Recent Changes to FamilySearch Record Search are horrible! Change It Back Now!

Higley1985

I have been using your website for years and, I must say, that I absolutely hate the recent changes you've made to the layout and record search features and functionality. Unlike with the old site, I find it almost impossible to perform targeted searches.

The new site is horrible. Please go back to the old one. Why on earth do people find it necessary to try and improve something that works well. Nine times out of ten, you end up ruining what you had.

Jim Piechorowski-PGSA

How can I search in the old fashion ... This NEW Search Routine can best be described as a deranged Techies NIGHTMARE ...... Please Go Back to the Original Format WHICH WORKED ... Thank You

Jim Easom

What in the H were you thinking? I also have used Family Search for years and this version is horrible. I can't find anybody easily and then have to find what I have to enter. Go back! If I knew of another site like this I would go to it.

Jim Easom

stevensykora

I agree! New search is terrible and I am thoroughly disappointed.

C Swensen

I agree with those above. Why change. I can't find a way to filter the group by alpha. Not impressed at all.

Fairhope Finder

Agree, agree, agree. Bring back the old interface now.

Carolyn cottrell

Oh I agree! I hate this new format! Please change back. This is not very user friendly. Can't find anything! 😐️Talked to two friends that said the same thing. Please do something!

Re Searching

All the above, seconded.

Vannnessa

I have been using your website for several years and and dislike the recent changes made to the new format. It is very difficult to perform targeted searches on my maternal ancestors. My mother died at an early age and I knew very little about her family when I was growing up. I find this new format is not very user friendly making it difficult to find information in building my family tree for my grandchildren. I am grately disappointed and it is my hope that the website will reconsider going back to the old version.

Judy Jeffrey

I totally agree with these comments.

The new search is almost unusable. I hope the old version will be re-instated.

P Jelf

I too HATE this new version of Family Search! I don't recall anyone complaining about the previous version being hard to use, please tell us WHY someone got the IDEAL it needed to be changed! You don't fix what's already helping us find our ancestors. I've also noticed that the 1900 census doesn't seem to appear on all family members why is that?

jac2f8js

1000% agree - the new search UI rots - presentation of results all presented as a single list with zero ability to break it up" into overarching categories - unless you force one and only one such over arching category to be listed. It was EXTREMELY USEFUL having the ability to group the search results into the overarching categories. Having the records merely presented as one big list is far less informative and only poses confusion in keeping things straight in one's mind. The functionality the old search UI offered was extremely easy to use and aided in reviewing the result obtained. Why the near version did not exploit what was extremely useful in the old version and present greater ability within its general use patterns is puzzling. Why do upgrades ignore the user base when it comes to usability? This new search UI needs a lot of upgrades on the usability front!!!

Lois Kastner

Please get rid of this format! Totally useless and difficult to find anything, if you can find what you are looking for at all. There was NO NEED to change the format to what it is now. So very frustrating and annoying. Agree with everyone's comments 100-plus percent!

Lois Kastner 10/13/21

azlo1953

This new format for searching is absolutely horrible. If you copy anything, it's not editable and takes at least three times the normal spacing. You can actually fit on one page what is now three pages. It's terrible.

Bruce Feinauer

I agree that the new search engine is not as friendly, useful or effective as the old one. I don't see the value in the discover on the right side of the screen. It is very difficult to search for FindAGrave or family Trees now. Why was it changed and does it now supposedly have more help - I sure don't see it. Bruce Feinauer

Bruce Feinauer

Donkey Hoty

As a daily user of your site, which you graciously provide free of charge, the recent changes to the basic search for a single person or for a family tree, have rendered the search results more cumbersome to sort through. Perhaps I'm stuck in my ways and have not yet grasped the reason for nor potential of the changes. The work-around effort to accomplish tasks previously accomplished in fewer steps would seem to be adding an unnecessary load on your servers. Despite this complaint, the free service you provide remains appreciated.

Sally Jaye

Recent Changes to FamilySearch Record Search are HORRIBLE! Change It Back Now!!!

Higley1985

Sep 29, 2021

I have been using your website for years and, I must say, that I absolutely hate the recent changes you've made to the layout and record search features and functionality. Unlike with the old site, I find it almost impossible to perform targeted searches.

The new site is horrible. Please go back to the old one. Why on earth do people find it necessary to try and improve something that works well. Nine times out of ten, you end up ruining what you had.

