Memories - Visibility in Family Group Trees vs Tagging

CTRGrandpa

Trying to understanding if there is a bug or I just don't understand this functionality.

When changing Memories visibility to "Limited Access" then checking a Family group tree that I want to share that memory with, it doesn't show in that selected tree. If, however, I tag the person using the ID# then it does show.

If this is correct functionality, what is the purpose of allowing me to give limited access to a group tree if it isn't going to appear there?

If it is supposed to give visibility, then it isn't working for me. Is this a bug or just my lack of knowledge of what the visibility is supposed to do?

Lastly. Why is there both a tagging option and a limited visibility option? They seem redundant. Again, assuming the visibility functionality is supposed to give other family group trees visibility of that memory.

Gordon Collett

These are two different issues:

1) Tagging a person in a picture or document places that item on that profile's Memories page. This is true everywhere in Family Tree. This is sometimes obscured by the fact that when you upload a file via a profile's Memories page instead of directly to your Gallery, you get one automatic tag which is for the person in that profile. You can then add additional tags to place it on the Memories pages of other profiles.

2) When you upload a file to directly your Gallery or to your Gallery via a profile's Memories page you can then set the visibility for that file. This can be Public, Limited, or Private. This visibility setting will affect every Memories page to which the file has been tagged.

• Public memories can be seen by every user who runs across it
• Limited memories can be seen by every member of the groups which have been specified.
• Private memories can only be seen by you.

To summarize:

Files are actually only stored in the Gallery of the user who uploaded them.

Tagging places a file on a Memories page.

Visibility controls whether or not another user can see that file when that user comes to that memory.

CTRGrandpa

I already understand all you shared. However, when a family group is created and a memories visibility is marked "Limited" and that group is selected, it is not visible to other's in that family group.

For example: In the main FamilySearch Tree Living person ID: AAA-AAAA (as an example) adds a memory and marks it "limited" sharing the memory with a Group Tree called "Family1." In "Family1" this same living person is added, accepts to be part of the "Family1" tree and has an ID # BBB-BBBB. The memory created on AAA-AAAA isn't visible on BBB-BBBB's memory page or the "Family1" Gallery.

My point is why is it not visible on BBB-BBBB when on AAA-AAAA memories page it allows you to share it with "Family1?"

If the memory is tagged on the FamilySearch Tree (AAA-AAAA) using the BBB-BBBB ID, it is then visible on the "Family1" tree.

So, what is the purpose of granting "limited visibility" of a memory to a family group tree if you can't see it in that tree? OR, am I doing something wrong?

Gordon Collett

I'm sorry, I think I must still be confused. Terminology can do that sometimes. And as users it's hard to see what we are each talking about because we can't see each other's living profiles in Family Tree.

When you mention "Family1" Gallery, what are you referring to? I might have missed a new feature, but as far as I am aware it is still the case that each users has their individual Gallery where that user, and no one else, can see all the Memories that user has created. But there is no group Gallery I know of. Here is my Gallery:

No one else can come to this page. If these items are not tagged, they will not be present on any profile in Family Tree.

This memory, for example, is a page I uploaded to store but not to tag to anyone's profile:

I can set its visibility to Limited Access so that only members of one or both of the group trees I have created can see this. When I do, they will still not be able to see it because it is not tagged anywhere they can find it.

When I do tag it, it will be visible on a profile's Memories page (which is not referred to as the profile's Gallery even though it is a type of gallery) but only to those in the groups.

Please allow me to rephrase your example to the only way I can understand it to see if I am understanding the problem correctly at all. I'm really confused because living users don't have ID numbers and profiles that do have ID numbers are webpages, not people that can do anything.

Is this what you mean?

• For example: In the main FamilySearch Tree User A has a profile for himself of ID: AAAA-AAA (as an example). He uploads and tags a memory to that profile, and marks it "limited," sharing the memory with a Group Tree called "Family1." In "Family1" this same living person had been added, accepted being part of the "Family1" tree (this had to be done before he could mark the memory as "limited"). The administrator had created a profile for User A with ID # BBBB-BBB. The memory created on AAAA-AAA isn't visible on BBBB-BBB's memory page.

