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By meef98367 |

What is going on now at the "new" Family Search site?

My Windows XP with IE8 was working fine, now it seems they have changed things. I no longer get the little hand that grabs and moves the page around smoothly, nor the little box on the bottom right corner where you could zoom. Instead there seem to be two double pointed crossed arrows that do nothing but make the page jump around erratically, and I can't go from one page to another without a lot of delay. Arrrgh!

Emilie
Port Orchard. WA

The functionality of the Family Search website has changed.

There is a different indicator for the page as it loads (I like the old one better).

The controls are all at the top of the screen.

The "full screen" control expands the screen, and stills keeps the control keys available (unlike before).

One of the NR members said they can no longer print a portion of the image. It can still be done, but the best was is to SAVE the image (control is at the right, next to PRINT). Save the image with a meaningful name (change the default "record_image.jpg"). On my computer the default is that downloaded files go into the "Download" folder (I'm using Windows Vista; Windows 7 will be the same): you can change this.

A picture viewer comes with the Windows operating system; there are others that are free (eg, Picassa, as an example), or others you can purchase.

Open the image with a picture viewer, and crop the image to the area you want. You can save the cropped image if you choose.

I verified this process tonight, and it works. Also, I am using the latest version of Mozilla Firefox (this is free software).

It would have been nice if there had been some announcement of the changes, rather than just doing it.

George Fulton
Pleasanton, CA

George,

I got an answer from Feedback to my complaint to them when I couldn't figure out last night what had happened to the old functions for the images. I will put that answer up later, since I am so rattled right now I can't think straight. It is such a change, and they don't even give you a warning. I fail to see what the big deal would be to just put up a little announcement about major changes like this. They mentioned that they themselves were still having trouble with the zoom function.

I am especially concerned about no longer being able to print out a perfect clear image of just a portion of the page. That was one of the best features it had. To download the whole page and then crop it later somehow loses the clarity when you enlarge it to view it. A cousin of mine has always downloaded the whole page, then cropped the portion she wants, but then when she sends the image to me and I enlarge it, it is all pixilated because cropping corrupts the clarity, so I had to then find the image myself and then use the former cropping function from the image in order to get a clear image. When I used to crop the image from their former functions, my Windows Picture Viewer provided very clear images no matter what size I printed.

I mentioned to Feedback that the new little double pointed arrows crossed over each other, one horizontal and one vertrical, that appear over the body of the image (where the little hand used to appear) makes the image bounce around all over the place and I could never make the page stand still to browse it. They misunderstood me and thought I meant the zoom arrows at the top bar. I preferred the side and top bars that moved the image, and the little box at the bottom right that showed in yellow the area you were on the page and the zoom size.

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA

> To: general@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
> From: gpf13@aol.com
> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:53:14 -0700
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Family Search website changes - printing images
>
> The functionality of the Family Search website has changed.
>
> There is a different indicator for the page as it loads (I like the old one better).
>
> The controls are all at the top of the screen.
>
> The "full screen" control expands the screen, and stills keeps the control keys available (unlike before).
>
> One of the NR members said they can no longer print a portion of the image. It can still be done, but the best was is to SAVE the image (control is at the right, next to PRINT). Save the image with a meaningful name (change the default "record_image.jpg"). On my computer the default is that downloaded files go into the "Download" folder (I'm using Windows Vista; Windows 7 will be the same): you can change this.
>
> A picture viewer comes with the Windows operating system; there are others that are free (eg, Picassa, as an example), or others you can purchase.
>
> Open the image with a picture viewer, and crop the image to the area you want. You can save the cropped image if you choose.
>
> I verified this process tonight, and it works. Also, I am using the latest version of Mozilla Firefox (this is free software).
>
> It would have been nice if there had been some announcement of the changes, rather than just doing it.
>
> George Fulton
> Pleasanton, CA

Emily

I wonder if the software your cousin is using is saving the cropped image with lower resolution. That might the source of the problem; you may want to ask her if she has the option of saving with a higher resolution.

I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my office machine (Windows 7), and it does not reduce the resolution. On my home machine (Windows Vista), Picassa works similar (not reducing resolution).

Does any NR member have another idea?

