Chat with Relatives and Other FamilySearch Users • FamilySearch
Chat with Relatives and Other FamilySearch Users • FamilySearch
Collaborating with others on the free, shared Family Tree just got easier. Try out the new chat system.
Comments
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David,
How can I make this article shareable to our ward and stake?
Thank you ,
Shauna Fleming
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Just share the URL: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/new-familysearch-chat
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I tried to ask this question earlier and when I hit comment it shut down my computer! anyway - I'll try again. I understand we do not have to use the real time feature. I am wondering, is there going to be some kind of "this person is online" thing like facebook along with this? and if there will be such a thing, will we be able to disable it or do we just have to deal with the intrusion on privacy? I will not be turning on real time chat as I believe it would be massively intrusive and a major distraction. I am just trying to make sure we are not going to be forced to allow others to see we are online when we are busy researching. thank you in advance for your time ( I am disappointed we are losing all of our old conversations, that is going to take a very long time to copy and paste out)
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I second the comments of Kathysexton70. (Anything older than 2022.... Really?)
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Is there a way to add additional users to an existing thread?
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@DorRuS asked: "Is there a way to add additional users to an existing thread?"
You can add a User to a Public Group such as the "Attendee Created Groups" in RootsTech. You can also add Users to "Ask Us Anything" when that is active at RootsTech.
Shared Family Group Chats are managed through the SFG administration. Yes, you can add new people to your Shared Family Group. btw, this doesn't have to be a Family. It can be any group of interested People.
If you are in a User to User or Multi-User Chat, you currently can NOT add another User to that existing Chat. There is an issue of privacy of previous chat history being displayed to a new User who was not part of that conversation. We have a feature on the backlog to add a new person to an existing group of Users Chatting, but that would start a new conversation. We will consider having an option to "Allow new User to see historical messages."
We will be adding a new feature soon called "Embedded Chat" to popular FamilySearch Pages. This will be a Public Chat with the ability to Invite others as you wish. Embedded Chat could be on RootsTech Session Pages, Record Collections, Person Page Collaboration/Discussions, Research Trees, Get Involved, etc. It will be up to the Product Manager of those pages to decide on when to add public Embedded Chat to their service.
In Chat, please forward Chat Feature requests, suggestions, etc. to "Dean William Payne". You can chat with me on the RootsTech site. www.rootstech.org Then in September, Chat will replace FS Messaging and you can reach me there.
Let's work together to improve FamilySearch Chat!
Dean Payne
Chat and Campaigns Product Manager
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@Kathysexton70 asked:
"I am wondering, is there going to be some kind of "this person is online" thing like facebook along with this? and if there will be such a thing, will we be able to disable it or do we just have to deal with the intrusion on privacy? I will not be turning on real time chat as I believe it would be massively intrusive and a major distraction."
The online Chat indicator "Green Dot by your name" is ONLY when the Chat Client is loaded. It is NOT if you are logged into FamilySearch.
If you don't want other Users to see if you are "Online" then simply don't have your Chat Client loaded.
We are looking at a feature to show who is online at FamilySearch. If/When that Feature is launched we WILL have an option to turn that off, or give some kind of status that fits your needs.
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@Satori1 commented "I second the comments of Kathysexton70. (Anything older than 2022.... Really?)"
This was a major discussion in Product Management/Engineering.... We were initially directed to only import 6 months of data. There are engineering, data, and other system costs associated with FamilySearch.
We settled on Nov. 1, 2021 (close to 2 years) which coincides with the Shared Family Groups release.
The desire is here to import ALL of your messages, but we decided to put those resources in other places which hopefully will benefit you.
You will have access to www.familysearch.org/messages to review and copy the information that is most Important to you. In the article it states Dec. 31, 2023, but we will leave that up into 2024. How long should we leave that up? March 2024? Let me know your thoughts.
We are SO HAPPY to have FamilySearch Chat available to you soon. Let's work together to improve FamilySearch, including Chat. Thanks for your great input.
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I would like to get onboard with the new changes to Messages/Chat. I continually drop the Message after spending much time developing the message. And after so many attempts, it becomes tiresome. Apparently I hit the enter button often, and that drops my message. Moving on...
My next observation is that the Message box itself is so small, it is only scroll up or down. I often cannot view the information I want by scrolling, and so I open another instance, tab or screen of FS to insure that the vital data I am sending is correct, and when I return to the message, the whole message is dropped. Clicking in the box to continue the message is where the problem is for me.
My thought; A Message box that is expandable (where the box can be opened by pulling on an arrow that opens on the lower right hand corner of the box) rather than scrollable.
Preparing a message in another word processing program is cumbersome. Going to a third party program is an awkward learning curve.
Or, can directions in the Learning and Help Center be updated with specifics on how to use Message / New Chat?
The Message feature is vital for contacting others. I'm sure the Chat will be also. It is the tool that I use to provide vital data and sources to substantiate information before there is a chance for disputation. And it validates that families are important.
Most valuable thing I learned today was to move my messages from FS. These Messages have created valuable relationships for me. Thank you so very much!
