14 replies to this topic

[david.harrison]

The myrootsmagic website hosting service to share our family trees with family members is sooo basic, it borders on the useless, especially when compared to the very nice presentation you get of a family tree on Ancestry.com.

 

RootsMagic have put minimal effort into their web presentation service and it badly needs upgrading.

 

In particular, when you click on the camera icon to the right of any person fact to view the image, we do not get a full blown image viewer - we see only a very tiny image with a close X box. The image cannot be resized, zoomed or panned. This renders most images useless as you can't see any detail in them.

What were RootsMagic thinking when they put that feature in?

 

Pleeease get this upgrade ASAP.

 

BTW, how is the possible syncing of a RootsMagic tree with Ancestry.com going? Has Ancestry.com opened up their API to RootsMagic yet?

 

Thanks.
 

 

[Renee Zamora]

We are hosting these websites for free, but need to limit the size of them, due to our costs. That is why images are reduced. Ancestry subscriptions cost far more than a one time purchase of RootsMagic, that is why they have more features. For a free comparison you would have to look at how Ancestry hosts RootsWeb websites and the features they offer.

 

Ancestry has not made an announcement that they are opening up the API to 3rd parties yet. They said they were considering it, but nothing more has happened. 

[RonB]

Why would someone switch from Ancestry/Family Tree to RootsMagic, then list all sorts of complaints (in multiple threads) with RootsMagic.  Not saying that there isn't room for improvement with RootsMagic, but those of us that have been using RootsMagic for some time, do not want a clone of Ancestry/Family Tree Maker (any more than we wanted a clone of TMG when TMG refugees switched to RM).  I have owned several versions of FTM and RootsMagic is far superior.  If I had wanted a program like Ancestry/FTM, I would have used Ancestry/FTM - I didn't want that.

[Laura]

I think the current version of the website could be free, and, if the user wants more bells and whistles, they should pay a monthly or yearly subscription for it to defray RM's extra expenses. And, perhaps, RM should add some profit in the subscription costs also.

[Renee Zamora]

I think the current version of the website could be free, and, if the user wants more bells and whistles, they should pay a monthly or yearly subscription for it to defray RM's extra expenses. And, perhaps, RM should add some profit in the subscription costs also.

 

That is a future considerations we are looking at. But, no time frame on implementing it. 

[Jerry Bryan]

I think the current version of the website could be free, and, if the user wants more bells and whistles, they should pay a monthly or yearly subscription for it to defray RM's extra expenses. And, perhaps, RM should add some profit in the subscription costs also.

 

This is a good suggestion, but I think it misses an important point. Namely, it should be possible to host a Web site generated by RM somewhere other than at MyRootsMagic. At the present time, the options to do so are to use pre-RM6 Web sites (not discoverable by Google or other search engines) or to use the old HTML Web sites (deprecated). I have my own Web site, and I'm happy to use the old HTML Web sites. But if/when the old HTML Web sites go away (for example with the RM rewrite), I'm not going to be a very happy camper.

 

Jerry

[mleroux]

 

This is a good suggestion, but I think it misses an important point. Namely, it should be possible to host a Web site generated by RM somewhere other than at MyRootsMagic. At the present time, the options to do so are to use pre-RM6 Web sites (not discoverable by Google or other search engines) or to use the old HTML Web sites (deprecated). I have my own Web site, and I'm happy to use the old HTML Web sites. But if/when the old HTML Web sites go away (for example with the RM rewrite), I'm not going to be a very happy camper.

 

Jerry

 

Agreed. It's fine that RM is offering a free web site, but there has to be the possibility to do more - and outside of a RM environment. The ability to generate HTML version was something on my checklist when selecting a new program.

[mleroux]

I'd like to see the ability to add a linked page based on a named group. That would mean being able to enter a title and description with a list of people based on a specified group. I can do that right now, but would have to create the page on another site - and if I have to do that then I have to consider why I wouldn't host the entire site elsewhere.

