We’ve been working to refine the designs of the FamilySearch Alpha project. Thanks to so many of you that have provided feedback through comments on the blog or using our feedback links. Please keep it coming. Here are some almost-but-not-quite-ripe design concepts. Take a look and let us know what you think.

We’ve made some small tweaks to the home page. The images below show tweaks to the other main ‘landing’ pages and sub-pages. Take a look and let us know what you think.

Indexing. The Indexing landing page helps people volunteer and start indexing names from historical records.

Learning. The Learning landing page provides access to the following pages.

Learning Courses. Learning courses presents a complete catalog of both online courses and courses taught in the Family History Library.

Topical Article. Topical or skill-based articles that are created and maintained by a community of volunteers.

Location Article. Location-specific articles that are created and maintained by a community of volunteers.

Family History Library Landing Page. The Family History Library landing page provides access to the following pages.

Find a Family History Center. The Find a Family History Center page allows you to do a map-based search for Family History Centers around the world.

Family History Library Class Schedule. The class schedule shows upcoming classes that will be held at the Family History Library.

Family History Library Map and Directions. The map and directions will help people find their way to the library.

Search Landing Page. The Search page allows you to search all of the great content on the site. Some additional views of the search page follow.

Family History Library Catalog Search. Find resources sources available through the Family History Library and Family History Centers.

Search Learning Articles and Courses. Find articles and courses that can help you learn how to research in different parts of the world or improve your research skills.

Search for Ancestors. Find your ancestors in online historical records and trees.

Sign-in or Register.

We would love to get your reactions to this images. Please leave us a comment (or two or three…).

Many of you have probably noticed the FamilySearch Alpha project which we’ve quietly been working on here at FamilySearch Labs. Other than listing it as a project on FamilySearch Labs and a few mentions in the FamilySearch Group on Facebook, we haven’t really shared broadly what we’re up to – until now.

FamilySearch Alpha is the beginning of a great new world. The purpose of the project is to replace the current www.FamilySearch.org website with a new site at the same address that integrates all of the new technologies and record sets we’ve been working on (like Record Search, Family Tree, Research Wiki, etc.) into one easy to use experience. Instead of using these tools individually, you will simply go to www.FamilySearch.org to work on your family history.

The first release will introduce a fresh new look and feel and integrate the following features:

• Search for historical records (leveraging Record Search and Library Catalog technology)
• Learning and how-to (showcasing the Research Wiki and Library Research Series)
• Find a Family History Center (updated to leverage the cool new maps.lds.org)
• And much more

Check out the FamilySearch Alpha project and let us know what you think. Just click the feedback link to share your thoughts or leave a comment on the blog.

Forgotten Username?

Just click on the link Forgot? under the Sign-in name box to get help remembering your username.

Forgotten Password?

Just click on the link Forgot? under the Sign in name box to get help remembering your username.

Registration:

You can now Register for the new FamilySearch from the Family Tree login page. Simply click on the link near the bottom right, Register for the new FamilySearch…

News and Updates

On the sign in page you can click on News and Updates… link to read about the changes in this release.

In Folders, from the Summary tab, in the Temple Ordinances section, we can:

• Check for and resolve duplicates with ordinances.  Always check this before clicking SUBMIT.
• Enter Ordinances Manually.  If duplicates aren’t showing up and you know the work has been performed, click this link to report the ordinances.
• Submit the ordinances to your Temple Tracking Page.  Note, this simply reserves the name and ordinances on the Temple tab.  Click on the Temple tab at the top of the page to continue the temple process — print FOR, etc.

In the Temple tab we can:

• Print temple cards (Family Ordinance Request - FOR) if you want to perform the ordinances yourself.
• Assign names to the temple if you want the temple to allow someone else to perform the ordinances.

After the 1.5 update to Record Search some of our users had problems accessing the Record Search site.  Most of the problems were fixed with a patch released a few days later.  If you are still having problems I encourage you to contact Record Search support by e-mailing them at Support@familysearch.org Put Record Search in the subject line followed by a short title and the bulk of your question in the body of the e-mail.

You may also contact support by calling 1-866-406-1830

Thank you for the feedback it helps us release quality software with the features you want.

After an almost 4 year hiatus, we are proud to announce the publish of a new Standards data catalog for your use on Standard Finder.  It incorporates many years of correction to the existing data which many of you have so diligently emailed us about, as well as expanded and new gazetteers for better global coverage.  As always, it’s not perfect, but has made tremendous advancement.  Please continue to send us your comments as our goal is to continually improve the data and increase the publish frequency to a quarterly basis moving forward.

After months of planning, Record Search released a new version this week. The list below will give you an idea of some of the changes, and please go to the site and take a look

Updated Home Page

• The home page has been cleaned up a little for easier navigation of the information you need
• The map now shows the number of collections available when you hover over a region
• The region drop down list has been changed

Collection Navigation

• The list of collections is now in a single column

· We now identify collections that are waypoints only- no index

· Also identify collections that have no images

· A cleaner look and feel to user guidance

Image Viewer

· Image navigation- previous, next, and go to buttons have been moved to the bottom of the page

· Images can now be rotated 90º clockwise or counter clockwise at a time

· Full screen view- you asked and we listened, now view images in full screen mode

· Print select area- Now print only the area you want, and watch for more enhancements to this feature in the future.

Help and Feedback

• The help and feedback screens have been improved for more options to get answers to your questions

To print a Family Group Sheet from the Family Tree, open a folder, click on the relationships tab, and click on the Family Group Sheet link.

Until now, the Family Tree expanded trees without an easy way to collapse.  Now, when an arrow is clicked to expand the tree, the Family Tree flips the arrow horizontally.  Clicking a left arrow allows us to collapse the tree.

In Folders, from the Records Tab, the Family Tree allows us to:

• Identify records that don’t belong by checking the checkbox to the left of the record.
• Move the checked records to a new folder or folder that is open on the left by clicking the pulldown.  We can also drag and drop selected records to an open folder on the left.
• Drag one open folder over the top of another folder to combine the two folders.

Some of the checkboxes are deactivated and the records can’t be moved.  This is a know problem and will be resolved in the near future.

Note:  We are updating live data on new.familysearch.org.