A few weeks ago we emailed all Admins of 1.0 and 2.0 sites about a change we planned to make that would redirect visits to www.myfamily.com to the new 2.0 site. Our intent was to make 2.0 available to brand new visitors to myfamily.com, not to disrupt 1.0 members flow.
We spent a lot of time identifying all the scenarios and specific URLs under which 1.0 members would visit the myfamily.com, and created rules that would make their visits transparent — like nothing changed, but alas, our 10 year old routing system shows its age. So, if you are a 1.0 member and have been witnessing some strange behavior when visiting your site(s), our sincere apologies.
The last couple weeks Ian, Cliff and a few others have made hundreds of adjustments to correct the routing.
Here is the post by Ian, our Director of Engineering, updating and clarifying what we now do.
- If you have a custom domain or subdomain (e.g. familyname.myfamily.com or familyname.com) we always take you straight to 1.0
- If you use a link to any page on 1.0 we always take you straight to 1.0
- If you use a link to any page on 2.0 we always take you straight to 2.0.
That leaves the shared default page: www.myfamily.com…
- If you go to www.myfamily.com and you have only been using 1.0 in the last 30 days will take you straight to 1.0 NEW
- If you go to www.myfamily.com and you have been using both 1.0 and 2.0 sites in the last 30 days we drop you on a new page NEW… otherwise we take you to http://www.myfamily.com/default.aspx which is the page most newcomers to www.myfamily.com see and from there you can either click the blue link to get back to 1.0 or you can proceed with 2.0 which asks you to pick 1.0 or 2.0 as your destination
- Of course if you clear you cookies, all bets are off, you will land here and will have to click the blue link. I hope these two small NEW changes make things even easier for you and your members.I also want to thank you again for your patience over the last week as we sorted out any problems that arose during the ‘overlay’ operation. It was somewhat harder that we first thought and I know I for one am looking forward to getting back to my normal routine … namely … working to deliver all the ‘old’ features that we hope one day will make the transition to 2.0 as painless as it can possibly be for you whilst at the same time bringing you lots of ‘new’ features that we simply could not deliver on the old platform.And BTW during this whole process we also installed better monitoring on the 1.0 servers to help keep them running even smoother and as a result of the rules we put in place to do the overlay we were able to reject around 200,000 bad requests a day (attacks, wrong URLs, bad links, …) that were previously slowing our servers down.
As Ian said, thank you for your patience. And, if you encounter any strange behavior, please send us feedback (as many of you already have, this really helps).
Filed under: Architecture, family
Thanks for addressing this – it is nice to see that you are really responsive! I like the new page that lets you select 1.0 or 2.0
One thought though: There is one population where cookies are not reliable: students that access the internet in computer labs from the next PC available. Since they are frequently using different computers, they will always get the new splash screen when they type in myfamily.com as the url. Maybe you could provide a short URL that gets you to the 1.0 version, ala “old.myfamily.com” or “classic.myfamily.com” or “myfamily1.com”?
Great idea Will. As a matter of fact, classic.myfamily.com will work. Something we can be more communicative about to be sure.
What have you done to 1.0? It now looks crappy!
Linda, what are you referring to? 1.0 looks the same to me.
When I logged into my supersite early this morning, all of the MyFamily logo stuff was gone and the fonts were different. It looked very strange. Later in the day it was back to normal, with all the MyFamily branding, etc. Don’t know what happened but I hope none of my family logged in before it was either fixed or corrected itself.
version 1.0 is named ‘Our Canny Clan’ I have also named version 2.0 ‘Our Canny Clan’. After reading this blog I see I will end up with two sites with the same name. How can this be avoided. I do NOT want to change the name of my site.
When they transfer your 1.0 site over, they have to create a new site on the 2.0 site to hold the information. As far as I know, there is no way to merge sites, so you will end up with two sites with the same name regardless. I suggest renaming your 2.0 site by putting “2.0″ on the end so when they do transfer the 1.0 site over, there won’t be any confusion as to which is which.
Alice, I added “practice” to the name of my beta site. That way, when the final switchover is made, I can tell them apart. MyFamily will be transferring EVERYTHING posted on your original site to it’s beta ‘mirror’ site up until the day they ’switch off’ the 1.0 format. So you don’t really have to open a ‘new’ Our Canny Clan (nice name!) and upload lots of new stuff to it. Just use it to practice and get used to the new format.
