More Changes to FamilySearch.org

Announced and unannounced changes keep me closely watching the FamilySearch.org website. Since I go to the website dozens of times a week, I am usually doing some specific task and so I do not notice all the changes. From time to time, I get an email listing all the changes, but inevitably I fail to look at all of them immediately and some, I am just not interested in using or exploring. For example, FamilySearch has introduced a "Customize Your Family Tree" option.

We do so much work on the computer, we seldom print anything. We also have almost every spot on our walls in our house covered with artwork. The designs suggested are lovely, but we haven't decided to print out a design. The suggested photos would either require a personal color printer, which we do not have, or a service to make a paid print. I think this is a wonderful idea but we haven't gotten around to it. I know these are all excuses. I also have friends who have been in the chart printing business for years and have other lovely designs. I do recommend these print outs for reunions and other gatherings.

Some of the changes to the FamilySearch.org website are not noticable. For example, I recently wrote about a suggested "Temple Opportunity" sent out by FamilySearch that was not related to me at all. I then noticed the following in an email from FamilySearch.

Temple Opportunities removed from temple menu 

Impact: The temple opportunities from the Temple menu is using old technologies and not as useful as other related enhanced tools like Recommended Tasks on the homepage or Ancestors with Tasks in the Family Tree mobile apps. It will be removed from the header menu and from the options at the top of the temple page. This will also remove the red asterisk which appeared when opportunities were available. Patrons will need to use the other options, or partners, to find temple opportunities.
Timeframe: Possibly January 24th

 I welcome this change.

Other changes are even more subtile. Another example is that new languages are being added to the Indexing program. Another note indicated the following languages will be available in the Web Indexing program by April 2018.

• Albanian
• Croatian
• Czech
• Danish
• Finnish
• Hungarian
• Icelandic
• Latin
• Norwegian
• Slovak
• Slovenian

By the way, here are the Indexing statistics from the website as of the date of this post. 

FamilySearch is also sending out emails to registered LDS users of the website informing them of Temple Opportunities and Obituary availability. The emails go to a link that will show the user how he or she is related to the person. My only suggestion, from my recent post, is to check out the relationship carefully. If you are related to the person, go to the Temple and do the necessary ordinances. 

I recently got an email outlining upcoming changes to the website. I will be commenting on the changes in a future post.