Use of Hope Chest

LegacyUser

William Haslem said: I am a family history consultant for our ward. Our Stake leaders have been advocating the wide-spread use of Hope Chest (formerly Pandora's Hope Chest) software. Many members have downloaded it and are very enthused about how easy it is to get hundreds of names for temple work. I realize that the instructions say that each name should be carefully checked for accuracy and for duplicates, but I get the strong impression that those instructions are being ignored by most members, especially those who have not been properly trained in Family Tree. If that behavior continues, there will be a lot of duplication of ordinances. I thought a purpose of Family Tree was to eliminate duplication. Shouldn't Family Search put out some instructions on this?

LegacyUser

joe martel said: Hope Chest is an external product and not associated with FamilySearch. Perhaps contacting the owners at HopeChest will make them aware of user behavior and help address this issue.

LegacyUser

Ron Tanner said: Joe meant - not associated with FamilySearch. I agree that it is an application that gives a false sense of discovery as many of these may not be related or real people. Especially when you go back very far - it goes way back.

LegacyUser

joe martel said: Oooops. "Not associated with FamilySearch" corrected above. thanks ron

LegacyUser

Eric Passey Vance said: I am the creator of Hope Chest. I certainly have no desire for the duplication of effort (or ordinances). One of the very first features that I added (2 years ago) was a check for duplicates before saving the record.
Hope Chest checks for duplicates by using the Family Search duplicate check (not its own). Unfortunately, we all know that isn't always accurate.

Hope Chest currently limits search results to those born after the year 1500. If I need to make a change to that I would love to hear about it.
It also is careful to not save any results that require permissions.
Hope Chest users typically start a search with themselves at the root. Though this does not guarantee that they are related it certainly is a good place to start.

The truth of the matter is that Hope Chest is only as good as Family Search data. Hope Chest doesn't change WHAT data will be found.
All it does it change how rapidly it will be found. One of my goals in creating it was to help speed up the work. Another goal in creating it was to bring Hope to people that they might actually be able to take their own family name to the temple.
From the emails I've received I believe I've made some progress in accomplishing both of these goals.

That being said, I make no claim that Hope Chest is perfect. I am always open to hearing suggestions for improvements.
I've acted on many suggestions for improvements. The only suggestion I've heard to date related to duplicates is to change the wording of my warning messages.

What else can be done?

LegacyUser

Christopher Allen Young said: I think a bit more active impedance in the reservation process for far flung and unsourced records would not be out of order and reinforce the idea to users that the data found in FT should be sourced and verified before it is reserved.

Traveling further than the first opportunity on a line is also not in keeping with improving data quality.

Rather than simply accept the data quality of FS and help users perpetuate bad practices. I would hope 3rd party tools like yours would help reinforce what good data should look like and guide users on a path of improving theirs.

LegacyUser

Eric Passey Vance said: Are you suggesting that Hope Chest should impede reservation or that FS should?

I'll have to spend some time thinking about how Hope Chest could "reinforce what good data should look like and guide users on a path of improving theirs". Thanks for your thoughts and insights.

LegacyUser

Christopher Allen Young said: I think both should but at the moment FS has other priorities for its engineers.

LegacyUser

William Haslem said: Not impede....just warn users in bold letters that they still have to check that the people identified are real and not duplicates and that they are in the right pedigree. Thanks for the feedback.

LegacyUser

Christopher Allen Young said: impedance in this case is more a term of resistance to the activity by stepping the user through dialogs and processes that will make them more likely to do the right thing and not just let them do everything with just a few clicks

LegacyUser

Darrell Robert Hatch said: My comment is on the lack of clear directions one can purchase the full program for $10. I finally stumbled on a way to do it, but I, even now, can't replicate it.

I certainly agree with the comments above about the constant need as consultants to stress the importance of checking for duplicates

Darrell Hatch

LegacyUser

Diane Wallin said: I ordered Hope Chest and it won't load onto my desktop computer, I need help!!!

LegacyUser

Eric Passey Vance said: This is not an appropriate place to seek support for Hope Chest. You can get help by emailing support@HopeChestSoftware.com.

LegacyUser

Diane Wallin said: Thank You

LegacyUser

Kristen Molen said: Christopher, exactly. Pop ups would help greatly on Family Search to prevent people from making choices with no thought at all. I notice too that the "create person" button is at the top of the name data base when you go to add a new person to your tree. Why would you add that at the top when most new users will automatically choose that button without even reviewing the names already in the data base. Wouldn't it make more sense to put that button at the bottom so they would have to scroll through the names prior to creating a new name in the data base?