George Fulton
Pleasanton, CA

George, that is exactly what I think is happening and I was going to say the
same thing. Her cousin is probably doing it to save hard drive space or her
program is doing it without her knowing. It could also be that when she send
the images the email program might be compressing the images.

Emily, the images on FamilySearch have the same resolution as always with
200 dpi and 8 bit depth. There would be no reason for them to change the
resolution of the images. Any image that has bad resolution was like that
from the beginning. Have your cousin send you the link as Barbara suggested.

As far as moving the image around I am not having an issue. As they say the
mouse pointer doesn't change from the arrowed cross to a hand but when I
click on the image I am able to move the image just fine. I actually like
the changes and had always wished the zoom function was at the top and the
hand would lock up on me a lot. I'm hoping these changes fixed that.

You really should try using Firefox www.mozilla.org/firefox or Chrome
www.google.com/chrome

Armando

On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 2:57 PM, wrote:

> Emily
>
> I wonder if the software your cousin is using is saving the cropped image
> with lower resolution. That might the source of the problem; you may want to
> ask her if she has the option of saving with a higher resolution.
>
> I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my office machine (Windows
> 7), and it does not reduce the resolution. On my home machine (Windows
> Vista), Picassa works similar (not reducing resolution).
>
> Does any NR member have another idea?
>
> George Fulton
> Pleasanton, CA

Emilie,

My problems were resolved when I changed my browser to firefox per your e-mail from the help desk. I too am not having problems and I actually like it better with the latest changes.

Try firefox and see, it could solve all issues.

Alicia

________________________________
From: Armando
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Pixilated Images

George, that is exactly what I think is happening and I was going to say the
same thing. Her cousin is probably doing it to save hard drive space or her
program is doing it without her knowing. It could also be that when she send
the images the email program might be compressing the images.

Emily, the images on FamilySearch have the same resolution as always with
200 dpi and 8 bit depth. There would be no reason for them to change the
resolution of the images. Any image that has bad resolution was like that
from the beginning. Have your cousin send you the link as Barbara suggested.

As far as moving the image around I am not having an issue. As they say the
mouse pointer doesn't change from the arrowed cross to a hand but when I
click on the image I am able to move the image just fine. I actually like
the changes and had always wished the zoom function was at the top and the
hand would lock up on me a lot. I'm hoping these changes fixed that.

You really should try using Firefox www.mozilla.org/firefox or Chrome
www.google.com/chrome

Armando

On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 2:57 PM, wrote:

> Emily
>
> I wonder if the software your cousin is using is saving the cropped image
> with lower resolution. That might the source of the problem; you may want to
> ask her if she has the option of saving with a higher resolution.
>
> I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my office machine (Windows
> 7), and it does not reduce the resolution. On my home machine (Windows
> Vista), Picassa works similar (not reducing resolution).
>
> Does any NR member have another idea?
>
> George Fulton
> Pleasanton, CA

Alicia,

Thanks for your input. I guess I will try downloading Firefox and see what happens. I guess if something goes wrong, the people at Office Depot can fix it.

Emilie

> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:09:32 -0700
> From: alliecar@pacbell.net
> To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
> Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Pixilated Images
>
> Emilie,
>
> My problems were resolved when I changed my browser to firefox per your e-mail from the help desk. I too am not having problems and I actually like it better with the latest changes.
>
> Try firefox and see, it could solve all issues.
>
> Alicia
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Armando
> To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Pixilated Images
>
> George, that is exactly what I think is happening and I was going to say the
> same thing. Her cousin is probably doing it to save hard drive space or her
> program is doing it without her knowing. It could also be that when she send
> the images the email program might be compressing the images.
>
>
> Emily, the images on FamilySearch have the same resolution as always with
> 200 dpi and 8 bit depth. There would be no reason for them to change the
> resolution of the images. Any image that has bad resolution was like that
> from the beginning. Have your cousin send you the link as Barbara suggested.
>
> As far as moving the image around I am not having an issue. As they say the
> mouse pointer doesn't change from the arrowed cross to a hand but when I
> click on the image I am able to move the image just fine. I actually like
> the changes and had always wished the zoom function was at the top and the
> hand would lock up on me a lot. I'm hoping these changes fixed that.
>
> You really should try using Firefox www.mozilla.org/firefox or Chrome
> www.google.com/chrome
>
>
> Armando
>
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 2:57 PM, wrote:
>
> > Emily
> >
> > I wonder if the software your cousin is using is saving the cropped image
> > with lower resolution. That might the source of the problem; you may want to
> > ask her if she has the option of saving with a higher resolution.
> >
> > I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my office machine (Windows
> > 7), and it does not reduce the resolution. On my home machine (Windows
> > Vista), Picassa works similar (not reducing resolution).
> >
> > Does any NR member have another idea?
> >
> > George Fulton
> > Pleasanton, CA
> > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> > Nuestros Ranchos General Mailing List
> >
> > To post, send email to:
> > general(at)nuestrosranchos.org
> >
> > To change your subscription, log on to:
> > http://www.nuestrosranchos.org
> >