 

Right now I only use the RM site for collaboration with others, so I do believe that I get value from it - so the free site is appreciated. I' be happy to pay for extended features if they were sufficient to warrant the cost. I'd have to weight that against hosting it myself with a plain html version

[david.harrison]

 

Agreed. It's fine that RM is offering a free web site, but there has to be the possibility to do more - and outside of a RM environment. The ability to generate HTML version was something on my checklist when selecting a new program.

I (the original poster) agree with this too. I can quite understand Renee's point about the RM website hosting being free, compared to the very expensive Ancestry one and I would even be willing to pay some money for a subscription based enhanced RM website hosting service.

 

But as the last poster said, it would be even better if we had the freedom to host our RM tree website on any hosting service we choose. However, it is not as simple as it sounds and cannot be adequately done using static HTML pages. For example, all the RM data is stored in an SQL database, so in order for the web hosting service to allow complete freedom over navigating any part(s) of the family tree we wish, the same SQL data has to be hosted in an SQL database such as SQLite 3 or even MYSQL on the web server such that an RM web application can dynamically generate the web pages for serving to the web browser. This makes hosting an RM tree on just any old web server problematic, to say the least.

[mleroux]

 it is not as simple as it sounds and cannot be adequately done using static HTML pages.

 

I've done website development for years and the only certainty is that no approach would satisfy everyone. Today RM can create xml and html versions of website pages. My preference would be that there is an integrated solution , but I can also live with building my own. I'm happy that RM provides what they do, but yes, it can be improved, and that needs to be a business decision they make - or don't.

[robertjacobs0]

John Cardinal, the author of Second Site, is working on a program which will make very flexible and presentable web sites. Second Site draws its data direct from TMG data files; the new program will take its information from GED files and can thus be used with any genealogical program which exports GEDs.

 

I'm told that John's work is progressing well and we should see a public version soon, perhaps this spring.

 

If you Google "Second Site" you will find links to the kinds of web sites that can be made with John's software. Alternatively, feel free to look at mine, www.jacobsbackstory.com.

 

 

 

Robert

[raineshoe]

Have to say I find Roots Magic and other family tree programs websites very poor.  I have my own web address and like to load stuff up to that, but to get anything half decent I've had to transfer all my data into The Next Generation and upload to get a decent looking site.  This is one area seriously lacking and I don't want to be tied into Ancestry or others for a nice web site.

[koornalla]

Hi all,

 

I thought I would buy into this thread to add my thoughts. I actually think that what MyRootsmagic does is good but it does not do enough to satisfy most serious (or even semi serious) family researchers.

 

I come from a TMG/Second Site background so I like the fact that MyRootsmagic takes it's data directly from the Rootsmagic database. This is very similar to TMG/Second Site. Second Site actually does too much so I sort of like the simplicity of MyRootsMagic. The only problem is that it is far to simply and limiting.

 

I pay for web space and a domain address to host my (now hopelessly out of date) Second Site site. I would definitely pay for an enhanced version of MyRootsmagic.I am currently forwarding my paid domain to MyRootsmagic to get up to date data out to my users.

 

At this early stage its not much point requesting enhancements to include in an enhanced MyRootsMagic until Rootsmagic can see a business case to offer this sort of service. I am sure Rootsmagic could survey it's user base to determine if there was a good business case to provide an enhanced version of MyRootsmagic. The other option is to outsource (part or all of it) it to someone else who thinks they could make a buck out of it. As I previously stated, the ability to take data straight off the Rootsmagic very very very handy.

 

 

Wayne Thurley

[robertjacobs0]

John Cardinal's GedSite program, which I mentioned in a post here on January 31 (it's #11, above), is now in a late beta testing stage. It will go far towards providing the features the OP and other posters have requested.

 

 

Robert

[koornalla]

Hi Robert,

 

I know this is off topic but where do you get your information for the release of Gedsite? I have heard nothing since April 19.

 

I would still pay for an enhanced MyRootsMagic rather than go to Gedsite. With MyRootsMagic you do not have the extra GED export step with all it's (potential) translation problems.

 

 

 

Wayne Thurley