Hi Guys
You mention that all admins were emails a couple of weeks ago about the changes however I have never received this email, are you able to check this out
Thanks
Frank
Come to think of it I have never gotten an email either ecept for the original one to participate. Does not matter I’m here and involved.
Waiting a day or so for the site to settle down and strat trying new features.
Now I’m looking foerward to the new cover page controls where we can really have fun.
I admin 3 sites and co on another. Never received an email in the beginning of beta or later. Found by accident. Now I’m having fun with watching it evolve. But how many like me are out there who never got email, and are going to be shocked when things switch.
When will my users be migrated to the new sites? any date yet?
I never received any email beyond the initial one a while after the beta site was started.
I am confused. I have invited 3 people to my 1.0 site and am now concerned they are going to be directed to the beta or that page with the option. Will they be directed to our original 1.0 site? If not, they are going to be terribly confused and will most likely say, “Forget it. Not worth the trouble.”
I think it was a mistake to have the beta open and MyFamily doing any directing to it at all. It should have been up to the administers of the 1.0 sites to do that when they felt it was time to.
We sent email to Admins only. If you’re an Admin of a site, and a member on another site, you’ll get an email. But if you’re only a member on 1 or more sites, you would not have gotten an email.
There are many causes for email not making it to your inbox. We may have an old email for your account. Something you can change in your profile. Or, your email prover spam filter may have caught it. Or… the list goes on. We do our best, but guaranteed not to reach every single person unfortunately.
Tom, no date set yet, but we’re getting close.
Cindi, the rules we put in place should keep your people invites to a 1.0 site to the 1.0 site and not the a/b page (option page). It’s not 100% guaranteed that this is the case, but it should work that way.
In concept, only notifying Admins makes a lot of sense. But as Danielle points out, people will be “shocked” when things switch if we don’t let them know before hand. And, not all Admins are as involved as many of you are. That said, we did listen and refrained from emailing directly to non-Admins.
Thanks Sean!!!
I just found the beta site through ancestry.com and I love it…but I am a bit confused. I also logged into the original version and I like some of the features there more than the beta, (mainly access to the family tree). Are all of the features on the original going to be moved to 2.0? If not, will I have to redirect all of the current members to the original version? Since I just started about a week ago I would like to keep all members in the same place. Thanks!
Tiffiny,
We are adding the features you find on 1.0 to 2.0 all the time (approx every month or so). It will take a while before we have most of them though because there are so many features on 1.0.
We’re also building this openly, which takes longer to because we listen to feedback and make changes based on that feedback.
But, we’re also doing thing a little differently than 1.0. For instance, on 1.0, you can only search within one section of a site, rather than the preferred method; searching across the entire site regardless of content (photos, news items, events, recipes, etc.). Furthermore, on 1.0 you aren’t able to search all aspects of a given content type. For instance, you can’t search within the body of a news item in 1.0, only the news title. Or, you can’t search the meta data of a photo (e.g. time/date taken) on 1.0.
On 2.0, you’ll be able to search for any word, any set of words and any combination, across any content type. Plus, you’ll be able to tag your content with words or phrases to make finding your content even simpler and so that you can easily associate different content types together. For example, you could create a collection of all photos/video/stories tagged “Grandpa Gordon” (if you had a Grandpa Gordon) and news items, events, etc. that contain the text “Grandpa Gordon”. Then, you could create a page on the site as a tribute to Grandpa Gordon and share that with your family and friends. And they could add their own stories about Grandpa Gordon on that page.
We have a lot to do, and it does take time. If you need the features of 1.0 right now, feel free to use it instead. We’re going to enable the migration of 1.0 members to 2.0 later so you’ll not loose anything you do on 1.0 if that’s the one you want to choose. Keep in mind that 1.0 is a paid subscription – $29/year.
We’re just happy that myfamily.com serves your needs, regardless of which service you select. And, we’re happy to have your feedback on what features you’d like to see in the future.
Answering the question about 1.0 and 2.0 site naming, not to worry – even if you do have a site on both 1.0 and 2.0 with the same names, when migrated you’ll just have two 2.0 sites with the same name (either or both of which can be changed at any time).
