General Chat

Marjorie! As always - you talk the most perfect sense! Your post is the one I agree with out of the many hundreds (seems like it) I have read over the past few days! Thank You! ;o)

And MY opinion is - slow slow slooooooow! Just been on Familysearch - which is a FREE site, folks, - no probs there - but got the green page and then the white page here, then a message to say it was my server - off I went to Familysearch with no prob whatsoever so it isnt MY server! OK, subs on here are only £7.50 or whatever, good value for money when its working, total rip-off when it isnt. This site is a victim of its own success, started by someone with a brilliant money-making idea but no real idea of what genealogy entails. I come on here merely for the fun and for the invaluable info that OTHER PAYING MEMBERS freely give me - GR gives me nothing, except a venue at which to meet those generous people.It ought to have the decency to ensure that it at least allows me to do that. Having been beaten down by the constant vigilance of the 'wrong board' police, I am now trying to post my most trivial observations on the General Board, which I am informed, is the correct place for such stuff. I have to close my eyes, I must admit, when I pass threads of such stultifying triviality I blush for the lack of, erm, intelligence, some people display. They no doubt think the same of me. I am slightly puzzled as to why GR 'allows' a board for non-genealogical discussion - this is after all supposed to be a site dedicated to Genealogical Research. I suspect it is to encourage a feeling of 'mateyness' so that we are all on here day and night with our cyber friends. Like any group though, some people like each other, some don't and some naturally gravitate together. Its nothing to do with being cliquey, its just how life is. And I don't understand this 'I'm being ignored' thingy - maybe no-one has anything sensible or otherwise to say at that precise moment in time. There are far too many sensitive souls on this site, methinks! Olde Crone

Peter,I have considered all those things and in fact my computer was wiped clean and reloaded with XP Pro only 2 days ago.My computer was totally wiped,and the broadband disc was only installed yesterday.I was in correspondce with 2 other people off site,who both had the same problem. Before my computer was redone,I cleared out my files every other day,and ran adware through every week.I got rid of Norton because i was advised that it slows down the computer.I use another site every day that involves very quick financial transactions,split seconds,and ive never had problems with that. If i was certain,but I'm not,i would suggest there is a possibility that either there is too much material on this site,old threads etc....or the site needs some sort of capacity upgrading,but not being a computer expert,these are purely guesswork.

I am going to ask what may seem like an imputent question, but it is this:of Grandma and Alter ego Do you have names by which we may know you better? If not (and you dont have to reply on here) are either of you really qualified to say? Jess x

Hi Peter and Grandma You both have some valid points there. Can I say Peter that I am having quite a lot of probs at some times and it takes more than a couple of clicks back to sort it out. I can't tell you the amount of times my computer has nearly been launched out of the window! lol. But the fact still remains that I don't have the same probs on other sites. Yes there do seem to be nasty people on here who do come across as being nice but are actually quite the opposite. I would advise any member to just sit back and read for a while instead of posting. You will then get a better idea of who you want to talk to. But on the whole I think the members of this site are a great bunch. I love to hear all sides of a debate and some of the subjects dicussed certainly give me food for thought. Don't let the minority spoil it for the majority!

Peter you must in the priveleged minority,never to have had experienced any significant access problems.my computer is state of the art,carries very little in baggage,is free from problems,is regularly maintained,and is on 2 meg. I shouldnt have to wait half an hour trying to get on the boards in order to function help to another member on this site. The choice of members to instigate banter or fun threads or any topic outside of geneaology, is part of this site,no-one is asking you to join in ,if you dont want to.Threre is something for everybody on this site,thats the way it will only ever prosper....remember there are many walks of life on this site....some young,spirited and enthusiastic,some come and go between other things,some old and cynical,some serious geneaologists.This is what makes the world go round. On the technical side I havent a clue what causes the blocking out of people,all i know is that a lot of people are rightfully naffed off with the repeated occurence of this problem.