Of course not. Profiles AAAA-AAA and BBBB-BBB are two separate profiles and there is no connection between them. The memory is tagged to AAAA-AAA. The entire group would be able to see the memory if any of them could go to profile AAAA-AAA. But they can't because that profile is in User A's private space, not the group. The memory won't be visible on BBBB-BBB's page until it is tagged to the profile. The other option is for User A to copy his profile AAAA-AAA into the group, creating a profile with ID CCCC-CCC then merge CCCC-CCC with profile BBBB-BBB.

But if that is not what you mean, please clarify this issue farther. Since this limited visibility option is new, there could well be a bug with how memories get copied into the group that messes up the tagging or the visibility or both.

******

Going back to your original post, to answer something I didn't before, you asked "Why is there both a tagging option and a limited visibility option? They seem redundant."

You set visibility once to determine what other users can see a memory: all, some, or none. This setting applies to both living profiles in the group space and deceased profiles in the public space.

You tag multiple times to put that memory on the Memories pages of everyone in that memory. You might tag a memory one time or a hundred times.

combblai

Hi Gordon,

I just happened to read this thread and as someone who worked in the technology field as a software developer for nearly 40 years, I understand how difficult it can be to explain technical topics in a way that is understandable to all.

I thought I would try to see if I can restate what I understand ... mostly for my benefit:

1) Memories are generally not visible to anyone besides the "owner" until they are tagged to a person, deceased or living.

2) Once a memory is tagged to a person, who can see that memory is determined by "Visibility", e.g. if "Public" anyone can see it, if "Private" only the owner can see it, if "Limited" only those within the "Family Group Trees" selected can see it. In summary, regardless of the "Visibility", no one can see a memory besides the owner until it is tagged to a person.

3) If "Memories" are attached to a living person, they can only be seen by non-owners if they are members of a "Family Group" (new feature) and the living person to whom the memory was tagged is included in that "Family Group" tree.

4) If "Memories" are attached to a deceased person, they can be seen by anyone ("Public") unless "Visibility" is changed to "Private" or "Limited". Again, private means only the owner can see it and limited means only those persons who are members of the "Family Group Trees" selected can see it.

Let me know if I am mistaken or further clarification is needed.

Gordon Collett

@combblai A good summary. A more simplified version would be:

1) The visibility setting determines who can see a memory.

2) Tagging determines where a memory can be seen.

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Regarding some of the current confusion, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that because the site works so well, people don't realized what is really going on. I don't know the real facts, but this is how I picture it in general terms:

1) There is a server somewhere that holds all the memories that have ever been uploaded to FamilySearch. When we upload a memory, it goes to that server.

2) Linked to our account is a file that contains a list of all the memories we have uploaded and a little note as to the visibility of each memory. When we go to our Gallery page, the web page queries that file and downloads a thumbnail of each memory on our list to create the page.

3) Linked to each profile in Family Tree is a file that contains a list of all the memories that have been tagged to that profile. When we go to the Memory page for that profile, the web page queries that list but before downloading the thumbnail, it checks to see if our user account fits the visibility criteria. If we do, it downloads the thumbnail so we can see it. If we don't, that download is skipped.

Whether or not we can actually get to a profile or not is a different matter controlled by the status of the profile being living, living in a group we belong to, or deceased. If we can't get to a profile, we, of course, won't be able to get to that profile's Memory page.

BGPSW

I think what's confusing is that setting a memory to limited access for a group doesn't make it visible to others in the group unless you tag it to a person's profile in the group tree.

I was expecting it to work as though I had created a shared album in my gallery that gave everyone in the group access permission to see it. That way we could add photos of people we can't identify in hopes that another family member in the group could identify and add a tag.

Note - The current implementation of shared albums doesn't allow anyone else to add photos to it. It would be nice to have such an album that others in the group could add to.