* Family Historian V6.2 undocumented features

[tatewise]

Further to Lorna's earlier point, Calico Pie have introduced a new how_to:about#support_centre_ticket_system|> Support Centre Ticket System that allows you to view all your old logged reports. So as long as you still use the same Email Address and have the 6-digit Ticket Number you can gain access to any old report, check its status, and Post a Reply, etc.

[LornaCraig]

This is certainly a good development, Mike.
However there are a some issues that were raised during Beta testing and are still outstanding. As these were raised in the Beta forum rather than by the email support service we don't have ticket numbers for them. Do you know if there is a way of tracking them? If not, perhaps we should raise them again so that they are given ticket numbers?

Unfortunately checking a ticket and seeing that nothing has happened doesn't really answer the question about whether Calico just haven't got round to it yet or no action is intended.

[tatewise]

I am not sure that I have a complete record of all the Beta Test issues, as I had expected to rely on the Forum entries being available indefinitely. It is not obvious how best to track them, because as far as I can tell each Ticket is privately associated with one Email Address account, whereas the Forum was shared by all testers. So even if there are Tickets for Beta Test issues, they are 'owned' by just one user, and if one of us raised similar issues we would 'own' the Tickets. I don't know how or if Calico Pie merge Tickets on the same Subject.

If I open a link to one of my Tickets my Email address and Client name (yes, you guessed tatewise) are listed and I can Sign Out but I don't know how to Sign In as my usual Plugin Store password does not work.
So I asked about the features of the new system, and how the account sign-in worked.
On 29/03/2017 the reply was: "As you might have guessed we have recently updated the ticket system. I will review the notes on the new features to see what's possible. I know you can always use the link in the new tickets to see the history of a specific ticket." But nothing since.
I was hoping that if I could Sign In I could see all my past reports, and perhaps have read-only access to others, or at least 'public' ones.

Perhaps it might be best to initially raise a ticket asking about Beta Test issues in general and ask about access methods.

[BillH]

If I open a link to one of my Tickets my Email address and Client name (yes, you guessed tatewise) are listed and I can Sign Out but I don't know how to Sign In as my usual Plugin Store password does not work.

I asked Calico Pie how to login and this is what the reply was:

"Sorry that's not a function we have activated at the moment. "

Bill

[David Potter]

Not entirely encouraging is it. With that sort of comment. I'm becoming genuinely discouraged with calico pie just now, and
if it has a real future use for me although I love its power, flexibility and excellent UI.

[tatewise]

Beware of mingling different aspects of Calico Pie, as like most organisations it has strengths and weaknesses.

Family Historian itself is a strength, and the new Support Ticket system is a vast improvement over the Email predecessor.

Where there needs to be improvement is in the dialogue with users, primarily regarding new features and fixes.
e.g. What exactly is included in new versions of FH, and what are the features of the new Support Ticket system that just appeared unannounced. It is powered by http://osticket.com/ but most of the features described there are for Calico Pie to manage the tickets in their development environment.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike. Understood. But it would be useful to hear ASAP from Calico Pie what their `Road map' is for future development. Look right now at what the latest FTM 2017 is offering. CP as much as I love it is perhaps falling well behind the competition. We need something very soon to keep us interested for the long run. I'll be honest I use FH as my master database. I use FTM to obtain leads and hints with Ancestry, and soon to include Family Search. CP need to wake up fast to what's going on and share their thoughts.

[tatewise]

I am guessing, but like most commercial products I doubt if FTM 2017 features were announced in a Road Map prior to its release, and I sympathise with Calico Pie doing likewise and keeping new features under wraps until ready to be released. What features in particular had you in mind? Have you submitted a ticket to Calico Pie requesting them?

I am not sure FH is falling behind the competition because it fairs very well in independent comparisons.
See how_to:family_historian_documentation|> Family Historian Documentation that cross-refers to two independent reviews by Genealogy Software and GenSoftReviews where it out scores FTM in both.

[LornaCraig]

I have raised a ticket (600694) asking whether Calico have logged the unresolved issues raised during Beta testing, and if so whether they have ticket numbers and who can access them. I have also asked whether, if they don't have tickets numbers, the users who raised them at the time should do so again to obtain ticket numbers.

[LornaCraig]

I have now received a reply to the above question:

The Ticket system is purely for tracking support contacts. Development changes including those originally logged in the Beta are recorded in a different internal system.

This is disappointing, as it seems that some issues left unresolved during testing are now classed as 'developments' rather than, in a few cases, bugs. As a result I might raise a couple of issues again so that they are logged with a ticket number.

However the ticketing system is not guaranteed not produce any feedback after the initial acknowledgement. After the initial response that the issue has been 'logged for the developers' sometimes no more is heard. It would be helpful to receive some further feedback, so that we are not left wondering whether the developers have actually looked at it and whether any action is intended.

[tatewise]

Agree with all your points.
Had hoped more from the new ticketing system.
It is an improvement over the Email system, although the feedback on progress is still lacking.
There ought to be some distinction between bug fixes and enhanced features.
Coupled with the lack of detail on bug fixes in new program versions, we the loyal and active users are left in the dark.