Why 'assume' that 'browers' do not pay? I joined GR from Friends RU when it first started so have used this site longer than many of those who made snide comments. It has deteriorated sadly over the past couple of years. There have been may people who were a joy to read but who, sadly, have left - not because of the slowness of the site or inability to download quickly but because when they have posted they have been 'put' down. Many good threads have been lost because of nasty comments or been taken over by the 'chatters'. Who cares which bottle you hit or how many drams you imbibed, or whether or not you are now going to bed! Use the chat board for trivia. This site DOES have it's problems - the main one not being it's slowness (with which I agree on occaisions and often that is not the fault of the site itself but on personal pc's and excessive use) but with the sniping and nastiness which is reappearing. I agree with one of the posts which says we should have just one thread for gripes! It gets sickening to see half a dozen, mostly the same people saying the same darn things over again. I agree too with several people who threaten to leave because they feel there IS a clique which makes them feel unwelcome. I have had the same feelings many times. Years ago I used one particular site which eventually went down because of the actions of the users - griping, foul language and disrespect. I would hate to see this site go the same way. Let's use the general topics board for what it was intended - genealogy, fun, knowledge, getting to know people and making new folk welcome. Send your gripes to GR - they can hardly be expected to read every moan thread and an excess of emails works better. I DID pay, I do and will 'browse' and THIS IS my opinion ..and I am not going anywhere - just wish the good ones who left would return...and Thanks Paul & Bob!

Thanks for all your input.......didnt think it would develop.but there are obviously a lot of unhappy bunnies out there. My uttereance was borne out of utter frustration. The site jamming up was preventing me help someone on the tips board in the early hours,a time when the site was moving slowly anyway.the front page of tips had threads going back over 3 hours previously,and it seemed impossible to conclude that the problems were due to traffic....the roads were virtually deserted, as if it were new years day.

My opinion,For what its worth is this.I don,t use this site as often as others,however,I,m a fully paid up member and I expect to get what I pay for.If I go into a Restaraunt for a meal and its not right,I send it back,with a complaint.If no one does this,they tend to get complacent about things and nothing gets done. So GR.should get its act together and do what they say they will,and what members Pay them for. Hal.

yes a mere apology from genes would be nice and a reply when emailing them to complain.i haven't had one yet!

Please also send messages to GR. They do answer my messages to them. :-) Joy

I have been told many times here that this site is good value for money, yes admittedly the cost of membership does indeed appear to be good value for money, but in my book how ever much I pay for something be it good value or expensive.....if it doesn't work properly I WILL complain. That is my right as a member! I said on another thread.... Rice here is good value for money but if I get the bag home and find it has weevils in I will complain!!! I too am not in the UK and use the site when it is 'quiet' you would think 'great no problems' you would be wrong! And Poirot if you don't think this is a discussion perhaps you should get out your dictionary!!! Jacquie xxxx

You thought wrong then Poirot! This is a General topics board. General covers everything from serious to lighthearted threads which I think you will find on here. Judging by your membership number, I can see you are a relatively new member. So you will not remember the days when all queries - genealogical or otherwise - were all on the same board. Us longer standing members requested the General Board so that it didn't interfere with those trying to do research into their trees. If you have ever used Chat you will know that it is woefully inadequate. That is why lots of members use msn for general chit-chat. As has been said many times before, if you don't like a thread then don't read it!

I agree with Grandma ! there are too many people talking a lot of old twaddle ! ( mostly women ) why don't they use the chat board instead ? I thought this was for sensible discussions ?

Morning Girls! , Yes what you say is true, but I was inferring that our colonial cousin's problems might also be THEIR end, and added to, this end. 2:30 AM you would think that it would be like lightning!! Some sites I go to are so quick that they are there, before I am........LOL but others are pathetically slow......... Bob

I think you are right about that Bob, and if it was just slowness I suppose we might learn to cope (I can always find something else to do while waiting), but that doesn't explain the continual error messages once logged onto GR. Bev x

Morning Bob! While I do realise that it can be the fault of your local internet network (mine is notoriously bad!) it wouldn't explain the fact that other sites seem to be running at the correct speed when this one isn't. Because my network is particularly bad, I always go to another site when I'm having trouble on here, just to check if it's the site or my network. 9 times out of 10 it is the site! Jeanette x

Hi Bob, I'm also on broadband but GR is the only site I have this problem with on a regular basis. I always check out other sites when GR goes AWOL but they are all working perfectly well. My problem lies only with GR Gwynne

I feel that I must add a little,,yes this site DOES get a bit slow, But I dont believe that it is ALL down to Genes.. Some of the trouble can be the fact that your ' Local internet net work'' ie your BT line, or whatever you use, being clogged up with traffic.........I am on broadband and sometimes (to me it can be pathetically slow, but others might be glad to get the speed that I do) Other sites also slow down dramatically.. ie a legal and general site sometimes sits there for possibly hours.......not connecting properly Bob

Any one else just had to battle to get on this morning? Refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh ..... Beth :)