Why doesn't 'exact search' work?
Say I search for a marriage...I have the couple's names and the date their first child was born so I can estimate the years I need to search. So, I enter both names (say, John Smith and Mary Jones), all dates ( say 1800 to 1830), and the place (say England, Norfolk). Then I make sure to tick the box for "Marriage" click on "Exact search".
What I get is usually something like John Smittern was father at a christening in Suffolk in 1958. Or Marion James was christened in 1720.
This site used to be really good, easy to use and extremely helpful. Now I only use it as a last resort and it's basically useless.
What is the trick to making it work like it used to?
Answers
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@MjEbdell One question before we try to determine why you are getting less than wonderful results in your searches: Which of these routes to searching are you using? Each works slightly differently and searches different databases.
- Are you clicking Family Tree and then Find? or Are you clicking Search and then Family Tree, which takes you to the same place
- Are you clicking Search and then Records?
- Are you clicking Search and then Genealogies?
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If you are referring to the main FamilySearch search engine, I find I usually do get the expected results when using "Exact" options.
Take a look at a search I just made for a William Greengrass marriage in Norfolk between 1780 & 1830. Eight results, all matching my inputs.
When, on occasions, I do get problems, I can usually filter out unwanted results for other types of event by using the "Marriage" filter.
It might help if you could paste a URL that illustrates your problem.
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As @N Tychonievich points out, there are different ways to get to the same place.
I just performed a search for a John Smith marriage to Mary Jones, in Norfolk. I didn't even mark exact, and my top 3 results are all John Smith to Mary, in Norfolk, in the time period designated. The only thing I did was use the "marriage" filter bubble.
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