FamilyTree app is missing a certain feature

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: This morning after church meetings, I was asked to look into a problem in FamilyTree app used in both iphone and samsung

I noticed one feature is grossly missing.

"Search Records"

desktops and full sized ipads and tablets show all other allied sites (ancestry, myheritage, findmypast, and geneanet)

None of them show up in the app at all, restricted only to FamilySearch records.

Why are these ones omitted?

LegacyUser

gasmodels said: Maybe the alternative sites do not have the ability to display appropriately on the phone. some web sites do not work very well with the small screen.

LegacyUser

JT said: My Android's "Search Records" menu shows all those other sites as options to search. Is yours iPhone?

LegacyUser

Jessie Hearle said: iOS & Android Apps both allow searches of several sites other than FamilySearch.

iOS app screenshots from iPad, phone has same options
Android is similar

LegacyUser

Jessie Hearle said: https://www.familysearch.org/help/sal...

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: mine is not iPhone. It's Samsung Tab A (half tab size) and my friend's Samsung smartphone. Both Android.

Neither one show these ones listed as part of Search Records.

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: Steps (mobile app)
In the Family Tree mobile app, display the person page of an ancestor.
In the top right of the person page, tap the 3 dots. In the menu that appears, tap Search Records.
Tap the website that you want to search. For partner sites, you need to sign in to see some records.
Search results will appear. To return to the app, in the top left part of the screen, tap the 3 lines menu, and tap Pedigree.

This is the problem - current version does NOT show. Instead of that, it shows "Search Historical Records" within FamilySearch when you swipe from left.

Very misleading navigation!

LegacyUser

Jessie Hearle said:

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: David,

I think the confusion is between two different features that are accessed in different ways. I will clarify using specifics from the Android Family Tree app (iOS users will see somewhat different details).

The two features are Search Records and Search Historical Records.

Search Records is available ONLY from a person detail page. It is accessed using the three dot menu in the upper RIGHT corner of the screen. This is the option that lets you search for records related to the person you are viewing. Your choices are FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, findmypast.com, and Geneanet.org. All those options will initiate a record search on the specified site using details from the person. For FamilySearch, you will see the record matches in a WebView within the app; for all the others your browser will open up the appropriate site.

Search Historical Records is available anywhere in the app where the main menu -- the three lines in the upper LEFT corner of the screen, or by swiping from the left edge of the screen. This record search is not in the context of a person, so none of the search fields will be pre-filled. This search is only for FamilySearch records.

It's the first feature that you are looking for, but it seems that you are missing it because you are finding the second feature. That could be because you are not first going to a person detail screen, or you are accessing the menu on the left, instead of the right side.

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: the big trouble ? i'ts on your fault! Desktops shows all under "Search Records", not separate. Splinter them is not a good idea. consolidate.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: The mobile apps split these two features exactly the same way as it is done on the FamilySearch.org website.

On a person page on the website, there is an option for Search Records, which includes not only FamilySearch, but also Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, findmypast.com, and Geneanet.org. That corresponds exactly to the Search Records option in the mobile apps accessible from a person's details screen -- various details from the person are used as the initial search parameters.

In the top menu for the website, there is a Search option, and under that is a Records option. This lets you search for historical records only on FamilySearch.org (no partner sites are supported here), and since this search is not in the context of a person, the search fields are initially blank. This corresponds exactly to the Search Historical Records option in the mobile apps.

I'm not seeing any significant difference between the mobile apps and the website in this regard.

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: Huge difference - when we can't go straight from the person page to those sites like we can in desktop. We need to keep these sites connected, NOT splintered off, keep them together.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: I'm sorry, but I'm just not understanding what the difference is.

See Jessie's image below. It shows the Android Family Tree app. Starting on a person's details, you tap the three dot icon in the upper right corner to show the context menu for the person. One of the options (highlighted in yellow) is "Search Records." choosing that pops up a menu that has the options for FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, findmypast.com, and Geneanet.org.

They are all together. They are not "splintered off". They are visible all together just two easy taps from any person details screen.

Is your concern is that we use a context menu for those options? That they are not all visible at once with the person details? If so, that is simply the result of being on a smaller screen. Even on the website, if you make your browser narrow enough to match the width of a mobile device, those options are not immediately accessible. Instead, they are shoved down way below the person's Life Sketch, Vitals, Other Information, and Family Members. You have to scroll a long way to get to the Search Records section on a narrow browser. I would submit that tapping on a context menu is much easier than scrolling that far.

LegacyUser

David Newton said: He's objecting to them not showing up right on the profile page in the mobile app I think. It's the extra step of clicking on the ellipsis and then selecting the appropriate menu option that appears to be getting on his goat.

The fact that mobile interfaces have to be at least somewhat different to account for the different form factor doesn't seem to have occurred in the thought process.

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: MOVE "Search Records" to bootstrap (swipe from left, where "Search Historical Records" is located now) and quit misleading many of us since the swipe using bootstrap is by far more popular and easy to use than that dot dot dot.

LegacyUser

W David Samuelsen said: David N, you're hot on this.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: There is a big difference between the main application menu (accessible from the three bar "hamburger" menu on the left side, or by swiping from the left edge) and the context menu (three dots on the right side).

The main menu is for the main features of the app, independent of any context. It is analogous to the main menu of the FamilySearch.org website.

Search Records is fundamentally dependent on the context of looking at a person's details. Android user interface standards specify (for good reasons) that features that are context dependent should be accessed from the context menu, and not from the main menu.

Another thing to consider is that the main menu is getting rather long already, and so it's important to reserve that for features that are NOT context-dependent, and put those options that are context-dependent on the context menu where the Android user interface guidelines say they should be. Trying to put every option on the main menu would make it so long that users would start having to scroll that menu to get to all the options, which is painful for the user. There are many factors to consider.

But I do appreciate you taking the time to clarify your suggestion. Hopefully my comments have been helpful to your understanding, even if you don't fully agree.