And, yes, we don’t have plans to allow the merging of two 2.0 sites, which is why we’ve simply asked people to “try out” 2.0 rather than creating a new 2.0 site as a replacement for their 1.0 or trying to use two simultaneously. Again, it’s best to keep using your 1.0 site – try out 2.0 if you want and like many people have written on this blog, invite just a few of your 1.0 members to try it out to elicit feedback and to get them used to the fact that we’re adding and improving every month.
Still, many people are using 2.0 to create sites for new purposes that they would otherwise have subscribed to another 1.0 site – and that’s great – saves them money… get’s them used to 2.0… serves their needs. And we certainly have many new to myfamily.com altogether – never on 1.0 – for them 2.0 is their first myfamily.com (welcome newbies and thank you so much for choosing us!!) experience, so they don’t need to hold off on anything.
I am considering starting a family site for my husband’s sie of the family. I have two 1.0 sites (one for my side of the family and another for friends who are not family). Since 1.0 is changing and it seems to be vastly different from the current 1.0, would it be wiser to open a new site on the bets 2.0 so the new “family” would start right out with it this way? OR should I pay the $30 and start another 1.0 (That was does have the chat) and then they can all get used to the 2.0 after it is migrated?
Eventually, I will want the 2.0 paid for so there will be no advertisements, but I dont believe we have that option at the moment.
This brings me to another question. I am under the impression that the new 2.0 will not be completed until maybe a year, which would mean I would use up my new subscription to the 1.0, which would be great. What happens to the paid subscriptions for 1.0 when the migration takes place BEFORE their year is up? Will our subscription we paid for the 1.0 be prorated towards the advertisement free paid 2.0? Since I have 2 sites ($60/yr) and am considering a 3 (making it $90/yr) that is a concern.
I really like the chat in 1.0 and that is a hang up with starting up with beta 2.0.
Also, I want to make sure of this, the BETA 2.0 will be full working versoin of 2.0 when the migration from 1.0 is finished and those BETA sistes will be a second 2.0 as the 1.0 will migrate to a different 2.0, NOT the beta we have set up. So, if I start right out with the BETA, will I be able to then pay for it to get rid of the ads and then use it as a full working 2.0, if I start with my husband’s side of the family on the beta site?
So, will any subscriptions paid for and not expired yet in the 1.0 site be prorated towards the paid ad free 2.0?
Which would be better to start at new on with the 2.0 BETA or start with 1.0 which has that chat feature?
Can you please share with us all the plans for the family trees.
I am using trees.ancestry.com to store our large tree.
What are the plans for trees on myfamily 2.0? Will it integrate with trees.ancestry.com
Will we be able to attach photos, stories, etc to individuals in the tree?
I hoping you will be able to integrate myfamily.com with the trees on trees.ancestry.com
Trees.ancestry.com is missing a lot of the features we like in myfamily.com Perfect world would be one site that has everything myfamily.com and trees.ancestry.com has.
We look forward to hearing about the plans.
Thanks
Hi, I’m a new admin but I’m not sure this system has what I am after. Pictures yes. In different groups or directories? Next I want a threaded message board not just a sequential blog or bulletin board. Next I want a password protected directory/folder where I can have subfolders and I can put personal member info not available to visitors such as names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, etc. I want to be able to upload pages via FTP. I want to work off line and upload not work on-line. I have about 275 in my group (a high school class). We will want pictures of the school over the years, the teachers and info about them, and then in a protected folder pictures of the members and info on them. If I can’t provide an extra layer of protection there will be too many that will oupt out. Thanks.
James R. Davis, Sacramento, CA
James, I am assuming you are admin. of a 2.0 version rather than the original 1.0 . I admin several of each and they are private, by invitation only. So the information on member list is private to members. We don’t have any “visitors”. The only problem would be in having members who invite someone who has no real connection with your group. Maybe someone else can help you with that question. Our groups haven’t had such a problem, as we discuss who we are inviting. Members can put their address and other info and picture only if they wish to. All this will gradually come to the new 2.0 versions.
