Ancestry Family Search Extension/New San Diego Library/Ancestry Release about Old vs. New Search

San Diego Public Library

Was interesting to note that Dick Eastman quoted the recent release  by the San Diego Public Library and the San Diego Genealogical Society about the upcoming grand opening of the new library on September 28. 2013.

Old vs. New Ancestry Search

I don't mean to be replicating all of Dick Eastman's newsletter; but he was asked by Ancestry to make an announcement regarding this current "hot" topic, and I think it is important for as many genealogists as possible to see their release.  Following is the Ancestry release as announced in Dick Eastman's newsletter:

Ancestry.com Family Search Extension

I led a discussion group last Saturday at the Computer Genealogical Society of San Diego's monthly meeting. During the discussion on of the members suggested that the group try an application that he had used with good success.  It is called Ancestry Family Search Extension.  You have to use it with the Google Chrome browser and you can download it at the Chrome Web Store.  You also have to have a family tree uploaded to Ancestry.com.  

In the search window in the upper left of the screen type in "Ancestry family search extension" and the choice comes up as the top box on the right.  Click on "Add to Chrome" and you are set.

In the graphic above of the Chrome Web Store, I have typed in "Ancestry family search extension" in the upper left box and it appears in the large box to the right.  Since I had already downloaded the extension it shows a green check mark on the left and the choice to "rate it".  However, if you have not downloaded it, you will see the choice "Add to Chrome" as seen above next to the red arrow for the app "RootsSearch".

Once you have downloaded the extension, you then open Ancestry.com in the chrome browser, select your family tree and then select the profile view for an individual of interest that you want to search for in Family Search.  

In the graphic above I have opened the profile view of my paternal grandmother, Grace Azetta Bush Ritchhart.  Note in the upper right hand corner you will see the tree icon that we associate with Family Search. The presence of the tree signifies that you have the extension downloaded.  By clicking on the tree I will start the search in Family Search for data on Grace using selected information from my ancestry files.

After clicking on the tree icon the box shown in yellow above appears.  Each of the three selections Name, Event and Relationship control what ancestry data will be used for the search in Family Search.  The name pull down window allows you to select birth name for men and birth or married name for women.  The Event pull down selections are: None, Any, Birth or Death.  The Relationship pull down selections are None, spouse or parents. Depending on the choices you make, the corresponding date will be filled in (assuming it is in your ancestry data base) and used for the search in Family Search. 

In the bottom line within the Ancestry Family Search Extension box (yellow above), you are then given the choice to view the results of the search in Ancestry or Family Search.  I use Ancestry and Family Tree Maker (FTM) as my primary data file for my genealogical data, so I would view it in Ancestry and then save the data to my tree so I could sync it with FTM.  However, if you wanted to save the data to Family Search, you have that option. 

The above graphic shows the results of search as displayed in Family Search.  Unfortunately, either because of computer problem or a network problem, I was unable to display the search results in Ancestry.  You will note in the second graphic above it, there is an error note.  I have contacted Ancestry in hopes of finding a solution to the "HTTP status code 403" error.

As soon as I find a solution to the error problem, I will pass that information along.