new FamilySearch Suggestions

So you have the BIG idea that the Church or community needs to develop. Discuss that idea here. Maybe you just want to make a suggestion on a new forum topic. Let us know.
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thedqs
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#31

Post by thedqs »

Maybe a speed enhancement or plugin that works with the site? But if it is a plugin both IE and Firefox have the ability to add plugins.
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rmrichesjr
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#32

Post by rmrichesjr »

thedqs wrote:Maybe a speed enhancement or plugin that works with the site? But if it is a plugin both IE and Firefox have the ability to add plugins.
I'm curious as to what would be the purpose of the plugin, as in what would the plugin do that can't be done with a vanilla browser?

For speed enhancement, during the early 2007 beta test, the vast majority of the slowness appeared to be the servers, not the browser. (I was using Firefox under Linux on decently-powered but not blazingly-fast hardware.)
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thedqs
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#33

Post by thedqs »

Plugin could be from their local geneology software (Legacy, PAF, FT, etc.) and just allows them to export/import to/from these local genealogy programs.
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rmrichesjr
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#34

Post by rmrichesjr »

thedqs wrote:Plugin could be from their local geneology software (Legacy, PAF, FT, etc.) and just allows them to export/import to/from these local genealogy programs.
Won't the planned API be sufficient to accomplish that?
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thedqs
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#35

Post by thedqs »

I think so, but I've seen tons of other plugins that could have been done just through an API and some sites that have both. It just allows different ways to interface with the site. Of course the plugin could just be a refined search that uses the local computer a lot more efficently then a web server could by itself.
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JamesAnderson
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#36

Post by JamesAnderson »

First, I was not aware of the browser extensions that are available for MSIE, but if there is to be one for NFS, both browsers should be supported. Maybe what we need is not a custom browser, but an extension or two.

I'm thinking along the lines of something that would help the user navigate or do certain things WITHIN the website. I'm thinking that the API is probably going to be for external things and for going back and forth between the user's computer and the site. Almost like maybe a toolbar and some functionality and shortcuts to make the use of the site easier and allow one to do things faster.

Maintenance: If the browser extension were programmed right, all that would have to be done is update small parts of the code rather than do it wholesale, the kind of thing that would and could be done in a day or two, hopefully less. I would not want it to become fatware, and actually cause more problems for everyone than it is worth, that would be counterproductive anyway.
rmrichesjr
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Java code to process FGR pages from NFS

#37

Post by rmrichesjr »

In case it might be of some use to someone, I have some Java code I wrote that can process Family Group Record pages in HTML saved from the New FamilySearch site. The code modifies the links and such in the HTML to make the page more easily viewable from local disk, including adjusting the links that navigate to the previous and next generation so they will work with local files (assuming the files are named according to the convention the code uses). The code also generates a couple of kinds of pedigree views to facilitate getting to the FGR pages and indexes by first name, last name, and title.

The code is in works-for-me state on LInux using pages from the Spring 2007 NFS beta test.

(Apologies for posting this message in two threads. There doesn't appear to be a cross-posting mechanism in this Forum as there is for Usenet newsgroups.)
BradJackman-p40
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#38

Post by BradJackman-p40 »

rmrichesjr wrote:Another suggestion I just made through "Send Us Feedback" is to consider an official, sanctioned project to do merging and cleanup of Biblical generations. A check in the beta system of people from Adam and Eve to the 12 sons of Jacob/Israel seems to show a huge number of duplicates back this far. With the enormous number of people who link or will eventually link to these ancestors, I hate to think of the (bigger) mess a bunch of fumble-fingered folks like myself could make of these records.
As far as I understand, there will be no access past 1500 AD, meaning that the royal lines are also disallowed from editing. I've heard rumors that the medieval family history department is working on a master file for royalty and biblical lines, but I haven't heard anything concrete, anyone have more info?
russellhltn
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#39

Post by russellhltn »

I believe lines going back to Medieval times have always required special permission. I don't think that's a new policy. No idea if there will be a "master line" but it makes sense.
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