---

View Post

I absolutely agree with 'Higley 1985'. This new look site is HORRIBLE!! You can't search for anything targeted - there is no way to choose EXACT names/locations, etc. AND, what about Census and immigration records - they seem to have disappeared. If I am searching for a person by entering their name, place and date of birth - I get EVERYBODY with that name and EVERY location imaginable. It's all over the place. This is more frustrating and irritating than I can say. PLEASE, PLEASE, put it back.

If it ain't broke - don't try to fix it!!!!

CDRJohnRogers

I agree. HORRIBLE, absolutely horrible, that was my first impression and I am not changing my mind. 😥🙄😫😲😖🤢😡🤡👹👺☠️👎️👎️👎️👎️

Vanessa Christie

I agree, it is not user friendly and searching is now very difficult, especially if trying to drill down to something specific. It worked well before, why change it?

Sandra O'Rorke

For those of us who have been using FS for years, the new search function, as everyone has already said, is so NOT user-friendly. I always used to recommend FS over other genealogical sites for newbies because it was easy to dive in and find information. When those of us who are comfortable with searching can't find things, no way would I recommend your site now.

Paul Gibson_3

I tend to do my family research in fits and starts: I work at it intensively for several weeks and then take a break for a month or two before returning to my research.

I found the 'old' Family Search really helpful and used it more than Ancestry. When I recently returned and encountered the 'new' Family Search I was taken aback. I am used to the idea of having to relearn how to do things before I can see benefits, but I have tried several times and have to say the changes have made Family Search useless for my research.

For now I am abandoning Family Search and will go elsewhere. I will drop in from time to time to see if the powers that be have back-tracked, but I am not hopeful.

SKStewart

I am the persistent type that will try new things and adopt new because I like new. However, in this case, I am now completely discouraged with the ability to do research on Family Search. I used to be able to find alot of sources but no more. I now have to use Ancestry.com for sources and then I try to do a targeted search on Family Search for the same source I can see on Ancestry.com because I know the computer can generate better record hints if the attached source come from Family Search. The most simplest of sources aka Find A Grave can be found on Ancestry.com but it is very hit or miss when doing a targeted collection search on Family Search. I used to love spending hours putting families together and helping others get excited about Family Search. These changes to "Searching Records" has taken the wind out of my sails and my enthusiasm to teach others is at a lowpoint. There are enough barriers to accomplishing the task at hand and the upgrades have just added more barriers.

Joan Wood_4

I used to use Family Search years ago & it was amazing. Then they started "improving" it and it's just been a disaster. I can't make head or tails of how the site is designed now. I used to love getting the census data & other listings & now it's just USELESS. I believe the purpose of these unnecessary changes is to drive people to the paid Ancestry.com, which I think corporate America wants to be the major (if not sole) source of genealogical research on the Web. I've seen what seems to be a systemic "improvement" of various sites over the years that has improved none, but always seems to result in Ancestry becoming the sole or best source of data. It IS deliberate.

WynnWCJr1

Well, another tech change obviously done by people who don't use the site.

It would be funny if it wasn't so incredibly awful.

Please change it back!

Yueh-Ling

I also agree: the new search engine is very bad. It used to work so well but now I get a lot of completely inane "matches" that are so far off the mark that it's useless. Please at least make it an option to return to the old version. I am so disappointed that I am about to give up on familysearch altogether which I have loved for years. It has just become too frustrating.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

@Yueh-Ling, what new search engine? Search hasn't changed on FS in at least two and a half years now.

Are you perhaps talking about the combined search that they've newly put at the top of the home page? That's not new, either, and it's an additional tool, not a replacement for any of the existing ones. If it isn't serving your needs (which I would not find surprising), then don't use it. Stick with Search - Records, Family Tree - Find, and whichever other search tools you've been using up to now. They're all exactly the same as they were last week.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

And this thread is from Sep 2021.

EdwinReffell2

I agree 100 percent. Not only is the new improved FamilySearch horrible but also deceiving. Search with the correct spouses and you get "No Results Found". New improved Familysearch also contains confusing information. People baptized in Fareham, Hampshire are also found baptized the same day in Peterborough, (now Cambridgeshire), a mere 263.6 km away from Fareham! As a rule such disinformation can neither be edited nor feedbacked on. That leads to thinking that FamilySearch which used to be reliable unfortunately no longer is a reliable source.

EdwinReffell2

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBWW-S1M, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NFS-L85C

Áine Ní Donnghaile

Repaired URLs. A URL on a line alone will be corrupted by the Community platform. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBWW-S1M

And https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NFS-L85C