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is it necessary to copy each and every single message, or is there a possibility given to copy all the old messages to an archive file?
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Could the writer please clarify those paragraphs about opting in/out of the chat directory? (Under, "Finding Other People in Chat ...")
Does it means that by opting out of the directory, we can use the new Chat exactly like we have been using Messages? If so, could that be plainly stated?
Thanks.
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Thank you for everything you do to further the work of gathering of Israel!
Can we use this chat to have a FS missionary help with a question? I am a consultant and help others but end up calling when an answer cannot be found.
How would I connect with someone if I don't know their user name?
Is there a way to tell when a person last logged in to Family Search? I have sent messages and not receive answers back. I often wonder how long it has been since they were last on Family Search. I try to always teach others to check for messages. You can't miss them on the app. on the phone.
Thank you.
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Q: "Can we use this chat to have a FS missionary help with a question? I am a consultant and help others but end up calling when an answer cannot be found. How would I connect with someone if I don't know their user name?"
A: If you have chatted with that person in FS Chat, you can reach them that way. Or on Community, you could start a private conversation and get their permission to include them in a Chat. If someone is in a Public Group Conversation (Attendee Created Group at RT) you can click on their name and message them also. There may be a way to provide other contact information to Consultants. Those over the Missionaries would have to determine that.
Q: Is there a way to tell when a person last logged in to FamilySearch?
A: Unfortunately not at this point. I like the idea to give Patrons some indication if the User is active or not. Privacy issues may come into play... We will consider this input Launa.
Bonus for asking a good question: www.familysearch.org/campaign/inspire This is in testing. Nothing on the FS Site points to it yet. I also work with Campaigns.
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Q: "Could the writer please clarify those paragraphs about opting in/out of the chat directory? (Under, "Finding Other People in Chat ...")
Does it means that by opting out of the directory, we can use the new Chat exactly like we have been using Messages? If so, could that be plainly stated?"
A: If you Don't Opt In to being Searchable in the global User Directory, no-one will be able to find you that way. We are encouraging all to Opt-In. Add your Country/State or Province. Provide a Profile Picture if you feel comfortable.
You will still be able to search for others and chat with them. Once you have chatted with someone, they WILL be able to start a new conversation with you, or include you in a multi-user chat.
If you have made a contribution to a person, memory, source, etc. on FamilySearch, anyone seeing that contribution will be able to start a chat with you. Hopefully to thank you, but also ask you a question, or enlist your help. This is the same as in Messaging right now. In Messaging, you can try to find someone in the Global Directory also. We are adding an Opt-In for Chat.
Hope this helps. Thanks for asking Stephen!
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Q: "is it necessary to copy each and every single message, or is there a possibility given to copy all the old messages to an archive file?"
We don't have the resources to create an archive file for everyone right now. I wish we did. You should have all your messages from Nov. 1, 2021 to present migrated to Chat from Messaging.
Please look over your old messages and copy the key/meaningful ones. We are using the resources to add new, critical features such as "Embedded Chat" that will provide a great service to all.
Sorry we are not able to do that for you...
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We do have the ability to make your chat box wider or taller by dragging the corners.
Please save messages older than Nov. 1, 2021.
You can go to RootsTech.org and practice using the Chat there. That is the same interface we will be using after the cutover.
On RootsTech you can access chat in the header, or the bottom right corner of the main RT Page.
Regards and thanks for your interest!
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Sorry if this is a duplicate post--I just wrote a message and when I hit Post, it disappeared. There's no sign it's pending moderation. I'll try again.
Thanks for this helpful article telling us about the new chat feature!
Like others, I'm disappointed to lose my old messages before a certain date--and I don't relish the thought of sorting through them and copying out the important ones to a word processing doc.
Here's a thought: Why not just leave the old messages as they are? On the day new chat goes live, make the old messages view or delete only. If you can do that, it wouldn't matter if old messages got transferred to the new chat system. Everyone could use new chat going forward, but still have an archive of their old messages on FamilySearch.org. Seems simpler all the way around.
Thanks again to everyone at FamilySearch! FamilySearch just keeps getting better and better.
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"Here's a thought: Why not just leave the old messages as they are? On the day new chat goes live, make the old messages view or delete only. If you can do that, it wouldn't matter if old messages got transferred to the new chat system. Everyone could use new chat going forward, but still have an archive of their old messages on FamilySearch.org. Seems simpler all the way around."
A: We will leave the old system up for a period of time (Probably into next year) in "Read Only" mode at www.familysearch.org/messages .
I'll see if we can create a way for you to download your messages into a PDF. Again, this will take away from us doing other things for you. We will have to determine the value of this PDF download vs. a new feature.
Kathryn, you feedback is very useful! Thanks for your interest and use of FamilySearch!!!
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Thank you for sharing your feedback! We want you to know that we truly value your input and are actively listening to what you have to say. We have a dedicated engineer that has gone above and beyond, investing his own personal time to develop a feature that will allow you to conveniently download all of your messages. While we are in the final stages of testing before the official release, we encourage you to stay tuned and keep an eye on this blog article for the latest updates.
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