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.

The Family Tree has added a new “records” vertical tab for each folder.  From this tab we are able to see what records exist in each folder.  Test the user experience of “moving” these records to a new folder or other folders.  Also, test the user experience of dragging and dropping one folder over another.

A new Summary is now displayed for each folder.

We are also able to navigate from the List View or Temple List to the Tree or Folders.

In the upper right corner of the login page is a pulldown.  From this pulldown, we can select to use the Family Tree in English, Spanish, or Japanese.

The Family Tree has added a new tab — Temple.  On this tab (page), patrons track:

• Names placed on the Temple list (reserved / submitted),
• Printed Temple cards, and
• Completed ordinances.

Great news, another update to Record Search has been delivered! Please read the list below to get an idea of what has been added but more importantly go to the site and take a look. Here is a quick look at several of the features.

Updated Home Page

• Less is more – The home page has been simplified for easier navigation of the information you need. See the latest details on what information has been updated, easily navigate to specific collections, and search with more flexibility.

Collection Navigation

• A picture is worth 1,000 words – A map is now available for grouping collections by place, this provides you quick focus on the area that you are researching to see what has been added and what is available.
• Where are your records – Collections are now provided in Regions – a high level grouping of countries so you can easily select the area of the world you are looking for information on and then scan for the country that you need records from. To simplify finding the right set of records only one list of collections is offered. By selecting a collection by default you are taken to search the indexed collection if one exists – otherwise you are taken to the unindexed view (formerly browse). There is also a link from any indexed collection that also has an unindexed view to switch if desired to that view.
• Images or not – To help you quickly identify what kind of content is available in a collection there is a new tag to identify collections without images. Look for this tag – “no images” just after the collection name.
• Just In – There is now a section for collection news that features information on recently added collections. This is a quick way for you to get an idea of the latest and greatest additions to the site.

Image Viewer

• This Way or That Way – Collections that feature images in multiple layouts are no longer a problem as they are easily rotated to provide the proper view. Rotate Image is now available on the image toolbar for all images.

Wildcard Searching

• Names go wild – Wildcard searching is now available for first or last name. Use the wildcard symbol (*) with at least 3 preceding characters – ie. “Rob*”

Additional Browser Support

• The choice is yours – Safari is now officially supported as a browser on Mac and Windows. You can choose the browser that best suits your needs – Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari.

Changes made by selecting summary values are now reflected immediately on new.FamilySearch.org.  The Family Tree is a “live” product updating the new FamilySearch realtime.

In order to provide greater visual access to information in the Family History Library Catalog, geographically driven tools have been created to “plug” into the Google Earth, Google Maps, and ArcReader applications.  You can read all applicable instructions, and download these plug-ins by clicking on the “Resources” tab on the Standard Finder tool in FamilySearch Labs.

These plug-ins allow you to navigate by clicking through maps or searching based on approximate addresses to view all the information the Family History Library Catalog has in its records regarding a specific county location.  For example, after I install the Google Earth plug-in, and if I enter in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the “Fly to” search field, it will zoom into Allen County, where Fort Wayne is located. If I click on the Allen County icon, it will show a bubble which I can then click and see all of the records which the Family History Library Catalog has on Allen County, Indiana.

These wonderful tools are being expanded for additional countries, so keep watching as they are added to assist in your continuing research.