software issues on your computer, I have not experienced the problems you mentioned but I have mostly used it in the evenings. I have seen times when the response time is very slow, especially on Sunday afternoons. In March we were having some overload problems after they brought on Los Angeles and Mesa Temples, maybe that is starting to happen again.

The uploading process is very restrictive, until the system is fully rolled out uploading is restricted to only names that are not already in the system. Attempting to upload names with Ancestral File numbers or names down loaded for the IGI or other Church databases will disqualify the entire upload batch. There will be syncronizing software available soon that will make it easier to update from our personal files. They must restrict large uploads because the system is still growing to allow for the addition of more Temple districts. If everyone uploaded their entire files with all their duplicates it would overload the system and stop the roll out.

When you do an advanced search for possible duplicates you will often get multiple pages of possible matches, there is a warning posted prior to making such a search. This function is designed to search for a record when a match does not come up under the standard possible duplicates tab and you are quite sure there sould be another record in the system.

If you have not taken the training offered in the help section, I would recommend doing that, it will help you understand the combining process.

I am sorry for you troubles and hope you can get the help you need.

Gary,

thanks. I am concerned as I am not the only consultant experiencing the issues I have mentioned, and the work here is moving so very slowly that I am concerned if we consultants don't have all the answers likely to arise at roll out, the general membership here will just give up. Many already see PAF and templeready as 'too hard' or 'too time consuming'. we really are fighting an uphill battle as it is.

I have worked my way through the online training but today we received an email telling us that we would be sent a series of practcial training emails over the next few days to get us familiar with the system. We'll see how that goes; anyhow tomorrow is another day!

Is there any documentation available on the process that happens (or is supposed to happen) between when a temple district is announced and when it goes live? My temple district, Portland, Oregon, was reportedly announced June 19. However, my bishop hadn't heard anything about it. The high council representative for our ward replied simply that we will go live in September or late October.

I recall reading of a considerable list of callings that should enable someone with one of those callings to register and learn the system between announcement and go-live, and one of those callings is elders quorum counselor, which is my current calling. If possible, I'd like to register and at least start getting trained so I can help others when we do go live. However, I have yet to find anyone in my stake who knows anything useful.

Thanks in advance.

rmrichesjr wrote:I recall reading of a considerable list of callings that should enable someone with one of those callings to register and learn the system between announcement and go-live, and one of those callings is elders quorum counselor, which is my current calling. If possible, I'd like to register and at least start getting trained so I can help others when we do go live.

Go to consultant.familysearch.org and register. Wait 3 business days and register at new.familysearch.org. If everything works, you should be in and able to start your self-training. (Assuming your ward's official temple district has been announced as to a go-live date.)

If you have problems and can't register after 3 business days, call the Family History Department and see if they can fix the problem.

rmrichesjr wrote:I recall reading of a considerable list of callings that should enable someone with one of those callings to register and learn the system between announcement and go-live, and one of those callings is elders quorum counselor, which is my current calling.

Those that can register include Stake President, Bishop, Elders Quorum President, and the High Priests Group Leader and all of these peoples Counselor's and HPGL Assistants. Also Family History Conusultants and Family History Center Directors.

After you register at the Conusltant page mentioned by Russell and waiting 72 hours you then register at newFamilySearch. When a Famliy History Consultant logs into newFamilySeach they can go to the Help Center page and they will have a "Training and Resources" tab where all the rollout training and instructions are located. I do not know if priesthood leaders will have this "Training and Resources" tab. The Stake President should have received all of this rollout information by mail.

Russell and Gary,

Thank you both for the instructions. I just signed up on the consultant page. The 'thank you for registering' page appears to say the training materials are available to both consultants and priesthood leaders. With luck, in about 73 hours I'll know for sure. 1/2

rmrichesjr wrote:Russell and Gary,

Thank you both for the instructions. I just signed up on the consultant page. The 'thank you for registering' page appears to say the training materials are available to both consultants and priesthood leaders. With luck, in about 73 hours I'll know for sure. 1/2

Note: The General Membership of the Church can register for newFamilySearch accounts on the Saturday before the Temple goes live on the new software. That exact date will be announced when you get closer to the actual start date.

Priesthood Leaders and Family History Consultants who register for their callings at the consultant.familysearch.org page can get advanced accounts to newFamilySearch as soon as the 3-4 Month notice is given, which has already been given for the Portland Temple.

GarysTurn wrote:Those that can register include Stake President, Bishop, Elders Quorum President, and the High Priests Group Leader and all of these peoples Counselor's and HPGL Assistants. Also Family History Conusultants and Family History Center Directors.

Stake Technology Specialist is also on the list. At least, it was one of the choices when I registered.

zaneclark wrote:Just received word from SL that the opening of the nFS in the Las Vegas temple district has been delayed due to "unresolved issues. No new date given...
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Evidently there are still "unresolved issues." I suppose the "middle of 2008 rol out for all temple districts" is not going to happen....

The Nauvoo temple district is live on NFS (as of August 2, 2008).

Anyone know if the Pocatello Idaho area is online with NFS?

zaneclark wrote:Anyone know if the Pocatello Idaho area is online with NFS?

The process of rolling out nFS to Utah and Idaho is only beginning the preparation stages. Stakes in only three temple districts (Rexburg Idaho, Manti Utah and Vernal Utah) have received notices to prepare for the rollout.

Since Pocatello is in the Idaho Falls temple district, the answer is no at this point.

zaneclark wrote:Anyone know if the Pocatello Idaho area is online with NFS?

Some URLs have been posted in this thread. One of them has moved, but the new URL is below:

http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/200 ... earch.html

http://milesmeyer.googlepages.com/templ ... milysearch

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dghmcg8f_2ghwdtmfz

Notice has been given to our Bishop that Logan, UT will be on within 90 days

Go to http://consultant.familysearch.org/ and click on the button on the right side across from 'register'.

On the next screen, a row of tabs above a welcome page will appear. Click on 'news and events'. You'll see a map and you will also see a link that says 'Logan, Utah'. Click on that and a spreadsheet will pop up, you'll see when your stake goes live, five are already set to go on June 2.

JamesAnderson wrote:Go to http://consultant.familysearch.org/ and click on the button on the right side across from 'register'.

On the next screen, a row of tabs above a welcome page will appear. Click on 'news and events'. You'll see a map and you will also see a link that says 'Logan, Utah'. Click on that and a spreadsheet will pop up, you'll see when your stake goes live, five are already set to go on June 2.

Thanks James! No more having to guess or wait for the latest rumors.

JamesAnderson wrote:Go to http://consultant.familysearch.org/ and click on the button on the right side across from 'register'.

On the next screen, a row of tabs above a welcome page will appear. Click on 'news and events'. You'll see a map and you will also see a link that says 'Logan, Utah'. Click on that and a spreadsheet will pop up, you'll see when your stake goes live, five are already set to go on June 2.

These pages may have changed a bit, but a few details are different:

• The button is labeled "Click Here", which is followed by "to go to the Utah and Idaho instructions."
• The tab is labeled "News and Updates"

I would also note that there is a section that says "Consultants in the following Utah and Idaho temple districts have been sent instructions to begin viewing the online training modules listed on the Prepare tab. These consultants may also begin using the new.familysearch.org Web site." It then lists six temple districts in Utah and Idaho. It does not list the Draper Utah temple, but I am in that district and I (a registered Stake Technology Specialist) received those instructions on Thursday (and indeed I was able to register, which was not true previously).