My 1.0 site is set up so only the administrator may invite. If anyone wants to invite someone, the name is emailed to the administrator who sends emails to others. If there is one NAY vote, the person is not invited. The voting is anonymous. It is set up so only I am the administrator on my 2.0 sites also. So nobody else should be able to invite anyone there either.
I don’t know if this system will work with families that have a lot of members.
I know it works because an uninvited person tried to get into our 1.0 site when he heard about it from another member. Nobody else wanted him as a member, so he was not sent an invitation.
Think you will ever get this thing to work?
When we ivnite people ,nothing happens!
What are you expecting to happen? Unless they accept and login there won’t be much happening. It should tell you on the home page how many invites are pending.
Hi Jim. Photos i received. Thanks
I appreciate the new site (2.0) however, I am very concerned about the ability to transfer/merge data from 1.0 to 2.0. I don’t like the idea of having two sites. We have had our site since 2001 and it chronicles our family and friends. I hope myfamily.com thinks long and hard about having the ability to transfer/merge sites. Individuals who have sites as long as we have had or longer don’t want to start all over again. Not allowing the transfer/merge option will cause all of our information to be lost. Thank you.
Karen, your 1.0 site that you’ve had since 2001 will automatically be transferred to a 2.0 site by the MyFamily team. You DO NOT have to do anything. All your 1.0 stuff will be there in your new 2.0 site.
I was told by MyFamily.com support that this automatic transfer will not happen anytime soon. I was concerned because our 1.0 site was too expire this month and I didn’t want to continue paying for a site when the 2.0 site is free. I was told that I would have to move everything myself right now.
Ooh. Mine will be up for renewal this summer. I won’t be too happy if they don’t have something worked out about how they are going to handle supersites and other paid sites by the time I have to renew. I know that I don’t want a site that has all the ads. So what they are saying is that if your 1.0 site is up for renewal, you have to renew it in order for it to be moved over to 2.0 WHEN THEY ARE READY? I’d like to have a little more information on what, if any, usage restrictions are going to be imposed on 2.0 free sites. That is, will there be a limit to how much space is dedicated to a site, will there be a limit on the number of photos one can add, etc.
I am on a Super Site and Its Quit Large, So My Question Is the same as Linda Olson,
I think I have approx 6 gig Left. But I have over 4,000 Pictures and approx 200 Active members, Is trhis Going to Be a Problem?
Thank You awaiting a Response.
Thanks :
TEX FOGLE
“CYBER FAMILY and FRIENDS Site
Put it back …!!!!
I can’t back to the original site …
All change is NOT good …
Put it back …..!!!!
I can’t get to my 1.0 site either! What have you done! It’s Saturday evening and many of my family visit on the weekend. It’s fine for you to do a 2.0 BETA but you should NOT interfere with our 1.0 sites.
At first when I tried to go to my 1.0 site it was just churning away and then I would get the “not available” message. I was trying to get to it from my favorites. Then I typed in my super site URL and could get to the login page but still the site would not open. About the 4th time it did open my site but with no content. My heart stopped! I clicked on “Add news” and put in a news item and when I went back to the homepage, my site was up with all the content intact BUT extremely SLOW! Whatever you are doing beta team STOP IT!!!
Yes, EVERYTHING on both 1.0 and 2.0 is either very slow, or images are not loading at all. Something is going on.
Why can’t there be 1 & 2? I hate having 2 open and then having to go to 1 thru 2. There has to be a way you can leave 1 alone and stop the 2 from opening first. Takes too much time everytime I want on. I don’t find the 2 friendly or smooth. Have invited a couple family members and they don’t like it either.
I’ve set up the 2.0 site and it has a link to the “original” site at the top. I’ve invited a different group to the 2.0 site and don’t really want them visiting my original family site. Will they have that link on the top when they enter 2.0 and be able to access my original family site?
Nina, if they don’t belong to ANY 1.0 site, they shouldn’t get that link, or at least the link should be dead for them. It can’t take them to a site they don’t belong to.
Some of our photos from 1.0 are missing. Is this the common practice to just migrate a few at a time? Also, will they all show up on the new site at one time?
I received a few at a time. But since migration is on hold till they get some features working better, you may not receive them for a while.
Dee’j, it took several migrations for most of my photos to show up on my 2.0 site. As Danielle stated, they’ve stopped migration for now so it’s just a waiting game now till they start again.