LegacyUser

Kristen Molen said: William's comments are also legitimate. As for Hope Chest, I didn't have any issues with that particular app other than I wish I didn't have to pause it for myself and I wish they would get me the upgrade code that I purchased two days ago. But it seems that doesn't matter now because Family Search just today sent me an e-mail of their version of Hope Chest (though they didn't call it Hope Chest.)

LegacyUser

William Harry Robinson said: after paying
the 9.99 for the better issue of hc, now I get the ads for the posterity edition program running in the b lue box above all the names the program found. Real nice., 10 bucks wasted.
whrobins@aol.com

LegacyUser

joe martel said: William, HopeChest is not a FS product. You will have to contact them to resolve your issue.

LegacyUser

Warren A Smith said: on't know about everyone else but i like the product. It's a great way to find loose ends in your tree. It gives you great hints on where you need to do more research. Here's my rule. No work should be done for anyone until you find ALL available information and check for duplicates for every person in your tree. With that said, just from my first decedents pass, the program did what it was suppose to do, It identified over 300 opportunities. on one branch back to the 1560's. Can I do all of those identified names? No, because the same basic rules for research and validation still apply to check and document your work before you subimt a name. I have more then enough names to keep me busy finding them and their other decedents for a long time to come. If you use this tool to help you it is fantastic and gives you a much better way to zero in on where you need to work. Love it, what does Posterity Edition do for you? I can't seem to fine any information on that one on the web site.

Here is a suggestion for a follow on product. How about a tool to help us manage our Temple queue? The provided one does not allow you to filter on completed, so you can zero in on what needs to be done next, very well. Yes, it sorts initiatory to be done, but it does not show the ones that are ready now, verses the ones that still need baptism and confirmations done first. Make it a bit harder to stage temple trips for just one function.

LegacyUser

Randolph Hess said: I'm a Temple and Family History Consultant living in Mesa, Arizona and my calling includes coordinating classes and family history events in my ward. I've been doing this for a few years now.

I need to go on record as saying that I am AGAINST the use of the Hope Chest app in most cases. It's been my observation that, at a certain point, Hope Chest unwittingly encourages most people to cut corners by avoiding research themselves and by not checking the people they reserve for accuracy. Combing through descendency lists for green temples, reserving, printing, then running down to the temple with cards that have not been checked for additional duplicates and errors - is just plain wrong!!! Some are taking these reservations and creating huge shared-with-the-temple lists. I think this way of doing family history causes people to miss an important part of the spirit of the work.

I know of people who have spent a great deal of time and love assembling data on close relatives suddenly having them hijacked away by persons using this method. Nowadays I'm telling the people I teach to reserve their names as soon as possible to avoid this. Some are reserving thousands of names using Hope Chest (I know one brother with 6,500 names & another with 3,500). The readiness of these kinds of numbers is highly questionable - it is physically impossible to do accuracy and duplicate checks on that many individuals within the timeframe being used. Children can easily be with the wrong family, individuals with the wrong spouse, dates and places can be off by a generation.

I'm finding that many are using Hope Chest who feel that as long as they have a green temple, it's fair game... I'm sorry, but this just isn't good enough. Think of all the time being wasted by the brothers & sisters doing inaccurate ordinances. I fear this app is increasing the problem exponentially. Ordinances are sacred and shouldn't be trifled with for any reason, let alone because someone feels they're doing a better job by bringing the concept of mass-production to the temple!

Wait times for the completion of temple shared ordinances are at all time highs due to backlogs. With more of us doing family names, some of this is to be expected, but, again, I'm concerned about the quality of Hope Chest submissions. Please think of this question the next time you reserve a green temple you didn't create, whether doing so one at a time or ad infinitum using Hope Chest... Is there a reason this green temple hasn't been reserved yet?

Randy Hess
Mesa, Arizona

LegacyUser

Warren A Smith said: Randolph --

Sounds like you are agreeing with me. These types of tools are an OK way to find decedents in your tree, if you know what you are doing. However, the real legwork still needs to be done before submitting the name. There is no substitute for not doing the research. Unfortunately I see this done by new family history users all the time, and it does not matter if they are using a research aid tool or not. I call that having a "green light" focus. You 100% need to check EVERYTHING for that person, including for duplicates, before submitting the name.