[David Potter]

@ Mike

Sorry for the late response - I looked at the reviews and agree FH comes highly recommended - 2nd Place to Legacy. I just wish some synch tools would come along for FH particularly for Familysearch. Although I would warmly welcome Ancestry as well, but that isn't going to happen with FTM having a strong and well deserved foot hold there already. I don't like having to use multiple software tools in order to continue my research given the productivity tools around these days - namely synch tools. There's no real 'Panacea' solution I know; so I'm only stating my feelings here.

Also some Colour coding for the Individual Records List - perhaps based on Flags or Ancestor Generations - I'm not entirely sure how extensive this could become, but that would be nice to see.

Finally - if we are using FMP Hints - at least have these Accept, Reject, decisions synched back to the FMP uploaded tree.

I haven't contacted Calico Pie - I will do this and wait for the usual email 'Thank you for your feedback blah blah...'

[David Potter]

I should have ended with - I'll remain positive and perhaps CP will announce something remarkable this year.

[tatewise]

I note you have Voted for Wish List Ref 548 Conditional Colour and Font Options.

May I suggest you clarify your thinking regarding 'synch' and 'hints'.

Family Tree Maker synchronises with its Ancestry Tree and associated hints.
Family Tree Builder synchronises with its MyHeritage Tree and associated hints.

FH only provides 'hints' from searching MyHeritage and FMP online database records.
There is no concept of FH synchronising with online trees for any product.
Similar 'hints' from searching Ancestry or Family Search might be feasible if an API were available.

However, the Lookup Missing Census Facts/BMD Records Plugins offer 'hints' for both Ancestry and FMP.
If there was enough interest, it might be feasible to add MyHeritage and Family Search to those Plugins.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

A minor correction if I may:

Family Tree Maker synch's with Ancestry and FamilySearch or will do once they have 'tweaked' this and that in both systems, mostly performance related issues I hear.
Roots Magic synch's with FamilySearch and that review for Legacy suggests it might too

Re me clarify Hints and Synch - I suspect you are referring to this sentence: 'Finally - if we are using FMP Hints - at least have these Accept, Reject, decisions synched back to the FMP uploaded tree'

I don't think that needs clarifying any further. If I accept or reject an FMP Hint via FH. That decision is not reflected in the FMP backend database. Not a problem just a fact. If no other products do that either then we are in balance on that point. Not that it would be of much use.

Thanks..

[ColeValleyGirl]

David,

Confused of Gloucestershire here....

FMP hints operate independently of any tree uploaded to FMP (I have no such tree and still get hints); so there is no tree to synch with in "the backend database". I see that as an advantage -- my data stays on my PC unless I detemine otherwise, and is only used to run comparisons about FMP records (not trees). The decisions I make about those comaprisons also remain on my PC and are not stored by FMP.

[David Potter]

Hi Helen

Perhaps I'm just digging myself a large hole I'm just trying to reinforce my point that what hint/synch functionality (call in what you will) we have been provided with in FH is less than any offering elsewhere - but perhaps I will be totally overwhelmed with a major announcement from CP this year.

[johnmorrisoniom]

Mike, I would be interested in your plugins using Familysearch

[BillH]

I would interested in having Lookup Missing Census Facts work with Family Search.

[tatewise]

John & Bill, I will have a quick look to see what the Family Search URL looks like.

David, what exactly do you mean by the "FMP backend database"?
It does remember you decision via FH about whether a 'hint' has be Accepted or Rejected.
If it is not doing that, then you have a setting wrong somewhere.
Perhaps you are using two PC and not synchronised your User Credentials, see how_to:internet_data_matches|> Internet Data Matches.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

I had previously uploaded my FH tree into FMP. So was expecting that when I accepted or rejected a Hint in FH, that decision would also be 'synched' to my tree in FMP because FH has my FMP profile/login etc in order to generate the Hints in the first place.

I have since found out that is not the case. Not a big deal as I have since found out that loading a tree to FMP serves no useful purpose anyway as it doesn't support tree matching whereas Ancestry etc do..

[tatewise]

That is what I mean by the difference between 'synch' and 'hints'.
FH has no knowledge of the tree you externally uploaded to FMP so cannot 'synch' with it.
Whereas FTM does know about the Ancestry tree, and vice versa, so can 'synch' them.
Similarly for other product pairings, where typically synchronisation and tree upload commands are built into the products.

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

Yes I'm aware of the difference. And thanks for replying. I too would be interested if you could build a Plug-In for FamilySearch.

[tatewise]

I am progressing quite well adding FamilySearch to the Lookup Missing Census Facts Plugin.
The essential features are working, but I need to understand how best to add filters for events & relatives.
FamilySearch seems to have fewer records than Ancestry & FMP, so is its attraction that it is FREE?
Or am I missing something?

[BillH]

Mike,

I have found census records on Family Search in the past that were not available or I couldn't find on Ancestry. This could be because they were not on Ancestry or because the transcription was better on Family History so the search worked better.

I think it would also be nice for those folks that don't have a subscription to FMP or Ancestry.