Major Update to "How To Use Family Tree Wisely"

The following is from George W. Scott

You requested that I advise you when there is a major update to "How To Use Family Tree Wisely" at www.usingfamilysearch.com.  On Christmas Day, I uploaded a major revision.

There is a degree of urgency in working on Family Tree.  The only version of the birth, christening, death and burial data which is transferred from New FamilySearch to Family Tree is that which appeared on the nFS Summary Screens.  The rest of the birth, christening, death and burial data will not be transferred to Family Tree.  (Until recently, FamilySearch had debated bringing it all over, but I am told the final decision is not to do so.)

So, there is the possibility that some data on New FamilySearch could be lost in the transition to Family Tree:
1)  Some of the Summary Screens in New FamilySearch were not revised with the most accurate birth, christening, death and burial data, and
2)  There are some cases in which the historical documents are contradictory.  In this latter situation, the second set of plausible data should be preserved in a Discussion or Custom Event.

Therefore, I suggest you do Step 5 in Chapter G of my manual (which explains the above issue) before New FamilySearch closes down.

FamilySearch had said it planned to close down New FamilySearch at the end of 2012.  That seems unlikely, since the Notes, Sources and Other Events in New FamilySearch have not yet been transferred to Family Tree.  So we probably have a few months before New FamilySearch will be taken off the internet.  We should use that time to accomplish the above.

FamilySearch is eager to close down New FamilySearch as soon as feasible.  The New FamilySearch and Family Tree databases have begun to diverge to the point that some instability has arisen in the system from the divergence, which can only be resolved by closing down New FamilySearch.

I wish you the very best in 2013.

George W. Scott
Author of "How To Use Family Tree Wisely"