32 replies to this topic

[les.warden]

You will never get to love Facebook

Vyger is right. Went there, joined, then quit. Typical FB group, all over the place. Now the RM8 thread was closed and we're told to goto FB. Guess I'll find out about RM8.....whenever.....however.

[rwcrooks]

I used to use Facebook, but gave it up over a year ago.  When I tried to get on FB again, I immediately received a message that I have violated their community standards and am locked out.  So I set up another username and was immediately locked out again.  There is no real way to find out what my offense is nor is there a way to appeal the decision.

 

So, I guess that I am locked out of the RM Facebook community.  That's too bad, since the current forum provides so much helpful, searchable information and solutions.  Plus the back-and-forth between users is invaluable.

 

I beseech the Roots Magician to reverse his decision to eliminate these forums.

[les.warden]

I would also request the Roots Magician look into keeping this BB-type forum platform. As I posted earlier, maybe this platform needs to be ported over to PHPBB. PHPBB is Open Source, very well supported, and widely used. There appear to be tools available for porting from IP.Board (this platform) to PHPBB (latest version). FB just isn't a thread-oriented platform like a Bulletin Board. FB makes following a specific thread (and ignoring others) very difficult.

 

Please reconsider.   

[Less]

There are a plethora of reasons I have made the sad decision to convert to another program as my primary desktop genealogy software. However, this move from self-hosted support forum to FB groups is definitely an item on the list that reinforces my decision. There is simply no way for a FB group to be an adequate official support forum. 

[rob p]

I know this won’t meet Tom Holden’s excellent standard for “a good post”, but I’m going to post it anyway… and, before you delete it, I ask Roots Magic administration to read & consider this seriously.

 

I recently migrated from another genealogy program to RM. This was my third attempt in five years. Each time, I got frustrated with the program navigation and some sorely missing functionality. I was committed to making it stick this time. This forum helped a lot.

 

There were a few things I absolutely hated about RM7, but the promise of RM8 gave me hope. I was terribly disappointed. Nothing I hoped for - save the consolidation of identical citations – is there.  Almost nothing I’ve seen commented on and wished for - for years here -came through. (I’d still like to SEE that elusive invisible “enhancement request list” Renee always defers to.)

 

I have maintained my prized, 17-years-in-the-making, data on three different genealogy programs (four, counting RM8) for the last two months in search for a “forever” primary desktop solution. No easy task! It’s time to move on. I’m a genealogist, not a program analyst.

I’ve decided on another format. The abandonment of this forum and the move to Facebook for communal support was the ‘final straw’ for RM.

 

I know you won’t miss me, but you probably will, the many like me.

[Vyger]

(I’d still like to SEE that elusive invisible “enhancement request list” Renee always defers to.)

 

I know you won’t miss me, but you probably will, the many like me.

Any business who does not miss their customers will not be in business for very long and the mass exodus stated here is only the tip of the iceberg imo, It's easy to lose customers and supporters like you, I and the many others who have declared the throwing in of the towel, but it's a completely different and tougher challenge to try and win them and their support back after completely dismissing their needs.

 

All my images have now been removed from these Rootsmagic forums ad the company have declared the archiving of it in the near future so for now the link below is as close as you will get to that elusive and largely unfulfilled list which will be erased from history in the very near future, but then we just take our inspirations, visions and ideas to another provider and invest in their product. Que Sera Sera.

 

Enhancement Request List

[lighthouse]

Any business who does not miss their customers will not be in business for very long and the mass exodus stated here is only the tip of the iceberg imo, It's easy to lose customers and supporters like you, I and the many others who have declared the throwing in of the towel, but it's a completely different and tougher challenge to try and win them and their support back after completely dismissing their needs.

 

All my images have now been removed from these Rootsmagic forums ad the company have declared the archiving of it in the near future so for now the link below is as close as you will get to that elusive and largely unfulfilled list which will be erased from history in the very near future, but then we just take our inspirations, visions and ideas to another provider and invest in their product. Que Sera Sera.

 

Enhancement Request List

Well said Vyger. The line of troops goes well into the distance.

