Urgent change required to Messages section of FamilySearch

Paul W

Elsewhere in FamilySearch - and everywhere else, in my experience - hitting "Return" allows for a new line / paragraph. However, this is not the case when sending an internal message from within FamilySearch. The necessary action is to use SHIFT + Return instead. The behaviour produced by just hitting Return is to actually SEND the message!

PLEASE change this back to how things were previously: having "Return" for the production of a new line / paragraph and having a SEND box to click on once the message is complete.

The recipient of a message I just sent must have been totally confused by my sending three messages showing just her name and my (unintentionally) effectively dividing the main message into multiple messages!

I can only think other participants of this forum have not had to send messages recently, as otherwise I am very surprised there have not been more complaints about this unusual and confusing change.

Gordon Collett

I was just reading through the blog of recent updates and it talked about the update to Messages. Among other things it mentioned that what the Return key does is a setting we can pick. It does appear the pick is permanent and does not have to be adjusted each time a message is started.

Strange thing is that you cannot see this function until you start typing a message. Then it appears:

Here is the blog with the entire discussion of other updates to messages: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-updates/

There is a send box. It's the little paper airplane.

There may not have been more complaints because when I first looked at this, it was set as "Return to Add a New Line." Maybe that is true for most people and you were an unfortunate exception in getting the other choice.

I'm not sure why they give these options. I can't think of any reason to ever change this to have Return send a message.

Gordon Collett

However, checking further, I see that this new function is not available when sending a message by clicking on someone's name somewhere, only when starting a new message on the message page itself.

But when I test sending a message from clicking on a name in, for example, the change log, Return does start a new line and I have to click the blue Send box to send the message. Going to the Messages section and changing my setting there does not change anything in how the Return key works in non-Message section messages.

I do think you just happened to send a message at a bad time, halfway through an update with unexpected consequences that got rolled back. Or do you still get that strange functioning of the Return key?

Paul W

Sorry for the delayed response, Gordon. I am slowly adjusting to this, but still having to be very careful I don't send the message too quickly. My main point is - why the change / inconsistency? When I've finished typing this I click on "Post Comment" and this kind of behaviour is consistent throughout the site. So why the "Change" option and the paper aeroplane icon here? I just wonder where the developers got this idea from: i.e. to replace a perfectly straightforward action (click on "Send") by this method of sending a message - or creating a new line! Have you found this on any other website, because it's completely new to me?

Gordon Collett

I've never seen this Return vs Shift-Return before, at least I didn't think I had. But searching around I found this: https://camerondwyer.com/2018/12/22/do-you-hit-enter-in-microsoft-teams-for-a-new-line-and-accidentally-post-partial-message-try-this-hack/

Then realized that I've been somewhat annoyed with Apple Messages because I can't send more than one paragraph. That program doesn't even have a Send key. You type your message then hit return. So I did more searching and found that in Messages you can enter a paragraph break by typing Option-Return.

Then I also found this: https://www.wikihow.com/Hit-Enter-Without-Sending-a-Message-on-Facebook-Messenger

Apparently Return to send and Shift(or something)-Return to start a new paragraph is a common convention in the world of instant messaging. However, I've always viewed the FamilySearch internal messaging system to be more like e-mail since I've never seen anything "instant" about replies.

Regarding the paper airplane icon instead of a send button, I would assume that every icon used is one less button label that needs to be translated into dozens of languages and then needs the page to allow for anywhere from two to over a dozen characters in that button.

Gordon Collett

By the way, I investigated more and found that this "Return to send" "Shift-Return to enter a line break" and having a paper airplane icon for the send button behavior is exactly how Telegram works:

Also, in Zoom chats, there is no send button at all. Pressing Return sends a message. If you want to have paragraphs in the message, you have to type Control-Return on my Mac.

So the source of the new style is the world of single line instant messages. Which is not very useful for in depth, comprehensive discussions with relatives and others about possibly contentious issues in Family Tree.

Paul W

Thank you for investigating and coming back (to me) on this one, Gordon. I kind of assumed this was not a practice unique to FamilySearch. At last I am feeling my age, when I get grumpy over issues like this! As this website has many other users like me - let's say, a bit "traditional" in their attitudes and practices - I would have thought the "average user" might have been taken into consideration when introducing this method to FamilySearch.

Yes, I can understand having an icon instead of a word that needs lots of translations, but I still have "Post Comment" sitting below as I type here and the main issue, of course, is getting confused with the "Shift + Return" and "Return" options.

No matter, like the other main issue being complained about at present - the new screen display found in the source linking process, also so different from the page presentation elsewhere in Family Tree - there's no turning back once the developers have introduced an "enhancement", so will have to "grin and bear it"!

Thanks again.