Genealogy Chat

Let me know what you think. Apologies if it has already been brought up. Margaret

Dear GR, To help those of us (im)patiently waiting to hear from people we have contacted through this site regarding their relatives, is there any way possible to do the following: The member that we are trying to contact already has their first name and membership number listed. Could you not also list when the relative’s names were added to the site (month/year) and if the submitter’s membership is currently active or inactive? That way, if the member had entered the name in 2003 and currently had an inactive membership, we would know that it will probably be a while before we hear from them – if ever. They could have changed their email address etc. Thank you.

anyone else?

Is there anyway that GR could send us an automated message if the e-mail address we were trying to contact was no longer in use. That way we would no we arn't going to get a reply. They must receive a bounce back message from the e-mail provider when they try to send the message on Tracey -x-

Brilliant idea!! They want a big site - they should be 'weeding' out those who have left, or else it will end up with half it's alleged members not here - like those sites you find where the last message was December 2002!! maggie

OK I will re-do my letter to include those suggestions, but I will wait until tomorrow, or later tonight my time, in case anyone else comes up with something. Margaret

Margaret What about adding 'Date of last posting' - or is that what you said already LOL, sorry, rather tired! Marjorie

Durh! I meant to say of course, 'Date last logged in' Marjorie

Haven't sent the letter yet. Any other suggestions? Margaret

Hi I have never sent a letter to GR but would it help if lots of us sents letters or did like a petition thread so they know that you are not alone with your comments? Penny

Well it is worth a try...........

Hi Also, how about knowing if the message we have sent has been read or not? The unread message alert disappears from the site when a message in our inbox has been read, so why not send a message to the senders mailbox or have a status icon next to the message so we know that it's been opened, read, deleted, responded, inactive etc. etc. You get them in Outlook so why not here too? Tracy

Hi Margaret, what an excellent idea. I have recently sent 2 messages to someone with a rellie of the same name as one of mine, and have not had a reply possibly because they are no longer an active member. I've not been with GR for very long and the majority of people I have had dealings with on GR have been absolutely fantastic. Good luck with your letter. Kind regards Jackie

A really great idea Margaret, I contacted someone on the site I know is my rellie but have not received a reply. If GR notified us of that persons status it could save so much disappointment when no reply is forthcoming.

Great Idea, It would stop a lot of wondering and waiting. Elaine

This is a great idea. All you really need is the last logged on bit (24 hours, This Week, This Month, Last 3 Months) and you'd get a feel about likely response time. J.

Hi Margaret Its worth a try........but.......iv been a member with GR almost 3years and in that time i have sent them 2 emails and not had a reply..........and i know of at least 4 other people who told me they never got a reply from GR either SO GOOD LUCK Christine

Something needs to be done. At a guess I'd say I only ever recieve a reply to 20% of emails I have sent. It get very annoying when emails are ignored. George

Got an answer this morning. Will be writing again to clarify that we would like an automated message if the mail to the registered email address is returned. Will re-mention about dates that relatives names are added. MY MESSAGE Dear GR, To help those of us (im)patiently waiting to hear from people we have contacted through this site regarding their relatives, is there any way possible to do the following: The member that we are trying to contact already has their first name and membership number listed. Could you not also list when the relative's names were added to the site (month/year). If the member is no longer active, could you send us an automated message when we forward a message to them. Could you send us an automated message if sent messages are returned as undeliverable. (The suggestions for automated messages are to save you time, but we would be just as glad to hear from you personally) That way, if the member had entered the name in 2003 and currently had an inactive membership, we would know that it will probably be a while before we hear from them - if ever. They could have changed their email address etc. Thank you. Margaret THEIR REPLY Thanks for your email. I am afraid we cannot force members to answer emails. When you send another member a message, it is delivered directly to their inbox on the site. We then also send an email to their registered email address advising them that they have received a message from you. As the site has recently changed some members are not yet aware that they have to enter into their registration on the site to see any messages they have received, there is no time limit for how long messages are allowed to stay on a members registration and will be seen when the member you have written to logs in again. Hopefully you will receive some replies soon. Regards Alex http://www.genesreunited.com

Members who do not renew their membership, their trees/family information should be removed from the site. This surely would make it easier for people who are genuinely interested in finding their ancestors. I to have unanswered emails.