[TomH]

All my images have now been removed from these Rootsmagic forums 

 

No, that is false. It is your site vyger.co.uk where you hosted your images that is gone or suspended. The image links in your posts now forward to http://123-reg-suspe...cbe2c9c456661d6

 

[Vyger]

 

No, that is false. It is your site vyger.co.uk where you hosted your images that is gone or suspended. The image links in your posts now forward to http://123-reg-suspe...cbe2c9c456661d6

 

 

You are quite the sleuth Tom, they told me they would be deleted so I made sure I dragged them back to my computer, will look into those links more tomorrow.

[dandennison84]

Facebook is not a good interface for serious group discussions and doesn't offer anything like a forum where we can post on specific topics.  If RootsMagic is intent on not having a forum moving forward, might I suggest a Discord server as well as a Reddit group?  The combination of Reddit and Discord has transplanted most types of forum interactions over the last few years.

[Nettie]

I also agree to keep this forum going.  I did access the FB page several years ago. Have not been back and was not impressed. Some of RM ?'s and ideas show up on Technology for Genealogy FB page.  FB Do over Genealogy also has some good ideas.  Have found  a lot of good suggestions for other items on those site.  Depends on what you are looking for for helps.  Was on the mail log and it was good, but have changed addresses and have not updated that set up. 

[Rick Landrum]

I've been following the comments on this topic as well. I support the idea of keeping this forum going. I have received so much good information and tips from this forum that I'd hate to think what my RM experience would have been like without it. For many reasons, mostly not related to genealogy, I have no intention of using facebook. Hope we keep this site going.

Rick

 

 

[JCK74656]

Facebook is not a good interface for serious group discussions and doesn't offer anything like a forum where we can post on specific topics.

 

It's nice to see Rootsmagic have learnt from the errors of their ways except where did the recent posts which used the "dictatorship" on the Wish List "RM8 Forum" thread go?

 

I left the Facebook shambles over a year ago after being put on moderation for speaking to close to the truth so my posts were effectively censored and my opinion was stiffled, I was gagged. Searching these forums now it would appear that many of my historical posts have also been deleted same as the one by Ludlow Bay. In my opinion Rootsmagic continues to condone the practice of blocking on Facebook where a particular work around apologist works to help them control the narritive in conjunction with their own censorship.

 

So lets look at the facts,

 

• Rootsmagic stop new users joining these forums, can't remember when.
• Rootsmagic declare there will not be an RM8 thread on these forums
• Rootsmagic declare these forums will be closed in preference to Facebook for the future.
• Rootsmagic continue to lose users to other platforms, one in particular and in my opinion will never return.
• Rootsmagic continue to draw bad press and user opinions by not embracing their users.

 

For me it is simple,

 

• Archive and remove the wealth of structured and searchable discussions on these boards including a wish list which contains many good ideas even prior to RM7, the majority of which have not been addressed.
• Adopt the Facebook Group option despite numerous user concerns and objections, a platform which is totally unstructured and difficult to search, therefore having no topics or no effective archive.
• Your opinion does not matter, we can just ignore it on Facebook and takl about something else tomorrow.

 

Can you not see the twisted logic? inbstead of someone pointing to something being wished for or discussed 8 years ago they simply wipe the slate clean. I have a copy of RM8, one does not need to jump through the registration hoops to get one, just download it and use the generic product key for the trial. In my humble opinion it needs a lot more than some "spit and polish", many RM7 features are not even part of the program and many of those which are have various problems causing great user frustration. If you wish to stay with Rootsmagic in their brave new world order and keep your opinion to yourself then I would advise sticking with RM7 or instead of wasting time learning a less productive program requiring many more clicks and much greater use of the mouse to achieve just about anything why not use that time evaluating another program which does cater for keyboard shortcuts and provides a feature rich productive interface, you just never know how that will work out.

 

Note to Rootsmagic: there is deliberately nothing untruthful or abusive in this post apart from the fact you may not welcome my truthful opinions. By the time you read this I will have screen captured the content and also saved the test to file. If you do decide to exercise your biased censorship methods by deleting my opinions then I will copy and publish this explaining my experience on various platforms outside your control. That is not a threat unless you threaten my right to free speech and opinion by deleting this post, so please don't percieve it as such.

 

Personally, I find it sad when anyone in business loses touch with their customer base, new customers and clean reputations are hard to find.