Armando,

Thank you for your input.

What my cousin does is she saves the whole page image, then she somehow crops it (that is where she might not be using the correct resolution), then she uploads it to her Ancestry.com tree. She tells me to look at her tree for all the images and photos and stories she puts up there. So it could be that when I open her images from Ancestry.com, maybe they have compressed it. I hate to ask her to change her routine and just send me the link---that would be an extra step for her. And like many people, she puts all her lines in one tree, not just the one we share, and she has thousands of photos, images, and thousands of people. I tell my cousins to make one tree for each line, but they are so proud to say how many more thousands of people are in their trees.

I don't know what kind of operating program or browser she has, but apparently whatever it is she isn't having any problem with finding images on the new Family Search Viewer, or she would have mentioned it.

I guess I will have to take this computer in and see why it is so slow to open up the home page and the e-mail page. I didn't care about that, but I do care that I can no longer browse the images. I was able to view them perfectly and the computer was not slow when I was on Family Search. Maybe Office Depot can clean it up and install a new better browser, but I am stuck with the XP system.

I wish I was as computer literate as most of the members here (you lost me when you mentioned dpi and bits; I am an old lady that can't learn new tricks.

Thanks again,

Emilie

> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:50:23 -0500
> From: fandemma@gmail.com
> To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
> Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Pixilated Images
>
> George, that is exactly what I think is happening and I was going to say the
> same thing. Her cousin is probably doing it to save hard drive space or her
> program is doing it without her knowing. It could also be that when she send
> the images the email program might be compressing the images.
>
>
> Emily, the images on FamilySearch have the same resolution as always with
> 200 dpi and 8 bit depth. There would be no reason for them to change the
> resolution of the images. Any image that has bad resolution was like that
> from the beginning. Have your cousin send you the link as Barbara suggested.
>
> As far as moving the image around I am not having an issue. As they say the
> mouse pointer doesn't change from the arrowed cross to a hand but when I
> click on the image I am able to move the image just fine. I actually like
> the changes and had always wished the zoom function was at the top and the
> hand would lock up on me a lot. I'm hoping these changes fixed that.
>
> You really should try using Firefox www.mozilla.org/firefox or Chrome
> www.google.com/chrome
>
>
> Armando
>
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 2:57 PM, wrote:
>
> > Emily
> >
> > I wonder if the software your cousin is using is saving the cropped image
> > with lower resolution. That might the source of the problem; you may want to
> > ask her if she has the option of saving with a higher resolution.
> >
> > I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my office machine (Windows
> > 7), and it does not reduce the resolution. On my home machine (Windows
> > Vista), Picassa works similar (not reducing resolution).
> >
> > Does any NR member have another idea?
> >
> > George Fulton
> > Pleasanton, CA
> > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> > Nuestros Ranchos General Mailing List
> >
> > To post, send email to:
> > general(at)nuestrosranchos.org
> >
> > To change your subscription, log on to:
> > http://www.nuestrosranchos.org
> >

Hello Emilie,

I share your concerns over the resolution issues with Family Search. I intend to share my concerns through their feedback link also. My cousin and I are also researching our family, although different branches, and we email each other the link from the Family Search website we wish to share with one another. Perhaps until this issue is resolved you and your cousin my consider doing the same, just email the link to the page you are sharing. This may help for the time being.

Thanks,
Barbara

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