When we teach FH, we teach core research and avoid the supplemental tools. When I've been asked about them, I always caution their use. One needs to do all the required research and checking, before taking action.

I've actually only used it once to find about 6 pages of opportunities from one of my lines. I've only gotten though about a half page in about a year, because of all the other people I found with that person, and all of the documentation I've attached to each of them.

I find that the youth like to use these types of short cut tools the most. We try to get them to understand it's all about the "proving to someone else" that this relationship is correct, before submitting a name for temple work. With the new system its incredible easy to submit a name. Do we need a ward/stake cross checker for new people to make sure the research has been done completely and accurately, before submitting the name??? Don't know the answer on that one.

Checks could be built into the FH tools with the new hints process, that keeps you from submitting a name as there are too many possible matches, and open possible sources checkpoints that remain open.

Just a though.

Warren

LegacyUser

Ethan William Morse said: The hope chest isnt working it seems that the servers are down and it wont search for ancestors any help that could be shed on the situation and when it would be back up and running if you could let me know i would appreciate it thanks

LegacyUser

Amy Archibald said: You should contact the owners of the app. It is not a FamilySearch product.

LegacyUser

Robert King Wilson said: I am frustrated because i no longer am able to get HopeChest (HC) to function and although i have made telephone contact several times, all i receive is a message machine with NO subsequent response from HC. My calls are also to determine the additions available on the upgraded model (Premier, i believe it is called for $99.00. STILL NO ANSWER
Please contact me at RKWilson1128@gmail.com.

LegacyUser

Amy Archibald said: You need to contact Eric Vance at support@HopeChestSoftware.com

Hope Chest is NOT a FamilySearch product.

LegacyUser

Gordon Collett said: Unfortunately, since FamilySearch has nothing to do with Hope Chest, posting here won't help. All you can do is keep trying to contact the company behind Hope Chest itself.

LegacyUser

William Haslem said: How do I delete my original comment made about eight years ago? It is no longer relevant.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: Actually, some of your comments in the original posting you made to start this thread are still very relevant. "I get the strong impression that those instructions are being ignored by most members, especially those who have not been properly trained in Family Tree."

That remains as true today as it was five years ago, regardless of what tools are used, "Many members have downloaded it and are very enthused about how easy it is to get hundreds of names for temple work. I realize that the instructions say that each name should be carefully checked for accuracy and for duplicates..."

A good example is the newly released (currently only on the mobile FamilySearch App) feature that allows a member to pull temple-shared names (if they have none in their own temple list, to take to the temple for proxy ordinance work. I suspect that very few persons are going to take the time to check to see if the profile for that person is correct, accurate, and has been merged with duplicate profiles for the same person (which are not always located with the duplicate checker).

Debra Elaine Rossi

The support email listed on here is not functional today. I have no number or any way to contact HopeChest. It is not working on my computer today, and yesterday I had problems with trying to search descendants. Please help. I would appreciate a contact.

Debra Rossi

Brett .

@Debra Elaine Rossi

Debra

Welcome to the "Community.FamilySearch" Forum.

I am just another 'lowly' User/Patron ...

[ And, I happen to be a Member of the Church ... ]

This post is a very OLD post that was commenced in 2018 ...

There have been, MANY; Many; many, "Changes" to "Family Tree" of 'FamilySearch', since then ...

As an aside ...

I was not aware, that "HopeChest", was even STILL operational.

There still appears to be a 'Google' "Chrome" extension, for "HopeChest" ...

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hope-chest/

But ...

That Said ...

When I try to access the (OLD) "Home" page/screen for "Hope Chest" ...

https://hopechestsoftware.com

or

https://hopechestsoftware.com/Index.html

I immediate get ...

As such ...

I would not even chance going there ...

Let alone, "Downloading"; and/or, Using, "Hope Chest" ...

Just my thoughts.

Brett

ps: IF, you do not already; THEN, you could try (Kinpoint) "Take a Name" ...

"Take a Name", still appears; as, "Third Party" application, in the 'Solutions Gallery' of 'FamilySearch'.

https://partners.familysearch.org/solutionsgallery/s/gallery-profile/a2Rf10000079qpFEAQ/00189

Good Luck.

.

Debra Elaine Rossi

Thanks! I appreciate your taking the time to let me know! I just figured out how to find responses in this forum, so I am sorry it took me so long to thank you.